Blog 6 Peace

Luba Lukova

This is a design by Luba Lukova. I was initially attracted to the piece because of the message - I am a great believer in peaceful, nonviolent solutions. And I love when artists and designers use their talent to speak out for social justice and change. This work does just that - its function is to speak out for peace through the use of irony. The peace dove is made up of agents of war - bombs, tanks, fighter plane, tanks, soldiers, explosions. The incongruity is apparent. Sadly, the audience who will take the message from this work are the people that agree with the point of the composition. Conversely, I think it may offend or be ignored those who disagree with the meaning.

I think this piece is very creative in the way it presents information. The dove is the focal point. Lukova uses the Gestalt principle that humans see the whole first and then look deeper at the individual parts of a work. So, we see the dove first, and then we see it is made up of instruments of war. After that the irony sets in. She also plays on a common object - a symbol - to represent peace to help us understand the meaning of the work. The use of the soft blue, soothing background also plays into this ironic solution. Looking at a dove, one would expect a soft, calming color but delving deeper into the image, dissonance occurs - this is not a comforting piece, it is just the opposite. I believe this is a highly effective piece and works creatively on many levels.

Source: Gomez-Palacio, Bryony, Armin, Vit, Women of Design, Fraser Direct, Ontario, Canada, 2008.

Blog 5 Where There's Awareness, There's Hope.

Allergan Advertisement

I was thumbing through the Print Magazine's Design Annual 2007 and this piece was a standout to me. It was designed to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and promote breast cancer awareness and breast reconstruction options. The pink ribbons that represent breast cancer awareness are commonplace - even overused - however, using a model shaped like the ribbon is brilliant. The pink radial gradient starting darker at the edges and lightening as it moves inward highlights the subject. The female form is the one and only focal point and her shape is instantly recognizable. The tag-line is simple and to the point and the sponsoring company even takes a backseat to the message. I was so intrigued that I looked up the company. Why would they be so selfless? Not quite. They do make products for breast reconstruction surgery. But at least they didn't totally take center stage, right?

Source: Print Magazine Regional Design Annual, November/December 2007, Agency: Lehman-Millet, p19.

Blog 4 Power By Design

What Kind of Influence do Designers Actually Have?

This was an illustration of an article in Print Magazine entitled Power by Design by Rick Poynor. It caught my eye because it reminded me of symbol for black power in the civil rights movement in the 1960's. So, as someone who grew up with this symbol having such a powerful, important meaning, I couldn't help but relate to it in a passionate way. To me it represents struggle over establishment, willingness to fight for what is right, believing that working together can cause social change.

Interestingly enough, the article does talk about Graphic Designers as being “lesser than” and at the bottom of the pecking order of design. But hope is not lost! The author suggests ways in which we can regain our “hard power.” No more from me, you'll just have to read it and see for yourself...

Constructing the fist of upward pointing arrows is very clever indeed. It embodies the very essence positivity. The fist is a excellent choice to represent the power of the individual, but also because of our shared history, it also represents a group working together to take power. Furthermore, each individual arrow constructs the fist representing the group's collective power.  A simple symbol used to create a powerful illustration - amazing!

Source: Poyner, Rick, Print Magazine, Print 66, February 2012.

Blog 3 Stephen King

Men of Letters People of Substance

“People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.”

-Stephen King

While looking for blog postings for another class, I found an article in a CMYK magazine about this book. It was so interesting I had to order for myself. The book is entitled Men of Letters & People of Substance by designer/illustrator Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich The entire book consists of letterform images of important historical and literary figures. I found this book captivating and the art that de Cumptich makes with text and a bit of color is just unbelievable!

This particular piece is an image of author Stephen King using the typeface Grimshaw Hand. The image that de Cumtich created of King really capture the facial features of the man himself. Of course, I've only seen him interviewed on TV, read some of his books, and seen some of his movies. But the moody, dark, disconcerting features of King can be seen in this text image as easily as a photograph.

This book is really amazing. Definitely take a look at it if you get a chance.

Sources: De Vicq De Cumptich, Roberto, Men of Letters and People of Substance,

David Godine Publisher, Boston, Massachusetts, 2008.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/stephen_king.html

Blog 2 Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power is Not Sustainable

This piece was in CMKY's Pro-Showcase section and was designed by Joe Scorsone and Alice Drueding. The quote beneath the poster is: “Catastrophic events in Japan have raised the alarm once again over the danger of nuclear power to the local and global environment, making the search for sustainable energy technology even more urgent.”

I found this ad particularly chilling, effective, and creative. The skeleton is shockingly detailed to the point where the white space almost glows. Obviously representing the death of humans by nuclear radiation. The bicycle is a simple, stick drawing with the radiation symbol used instead of the spokes. It represents a form of sustainable energy. The contrast between the two brings to light the dilemma we face - finding a sustainable form of energy that won't kill us.  The text is effective because it is san-serif, all caps, and no-frills. The stark imagery with the text really drives home the point of this advertisement.

Source:  CMKY Magazine, Volume 53, September/October, 2012, p14.