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Project 5: Women’s Rights Campaigns Throughout History

Since the mid-nineteenth century, women in the United States have been fighting for their rights. From the right to citizenship, to the right to vote, to reproductive health and the fight for equal pay for equal work, women of various backgrounds have banded together to voice their opinions and demand fair treatment.

In the 1960s, a second wave of feminism began a new fight for the modern woman. The creation of The Commission of the Status of Women by President John F. Kennedy uncovered that the fight for equal rights was not over, and many women felt they were not treated equally and discriminated against in most areas of life, from the home to the workplace. In 1963, the book “The Feminine Mystique” was published by Betty Friedan. The book documented the various oppression middle-class women faced. It inspired many women to search for fulfillment outside of being a wife and a mother (Eisenberg).

Today, many are hesitant to call themselves feminists due to stereotypes and backlash. Some people feel the struggle is over and women need to “get over it.” Unfortunately, many injustices and unequal treatment still exist, from sexual harassment not being taken seriously to many far-right groups trying to take away abortion rights. Large and small scale problems still plague the everyday modern woman’s life all over the world. However, those that don’t keep silent are expressing their thoughts and opinions through various channels. Graphic designers and artists are bringing these visions to life through their work.

Perhaps the most well-known image of women’s rights is the “We Can Do It!” poster created by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for the manufacturing company Westinghouse Electric. The poster is considered propaganda to get people to join the workforce during World War II. Many women began working outside the home in manufacturing and other non-traditional jobs. However, this was not because of this campaign as the poster itself was intended to boost employee morale for Westinghouse Electric, not as a battle cry for women’s rights. In fact, it was hardly seen during this period. After the war ended, things went back to how they used to be and women were still expected to be homemakers. It wasn’t until the 1980s the image was rediscovered and became a symbol for feminism (Herold).

Although it was not the original intention, the poster is a strong symbol of women’s rights. Rosie the Riveter (there is controversy whether this supposed to be her name) rolls up her sleeve to show her strong bicep and clenched fist. She stares directly out at the viewer with one eyebrow raised. The colors are the patriotic red, white and blue, with a yellow background that makes Rosie pop out.. Her expression is serious but determined. The words “We Can Do It!” are a white, bold san-serif font in a dark blue speech bubble that take up a good portion of the top of the poster. Immediately the viewer reads these words and looks back down at Rosie’s face, then her fist and arm. It is a very powerful image because of this composition and strong use of type. In fact, although the painterly illustration style is dated, it is very modern looking with the san-serif font and minimal color palette and composition. Today, many variations of this poster have been created with the faces of various women taking the place of Rosie. This iconic design resurfaced and was repurposed to become an icon of empowerment and feminism, and rightly so. This image of a strong woman, although beautiful, is powerful. Rosie is not posing for the purpose of looking attractive, she is ready to get to work.

In 2013, UN Women launched a series of ads that showed real Google searches about women. The ad shows the Google search bar across the mouth of a photograph of an unknown woman, with beginning phrases such as “women cannot” or “women should” and shows a dropdown of Google’s autocomplete that would complete the search. The finished phrase suggestions are negative and sexist, showing previous real searches performed on the search engine. These searches were all taken from one day in March 2013. The ad campaign is called “The Auto Complete Truth” and was created for UN Women by Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai, an agency in the United Arab Emirates (“UN Women Ad”).

This ad campaign showcases the disgusting sexism and hatred of women displayed on the internet on a daily basis. Whether it is on popular social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or in specific circles on sites such as 4chan or Reddit, men (and, surprisingly, women as well) express their sexist opinions, troll, and brag about their real-life mistreatment of women. This particular campaign not only shows these actual searches made by real people, it does so in a dramatic and eye-catching way. A series of unique-looking women were photographed close up and in great detail. Their eyes all peer out at the viewer, challenging them. As mentioned, the search bar is over their mouths, as if they are reciting these auto-completed phrases themselves. Typography is small and minimal. A white phrase appears below the search bar that says the opposite of the auto-complete phrases. The UN Women logo and URL for their site are also small and white, placed in the bottom left hand corner of each ad. The small typography and the large, detailed photography contrast well to make drama and create a successful ad campaign.

