Chapter 23
Architectural Alphabets, Takenobu Igarashi
-After graduating from Tama University in 1968, Takenobu Igarashi (b. 1944) earned a graduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. -Upon returning to Japan, he opened his own design office in 1970. -Much of his studio's work is in trademark, corporate identity, environmental, and product design. -By 1976, his experiments with alphabets were attracting clients and international recognition. -He calls his three-dimensional alphabetic structures architectural alphabets.
João Machado (b. 1942)
-Posters of João Machado (b. 1942) are typified by exuberant colors, playful arrangement of geometric elements, and strong contrasts between flat surfaces and textured patterns. -Artworks created by Machado for numerous poster exhibitions and cultural events exude sensitivity and plasticity and are excellent illustrations of his sense of rhythm and color.
Satyajit Ray (1921 - 1992)
-Revolutionized Indian Cinema and on another hand, he introduced India to Graphic Design. -His numerous projects included reviving monthly children's magazine Sandesh which was created by his Grandfather in 1913 and later was run by his father. -Ray was a master calligrapher and had a profound love for typography. -He designed four typefaces for a roman script named Ray Roman, Ray Bizarre, Daphnis, and Holiday script.
Manuel Estrada (b. 1953)
-Strives for a balance between reflection, feeling, and intuition. -He works initially with words and drawings, developing and refining ideas before taking them to the computer. -Estrada is most known for his compelling book cover designs that often present their content in unexpected ways.
Yurdaer Altıntaş (1935 - 2019)
-Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Poster Department (1952 - 1957). -After working for two advertising agencies, became a freelance designer in İstanbul. -He became a professor of Mimar Sinan University (formerly Academy of Fine Arts ) and in 1995 appointed as the chair of the Department of Graphic Design (1996 - 2001). -He contributed to the introduction of Turkish graphic designs to other countries.
Matthias Hickmann (b. 1966)
-Studied photography and communication design and his studio in Berlin focuses on the development of complex communication systems, corporate design, book, poster, magazine and web design. -He is involved in the publishing of literature devoted to different fields, from photography to media theory, football and pop-cultural phenomena.
Wild Plakken, Design for Social Change
-The collaborative group Wild Plakken, formed in 1977 by Beekers, Ros, and Schröder, chose clients who were actively working for meaningful political or social change. -Their name, which means "Wild Pasting" or "Unauthorized Bill-Posting," is from the early 1980s when they illegally pasted posters in Amsterdam. -The group believes a designer should accept clients and projects that reflect the designer's beliefs. -Their work has addressed issues such as racism, the environment, abortion, women's rights, and gay rights. -Included among their clients are trade unions, left-wing political parties, women's rights organizations, museums, and performing-arts groups.
Morag Myerscough (b. 1963)
Creates installations and immersive spatial artworks that transform places and champion community and public interaction. Her eclectic work is characterized by an engaging boldness, creating specific, local responses to each distinct audience that will see and experience her work.
"East" and "West" Polarities, Homa Delvaray
Homa Delvaray (b. 1980) is known for her powerful and complex designs which use the raw materials of Iranian visual culture and Persian traditional arts to build detailed works that confront the polarities between "East" and "West", tradition and modernity, and local and international design languages.
Morteza Momayez (1935-2005)
Sought to develop a unique style, drawing from Iran's distinctive visual culture by combining traditions in illustration and calligraphy with new approaches to working with typography and image.
Paula Scher (b. 1948)
-Began her career creating album covers for both Atlantic and CBS records. -However, it was not long before she formed her own design company, and after only a few years she joined Pentagram. -During her career she has created memorable identities and other works for clients such as Citi Bank, Coca-Cola, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Museum of Modern Art, among others. -Her style of design communicates with contemporary audiences through pop iconography, music and film.
Leonardo Sonnoli (b. 1962)
-Best known for his typographic poster design. -His design activities also include visual identity for both private and public corporations, communications programs for cultural events, book design and signage systems. -He has worked for the Venice Biennale, the Château de Versailles, the Centre Pompidou, and the New York Times.
Chaz Maviyane-Davies (b. 1952)
-Creates posters with richly symbolic yet hopeful messages. -From 1983 until January 2001, he had his own design studio in Harare, Zimbabwe. -He has been described as "the guerrilla of graphic design." -For more than three decades his powerful work has taken on issues of consumerism, health, politics, social responsibility, the environment and human rights.
Ray Gun Magazine, David Carson, Grunge Typography
-David Carson (b. 1954) is a graphic designer, art director and surfer. -His unconventional and experimental graphic style revolutionized the graphic design scene in America during 1990s. -He was the art director of the magazine Ray Gun, in which he introduced his innovative typographic style and distinct layouts. -Carson is claimed to be the godfather of Grunge Typography which he employed in his magazine issues. -Grunge Typography used messy, rebellious, heavy type to express every emotion and defined a generation by breaking the rules and favoring constant change in design.
Ahn Sang-Soo (b. 1952)
-Designed a succession of experimental letters based on older Korean typefaces. -This series was the first to deviate from the Hangul typography. -In his posters and publications, he incorporates letters as free and playful elements.
Alejandro Magallanes (b. 1971)
-Designs of Alejandro Magallanes (b. 1971) have roots in the Polish conceptual realm with overtones of surrealism. -He employs collage and freehand drawing with wit and intellectual skill and works mainly for social and cultural media. -He has drawn, painted, built and designed many books, posters, animations, collages, photos, letters and images.
