Graphic artist Michael Schwab, known for his iconic posters and logos for the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy, Apple, Major League Baseball, Amtrak, and Nike, among many other clients, talks about the state that most inspires him — and the illustrations he's created for California Wine Country: A Sunset Field Guide (Sunset Books, 2007; $20), a travel companion to the wine regions of the Golden State and Baja.

Sunset: You're a native of Oklahoma, yet you have been drawn to California ever since you were a child. And you moved here in the early 1970s to go to school. Why?

Schwab: California is my muse, just as it was for many of the graphic artists and painters around the turn of the last century. Inspiration is everywhere — the redwoods, the lakes, the mountains, the vineyards. And the people — the winemakers, the organic farmers and ranchers, the artists and designers — there are so many heroes in California. Everyone inspires everyone else.

Sunset: How does it compare, in that way, to New York, which has always been known for being the place where everything happens?

Kelly Lisle
Graphic artist Michael Schwab

Sunset: Of all the lovely places in California in which to live, why have you chosen Marin?

Schwab: Once you get into Marin, something special happens. There are no billboards. They're banned, actually. It adds to the beauty and serenity of the place. It's also so full of people from other places who are looking for something genuine, including a lot of craftspeople: bakers, artists, furniture makers, people who make things by hand.

Sunset: What attracted you to working on our California Wine Country guide?

Schwab: Sunset has an incredible history of illustrators. Maynard Dixon (who created many covers for the magazine, from 1903 through the 1930s) is one of my heroes. By taking this assignment, I could almost consider myself part of that group. Given what Sunset had done in the past, I felt that we could relive that magic with this book. And it was another excuse for me to do portraits of California.

Sunset: Are you a wine person?

Schwab: No, not really. I love wine, and I have been enjoying wines for years — especially at the little places, with just a mom and a pop running the place. But I'm certainly not a connoisseur.

Sunset: Still, you've designed logos and labels for several wineries, including Robert Mondavi.

Schwab: Robert Mondavi has done so much for California wines. In the early days, he drove bottles all over the place in the trunk of his car. He truly started the tasting-room concept in California. Once, I was taking his photograph, and found myself telling him to tip his glass forward, then back. And I realized, Here I am, telling Robert Mondavi how to hold his wine! I almost dropped my camera.

Sunset: Each chapter of California Wine Country begins with an illustration by you that, using just a few colors and forms, exactly expresses the spirit of that place. Can you describe a few of your favorites?

Illustration © Michael Schwab

Illustration © Michael Schwab

Schwab: We'd talk about the subject matter, come up with a few ideas, and then I'd create a few sketches.

Sunset: Your colors for the Northern California illustrations tend toward blues, blacks, and purples, and the Southern California images lean toward orange and red. Was that intentional?

Illustration © Michael Schwab

Sunset: Every single image in the book includes the sky.

Schwab: Yes, and they are gradated, which is a new thing for me. Usually I do flat blocks of color. The gradated skies helped evoke a sense of early morning, or an end-of-day romantic feeling. I wanted to celebrate places, not people.

Sunset: Were there other, early renditions of the book's cover? The final version is of a giant bottle of red wine set among rows of vines at dawn.

Schwab: No, that was it from the very beginning. I wanted to do a sort of René Magritte treatment of the bottle, dreamlike and looming large on the landscape.

Sunset: Art collector Merrill C. Berman has called your art "a safe harbor amidst the enigmatic and increasingly illegible pool of contemporary art and design." What do you aim for when you work?

Schwab: People have gotten so used to having too many things to look at, too many words being thrown at them. I try to create images that are strong but discreet in their power — dramatic, without giving away too much, romantic in their messages.

ORDER A COPY: Click here to order California Wine Country: A Sunset Field Guide (Sunset Books, 2007; $20).