EVALUATION

Overall I feel that the most inspiring aspect of producing this blog came from the opportunity to research a great variety of graphic designers and illustrators. I realised how miscellaneous the list of examples was in terms of how the artists/design companies worked in terms of style, format, structure and presentation. Therefore I feel it was this element that naturally encouraged me to improve my methods to expressing my personal opinions on a variety of different sources and applying them into this blog.

There were some examples and artists which I felt I had no positive feelings towards; some I did not understand or appreciate in the slightest; which I felt came mainly from the graphic design areas of research required. Whereas I felt more inspired and positive towards the works of traditional illustrators and of course those who simply worked in styles which I naturally tend to prefer. Overall I believe it was because of my positive and negative opinions that I had hardly any difficulty with subjects and points to write about.

Although this particular artist was not included on the list for out research assignment; I feel it is important to show some personal examples of work and imagery from research that has strongly influenced my work and ideas through out the project. The images shown above are works of woodcut artist; Franz Masereel. After researching his works and experiencing them visually I felt I was able to gain some valuable information and methods of working with lino cuts physically; which included to how work with figures and perspective with contrast effects created from lino prints.

Finally I also feel that the most important aspect of my work that influenced my printmaking pathways and final ideas on this particular project came from my own personal experimentation with drawing and image making that I constantly developed through out my sketchbook.

Images obtained from: www.graphicwitness.org
www.gseart.com

US & THEM by PAUL DAVIS

Us and Them is a book written and illustrated by Paul Davis. The plot of the book is based around the achivements of Great Britain and basically what others think personally of this country.

Despite the fact the use of imagery and text in these examples displayed is pratically vague and truely basic; I really admire the physical energy and attention the applied techniques in the drawings. They show a great deal of speed in the marks; and even though I like the visual style of the book overall as I feel it really reflects Britain in my typical point of view; I feel that some of the drawings in the book have areas that are unfinished.

Images obtained from: www.theaoi.com
www.copyrightdavis.com

Neville Brody:FACE

Face Magazines created by Nick Logan featured designs by Neville Brody. Neville Brody is an extremely well known and iconic designer of the eighties; like David Carson of the nineties. The magazine advertised and explored popular culture of the eighties within music, fashion and all areas of trendiness.

In the displayed examples of FACE magazines; I can see how Brody has greatly considered the visual layout of the magazines as they feature overt and bold photographs of models/celebrities that stand out clearly and shocking with surroundings of a various amount of typography designs. Personally I really admire how the title 'The Face' and the photographs blend together; even thought they are both visually dramatic in very different styles. They do not compete for attention at all; and if this were to happen then I feel that title page overall would be too hard to adapt to visually. The surfaces in the background are neutral and calm and allow the photographs and text to stand out clearly.

I have also included an example of a series of typography designs by Neville Brody; as I really admire his typography design most of all because of his use of colours and special effects that create interesting spaces amongst the sets of typography.

Images obtained from: www.researchstudios.com
www.nwlink.com
www.andrewburgin.co.uk

FUTURIST TYPOGRAPHY

Futurism is a movement of art that begun during the late 1900s and it was centred in Italy. The theme of futurism is visually expressing the developments and changes in modern life. It explores the subject of inventions of features such as machines; which are possibly the greatest and most vital aspect of how our everyday lives have changed in terms of living with new ideas and technology. Futurism also brought realisation of performance art and poetry during the 1900s; which continued to develop vast and into a most vital subject of popular culture today.

On this post I have displayed some examples from an exhibition of Italian typography that was influenced by Futurism in terms in visual style. The visual presentation and quality of colour in these examples is extremely traditional; but to me the experimental approach to the typography design and text is extremely interesting and allows to posters to express a modern quality. As I previously mentioned how the movement of futurism reflected the developments of changes and improvements in modern culture; I can see how this movement also created a dramatic change in graphic and typography design.