Luba Lukova (b. 1960)
-Employs radically contrasting images in her work. -Her subtle and lucid statements often bluntly confront social and political issues such as war and environmental conservation.
Kum-jun Park (b. 1963)
-Experimental and innovative designs of Kum-jun Park (b. 1963) often blur the border between typography and painting. -He considers unique individuality of each designer as an important asset and is constantly challenging himself to search for new perspectives in unconventional ways.
Chip Kidd (b. 1964)
-Frequently uses vintage images such as old prints and family albums found in flea markets and junk shops. -His visual clues are illusive and require the viewer to excavate the message. -Kidd first joined the Knopf design team in 1986, when he was hired as a junior assistant, turning out jacket designs at an average of 75 covers a year. -His book jackets are described as being creepy, unconventional, cunning and striking. -They are designed in a manner that makes the readers appreciate the covers as a separate art form as well as part of literature.
Fred Martins (b. 1988)
-Has created campaign posters on social issues which are emotionally charged and investigates into the struggles of the people that have been brushed aside. -The art series Black, Orange and Freedom celebrates activists, jailed for attempting to enforce freedom and fairness, Afro black combs are arranged on an orange background to signify the imprisonment of activists during their struggle for freedom and equity. -Martins also created Global Warming an art series that showcased troubled wildlife to protest climate change.
Mira Malhotra (b. 1984)
-Has emerged as an important voice in the Indian design and illustration scenes and her work often is peppered with humor, satire, her deep love for color, and inspiration from objects around her. -She has an interest in the DIY culture, feminism, mental health, Indian culture, and independent music.
Rico Lins (b. 1955)
-Has forged a distinguished career creating work for print, film, new media and branding projects in Paris, London, New York, Rio de Janeiro and, presently, São Paulo. -Utilizing techniques from woodcutting and typography to the latest graphic resources, he has produced an extensive body of work for clients such as CBS Records, Time Warner, The New York Times, MTV and Le Monde.
David Tartakover (b. 1944)
-Is a graphic designer, political activist, and educator who specializes in visual communications on cultural themes. -He has a particular interest in the history of Israeli design and has curated several design exhibitions for the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Eretz Israel Museum.
Reza Abedini (b. 1967)
-Is recognized for his highly expressive typographic posters. -His works keep a modern theme as he blends traditional patterns, calligraphy and cultural symbols. -Abedini combines simple illustrations with poetic typography and elegant layouts, exploring the Persian language.
Neville Brody (b. 1957)
-Made his way into the public eye through his record cover designs and his involvement in the British independent music scene in the early 1980s. -Though Brody rejected all commercialization of his graphic style, his unique designs soon became much-imitated models for magazines, advertising and consumer-oriented graphics of the eighties.
Global Village, Marshall McLuhan
-Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher who coined the term "Global Village" in the 1960s. -It indicates mass consumption of images, media, and content by the global audiences. -It is the idea that people are connected by easy travel, mass media and electronic communications, and have become a single community. -McLuhan based his concept on the idea that cultures would focus on communicating and move towards personal interactions. -Global village has come to designate the dominant term for expressing a global coexistence altered by transnational commerce, migration, and culture. -Technology helps us connect and communicate in the Global Village and it plays a role in making the world a smaller place by bringing communities and businesses and clients and customers closer together.
Ikko Tanaka (1930-2002)
-Used shapes as the nucleus for his work. -During the 1950s, he assimilated many of the Bauhaus design traditions. -Two basic visual concepts in much of his work are grid structure and vibrant shapes of color. -Traditional Japanese motifs, including landscape, Kanze Noh theater, calligraphy, masks, and woodblock prints, are reinvented in a modernist design idiom in his works.
Yu Bingnan (1933-2020)
-Was one of the earliest practitioners of modern graphic design in China and an influential leader and teacher. -He comingled Chinese and European methodologies, laying the groundwork for the development of modern graphic design in China. -He inspired a generation of Chinese graphic designers by emphasizing the significance of traditional Chinese arts painting, and calligraphy as well as the principles "Western" design education.
Wang Min (b. 1986)
-Was the Director of Art Research Center for 2008 Olympic Games at CAFA. -Under his leadership, the Center had created the medal, the pictogram, the color system, the image and identity guidelines for the Beijing Olympic Games. -Min was concerned with the social importance of graphic design and focused his research efforts on an internationally standardized signage which included unique icon-based system for the Olympic Game.
Dan Reisinger (1934 - 2019)
-Widely focused on social and political issues and came from Colorists, Minimalists and Constructivists styles. -He designed iconic logos and posters that became part of the identity of many companies and public bodies, including the Habima national theater, El Al, National Insurance Institute and Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
Yuri Gulitov (b. 1964)
-Works in the field of poster design and has a unique style that is distinguished by dynamic expressions and elements of folklore. -Great energy spreads throughout his rough letters, typography, illustrations, and hand-made calligraphy.
Catherine Zask (b. 1961)
-Works with cultural institutions and private-enterprises. -Her powerful compositions and imaginative use of typography is stunningly bold and imaginative. -Zask works with letters that are building blocks of writing and communication and allows them to be free, poetic and musical.