Book Find - REMIX

Comparison of the two posters. Original on left.

I found this image of Paula Scher's 1985 Swatch Watch poster ad particularly interesting because it looked familiar to Herbert Matter's 1934 Swiss Tourism poster.  This is a perfect example of a "remixed" graphic design concept.  In case you don't know what a remix is, it means it's alternative version of the original.  I believe it's a new term that's used better to describe that act rather then the harsh counterpart, copy or stealing.  I just learned it myself  and I'm sure if you search something alone the lines of remix graphic design something will pop up.  I thought everything was closely copied to be similar, but upon looking closely I've notice that the only thing that changes is the color, the model, the words, and the Swatch Watch company logo is added.  Also, the watch ad seems to be a bit cropped.  Other then that, the background and skiers is the same, as well as, the position of elements
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♣ Michael

Book Find - MTV

MTV back in the day had some amazing variations for their logo. I still remember when MTV use to do that.  I posted a picture above of one variation example called "colorforms".


The MTV logo, itself still used today, was designed by Pat Gorman and  Frank Olinsky of Manhattan Design in 1981.  Each logo designed was used for a purpose on MTV to make it seem like a fun network.  The variations of the logos were even given names such as taxi and puzzle.  The identity became animated and headed towards a new wave for graphic design.  I remember one that was designed for Bettlejuice when it was released that was animated and had worn creatures crawling in an out of holes. The M was wearing the outfit Bettlejuice wears.


Now MTV still does the same concept, but more in a image context.  For example, when a singer premieres a video. They put the promo image inside the MTV logo or have it in a solid color.
♣ Michael

Book Finding

Saul Bass film poster design for Exodus, 1960

Yes, a piece done by the legendary Saul Bass.  This is one of many of his unique movie posters for the film by Otto Preminger's 1960 film, Exodus.  If it wasn't for Saul Bass, our movie posters would look like cartoons featuring celebrities, of the time, to promote the film.  Think of the original Gone With the Wind poster, seen below.  Saul uses space in his works and subtle meanings to convey a message threw imagery.  Such is done on this poster because the movie is about Israel's struggles.  We see that in the image with an historic and symbolic image coming out of a flaming word, which is the title of the film.

Original Gone with the Wind film poster.

♣ Michael

Book Finding

Original: John Alcorn, cover for a phototype specimen booklet

Wow when I came across this image, I was looking at it as if it looked familiar.  I've never seen this actual image before, but I did see a familiar of it.  The original image posted above reminded me of the image posted below.  I feel that the Britney Spears Circus promo flyer was inspired by the John Alcorn cover for a phototype specimen booklet.  Britney's name is written in the same typeface as headliners, the borders and some of the clip arts are similar, some colors are similar, and the date is written in the same typeface as collection is on the original.

Britney Spear Circus Promo

♣ Michael

Creative Brief 3

1. Identification: Poster designed by Chaz Maviyan-Davis in 1996 for human rights psa.

2. Project and problem: It was a poster that was designed to get the attention of the public about human rights

3. The client: The people that have rights taken away from them.  

4. Intended Audience:  The people who felt they need to take rights away.

5. Core message: It made awareness to the human rights article 4 movement.

6. Hoped for outcome: Hopefully people would  become aware of this act that's affecting the rights of humans.

7. Graphic strategy: He uses powerful images that are positive in order to exude the peoples confidence  and dignity.

♣ Michael

Book Finding

This old, 1910 poster of Manoli cigarettes is so wonderful because it uses geomatic shapes and a good use of space. It feels like a drawing and the colors work well.  How something so simple can have an appeal to receive recognition to this day is beyond me.  You don't see that anymore.  This piece was designed by Lucian Bernhard, whom worked with  Manoli cigarettes and designed a number of posters for the company.


♣ Michael

Creative Brief 2

1. Identification: "Everyone Must Vote in the Election of Soviets" poster designed by Gustav Klutsis in 1930 for a series

2. Project and problem: It was a poster that was designed to get the attention of soviet citizens to vote. It uses the hand of voting that's very symbolic for that time in that country.

3. The client: The dictator during the time. 

4. Intended Audience: Citizens of the Soviet Union to get them to vote.

5. Core message: It was basically commanding people to vote during the election because it uses the word, "MUST".

6. Hoped for outcome: Hopefully citizens will listen and vote for the Soviets.

7. Graphic strategy: It uses the color red and black that was iconic for the time.  The hand an image dominating the poster as and since it repeats.  It was another symbol of its time.  The hard all capital Russian letters demand the citizens that they must vote in the upcoming election.  It really makes an audience pay attention to it.

