Istanbul Culture

The above is a design by Kari Piippo as a poster project for International Istanbul Graphic Design Week. I chose this piece to blog about because I just vacationed to Turkey a couple of weeks ago. Upon my visit I stayed in Istanbul for a few days as well. I can say this poster design, entitled "Istanbul as felt by...", and Istanbul is perfectly represented here. The country is known for its wonderful textiles and textures of fabric are very rich. Also, Istanbul is the only city which is located on two different continents, being Asia and Europe. The pattern within the silhouetted man is a perfect match to the fabric I saw at the bazaar. Also, the deep blue color is represented everywhere in Istanbul, it is also the color of the evil eye. Which is a good luck charm everyone hangs in their rearview mirror. I found this example in the book Nordic Graphic Designers.

Maze Coded Type

The above is a firm's foldout card celebrating Christmas and New 

Year's, designed by Nikolaus Schmidt Design in 2011.  The foldout design is a less traditional approach in comparison to a standard card. At first glance I thought what a great idea to use a maze as a design element! Not until I read further into the description article did I realize it spelled out the greeting "merry christmas and a happy new year". The idea of the coded message is unconventional and not your ordinary holiday card. In fact, white on a black page in this way looks futuristic. Nonetheless, in aesthetics and as inspiration the foldout succeeds. I found the design in the book Design/Paper. 

Future Under Crying Kids

The poster above is a photograph of a crying kid manipulated by the designer for a Tokyo exhibition in 1995. Seiju Toda, the designer, modified the picture in such a way to dramatize children's anxiety over their future. This is an example of bad design. The kid does not look anxious about his future, to me he is alien like and he might have laser eyes. Also, the name of the campaign is Future Under Crying Kids. Notice when the words are abbreviated it turns into...well you know. Something the designer probably did not even notice since the design firm is based in Asia. I found this piece in the publication On Edge: Breaking the Boundaries of Graphic Design By Karen D Fishler. 

Zimbabwean Trillion Dollar Flyer

The image above came from the publication The Best Advertising and Design in the World By D & AD Annual. That right there should tell ya this is a pretty genius design. In order to understand and appreciate why I chose this page out of the 589 pages in the whole book. Its a rather large book. Anyways, the paper notes was the form of "cash" in Zimbabwe until Mugabe made it worthless. Now, the Z$ trillion note has been turned into flyers by printing the campaign right onto it. Which the night before they did not even have the money to cover advertising charges. The powerful and supreme idea used Mugabe's own creation against him. 

Say It Loud

The above pieces are not from the same client, meaning all of the wardrobe pieces are not all the same brand. However, the theme is the same through out the whole collection- "Say it loud". What the photographer, Torkil Gudnason, wanted to portray was culturally loud and diverse pieces that viewers lust for. By using the vibrant colors and combining them together it says cool yet unusual. Gudnason decided to crop off pieces of a mannequin which is an interesting approach since most fashion ads use human models. The mood of the fashion ad says contemporary with its super enriched photography and bright backdrops with oversized white type. I found this publication in Vizz  Outrageous Visual Communication By Adrienne Weinfeld-Berg.

The Umbrella Girl

The Salt Umbrella Girl is recognized as Morton Salt's telegraphic metaphor since 1911. "When it rains it pours" has been their slogan just as long. This is the first time in history a product/brand was illustrated in such a way that describes its innovative benefit, which was the first salt mixture that allowed a smooth pour even in a humid environment. What attracts me to the retro illustration is its ability to be recognized and still in use for over 100 years! The design is clever and simply makes sense- a cheerful young girl who has a skip in her step and is celebrating Mr. Morton's bright idea. After he and the illustrator came up with the famous Umbrella Girl, Fedex, amazon, and I (heart) NY,  metaphors followed. I found this example of retro design in the book I Heart Design By Steven Heller.

Fun in the Sun

For this weeks blog post I found it very appropriate to elaborate on this design piece. If you did the homework last week this should look quite familiar to you. The style of the sun above is more modern, and playful, to me. The sun was designed by Alexander Girard for La Fonda del Sol Restaurant. Also, it seems as if the style is not quite a Mexican feel but multiple cultures in its identity. What appeals to me about the above design is that it has a hand crafted quality to it. Notice all of the rays are not the same shape and not evenly spaced. Girard's design represents optimism and still successfully demonstrate so without descending into chaos and disorder without confining strictly to modernism. I pulled this from I Heart Design By Steve Heller.