Inspiration

Inspiration?  It is elusive at times, abundant at others, always a state of mind.  What inspires me? Graphic artists that changed the world, altered the look of design, spoke out for social change, inspired so many: William Morris, Jules Cheret, A.M. Cassandre, Josef Müller-Brockman, Saul Bass, Milton Glaser, Tibor Kalman, David Carson, April Grieman, and so many more. These were some of the innovators, pioneers of their times - went beyond the norm, embraced new technology, and created a new style of design – changed the world.  Inspiration?  Yes.  For me, the ability of these artists to change society through their work is an inspiration, of course.  Who wouldn’t admire the people who impacted our world for the better especially since graphic design is so prevalent in our lives?  This is the big picture – big inspiration – big change.  But for me, right now, the simple is inspiring - text perfectly placed on a page; a well-balanced composition; beautiful color combinations; simple, geometric imagery or photography; and reflection of the mood of the piece.  Works of art done by some of the very designers that created the big picture?  Yes. My inspiration…

The idea of a simple, well-balanced, layout without excessive ornamentation was promoted by the Swiss-style designers, late-modernists, and is still carried out by contemporary designers today. 

The 1975 poster by Josef Müller-Brockman entitled “akari” is an advertisement for an exhibition in Germany for a Japanese light company (Akari).  This is simplicity at its finest, the beautiful circle of light and its reflection, the four-column grid layout of the text which includes the simple title (all lower case, Helvetica), and the simple black background. 

The work of late-modernist and contemporary designer Saul Bass for the film Spartacus (1960) is also a simple composition that motivates me to create.  The geometric text; the artfully-drawn, abstract image; the simple & powerful color-scheme; and the white-space make this poster an amazing visual representation of the movie and man portrayed.

  

Work of contemporary designer Woody Pirtle is a great inspiration to me.   I like that he uses simplicity to advocate for social change.  In 2002, he was commissioned to design a series of posters for Amnesty International to represent “The Universal Declarations of Human Rights.”  This particular poster is a plea for “Freedom from Discrimination.” Again, the simplicity of the design is appealing to me.  The concept is amazing - using crayons to represent the races of humanity then removing the color and washing them with flat color to represent equality.  Very strong imagery and symbolism.  The minimal text block in varying weights of Helvetica, the vertical title, and Article 02 add to the powerful nature of the piece.

Why is it important to me to be able to convey key messages in a simple, well-constructed design? The old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” has been thrown on its head in this digital world.  Just go to any website, we are bombarded with imagery, advertising, flashing reminders that we need to refinance, lose belly fat, find cheaper long distance.  The messages are confounded, lost in a vibrating blur.  Just driving down the highway, billboards speed by and offer us solutions to our needs – drink Jack Daniels and feel good, shop at Macy’s and you’ll look like this gorgeous model, get your McLatte at McDonalds TURN HERE!  Too much, too fast.  But when I see a simple, well-composed, poignant design, the message strikes me with such clarity.  In this world, where people are overloaded with information, we don’t spend enough time looking at one thing – in fact, we spend a lot of time ignoring the abundance of information presented by our surroundings.  The ability to convey the message with clarity, beauty, and straightforwardness is even more important in this time of information overload.

What will I do next?  I hope to learn through taking more graphic design classes and observing the world around me.  I am sure that my tastes will change over time.  Just taking my first graphic design class has changed my view on design, art, history, and how entwined they are.  How history changed design and how design changed history.  I will take classes, make observations, read, study, and learn with an open mind.  Will my inspiration change?  Probably.  Will I appreciate new design styles? With anticipation.  Will I still value text perfectly placed on a page; a well-balanced composition; beautiful color combinations; simple, geometric imagery or photography while reflecting the mood?  Absolutely.

“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” -- Picasso

just bounce it

I love this Nike ad by Neville Brody - especially his use of typography.  After some of my classmates did a presentation on the digital era and Neville Brody specifically, I became interested in his work.  I started searching on the web for examples his designs and this appealed to me. It is obviously an advertisement to sell Nike shoes using a twist on their famous Just Do It campaign. The design is definitely digital in its treatment of the text and artwork.  The word bounce looks like it is bouncing and slam it & smash it are vertical on the page – kind of like visual onomatopoeia.  The text (Helvetica) is overlapped and various type sizes & colors are used to emphasize the words.  For example the text that is on the photo is white & large and it changes abruptly (in the middle of the u) to black at the edge of the photo.  This is in contrast to the backgrounds (black to white and white to black). The entire ad is basically in black and white except the words just zap it (superimposed on the picture), a little portion of the bottom of one of the shoes, and the Nike logo which are in red.  The red balances out the page, accentuates the colored text, and leads the eye to the Nike logo.  The tightly cropped photo of a woman’s face shows passion and the strength.  I love the balance of large & varied text and the powerful, intense photo.  It really works even though the shoes play a surprisingly small role in the advertisement.  This ad is selling shoes but it is also selling an athletic lifestyle – effective as well as artistically edgy.

44 Obamas

This is a piece from Peter Max called 44 Obamas.   He created the piece to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama in January of 2009.  I have seen this artwork several times throughout Obama’s presidency on the news and at various websites.  I also read an article about Peter Max and his pride in our President and our country.   Max is a pop artist who started painting during the 1960’s psychedelic period and has continued his career through the present.  In the article, he discussed his creative process and how he created this specific piece.  He started with two different pictures of Obama, picked up his brush, asked his DJ to turn up the music, and started painting.  He created each individual picture independently and assembled them into the montage which is 15 feet x 6 feet (4 rows by 11 columns).  There is no typography in the piece but the artwork is amazing.  The idea of alternating two different pictures makes the montage very dynamic.  The colors are bright and contrasting in some of the pictures and somewhat muted and monotone in others adding to the dynamic nature of the piece.  I was initially attracted to the brightness of the composition and the positive image that it creates of President Obama.  Upon further inspection, I see that each individual picture is a work of art in itself and that the total is even bigger than the sum of its parts due to the dynamic nature of the design.