I really admire the how the text is experimental in its layout and structure in various areas and sizes and also because the text is created a variety of shapes, styles and formats in all the examples displayed.
Images obtained from: colophon.com/gallery/futurism

EL LISSITSKYS 2 SQUARES

Two examples from a series of work '2 Squares' by El Lissitsky.

2 squares is a series of images displayed limited yet bold examples of shapes and text. The style of the images are simply examples of styles which I have negative feelings about; only because I do not really admire artwork and design that is too basic visually; I just naturally prefer work that is textual and experimental whether I am right or wrong in the matter.

The only aspect of this work I like is the interesting perspective in the second example I have included in this post. I admire the drawing technique capturing the elements of 3D perspective; it basically reminds me of the illusional perspectives and spaces captured in drawings by surrealist M.C.ESHER; althought it is by no means as detailed as Esher's work.

Images obtained from: www.ibiblio.org/eldritch

EDWARD TUFTE BOOKS

These are various examples of illustrations from text books created by Edward Tufte. The illustrations in these books are examples of visual information and referances explained with great amounts of writing.

When I think of positive examples of visual text books; I look for clear illustrations that are easy to adapt to and give clear and explanitive information and obviously ones that are easy to revise in my head in order to remember certain information that the illustrations are purposely needed to communicate with readers.

Personally I am glad that an illustrator working with text books is on this list; as I feel that the subject of illustration for educational purposes is something I have never considered so personally. When I judge illustrations or adverts from books, magazines and posters; I always explore how the styles and techniques reflect the subjects in the best possible way and also how eye catching they are; especially within graphic design.

But I have never considered how illustration techniques are considered in educational text books. Typically as learners we do not judge the quality and skill of the illustrations in text books; we are only concerned about the information in the pictures and how we learn from these about various subjects and we would feel unsatisfied not with the style of the image; but if we could not understand or learn from them. I feel that this subject of illustration requires almost perfect accuracy and research because illustrators would need to insure that all the information in the pictures is academically correct and ofcourse presentable for a targeted audience.

Images obtained from: www.edwardtufte.com

EDWARD GOREY ILLUSTRATION

The Insect God is written and illustrated by Edward Gorey. The story is about a young girl who is taken away in a black motor driven by an insect. Unfortunately the girl is killed by the insects as she is placed into a pod.

Despite the fact the story itself is extremely disturbing in terms of the actions and plot involved; I feel that the illustrations within the book produced by Gorey are extremely beautiful. They have an extremely traditional quality and their style revolves around line drawings in the structure of the images and their colour/contrast scheme. Although in some of the drawings I feel that the characters in terms of appearance and structure are quite disturbing and have some sense of wicked humour.

Potentially the most interesting technique that I have noticed in Gorey's style of working is how he creates shadows effected by space and structure with the use of lines. To create different kinds of shadows depending on their strength in tone or distance; he structures lines in specific areas extremely close together to increase their strength in tone.

I like the use of only black and white in the illustrations as I feel it creates a clear and adaptable sequence and structure within the book; making it pleasant and enjoyable to read and capture visually.

Edward Gorey's style is quite similar in terms of drawing style and mark making to the illustrations of Tim Burton; especially in comparison to his poetry book; The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. Both examples follow a plot and visual idea of wicked humour and disturbing approaches to character designs.


Images obtained from: The Insect God by Edward Gorey.

POSY SIMMONDS

TRUE LOVE: written and illustrated by Posy Simmonds. Simmonds produced this book in 1981. (images obtained from this book).

In the image above showing the cover and a page from 'True Love', the structure and composition of the images in limited spaces and lines reflect typical visual references to comic book artwork; most well recognised from American Marvel Comics. But the example of a page from her book 'True Love' which I had included on this blog shows a very limited use of colours; unlike the typical use of bold and dramatic colours in Marvel Comics illustrating action sequences and typical scenes such as explosions, fight scenes and use of dramatic text visually explaining sounds from sequences. It is newspaper cartoon strips which have limited amounts of colours; and possibly even no colours at all; only black and white.

