BOOKS | Anthony Pappalardo

BOOK PORTFOLIO

"In 1985, Nike released Michael Jordan’s first sneaker, the Air Jordan 1, and sneaker culture was born. With vibrant photographs and illustrations throughout, as well as input from some of the sneaker world’s most important voices, Complex Presents: Sneaker of the Year is a must-have for hypebeasts and sneakerheads everywhere."

Foreword: Marc Eckō
Additional Writing: Joe La Puma
Publisher: Complex Media
Year: 2020

The1992 was the year of the Vans Half Cab. I spoke to Steve Caballero at length about his second signature model for the book and got the feeling he felt that Vans wasn't putting any respect on his name. Well, that changed shortly thereafter and maybe this book helped Cab get his money.

LINK TO BUY

Check it out. I wrote for Complex when it was a magazine, then for their website, and when they bought Ride Channel, I wrote a ton of listcles. In 2020 they released this book & I contributed a chapter.

Complex Presents: Sneaker of the Year: The Best Since '85 2020 | Complex Media

"To celebrate the relaunch of the One Star, the global Cons skate team visited and demoed shops and skateparks in 23 cities, 21 countries and 4 continents over a 5 month period, from June to November 2015."

Working on a tight timeline, I interviewed most of the CONS Team to get the backstory on this massive world tour. I remember having an excellent conversation with Mike Anderson as I ignored my family during Thanksgiving dinner. I also met up with Aaron Herrington at a cafe in Manhattan and he has an incredible memory. I should have videoed him going through each photo. Now that's content!

Copy: Anthony Pappalardo
Creative Director: Christian Acker
Brand Designer: Matt Willigan

Project Manager: Russ Pope

Year: 2016

A hardcover book promoting the reboot of the legendary One Star. The roll-out included a heavy tour video. Don't quote me but I think there are only 1,000 copies in existence.

Converse CONS: One Star World Tour 2016 | Converse CONS

"Focused on seven issues of Good and Plenty fanzine produced in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Hardcore Fanzine looks at the series through the lens of graphic design and typography, as a project that reflected and embodied the technology of the period."

Despite winning an award this book is out of print. Bummer. Mail was a big thing for me as a teenager. Coming home to a fanzine or record kept me sane... kinda.

Text: Walter Schreifels
Preface: Gabe Rodriguez

Contributions: Kristian Henson, Briar Levit, Ian Lynam, Gabriel Melcher, Anthony Pappalardo, Nat Pyper, Ali Qadeer, and Gabe Rodriguez

Design: Partition

Design: Draw Down

Year: 2019

I made two fanzines when I was a teenager. Neither was very good. Good & Plenty Fanzine was a great fanzine and this book won AIGA's 2019 50 Books / 50 Covers competition. I did get Independent Study credit for making one of those horrible zines though.

Hardcore Fanzine: Good and Plenty, 1989-1992 Draw Down Books 2019
By Christopher Sleboda and Kathleen Sleboda

"20 Years of HUF Hardcover Book documents the first 20 years of the brand through interviews with the friends, creatives, crew, and personalities that continue to push it forward. Along with anecdotes from the OGs, the 216-page book features a deep dive into the brand’s work, including key collaborations, artwork, behind-the-scenes photography, artifacts, ephemera, and the pieces that never were."

Along with interviewing several members of the HUF family for this book. I wrote several intros and copyedited the text with Ben Kelly at HUF. After several rounds of PDFs with stickie notes, we crossed our fingers, got an incredible book back from the printer & best of all, the first printing sold out in minutes.

Credits: Foreword by Yasi Salek and interviews with Brad Cromer, Shepard Fairey, Anne Freeman, Benny Gold, Tommy Guerrero, Haroshi, Eric Haze, Chris Keeffe, Tomohiro Konno, Mega, Joey Pepper, Cleon Peterson, Remio, Scott Tepper, Slappy, and the OG HUF Crew, as well as visual contributions from several noteworthy creators and friends of HUF.
Publisher: HUF Worldwide
Year: 2023

LINK TO BUY

20 years, several beers, and tons of Plantlife socks. After interviewing people, writing intros, editing copy, and then editing my edits, it was a real treat to get a physical copy & see how great this one turned out. Seriously, the printing little touches are next level. HUF Forever.

20 Years of HUF Hardcover Book HUF Worldwide 2023

In 2016 I began working with Ian Michna and the Jenkem Staff to help produce three hardcover books. Not only were we able to pull off the trifecta at a fairly rapid clip, but most of Volume 3 was put together during that thing that happened in 2020.

Coincidentally, I got Omicron at a Jenkem Holiday Party even though I spent most of it outside.

I'm truly honored to have worked on these books with Ian and the crew and you know, if they asked me to do Volume 4 I wouldn't say no, plus that's a great Sabbath album.

Thank you to Converse CONS for helping to make all three volumes happen.

