ITAP2: Adrian Miller

Adrian miller ss2

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ITAP2: So-me

In David Osbaldestin's itap presentation, we were introduced to his hero's work and practice, art director 'So-me'. In particular, David chose to focus on his vernacular typography although did touch on some of his graphic design/art which has been hugely popular and influential in pop art styled and electra music genres. 

Aside from the links to the musics culture and history to the brand image/style of 'So-me', I feel that this presentation gave me quite an insight into the versatility and multimedia applications of type. While I was definitely aware of it before, the uses that So-me put it to gave me fresh inspiration and a better understanding of hugely successful combinations or methods to incorporate it.

As mentioned before, So-me also does a lot of bold, pop art-esque design. A good example of this is is the range of self portraits he did for a gallery exhibition. These verge on parodies of Andy Warhol's work and iconic style, only each portrait displays a different characteristic or trait that 'So-me' feels about himself. 

As can be seen even these commonly include some form of hand done typography; a trait of his. This trait/combination is particularly strong in a viral advert he made for youtube, to promote 'Ed Banger Vol.2'. 

I absolutely love this video as it is a clever mixture of animation, stop motion, video, typography but most of all, the idea to actually remove the static nature of print designs and turn them into living, moving pieces. This, in combination with the smooth audio mixing/editing result in a very slick and all round attractive piece that really gets across So-me's style, portrays the music as authentic, fun loving and living, and works brilliantly as a viral video. In fact, the thing I find most amazing is how natural and unquestioning you are when watching these sleeve covers move.

A similarly fascinating video of his, using this concept of animating traditionally still images is D.A.N.C.E by Justice, in which he art directed. In this video a few people simply keep walking through a gig/club like place and as they go along, their shirts change in design in accordance to their interaction with the surrounding/the shirts/each other/other people. This is a great video and again shows the skill of So-me, along side the power of this living style of bold imagery and vernacular type, overall portraying the artist as somewhat authentic and 'cool'.

In reflection, I feel that the work of So-me has inspired me to take fresh looks at the applications of type rather than just informational, but also now as the display of personality as well as imagery.

ITAP2: Semiotics

Recently, Paul Slocombe did a presentation on one of his heroes, Roland Barthes. Roland's speciality isn't entirely in design, but in the exploration of semiotics in photography, and how these meanings composed in various things such as photography/film, design, mythologies and all in-between affect us. Paul developed this theory and really homed in on the hidden messages, making for a very interesting, thought provoking lecture.

One of the first things we looked at, was the use of signs and how even the slightest alteration can dramatically affect how we interpret them, proving the sheer power they have, and how subtle they can be. For example; these two symbols either side are nearly identical. The left one, you might assume he is waving hello/goodbye, calling for help, drowning, about to catch a ball, putting his hand up to answer a question. But as soon as the small teardrop symbol is added on the right, we automatically make the assumption to sadness due to the stereotypical teardrop connotations and semantics behind it. This can be split up almost into Roland's "Studium"(being the man in silhouette) and the "Punctum"(the tear drop, which jumps from the normal to attract the most attention/interest)

As well as these basic introductions to semiotics, we looked a little into an aspect of one of Roland Barthes' books; Mythologies.

"The myths which suffuse our lives are so insidious precisely because they appear so natural. They call out for the detailed analysis which semiotics can deliver." 

~ Roland Barthes

The mythology we looked most at in deconstruction was on soap. Initially we were shown an image of a very dirty and pollutant seeming factory as well as a photo of white powder seeming like cocaine. These two images seemed to cause slight controversy and together connoted a level of backstreet grime, society rather not see. When explanations were given for these images though, we learnt how context is as important in establishing a solid symbol, so the semiotics aren't so ambiguous.

This soap deconstruction lead us to the mythology of cleanliness/healing powers and semiotics to suggest so. One of the biggest factors in soap was actually making it seem authentic; hand made, organic and thus suggest links with herbal remedies/purity/sanitation/chemical free. These myths have been embedded in culture through advertising and media for years, as to address common cultural concern of health, happiness and cleanliness.

"For Barthes myths were the result of meaning being generated by the groups in our society who have control of the language and the  media...

...these meanings are seen as part of the natural order of things, with the political content filtered out of the signification." ~ Paul Slocombe

To represent these qualities people assume to soap, some interesting styles have emerged. Several trends seem the most popular, such as the addition of fruits or organic pieces to both enhance aesthetics as well as reinforcing the chemical free/magical plant ideals. This mythology is backed up by the connotations in description, some brands using lexis like; Zen, antibacterial, handmade, herbal as well as clear presentation of the several natural ingredients. These words carry semiotics of an almost spiritual nature, with the belief that the product will not just clean you, but enrich your body and refresh your 'spirit'. These were somehow shadowed though, by the overwhelming use of brown paper/corrugated card and string forming the mythology that they represent a hugely authentic, hand made, organic and 'down to earth' healthy product. The power of this packaging trend seems to be massive in its connotations of recycling, or to hit a buzz phrase, "eco friendly" audience.