♣ Michael

Week 3 Book Finding: Poster for Carry-Us-All Portable Carousels

I stumbled on this colorful poster, page 157, printed by the Riverside Print Company of Milwaukee, the year of print is unknown.  The client for this poster was C.W. Parker Company's Carry-Us-All portable carousels since they were the popular brand of its time for this particular product for the circus and carnival businesses in the midwest.  The idea for these posters were to be big and bold to catch the view of people and really represent the circus where these rides would be offered.  It certainly worked for me since the color of this small print in a book caught my eye, the photo doesn't do it justice.  The letters are bold and simple placed on bright backgrounds.  This was made using chromolithography, a colored printed picture using lithographic stones.  What's interesting, also about this piece, is that the printers left a yellow border at the top where local printers could place information about the event.  It makes it a versatile ad because they didn't have communication methods like we do now where they could just make a phone call and tell the original printer what they wanted on the poster.

♣ Michael

Typeface: The Movie

 Official Typeface:The Movie poster

I just had the opportunity to watch a documentary, scary I know, called "Typeface" and with all honesty, it was quite interesting. Also it helped that it didn't have a feature length film time stamp on it, it was only an hour long.

The basis of the film was at a museum and print shop in a small rural town, Two Rivers, Wisconsin where you learn about traditional technique used in wood type before the computer and digital graphic design. It follows a guy named Jim, who wants to bring tourists and industry to the town by having this museum dedicated to wood type beginnings because it's a dying art history that not many people know about.

This museum isn't an average museum that's all stiff, proper, and intangible. There is an opportunity to actually touch the old wood type letters that are stored in drawers, as if it was the days where this was a running print factory. A visitor can even witness some print production. Honestly,it doesn't look like a museum at all, it definitely looks like an operating print factory.

I think it's a great opportunity to visit this place because if you're like me, don't make fun of me, but I'm 24 and have always wondered how people made those wonderful posters without a computer in the olden days. By watching this documentary film, I have learned that process and I'm really still amazed. I even asked my classmate, "So is this how the cowboys made wanted posters?" The answer was yes.

Example of a Wood type printed poster

If you don't know what is so cool about wood type, I would say discover it like I did, watch the film, but here's a little something so you aren't left wondering as I was. "Wood type were letterforms and illustrations dating back to the first known Chinese wood block print. The usual procedure was to draw the letter on wood, which was pasted to the wood. Then cut around the letter with a knife, taking out the parts to be left blank." Sourced: http://www.woodtype.org/museum_information_about.shtml

Totally an awesome film and worth the watch so you're not left wondering "How were posters made before the computer."

♣ Michael

Logo Sketches for SUNsation Lemonade

♣ M

Week 2 Book Finding - Les Heures de Jean Lallemant

I really loved this picture of the Les Heures de Jean Lallemant (The Hours of Jean Lallemant) found on page 105 of our book, because it truly is a beautiful piece of art. Just sit and think how long it took for that to be completed in 1506. Besides the image on the left being really bold, the text body on the right is just as bold. The typography is also really beautiful because it has roman letters with long ascenders and descenders. Personally it's attractive; there are times when I hand write stuff where I use long descenders and ascenders because it's visually appealing.

♣ M

Creative Brief 1

1. Identification
A poster for a rubber and plastics exhibition. It was designed by Armando Testa in 1972.


2. What is the project and the problem?
The project was to design a poster to promote the rubber and plastics exhibition and he wanted to use a conceptual image to convey the message of the poster hoping that it would be memorable.


3. Who is the client?
I would say it was some museum in Milano, Italy that was hosting the Plast exhibition.


4. Who is the intended audience?
Everyone was the intended audience because a lot of different people attend exhibitions at museums.


5. What is the core message?
It was to showcase an example of what a rubber and plastic object would look like. He used photos of synthetic materials, a red and blue color to bring it out.


6. What is the hoped-for outcome?
The museum, as well as Testa hoped that the poster would draw the people in to attend the exhibition.


7. What is the graphic strategy?
Testa wanted to use subtle contradictions by using a photo of an object made completely of artificial materials, which fits with what's being shown in the exhibition itself. By doing this, he had brought in the use of unexpected elements into his graphic design poster. The color also makes a statement because they both pop out of the white background and the black masthead.

♣ M

Votive Stela with 4 Figures. 2-11

I want to talk about this piece of historical artifact called the Votive Stela, the one from the 5th century B.C. Greece, depicting four figures. The Greek writing on it is ancient Greek and I can't read it. What I have noticed about the description is that there are no spaces so it's difficult to separate the words and that the letters are in all caps, because lower case didn't exist at that time this piece was made. The "A" and "Ω" stick out to me looking different from the modern Greek capital letters. The "A" has a triangle in place of the crossbar. The "΅Ω" looks a bit different, but that could be because it's written on stone. You can really see that the letters are made from shapes such as line, triangle, and circle. Kinda cool cause I never really analyzed that before. It might be because I'm use to Greek writing and not much has changed in letterforms. More then any thing, I think the words, sounds, have changed.

♣ M