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"Everyone's done something dumb once but only the bravest climb that hill again. Diving in a third time is reserved for those who do not understand how idiotic they truly are." - Carl Jung

Jenkem Volume 1-3 Jenkem Magazine 2016 / 2018 / 2023

"Part skate photography, part intimate portrait, this is a bold collection of work straight from the mind of the artist, as seen through Sem Rubio's iconic photography. After working together for over a decade, Rubio and Gonzales have created an impressive archive that became the seed for this stunning monograph.

An incredible document of a true legend. Skip to the link to buy this if you don't already own it. My assignment was to interview Neil Blender and it was a rare opportunity I took quite seriously. Thankfully, Neil answered my nerdy questions without making me feel like... a nerd.

Photographs: Sem Rubio
Contributions: Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tom Sachs, and Gus Van Sant
Publisher: Rizzoli
Year: 2020

LINK TO BUY

If I had Marty McFly's DeLorean I'd be tempted to go back in time & bet on sports like Biff did. The reality is that I'd probably do that and also tell my younger self that I'd eventually be interviewing Neil Blender for a book about Mark Gonzales & things are going to be fine.

Mark Gonzales Photographs by Sem Rubio 2020 Rizzoli

"As the story goes with all inside jokes you would need to have been there. This is a very limited publication to celebrate the good & productive time we had in Paris" - Marcel Veldman

Why Are You There? Fluff Publishing International 2024

Why Are You There?
Details of this publication are highly confidential.

Introduction: Marcel Veldman
Photographs: Marcel Veldman
Design: Vijf890
Alexis Sablone Interview: Anthony Pappalardo
Publisher: Fluff Publishing International
Year: 2024

READ THE ALEXIS SABLONE INTERVIEW HERE

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"Radio Silence documents the ignored space between the Ramones and Nirvana through the words and images of the pre-Internet era where this community built on do-it-yourself ethics thrived. Authors Nathan Nedorostek and Anthony Pappalardo have cataloged private collections of unseen images, personal letters, original artwork, and various ephemera from the hardcore scene circa 1978-1993. Unseen photos lay next to hand-made t-shirts and original artwork brought to life by the words of their creators and fans. Radio Silence includes over 500 images of unseen photographs, illustrations, rare records, t-shirts, and fanzines presented in a manner that abandons the aesthetic clichés normally employed to depict the genre and lets the subject matter speak for itself. Contributions by Jeff Nelson, Dave Smalley, Walter Schreifels, Cynthia Connolly, Pat Dubar, Gus Peña, Rusty Moore, and Gavin Ogelsby with an essay by Mark Owens."

224 pages in total but could have been 600+ easily. Nathan and I worked hardcore (yup, I went there) on this book for roughly four years and then promoted it for two straight years.

This included release parties in Brooklyn, NY and Los Angeles, CA, with the LA show being supported by Nike Sportswear with live performances by The Cro-Mags & Trash Talk.

Reprint Coming Soon

Authors: Nathan Nedorostek & Anthony Pappalardo
Editor: Jacob Hoye
Publisher: MTV Press / powerHouse
Year: 2008

What happened in-between the Ramones and Nirvana? Why are you making a design book about punk rock? Do you really need to photograph all the stuff in my basement with a fashion light rig? These questions & more answered!

Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music MTV Press 2008

VIDEO: Larry Ransom
ADDITIONAL IMAGES: Nathan Nedorstek & Nike Sportswear

"This book explores how cultural, social, and political change happens through a unique analysis of the ‘ethical turn’ in skateboarding today. Insights shared by key change-makers and industry insiders cover themes including First Nations, Black and People of Color, skater-run creative innovations, anti-colonialism, anti-racism initiatives, and a growing focus on equity and empowering skaters historically discriminated against due to gender and/or sexuality. These dynamic changes are also connected to conceptual and theoretical frameworks from skate research, journalism, and sociology. This is a must-read for anyone interested in subcultures and social change."

Authors: Indigo Willing & Anthony Pappalardo
Illustrations: Adam Abada
Interviews With: Adam Abada | Dani Abulhawa | Thomas Barker | Kyle Beachy | Alec Beck | Lisa Berenson | Kailey ‘Bayr’ Blackburn | L Brew | Amelia Brodka | Rhianon Bader | Izzy Cooper | Doyenne Skateboards | Kristin Ebeling | Paul Forsline | Bethany Geckle | Chris Giamarino | Brian Glenney | Tommy Guerrero | Keegan Guizard | Sarah Huston | Brennan Hatton | Norma Ibarra | Atiba Jefferson | Christian Kerr | Patrick Kigongo | Adrian Koenisberg | Denia Kopita | Lynn Kramer | Ryan Lay | Ashely Masters | Douglas Miles Senior – Apache Skateboards | Douglas Miles Junior – Indellica | Peggy Oki | Kevin Pacella | Ted Schmitz | Latosha Stone | Karlie Thornton | Timothy Ward | Alex White | Shari White | Cindy Whitehead | Kim Woozy
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023

LINK TO BUY

What started as a conversation outside of Pushing Boarders turned into an academic text documenting a sea change in skateboarding. The second of two books researched, written & created during less-than-awesome conditions, mostly over Zoom.

Skateboarding, Power & Change Palgrave Macmillan 2023