I like the colour schemes in this book as they mainly consist of red, pink and black; because I feel it is a good method of visually communicating 'true love' in a visual and emotional method that almost anyone can recognise and understand.

RAYGUN MAGAZINES BY DAVID CARSON

RAYGUN is an American alternative rock and roll magazine first published in the early nineties. It was created and designed by David Carson; who is one of the most influential graphic designers of the nineties.

The most interesting aspect of RayGun magazines is shown in the composition and layout of all features in the magazine; which are incredibly bizarre and rebellious. This can even be said about the subjects and themes of the images/photographs published in the magazines.

Judging simply from the front cover image of a RAYGUN Magazine which I have posted here on this blog; I feel that simply the visual communication, lighting and appearance of the model looks like an aspect from a fine art based piece of work. Although it does feature a great element of text composing the magazine and blending with the model; in my personal opinion the text overall does not look neatly composed, they are layered in different sizes with slight changes to style of text and also in some areas the text of different lines blend together.

Chris Ware: Jimmy Corrigan-the Smartest Kid on Earth

Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth is the most well known works of illustrator Chris Ware. The story focuses on the character Jimmy Corrigan who has a down and cold personality and his awkward relationship amongst his family. The main aspect of the story is Jimmy meeting his dad for the first ever time in a Michigan town.

Despite the fact he is initially classified as an illustrator; in my opinion his work in terms of style and communication is based highly around graphic design. I believe this simply because of the digital quality of the images from Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth and bold/symbolic approaches to scenes and characters.

The composition of the images altogether are extremely geometrical; which can be highly related to the processes of adobe illustrator. Also the style of the images being computer based in my opinion also look purely vector based because of the bold colours and lines featured in the images. Despite my opinion of the images having a modern digital quality; Chris Ware constantly uses traditional media to produce his illustrations and alters them on the computer; giving them their digital and symbolic style.

IMAGES OBTAINED FROM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ware
www.randomhouse.com/.../corrigan_4.html

DESIGNERS REPUBLIC

This is an example of typography created by Designers Republic; it is the advertising logo and visual reference to the television channel; NICKELODEON
The text looks like it has come from adobe illustrator; very simplified and unpixelated. I can imagine how the visual effect of this image appeals to children. The shapes and structure of the text is bubbly and has quite a humorous quality. The colour scheme incredibly overt; reflecting the cartoons and shows presented for younger audiences whom the channel is aimed at. If the background was printed in yellow; it would still be extremely overt; but would be almost too difficult to adapt to visually.

Image Obtained from: www.thedesignersrepublic.com

Saul Bass: Around the World in Eighty Days (Michael Anderson)

Around the World in Eighty Days by Michael Anderson; a series of images put together into a title sequence as an introduction created by Saul Bass.
I feel most strongly in simply my personal opinion that the distinctive style in the background, selection/format of images and text does not appeal to me very much. I personally have always had a postive feeling for textual graphic images which overtly communicate techniques and experimentation with traditional media; although my interest in digital stylised artwork is gradually increasing. However I do feel there is a possiblity that he choose to work in this particular style because it personally appeals to him in a positive way and is trying to reflect the original plot and storyline of 'around the world in eighty days'.

But as I gradually viewed the sequence from image to image; I quite liked the rhythm of the sequence reminded me of basic referances to short animation and typical movie opening sequences which are quite distinct in terms of style and visual communication. Although I previously mentioned that I did not like the basic format of the text and images; I actually thought also that the images displayed in terms of their purpose and reasons for being displayed were quite surreal; in other words I did not understand their relation to the plot of the sequence at first. The style of the images in the sequence as shown above remind me of traditional drawings produced in the victorian times; from magazines such as PUNCH.

Images obtained from: www.notcoming.com/saulbass