After the election of President Donald Trump, people across the country were outraged and disgusted. Out of this disgust came the Women’s March on Washington, a large gathering of women and men marching the streets of DC and other participating cities across the country. It is said to be “one of the largest single-day demonstrations in recorded U.S. history” (Chenoweth). While many created their own signs on poster board, cardboard, or anything else they could find, artist Shepard Fairey created signs of his own, available to download and print for free on his website. Like “The Auto Complete Truth,” images are more powerful than words, in that faces of illustrated women - young and old and of various ethnicities - are displayed large and dramatically in the center of the composition (Abrams).

In the style of his 2008 Obama Hope posters, they are patriotic with their red and blue color scheme. Instead of white, Fairey uses a yellow tone that warms up each design. One of the posters features a young African American girl who is not looking straight on, but rather a three-quarters view. Her eyes still look directly out at the viewer with a stern, but powerful expression. Another poster shows a Muslim woman with an American flag hijab. Unlike the previous design, she is looking head-on at the viewer, head slightly turned down as if to challenge you. Interestingly, she is wearing bright red lipstick, and heavy eye make-up, which may go against her religion but still suggests she is strong in her faith but is still in charge of her body and choices. The last image shows a Latina woman. Unlike the other two, her expression is carefree and happy; she has a slight smirk and and isn’t making direct eye contact. Her hair blows in the wind and she wears a flower in her hair. This last image suggests that even though these horrible things are happening, we will not let it ruin our lives. On each design are the words “We The People” with a different phrase below that on each poster. The font is a strong, capitalized serif that provides a nice base - reminiscent to the words at the base of a monument for statue - for each illustration. The “We The People” portion is a dark blue and larger than the lighter, smaller phrase underneath. It coincides with the rest of the color scheme without distracting too much. What is successful about this poster series is that is shows three different women, not only in ethnicity or age, but in the way they are showing their feelings. Each represents the mixed emotions and feelings of uncertainty, anger, and pride the country felt after the election. Instead of displaying only anger or sadness, the subtle differences in the facial expressions of the women show varying levels of determination and a call back to the “We Can Do It!” attitude.

Throughout history, women have fought against discrimination and for gender equality with protests, conventions and art and design. The discussed ad campaigns, posters and illustrations have all served as visual representations of the opinions and thoughts of the members of these efforts. From “We Can Do It!” to the Women’s March on Washington, the effort is not dissipating and art and design will continue to be a large part of this social cause.

Works Cited

Abrams, Amah-Rose. "Shepard Fairey Releases 'We The People' Series." Artnet News. Artnet News, 20 Jan. 2017. Web. 01 May 2017.

Chenoweth, Erica, and Jeremy Pressman. "This is what we learned by counting the women’s marches." The Washington Post. WP Company, 07 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 May 2017.

Eisenberg, Bonnie, and Mary Ruthsdotter. "History of the Women’s Rights Movement." National Womens History Project. The National Women's History Project, 1998. Web. 01 May 2017.

Herold, David. "We Can Do It! The Story Of Rosie the Riveter." War History Online. N.p., 12 May 2016. Web. 01 May 2017.

"UN Women ad series reveals widespread sexism." UN Women. UN Women, 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 01 May 2017.

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Sabrina Ward Harrison

As a middle-schooler or even high-schooler, I would’ve fallen head over heels in love with Sabrina Ward Harrison’s work. Even though I feel a little old for it now, I still appreciate her compositions and the messy, scrapbook style.

I really appreciate the design above. Even though this is more of an art piece, design-wise I am trying to be more expressive and loose in my compositions, colors, etc in my work. The texture and vibe of her work screams “teenage girl” and while this may not appeal to some (i.e. non-teenage-girls), I can appreciate it having been there. Although it’s collage/mixed media, it feels like an oil painting to me.

I adore this above piece. The paint and scrap paper with the messy illustrations throughout and random words celebrate and satirize coming of age. 

Overall, I really enjoy her work and there is a lot to be learned from it not only as an artist but as a designer.

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Massimo Vignelli

Watching the documentary in class, I have to admit his work wasn’t my taste. However, I can appreciate the ingenuity of his work. Massimo (and his wife) streamline their work and focus not only on aesthetics but function as well. The cups and plates that stack together and look plastic are not something I would use in my own home, but they are interesting in their design. They remind me of Legos or something rendered for a video game; blocky and Fisher-Price-esque. Regardless of my opinion on what they look like, it is fascinating how they stack.

