SHIAOCHING DESIGN

So few weeks ago, I had another study of design history.  I was interested in Push Pin Studios because they made a phenomenal impact on visual culture from the 1950s to 1980.

Contemporary American Graphic Design

Push Pin Graphic

The Push Pin Studios reintroduced the illustration to be part of the design, and reapplied past styles and forms to their graphic design solutions, while designers in Europe codified Modernist graphic design into  so-called the International Style (Swiss Design), which focused on mathematical grids, simplified geometric forms, vibrant contrasting color, and free from propaganda and commercial advertising.

American designers, on the other hand, were attracted to individualism and expressionism. Among American graphic designers, two graphic designer students from New York, Seymour Chwast and Milton Glaser, found the Push Pin Studio in 1954. They borrowed from Surrealism, Expressionism, Art Deco, Pop arts, and 1930’s comic art, and transformed their style to posters, editorials, books, packaging, and magazines designs.

Milton Glaser Graphic Design

The Push Pin Influence
As Glaser said in his interview, Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight, “I realized that history is not my enemy, I should use history as my raw material and incorporate to my design.”  They used art and graphic from Renaissance paintings to comic books as their sources of inspirations for forms, shapes, or visual ideas. For that, they often introduced new and unexpected forms.  In interview, he said, “Creating a puzzle is like activating the mind, they likelihood will remember it and respond to it.”  Push Pin combine art and design, which is why it was so attracted to viewers and readers.

Style

Quote from Glaser, Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight, “I don’t like to be classified as Push Pin style.”  Indeed, it is hard to pin point what is Push Pin style.  According to Chwast, the desire to state the client’s message in as personal yet as accessible a vocabulary as possible. In another word, Push Pin represents a strong graphic personality and it often based on humors, plays, and surprises.

Push Pin Style Poster

I enjoy fashion illustration, and I thought it would be great to incorporated my illustration with vector image of butterflies, and here is my final piece of  my interpretation of Push Pin Style.

Image source from http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

image source from http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

So last week I blogged about “The Power of  Poster Design”.  While I was reading about Obama’s poster “HOPE” thru the internet last week, I found a very interesting online article “Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey” from a Los Angeles artist Mark Vallen. I don’t know who is Shepard Fairey until then.

For what I have read, Obama’s publicist, Yosi Sergant, suggested Fairey to create some art in support of Obama in late October 2007, and  Fairey got the permission from Obama campaign to design an Obama poster right before Super Tuesday.  He designed the original poster “Progress”  in one day. On October 2008, Fairey claimed he has printed  500,000 posters, 1,000,000 stickers, clothing, and other items with the image sold through his website.  If you are interested in Shepard Fairey,  just search on the internet, you will find tons of information about him along with the accusations.

Inspiration or plagiarism?

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own without  giving the credit to the creator; to “inspire” means to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration.  For what I have read so far, I will have to agree with Mark Vallen.

Shepard Fairey

This week, one of my assignments is to write about design history.  I was especially interested in 1920s Russian Suprematism and Constructivism. Although both art movements were after WWI and started in Russian, but I thought the artists/designers at that time were facing the similar changes as we have it now in USA.

Our country has slip into two majors political views:capitalism and socialism.  Someone said, history repeats itself.  Have you see some of the posters design lately? Certainly, the design style has been reapplied to this modern time, and the designer of this poster gave us a new layer of meaning behind it.

If you are new to  the Russian art movements, let me give you a short introduction.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ERA

Looking back through the history of design, the 1920s (Industrial Society era) was a very interesting time in Russian history, as well as in design history. The1920s was the period of time that Russian artists divided into two ideological art movements: Suprematism and Constructivism.

Suprematism focuses on geometric forms and believes that the role of the artist should be to throw out the old order and conservative art. This movement was led by Kasimir Malevich. The suprematists devoted their effort to support the Red Army and the Bolsheviks, and produced massive propaganda posters.

Constructivism believes that the role of the artist is to serve the needs of society. Constructivists called on artists to stop producing useless things and advocated using art for practical applications. They devoted themselves to industrial design and visual communication. The movement, which was led by Vladimir Tatlin, later became one of the most influential ideologues for modern design.

The biggest patron for both art movements is Russian Government.

MOST INFLUENTIAL DESIGNER

One of the most influential designers in this time period was a Russian Jew, EL Lissitzky. He was a multi-talented artist, typographer, architect, and designer. He was one of the most important figures of the Russian avant garde. His famous designs included 1925 advertisement designs for Pelikan Industries; the 1926 exhibition room for the International Kunstausstellung art show in Dresden, and displays for the official Soviet pavilions at the international exhibitions; the 1927 All-Union Polygraphic Exhibit in Moscow; the 1928 Press Show, a pavilion design revolving around the theme of a film show in USSR.

Lissitzky often used drafting instrument construction and paste up to achieve his designs. One of the most influential graphic designs was the book The Isms of Art 1914-1924.  In that book, he created the visual program for organizing information into a grid system, balancing white space, using halftones and large bold sans serif. He also explored the potential of montage and photomontage for complex communications messages.

STYLE
The style in this period often used bold color, bold and large sans serif font, diagonal axis, asymmetrical balance, and photomontage. More poster usage examples can be found at Bolchevisks.

Lissitzky

Rodchenko

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Some said, Shepard Fairey, the designer for the Obama Poster, challenges the traditional patriotic symbolism of the flag which has become and image of economic and military power that underlies this freedom we have. And both Fairey and Obama wanted to send a different message—a message of hope.

If you understand the history in that period, what do you think about the Obama’s Poster?  While I was writing my little essay, it got me interested in the little symbol on the poster—”Obama’s icon”—the rising sun.

Obama Symbol

Some said, it looks like a Pepsi logo, what do you think? One thing is certain, this icon has been broadly used, and it is the first time in US history that we have created a brand for the US president, Barack Obama.

Check this youtube video.  Whether you agreed or not, but you have to agree that we can’t ignore the power of design.