Despite this attention to detail in promoting their product as 'ideal' to the audience through these mythologies and the many methods in doing so, after research into it I am beginning to feel that rather than adding a certain depth of meaning/statement to the product, the overall trends and themes are transforming the use of the item completely. Initially, it was a luxury for the more wealthy, it then became a standard item for all, the use of semiotics and mythology took it thus to an almost medically, message/moral loaded statement of an item, and now with this saturation it seems to be becoming a fashion item, like a piece of art. 

While this may seem absurd, I can also appreciate it for its artistic qualities, innovation and design attributes to overall an interesting theme; whether this view is built from media's portrayal/mythology or my development in appreciation of design I can't vouch, although I do like it and understand its strength from background semiotics.

By understanding more about the depth of semiotics, I feel I can use them in a much more informed/aware manner to achieve visually stronger, more coherent designs. This has also lead me to a fuller understanding to some of my personal hero's work, Adrian Miller, and how it has become so successful.

ITAP2: Protest Design

In this itap lecture, we were shown a more rebellious themed artist who used design in protest; a far different element of design from which other lectures were based around. The key figures for this theme were Adrian Piper (1948) and Jenny Holzer (1950). Both were of similar time periods and protested highly political views with public design. 

Adrian Piper is considered to be a first generation philosopher/conceptual artist, using art as a form of demonstration containing strong moral messages. Some of her work includes 'self portraits' in which she describes to exaggerate her Negroid features in attempt to deliberately make the viewer uncomfortable and aware of racial stereotypes. This racial point was hammered forward with what can be referred to as call cards (seen below) and installation art for galleries where a screen displaying her face was cornered by an aggressively arrow shaped arrangement of chairs so signify the feeling she is trapped and cornered by others.

Her work also includes 'psychedelic art' of early LSD paintings, and public displays such as her on modes of transport with her mouth stuffed by a piece of material symbolising her inability to talk out as well as causing shock value.

Looking at her work, it ranges hugely in style and media platform but remains to hold a consistent moral message.















Jenny Holzer on the other hand, displays her work on far larger scales. Born two years after Piper, Holzer fights political battles too, only rather than a more specific 'race' theme, chooses to send messages out about various elements of politics as well as feminism; 'a voice to the people'. To display these messages in public, she originally used street posters, but also moved to use projections onto walls which can range in size, LED light signs and billboards; all extremely eye catching platforms. In time this range grew to even more obscure and broad mediums, by spreading her message in things such as; Painted signs, bronze plaques, footstools, benches, t-shirts, condoms, stickers, photographs, video, sound the internet, and even a le-mans racing car. This made her a renowned protester and has shown me various new platform medias and mediums to consider for future projects.

A final artist to bare in mind when looking at this progression in creativity on protest/looking at things from a different perspective and experimenting with styles is the 1970/80 new wave band Devo; a contraction for 'Devolve', or to un evolve. Below is their song 'Freedom of Choice'. In this video, the experimentation of media styles and message content is heavy, as well as the inclusive symbolism and metaphors to add to the protesting theme.

hSp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jVoroHx3IU&feature=related

ITAP2: Ragunath Krishna Joshi

In our last lecture, Bal gave a lecture on the importance of Ragunath Krishna Joshi (1936/2008), his importance to the typographic field and interpretation of type being more than just a form of literal communication but a visual language too. 

In quoting Fernand Baudin, 1988 from the presentation; "The ability to write is the initial step towards any further development of the individual as a fully fledged citizen in a modern democracy". In synopsis, verbal language (as well as body language) is the first form of communication, followed by the written language. Baudin then expressed this to be the initial stage in creating a fully formed democracy. Joshi then introduced another layer by developing a visual language into written; equivalent to importance of body language in correlation of spoken. 

Here are some examples of work by Joshi from the itap lecture. Coming from a typographic family background I find this extremely interesting, especially considering that it allows me to look at these designs at a whole new perspective. As I can't understand this language I am able to see it for its visual form and balance over its actual content. From this new perspective, each character appears to me like an piece of delicate art, backing the prior theory I made of typography's visual language being a simile for body language as well as relating to Erik Speikermann's views that typography is a musical instrument in which the melody of language is played (paraphrased)

Despite both the interesting quote of Fernand Baudin and fascinating work/message of Joshi, I feel I found the latter segment talk on calligraphy as the origin of typography by far the most interesting. While I enjoyed the message from this lecture but felt a lack of enthusiasm from execution, I did take from it further inspiration on typography; something I already highly appreciate.
Looking into calligraphy (my fathers profession) I can see a truly beautifully elegant style. While it looks fluid and serves primary purposes now for weddings and family trees/art, I can see the semantic shift/origins of the visual language implications. Originally at the birth of ink written text of predominantly western cultures, the majority could not learn or use this skill; reserved for the rich and powerful. Since it was such a high status skill, the connotations of it were made to be clear through its bold and elegant aesthetic.

ITAP2: Viva Creative Revolution

“The Creative Revolution (1954-64) was essentially the tussle between design and meaning; between form, beauty and concept;

between telling and receiving”. Challis,C. 2006

As can be imagined, design work before the creative revolution of 1954-64 was highly different, while work after remains similar in theory these 58odd years down the line. Design beforehand was somewhat shallow, predominantly based around the aesthetic value over form and function. In America this was common in the portrayal of the 'American dream/lifestyle'; glamourous and high quality. This though above most aesthetically based design almost patronised the potential audience as they knew the American dream/lifestyle was difficult to obtain and other shallow designs seemed to take the audience as being a little dumb.