However, his redesign of the New York City subway system map is incredible. I can’t imagine the hours and frustration it took to not only organize it and make sense of it yourself, but make sure the average subway-goer can quickly get the information they need.

This is something I need to work on myself. I get overwhelmed when designing something that has a lot of information that needs to be exact, right down to the tiniest details. I can look up to Massimo as someone that knows how to successfully marry something that looks good with something that works well and is easily digestible for its viewers.

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Rudy VanderLans

Rudy VanderLans is a Dutch graphic designer. He and his wife,  Zuzana Licko, founded Emigre, an independent type foundry and magazine about graphic design. It was created when VanderLans became frustrated working under strict conditions at a daily newspaper. Licko began creating fonts on the then-new Mac. The two have different styles, with Licko created blocky type and VanderLans working on looser layouts for magazines.

It was difficult to find work that has Rudy VanderLans’s name on it only and didn’t include his wife as well. It’s a little disconcerting and I wonder how much credit she gets for work over her husband. Regardless, These two covers both show things I love and hate about this kind of work. The top has nice soft colors and interesting type clumped together in the middle-right of the composition. The bottom is ugly, but is attention-grabbing with the woman’s gaze staring out directly into your eyes. The high contrast also makes it more dramatic. I find it ugly because of the color choices, they remind me of night-vision. The jarring red title is also unpleasant coupled with the rest of the design. However, it does grab attention, which I’m sure is the purpose.

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User Escapism

The Future Movement of Graphic Design: User Escapism

As technology is constantly evolving and changing the way we live our every day lives, graphic design is evolving as well. Social media and online social interaction is taking over every facet of our existence, with people sharing everything about themselves online. This type of social interaction will not go away, at least not for a while. Graphic designers are already moving more toward interactive design. Beyond the laptop screen, 3D printing, virtual reality, and augmented reality are becoming more common. As the push to create our own worlds increases, the next graphic design movement I am predicting will be called User Escapism.

Scrolling through social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter, people - especially young people - are always taking and sharing photos and videos of themselves and their lives. Video-only sites such as Youtube provide a platform for an abundance of Youtube celebrities to play video games, show you how to wear make-up, cook food, build a house, or just talk about their everyday lives. While there are people with large followings on all of these platforms, there are even more thousands of regular people trying to grab attention and create their own followings.

We could look to gaming to add another layer of interaction. Virtual reality, or VR, is becoming increasingly popular in gaming. Although it only seemed like a passing fad, 3D movies were also big for a while. Watching a movie is not as interactive as VR, but even as a spectator the viewer feels closer to whatever world it is they are observing. Virtual reality gaming seems to be the next logical step further with our goal of entering a different world. This time, users can interact with it.

Combining social media, video, and the new trend of virtual reality interaction creates a new experience that not only gamers could be interested in. In the future, I predict we will be able to create and upload our own lives for other people to experience for themselves. Even though Google Glass fizzled, some sort of mobile phone technology will make it possible for people to connect a VR headset or something similar to a pair of glasses and use it to explore these user-created worlds. Of course, it wouldn't stop there. Businesses and advertisers will become interested in this new possibility.

Sites like Amazon are taking over the retail world. Interestingly enough, even though there is a trend toward experiencing reality, people don’t want to go out and actually do it. They want to experience life from the comfort and convenience of their own homes rather than travel to the mall to try on clothes or buy new electronics. As mentioned previously, businesses will be interested in this new phenomenon. A user will be able to “pick up” and try out products without leaving their home, whether through a headset, glasses, or some yet-to-be-invented device.

In graphic design, we are seeing a focus on video and photography more than ever. Most updated, modern websites have a large slider for a photo or a video. Throughout a website, large photos and videos accompany minimal typography to create a more inviting, immersive experience. It feels more human and real to have photos or videos of people experiencing whatever the website is about rather than reading walls of text about it with a small image thrown in. The connection between the user and the developer will have to be made through the graphic designer. User interfaces and user experience will have to be kept in mind as technology advances rapidly. Different levels of User Escapism will be prevalent. There will be simple interactions between a piece of paper and a mobile phone, to something as immersive as experiencing another country with a VR headset.

