Graphic designer and typographer Stefan Sagmeister has always had a unique way of viewing the world, therefore has created designs that are both inventive and controversial. He is an Austrian designer, who works in New York but draws his design inspiration while traveling all over the world. While a sense of humor consistently appears in his designs as a frequent motif, Sagmeister is nonetheless very serious about his work. He has created projects in the most diverse and extreme of ways as a form of expression. This report will analyse three of Stefan’s most influential designs, including the motives and messages behind each piece.
On September 13 in Waagdragerhof Square in Amsterdam, Stefan and his team began a major project for the eyes of the public. The coin project was inspired by the appearance of the stone plates covering the plaza floors. What took eight days, and the help of many volunteers came one of Sagmeister’s most influential works in society. Sagmeister created a design/plan for this large-scale area; collected 250,000 Euro cents sorted into four different colours, and carefully placed them over this 300-m2 area according to the master plan. This quote reads: “Obsessions make my life worse and my work better” - Stefan. The use of calligraphy and modern
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He uses extreme methods to attract attention to his artwork and in doing so, challenged the social norms. In his early life, Sagmeister had been keeping a running list of life-learnings in a diary titled ‘Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far’. Eventually, he translated these private thoughts into a series of typographic artworks and public installations that shocked society, exploring everything from obsession, confidence and love; the list of quotes was influenced by the personal experiences he gained throughout his life. However, the hidden message behind these works was left open for
Drawing on Bauhaus methods, Bayer supported the concept of a total work of art and the unity – painting, typography, and information design were all connected to each other. In addition, every element in design was there for a purpose – to inspire, inform, or both. The atlas was “an example of how Americans had adapted Bauhaus design principles to communicate simply, directly and possible forcefulness. Atlases of world resources produced before Bayer’s publication hardly utilized a modernist graphic language. This would change with environmentally informed atlases of the 1970s that borrowed extensively from Bayer in their integration of color, graphic and symbols.”
Artists in the Modern period illustrated the existential idea of individuality through visual imagery to convey the power of man and the fallacious influence of the external world. For instance, M.C. Escher’s noteworthy piece, Hand with Reflecting Sphere, epitomizes the idea of self-derived identity. The message of the piece revolves around the idea that when searching for meaning, one should look within. Specifically, this is seen in the imagery of the reflecting sphere, for as Escher gazes into the sphere to discover his purpose, he simply sees himself. Moreover, the artistic element of depth amplifies the effect as the highlighted image is the one of the author, further illustrating how, at a primal level, the one unwavering source of meaning is the spirit of the person itself. In addition, M.C. Escher implements the aesthetic quality of contrast, by overlaying the detailed reflection on top of an unrefined background. Furthermore, this bolsters the message, as the importance of reflection is shown to be greater than the mundane outside
“To design is to communicate clearly by whatever means you can control or master.” These words by Milton Glaser are the perfect embodiment of his work over the years. He was able to spread his message through his works of art by being simplistic and straight to the point. This simple ideology of is the reason that he is such a renowned figure in the graphic design community, and around the world, even though his name may not be known by all, his works of art have been shared, and loved by the world. He clearly is a master of modern/ abstract design, along with communicating to his audience.
But at the same time, the closer they get to the painting, it's like going back into childhood. And it's like an abstract piece, it becomes the landscape of the brush marks rather than just sort of an intellectual landscape.” (Eccher & Saville, 2007). Other than her nude’s paintings, Saville’s had countless portraits that were just as striking and provoking.
Bell, Clive. The Aesthetic Hypothesis. Aesthetics. Edited by Susan Feagin and Patrick Maynard. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
He was labeled a terrible graphic designer in the nineties. His agonized typography drove a clique of critics to indict him of not being serious and of destroying the origins and foundation of communication design. Now, the work and techniques of David Carson dominates design, advertising, the Web, and even motion pictures.
The purpose of this Essay is to discuss an example of design from the late 1800s, I will relate it to the social, economic, technical and cultural context of that time. . I intend on delivering details of the artist and his life experiences as well as his style and possible interests. I will also evaluate the subject with my own opinion, likes and dislikes, with comparisons of work and artists from within that period up to the present date
In the graphic communications world, David Carson is known as the “American graphic designer, whose unconventional style revolutionized visual communication forever” (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013). He is famous for his experimental typography, and his never-thought-to-be-done-before magazine designs (David Carson, 2013). But in the beginning, he was just a regular person. On September 8, 1955, David Carson was born in Corpus Christi, Texas (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013). At an early age he found his first passion of surfing, and was ranked 8th in the world (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013). He soon realized that he could not make a living off of surfing so he found a new passion
With his down-the-rabbit-hole approach to design and obsessive attention to detail, Wes Anderson, writer, director and auteur, is best known for his highly stylized movies. His extremely visual, nostalgic worlds give meaning to the stories in his films, contrary to popular critical beliefs that he values style over substance. Through an analysis of his work, I plan to show that design can instead, give substance to style.
Jonathan Barnbrook born in Britain grew up in Lupton just outside of London he had studied graphic design at Central St. Martins in London and graduated from the royal college of art in 1990. Barnbrook was a graphic designer, filmmaker and typographer; though throughout his career as a post-modernist designer he had became widely known for his typography and his graphic design was heavily influenced by politics and readings. Barnbrook had produced works for commercial clients and personal works strongly believing that design could be used as a weapon for enforcing cultural and social change. As a believer in anti-capitalist ideology on political events, Barnbrook is often seen incorporating these strong messages and views into his personal work. Furthermore in this essay we shall explore some of Barnbrook’s works such as the influences of and meaning of typeface Exocet; Tibor Kalman inspired billboard making a statement on anti-capitalism and his project Tomorrow’s Truth - Consumerism is the fuel of the American war and why he is opposed to consumerism. These works created by Barnbrook will point out how he has incorporated hidden connotations into his work to bring forth engagement with viewers and his work.
This marked the beginning of his inspiration to form a personal, expressive, and religious stance on his art values and style. He has found his process and content that will be apparent in his future work.
Architect and teacher Wolfgang Weingart is distinguished for his typographic investigations and educating at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel, and who, through the work of his scholars, made a more trial and expressive methodology to typography that was compelling far and wide.
‘Lost in translation’ happens more frequently during the rate of globalization. The misreading of design languages is not just an issue among layperson, designers also been affected during the international cooperation. Naturally, there are gaps existing between different cultures (Jones, 2011). For example, the masterpieces of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa considered as the portraits of ideological conflicts and exhibits individual’s sacrifices for feudalism. But on their Western re-making versions, the heroism and anarchism were been emphasized instead. Just like the differences between Samurai and cowboy, design languages and signals are preforming in different way from east to west.
Gregory Vlastos commented in his book Socrates: The Ironist and Moral Philosopher, “Such is his strangeness that you will search and search among those living now and among men of the past, and never come close to what he is himself and to the things he says.” (Vlastos). Gregory makes an important point; although studying Plato gives us a glimpse of Socrates, it only gives a glimpse of him through Plato’s eyes. We can study this text and others and never understand exactly who this man is. Even if we had writings of Socrates’s own hands it would be difficult to understand this complicated man. On the other hand the writings we do have, including the
Hegeman, J. (2008). The Thinking Behind Design. Master Thesis submitted to the school of design, Carngie Mellon University. Retrieved from: http://jamin.org/portfolio/thesis-paper/thinking-behind-design.pdf.