Woody Pirtle - Milton Glaser

This is a poster by the artist Woody Pirtle (one of my favorite graphic designers). I was attracted for two reasons, as I said, Woody Pirtle is one of my favorite designers and I have fond childhood memories of the original poster.  The poster is entitled After Dylan and was done for the Dallas Society of Visual Communication announcing a lecture by Milton Glaser on the subject of plagiarism.  This poster is a "copy" of Glaser's famous poster from Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Album 1967.   Glaser designed the poster with Dylan's face in black silhouette, the famous rainbow swirled psychedelic hair, and the iconic Glaser font (Baby Teeth) at the base of the poster.  I grew up in the '60s and had older siblings in high school and college during the flower child era.  We had the Bob Dylan poster and album in the bedroom I shared with my sisters from the time I was seven until I was about ten when my sister who owned them went off to college.  Sigh...  I think the poster was pretty trashed ever before she took it to college.

For After Dylan, Pirtle used Glaser's aging silhouette  -  glasses, receding hairline, and all to illustrate the concept of plagiarism.  The audience for the piece would be people attending the interested in attending the lecture by Milton Glaser, the Dallas Society of Visual Communication and its followers, Milton Glaser fans, Woody Pirtle fans, and lovers of great graphic design.

The design style is psychedelic - Milton Glaser is one of the most famous designer of this underground graphic design style, along with Peter Max, Seymour Chwast, and Victor Moscoso.  This poster is typical of Glaser's style - telling a story using simple but strong illustrations. The design uses many of the principles that we discussed in class - unity, emphasis, visual rhythm, and balance.  Unity is created through the use of repetition of shape and color in the hair, the strength of the black silhouette, and the closure created by the edges of the poster and the silhouette.  Emphasis is created through by the black/white silhouette and the rainbow hair.  The thin, white glasses also stand out on the black.  A flowing visual rhythm is created by the hair - very smooth yet the colors are very vibrant.  The poster is highly balance through color in the silhouette, hair color, and placement & color of the title.  The typography is Glaser's own representational font he entitled Baby Teeth.  The rounded letters are almost circular - like the G but also angular with a wedge cut to create the center.  The E is created by a series of stair-steps.  Very interesting - a little bit Art Deco-ish. 

Check out Pirtle's website.  I love his sense of humor, application of his art to social causes, ability to engage his audience, and the broad scope of his work.  Amazing artist.

Source: http://www.pirtledesign.com/

fourty eight posters josef muller-brockman

This is the program guide for an exhibition of 48 posters by pioneer in the Swiss style of graphic design Josef Müller-Brockmann.  The audience for the work would likely be people who attended the installation and purchased the program.  And who wouldn't given the opportunity?!?  The showing opened May 27, 2004 which was after his death and I don't know who designed the cover of the program but it is definitely done in the Swiss style with a modern twist.  Some typical features of the Swiss style used in this piece include: asymmetric design;  mathematically constructed grid; use of tilted axes; visual & verbal information presented clearly; san serif typography flush left  leaving a ragged right margin; after Helvetica was designed  the Swiss used it almost exclusively; often use only lower case font; use of geometric shapes; repetition of shapes to create unity.

The modern twist?  It appears that the circles are actually cut out of the program.  I wish I could see the treatment of the inside.  The website (http://www.imagenow.ie/work/expression/fortyeight-posters-josef-mullerbrockmann.php) shows four of the inside pages but I want more.  And, oh, how I wish I could have seen this exhibit!

This is a highly unified and well-balanced piece.  Unity is created through the use of repetition of the colors of typeface (no doubt helvetica), the typeface itself, the three column grid, and the circular shapes. Emphasis is created in the title by size of the text and change in color of words Josef Müller-Brockmann, and the ever increasing circular pattern from the bottom right to upper left. The photography of the work is well done also with the lighting from the left illuminating the text and the reflection of on the surface of the table.

I love the colors used in the piece the burgundy, white, and light blue/gray engraved into the cover make a beautiful statement - soft, warm, peaceful.  My initial attraction to the composition was the idea of the cut-out circular pattern in the thick cardstock (cardboard?).   I also love the rhythm of the piece created by the circles - the off-center feel of the piece,  As I said earlier I love the Swiss Style and I feel that this is an excellent tribute to Müller-Brockmann. 

Subway Posters Score - Constructing Meaning

This chapter in the text was entitled Constructing Meaning and it included sections on Modernism and Postmodernism.  While taking Graphic Design History last fall, I discovered that I love the American Modernist Movement.  So, why not?

This is a poster designed by Paul Rand, an iconic American graphic designer in the modern style.  I found this poster on the MoMA website www.moma.com.  He has an amazing body of work from posters to corporate branding to packaging to books.  His website is www.paul-rand.com. This particular piece was commissioned in 1947 to advertise the NY subway system.  It attracted me because of the use of simple shapes, bright colors, asymmetric balance, and its overall happy effect.  Since the composition was designed in 1947 to advertise the NY subway system, I would guess it was designed to appeal to a broad audience to entice them to use the subway.

The artwork in this poster is made from overlapping circular and rectangular brush strokes in primary red, blue, and yellow, with green of a similar value (brightness) and black (smile and nose).  The shapes create a stick figure of a human.  The angled text is serif, all lower case in black.  The axis of the poster is tilted from lower left to upper right.  The logo is placed beneath the text 24 hours a day they never miss.   This piece is unified and balanced by color, shape, texture, and repetition.  The angles, colors, and sizes of the text boxes, and head also provide balance. 

The style of the piece is typical of Paul Rand who was the pioneer of the New York School.  His style was unique and distinctive portraying humor and straightforwardness.  He made use of many of the modernist techniques such as collage, tilted axes, typesetting, print setting, and other techniques that changed the look of graphic design.  He strongly believed that the audience should be an active participant in advertising - not just a passive onlooker - that the audience should make an intellectual connection between the artwork and the ideas being presented.  Intelligence should be awakened; the audience should invest, think. 

To quote Rand, "To design is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps to amuse.  To design is to transform prose into poetry."