Although the dependance on print will decline, I see print design sticking around for quite a while. No matter how much we advance, there will be those that still want physical objects to interact with. After all, it is expensive for a business or a person to put all of their attention on something digital and risky to follow the next big trend. However, devices like Google Cardboard make it affordable and easy for average people to begin playing around with virtual reality. The user only needs their smartphone, cardboard (purchased as a kit or built on your own) and a pair of lenses (“Google Cardboard”). It might seem like a stretch to think the average person could walk around with some device like this on their faces, I predict the devices becoming more streamlined and subtle. And with Google making these devices affordable, they will become more commonplace.

Brochures, posters, and other materials can be interactive beyond ink and paper. Augmented reality offers a sort of opposite of virtual reality. The user will interact with something in the real world and then be able to explore further on their phone or other device. Again, user interface and user experience will be the job of the designer to not only make aesthetically pleasing, yet easy for the average person to use as well. Large, high-quality photo and video with vivid color and sound will accompany small amounts of text.

While this is all exciting, this movement will have its disadvantages. The argument since the rise of social media has been people are connecting to one another less and less and are more concerned with being on their phones or computers. This is one reason why I called the movement “Escapism,” a word that has negative connotations. As things progress, many will push back against it and fear for the future, as with any advancement in technology. Design-wise, print designers will become increasingly worried. Although I mentioned there being a connection between print and User Escapism, and the doubt that print will ever be completely obsolete, those that design primarily in print have reason for concern. As mentioned the aesthetics of this movement will be modern, clean, and streamlined. The past few years have seen a resurgence of vintage, handmade aesthetics. Those that prefer this type of design may be unhappy to see a more minimalistic focus.

The advantage of User Escapism as a designer - even if you are not designing the graphics or the interfaces - is that you could have the ability to preview your work in real space. For example, you could design a billboard and use a VR headset or similar device to view how it would look in real space. You could stand miles away, or be right underneath it and preview it in all angles before sending it off to print. Similar to how many websites have mock-ups or cover actions, you could pick up the brochure or poster and see it in real space. Print and interactive designers alike could benefit from this ability. As with all things, a bigger and better trend will come around. It is difficult to predict what sort of technology will take the place of User Escapism. On the other hand, it could be opposite. Even though things are becoming more technologically advanced and streamlined, there are the groups that are fighting against it and want to revert back to simpler times. Handmade type, nature-inspired designs and colors, and original illustrations could be trendy again. The User Escapism movement will die when people cycle through being consumed with the newest technology and yearning for the simpler things yet again. Technology is exponentially evolving and while User Escapism may be the next big design movement, it will end when average users and designers alike yearn to go back to the way things used to be. 

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Sanna Annukka

Growing up, British printmaker and textile designer Sanna Annukka would spend summers in Finland with her grandmother. While there she spent plenty of time outdoors. Sanna points back to these experiences as the main inspiration for her work. She is particularly drawn to culture and art of the indigenous Sami people of Lapland, an area encompassing the far north areas of Scandinavia. The patterns and mythology of other cultures around the world also make it into her designs (“About Sanna”).

Inn 1983, Sanna was born in Brighton, England. She studied illustration at the University of Brighton. The band Keane discovered her prints in a London shop and contacted her to do their album artwork. After this success, she joined the Marimekko team of designers where her work is sold as various housewares and prints. Along with Marimekko she takes on other clients and also has her own online store (“Sanna Annukka”). Despite the subject matter being nature, Sunna’s designs are generally geometric and pattern-heavy. In describing her own work, she says “My style is all about pattern. Simple, bold and folkloric” (Annukka).