Within the creative revolution though, there were two key figures; Che Helmut Krone and Bill Bernbach. These two people changed the landscape of graphic design in 3 main ways. First of all, they spoke to the audience to gain insight on what THEY wanted, rather than relying on assumptions that agencies of the time often made. This bought them valuable insight into the consumer culture, and first off showed them that within the automotive industry especially, they would prefer a smaller, cheaper more economical car than a large, frequently outdated, expensive one that the 'American dream' propaganda pushed. This was a difficult admittance for the consumers though, since to go against the American dream propaganda felt unpatriotic.

Next, they tackled the aesthetically shallow based design, and crucially inserted an 'idea' or 'concept' which developed a deeper layer to the design, conveyed a message and treated the audience as intelligent enough to see this idea hidden within; This was backed by their third revolutionary aspect.

In the 1950's agencies tended to follow a grid structure and formulaic pattern, thus designs tended to look the same. This was due to the fact there were no real 'art directors' or 'copywriters', rather they were all called commercial artists and rarely met up. Bill Bernbach and Helmut Krone changed this by designating roles and meeting up to discuss design concepts together. While their first works followed the similar layout structure (to almost mock), it was radically different in content; As can be seen when comparing the Pontiac advert beside, to the VW ones below. 

To stand out from these generic designs, they designed their adverts in full greyscale to contrast against the hugh colour usage in other work, stuck with the caption; only rather than giving a literal description of the image above, said something that linked in a more subtle, intelligent and memorable manner. They also began to experiment with the use of white space to create tension and balance within the design, while prior designers used all space ending with a clustered and busy piece. This reduction in design, combined with the message/concept that was inspired by the audience research created an award winning and top selling style that truly changed the landscape of design.

Helmut Krone’s breakthroughs in layout

• Ads with no headlines 

• Ads with no logos 

• Head lines as captions 

• No headline or copy

• No product

• A sea of white

• Headline font and style of image as brand identity

(Challis,C. 2006)

Bill Bernbach's breakthroughs

• Understanding the audience 

• Respecting the audience's intelligence 

• Using wit (perception and ability to connect ideas) in order to communicate product benefits

• Going far beyond the obvious 

• Keeping the communication simple 

• Ensuring image and words reflect each other but don't repeat

• Taking risks

ITAP2: Simple, but different

"I wish I had known that simplicity is the key" Rosy Arnold, D&AD president.

In modern culture, we are bombarded by advertising in all media platforms. These are usually a mixture of both good and bad design, but collectively tend to put off the majority of audience members. With this barrage of complexity, simplicity, as stated, is key in attracting the audience and setting apart from the rest and directly convey the message.

A key to advertising I have recently learnt in lectures, is to aim a campaign on selling a simple truth of the product; Cadbury's "a glass and a half of joy" based on the fact the bars have a glass and a half of milk in them, and chocolate released endorphins that produce joy. By selling a product one one truth, it is preferable to reduce the message down to this one key point and make it fascinating and direct to the audience; Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.

Award winning designs by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, 1993

As can be seen in the Boddington beer ad campaign here, the element of truth extracted was that this brand has a full and thick creamy head. The reason these designs are so successful is because this one usp has been extracted from the product and built on with a clever use of wit, humour and the unexpected; subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful. 

While this is an incredibly simple design; just displaying the pint of beer with one prop maximum in each layout, it is done in a different and effective way to convey the usp. Without this quirky meaningful addition the usp message, the design would simply display a pint of beer with the creamy head. This shows there is both a good and bad simple. Simplicity is a rare thing and as Leonardo da Vinci once said; "the ultimate sophistication". It is claimed as this because effective simplicity is a difficult thing to create, due to its delicate balance. By having too little the message could be either interpreted as boring, or not successfully communicated at all. Whereas by using too much in the design then it will look busy and confusing. The right balance is where the message is clear but the method in communicating it is different and original.

Since the brand logo is extremely small (as not to distract or add complexity to the simplicity of the design) the colour scheme was carefully chosen. As can be seen, they clearly represent the brand palette of yellow, black and white. These colours immediately bring association without the logo boldly displayed and so further increase the effectiveness in the simplicity. If the logo was also boldly displayed along with perhaps a disproportionately large written catchline 'With the creamiest head' and a man or woman holding the beer then the message would risk being too complex and audience members wouldn't be so intrigued but more patronised.

Simplicity and reduction in design is often used, such as here. Guinness is renowned for its witty advertisements and above is a brilliant example of reductionism to push forward one key point of the product, conveyed in simple yet intriguingly amusing ways; using the pint in place of cool objects. Again, like the Boddington designs earlier, the colour scheme is carefully chosen as the black and white is immediately recognisable as a pint of Guinness, and the icy blue resembles the extra cold. 

Another designer to bare in mind for reductionism is Helmut Krone, as mentioned in a prior post.