“Sunset” is a screenprint. It features a thin rectangle with triangles and angular shapes that follow the edge of the rectangle, all leading up to the top of the print that has a white circle, indicating a sun. Although the patterns are geometric, there are curvilinear shapes as as well, representing hills, waves or another kind of landscape. At the bottom of the print are small triangle and circles, adding texture and detail. The colors are maroon, orange and a gold. White breaks up these colors and leads the eye back up to the sun. Overall, it is a successful, interesting design. The viewer immediately looks at the white circle at the top, then the two white curvilinear shapes directly below start the journey down to the bottom. It was a wise choice to leave the maroon area behind the sun a flat color rather than add more pattern, as it adds drama and a place to rest. My critique of this design is that the viewer isn’t sure what the area below the sun is. While I appreciate the abstraction, Sanna’s other work is a little more clear. The colors are also subdued. I think the gold could be a brighter, warmer yellow. Although the piece is entitled “Sunset,” it feels very cold. Arguably, she could be depicting the cold Arctic landscape she often does in her work, but the color choices are still dull.

“The Fir Tree” is a fairy tale written in 1845 by Danish author/poet Hans Christian Anderson. The story tells about a fir tree unable to appreciate living in the moment and always wishing for bigger and better things until it is too late (“The Fir Tree”). Sanna illustrated this entire book but unfortunately I could only find the cover artwork. The hardcover book is a solid bright green. A large and small tree stand side by side, each made out of a dark green triangle pattern. Gold foil triangles are mixed into the pattern as well, along with negative space shaped like birds’ heads. To the top right of the two trees is a gold foil sun, made out of triangles arranged around the center of the circle. The smaller tree has tiny dots making stripes horizontally along its length. The design as a whole has a limited color palette. The lighter, bright green and the dark green emphasize the story being about a fir tree, even before you read the story. The gold adds a grand, festive feel which is appropriate for a very old fairy tale. The use of any more color or anything other than green would be ineffective. Considering the brightness of the green, other colors would vibrate and clash. The gold is striking, even in its limited use as a third accent color. The sun does not have anything to do with the story but it adds another compositional element and the cover would be empty without it. The font choice for the title has interesting thick and thins that serve as a nice base to the tree illustrations, negating the need for tree trunks or a horizon line. The thin, small caps text of the author and illustrator’s name’s does not take away from the rest of the illustration or the title and was an appropriate choice. Overall, the design of the book cover is successful, with appropriate color and composition choices considering the subject matter of the story.

The album art for the British band’s “Under the Iron Sea” album kickstarted Sanna’s career. Years ago when I saw this album artwork and knew nothing about the band I was drawn to it because of the swirling, organic shapes of the sea monsters/horses and their bodies playing off the shapes of the waves. The cool ocean colors work well. The very dark blue, almost a black, represent an angry and stormy sea effectively. The smallest sea monster with its teals and greens give the entire design depth, as the larger the monsters get the darker the colors and the darker monsters are in the back. This particular creature is also closest to the front and breaks up the large, overbearing shapes of the rest of the creatures, preventing them from becoming one large blob. Three of the dark monsters have red eyes, which are distracting and my least favorite part of the design. The red, although very small parts, is still too much. It would be interesting to see the eyes be the teal or green of the smallest sea monster, which would draw the eye around the design more. The white dots for the other monsters’ eyes are repeated in the bubbles and foam of the waves. There needs to be another cluster of these dots in the bottom middle or bottom right to break up the waves a bit more. The patterning on the monsters helps make up for this. The inside sleeve of the album has an interesting pattern with the turtle/fish creatures and the missile shapes. The pattern is disconnected from the subject matter of the album cover at first glance. However, the design in the center of the record works well and connects these two elements. The viewer can imagine the fish/missiles coming from the sky and disrupting the more uniform wave pattern on the front cover and turning it into the chaos on the record itself.

“Kultakero” is a textile design created by Sanna Annukka for the Marimekko site. It features rolling magenta and red hills with the silhouettes of fir trees against a deep plum background. A gold, orange and plum stripe pattern that reflect the shape of the hills break up the dark colors. A horizontal uneven stripe pattern also breaks up the space and adds texture and interest. The horizontal stripes add contrast to the triangle-shaped fir trees. Although there is a lot of pattern and detail going on in the piece, the dark plum adds a sense of calm. As seen in her other work, Sanna doesn’t let the use of pattern make her designs cold and stiff. The imperfections in the lines and shapes give it life and add to its handmade quality, even though it is a mass-produced fabric in this case. Looking closely, each cluster of horizontal stripes is different from one another. However, the small dot pattern, gold stripes and the trees are exactly the same throughout the design. This piece would be more successful if all the elements were slightly different, like the horizontal stripe motif, and had variations instead of being exact copies.

“Nomadimaa” or “Nomad Land” is a two-color print that utilizes negative space as well as detailed patterning dark, solid shapes. The sun in the top left corner and a few hatched stripes below it is the only orange (and color besides black for that matter) in the entire design. Any other use of color, even the orange, would make break the solid composition of the piece and add confusion. While the compact design is a lot to take in at first, the more time you spend looking the more you will see the patterns and the negative space surrounding make up animals such as the horses and birds. The small trees in the top right make a horizon line with the activities of the wildlife taking place below. The small, thin hatching adds a great deal of texture, but the solid black shapes keep it from taking over. Sanna is a master of utilizing great deals of detail and texture without hindering legibility of the scene, and it is prevalent in this piece. The shapes and patterns have a combination of sharp and curved edges. The curved lines such as the horses’ necks repeat the shape of the sun throughout. This piece is successful because again, Sanna uses pattern but adds imperfections to keep it looking handmade and human. What could be a chaotic and confusing piece is expertly organized into a successful composition because of Sanna’s placement of pattern and shape.

Sanna Annukka’s illustrations are works of art on their own but also work well when applied to textiles and housewares. In each design, Sanna brings the landscape and culture of Finland and combines it with carefully-considered detail and patterning as well as interesting color palette to add life and uniqueness to any application.

Works Cited

"About Sanna." Sanna Annukka. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. < https://www.sanna-annukka.com/pages/about-us>

"Sanna Annukka." Finnish Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. <http://finnishdesign.com/sanna-annukka/>

Annukka, Sanna. Interview with Catherine Lazure-Guinard. Nordic Design. Nordic Design, 2011. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. <http://nordicdesign.ca/profile-sanna-annukka/>.

"The Fir Tree." Hans Christian Andersen: The Fir Tree. Zvi Har'El, 13 Dec. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://hca.gilead.org.il/fir_tree.html>.

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Jan Tschichold

Jan Tschichold was born in Germany in 1902. He and his wife escaped Nazi Germany and fled to Switzerland.

Originally, he was interested in Modernist design, and wrote several books about design, book making and typography. He later denounced his writings about Modernism and earlier designs saying they were too authoritarian.  Jan created many typefaces and is now known as one of the most influential. Growing up, his father was a sign painter and Jan himself was trained in calligraphy. He worked at Penguin Books and established parameters for the layout and typesetting of each book. During his time at Penguin he redesigned over 500 books. 

After years of work, Jan finished the Sabon typeface. It was created to be “the” body copy font of choice that could be replicated by multiple different machines. The bold and italic variants take up the same space at the normal version, which was a plus at the time. The font is narrow and takes up less space than other similar serifs.

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Erik Spiekermann

Erik Spiekermann is a German graphic designer. He made a living initially by running a letterpress printing press in his basement and eventually freelancing. In the late 80s, he began FontShop, the first digital font distributor which still exists today. He is known for his typeface creations.

His most well-known font is FF Meta. The letters are narrow, but have the same line thickness throughout. The letters are clean, but have a slight handmade feel, reminiscent of someone not lifting the pen up entirely as they were writing. From italic, to thin to bold, the typeface works in a variety of settings. There can be a lot of interest and variance created within one design by using the same typeface.

ITC Officina Sans was designed in the 90s. Some of the letters are more satisfying than the others. For example, the capital M has slightly varied line thickness that draws the eye upward from the thick base. The lowercase y bothers me because it doesn’t connect smoothly like the other letters. There is too much of a separation. Like the FF Meta, there are slight serifs on the ends but they are more rigid and less organic.

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Paul Rand

Paul Rand was a graphic designer/art director active in the early-mid 20th century best known for his logos. He began to get recognition when he was in his early 20s, creating brand identities and magazine covers. 

His most famous corporate identity he created was the IBM logo.

The eight horizontal bars and the serif font pair well together. The logo is interesting and has a lot of texture, despite representing a tech company, which you would expect to be clean and cold. The serifs give the logo weight and interest, as the bars extend beyond the normal lines of the letter if it were san serif.

This logo for abc is soft and friendly, but not childish. The round letters each have a main circle shape that is repeated by the black circle that encompasses the letters. Overall, the logo represents the type of programming the channel airs and is almost ahead of its time. The simplicity of it and the use of a san serif font make it look like it was created today.

I am drawn to this poster Paul Rand created, and something I see emulated today. The flat, collage-like illustration (an orange covered in snow) is minimalistic and effective. The type conveys the necessary information (what, when and where) and no extra decoration, but is still interesting enough to grab attention of those passing by.

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Paula Scher

As a young woman entering the field, Paula Scher is a huge inspiration to me. Until I watched Abstract’s episode of her, I didn’t know much about her and her contributions to the design world.

Watching the creation of this Citi logo was mesmerizing. It’s so simple, but I never realized the story behind it and how it is a conglomeration of two other logos. Its clean lines that are all the same width give it presence. 

This design is overwhelming and not my taste necessarily, but having the text boxed or separated by lines helps organize the chaos. The red and yellow are difficult to read together, which I am sure is the purpose. It is meant to be crazy and overwhelming and it certainly grabs attention. The image of the man breaks up the space, as well as the large “public” along the left edge.

This minimalistic album cover is very pleasing. The primary colors make everything pop out. The type in the top right corner plays off of the white in the bun and adds balance. Even though the illustration takes the majority of the page, there is not much to read and it is easier to look at.

Overall, her designs are varied and something I aspire to.

[mebell01]

Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister is a graphic designer (born 1962) that lives and works in New York City with he and Jessica Walsh’s agency Sagmeister & Walsh. In his teens he worked on a magazine and discovered he enjoyed making layouts more than writing articles and went to school for design. Sagmeister is known for his album covers.

This Rolling Stones cover has a strange illustration that takes over the majority of the cover. However the typography plays off of the theme and has a handmade feel to it and the band name + album name are pushed to separate bottom corners so the illustration is the main focus. The entire design is “epic” and “grand,” similar to other 90s hard rock album covers.

This Ok Go album cover contrasts heavily to the Rolling Stones one. The style is obviously complete different, with flower collages and a pasted on template of a car. The type is placed in the corner again so the illustration is the main focus. This album was released in the early 2000s. I am not a huge fan of the large white car in the center of the design; the entire thing is pretty ugly but it does offset the multicolor flower pattern.

Even though it is difficult to read the information on this poster, it still grabs your attention with the humorous “chicken with its head cut off” image. Even without the word “hurry” (made with chicken feet?) it’s obvious the message its conveying is one that the viewer needs to move quickly to do whatever they need to do. The sketchy type fits the haphazard narrative and feel of the design. Smushing all the type to the side is a good move because it gives breathing room to the left of the chickens.

[mebell01]

Josef Mueller Brockmann

Josef Mueller Brockmann was a graphic designer active in the early-mid 20th century that mostly used Swiss International Style. He used minimalism and white space and conservative sans serif type. His use of color was limited and normally only used black or grays and one or two other colors. 

His most well-known work was the above for Zurich Town Hall. The swirling black shapes lead the eye to the bottom left of the page where there is more information. Everything is lowercase, which gives a casual and subdued feel that matches the black and white theme. From afar, this design is eye-catching as the copy is small and the viewer mostly sees the white shape made by the surrounding black shapes.

In this instance there is a tan background that warms up the entire design. Again there is lowercase type arranged at the bottom of the page, giving the main illustration/shapes precedence. There is little type hierarchy besides placement. One section is bold but all is the same size.

Compared to the previous, this poster has a bright blue background compared to the previous black, white, and tan. There is small type against the edge of the page but there is also large type in various sizes instead of an illustration or shapes. It is also minimalistic.

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Lucian Bernhard

 Lucian Bernhard was a German graphic designer born in 1883 and was active throughout the early 20th century. Lucian created a lot of advertising work and his most known work or launching point in his career was for Priester Match Company. 

This design is very minimalistic, but effective. The primary colors contrast against the brown background. It’s obvious that matches are the product being advertised and that Priester is the company that is selling them. It’s simple and to-the-point, maybe just like the product itself. There are no values or shadows, which in my opinion is a good thing because I feel it would just muddy up the simplicity of the design. 

Lucian moved to New York City in the early 20s to work in advertising. American advertising at the time was overly-complex and “saccharine,” as the AIGA website describes it. Lucian tried and failed to simplify it, much like the Priester ad above. Unlike other designers I have written about so far, Lucian was referred to himself as apolitical, noting that, again according to AIGA, he “was a doer, not theorist or an ideologue.” This outlook on life was reflected in his designs.

These two above are obviously very similar to the Priester ad. We know what they’re selling and each design shows the product and then the brand name. There are 3-4 colors used in each. While I can’t stand to look at the red and blue of the Bosch ad, it does catch your attention.

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Tibor Kalman

According to the AIGA website, “When Tibor sold a ‘design’ to a client, he did not hype a particular typeface or color, but rather how the end result would simultaneously advance both client and culture.” Tibor was very conscious of not just how a design looked aesthetically, but how it affected the culture. For example, the apparel company Espirit won an award for design but Tibor protested because they exploited their Asian laborers that manufactured the clothing.

During meetings, if a presenter was boring or went on too long, he would stop them by playing a recording of barking dogs. Obvious, Tibor didn’t play around and he took design - the entire process, not just the finished result - seriously. He was a political activist up until his death and his designs reflected this.

For example, Tibor became the editor-in-chief for Colors magazine, a publication aimed at young people of all varieties that concerned itself with relevant issues of the day. In this particular instance, Colors ran a “What If” article that swapped races of famous celebrities and political figures. 

In this magazine cover, Tibor plays with type and image to give contrast to the two images; one of a man soaring in the area and the other with his head in the dirt or “eating the street.” Even though I have no idea what the context is, the difference between the two images gives the idea of being stuck in the ground and the freedom of flying through the air.

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Armin Hofmann

Armin Hofmann is a Swiss graphic designer and developed the Swiss International Style. He uses a lot of black, white and shapes in his work. He also uses type as shapes to create interesting compositions, distorting it to create interest and texture.

Armin used image in this example, but it’s not the main focus. I immediately look at “Giselle” on the left, and then follow the text above to the ballerina. She is not a stark white, and it adds a nice balance to the composition without being overbearing. Much of his work uses a lot of black. Sometimes a pop of color is used for the focal point. 

I really admire this design, with the complex geometric symbol in the center and the simple type surrounding it. It is effective, but not “too much.” Even though there is a smooth black background, it is interesting to look at. 

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Chip Kidd

When I Google a designer, I usually come across a lot of images of their work. Instead, I come across this guy’s punchable face first thing. I hate to say it, but I feel like his personality is more of a gimmick. It distracts me from his actual work. Even adding “graphic designer” to his name in the Google search still comes up with his Dreamworks eyebrow raise + smirk. 

I digress. It’s just very distracting. His work is very bold, with lots of contrast and bright colors. He has done many book covers. Each seem to feature something large as the main focal point - sometimes a large photo or large typography. 

For example, this book cover features both. There is a large, hot pink mouth and bold type. The white background adds contrast and you immediately look to the center. On a bookshelf at Barnes and Noble, this would catch your eye. Even though I know nothing about the book, I can assume what it would be about.

Overall, his work is decent. I appreciate what he’s doing. It’s all very eye-catching. I feel the point of his work is to catch the consumer’s eye and sell as many copies of the books as possible. Personally, when I am book shopping I avoid books with covers like these. It usually means the book is pulpy.

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April Greiman

According to the AIGA website, April Greiman was one of the first designers to recognize the computer as a design tool. Along with experimenting with new technologies, April takes risks with other aspects of design. She stretches, distorts and layers typography, going off the usual grid. Her colors clash and don’t go together. It’s beautiful in an ugly sort of way. You could never call her work boring.

This cover for Wet magazine combines a whole bunch of weird nonsense. After looking at it for a while you stop seeing the random items (fish, flower, creepy mask/doll face) and see them as elements on the page that flow together to create a cohesive composition. Solid colors aren’t enough; there are patterns of dots and gaudy textures and clouds thrown in. Your eye follows the diamond in the middle to the fish that’s blasting off into space. 

The rest of her work that I’ve seen share this style. Normally, I don’t like this sort of thing but it works and it’s satisfying to look at, even if by the definitions of most people it’s considered ugly. Every time I look at her work there’s something new I’ve never seen before.