Semiotics

Check out my take on semiotics ... can you see meaning beyond this visual?

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http://www.behance.net/khushbupatel

Vernacular Typography

Vernacular means the day to day things, the everyday. It’s like dialect it comes naturally. E.g. hand painted signs, signatures, graffiti and all type/lettering that surrounds us in the everyday environment.  

A good example of an artist which puts vernacular typography into practice is So-Me. So-me is a Persian-French artists; his style took dominance over the late 80s and early 90s. Creating graphic designs, websites and animations for a range of clients; also being the art director for the Ed Banger Record, where he created some of his most iconic pieces. 

His style is very energetic, colour clashing, quirky, has a minimal palette of colours and has its unique, hand drawn vernacular typography. His work taking into consideration quick ideas, semiotics, history, referencing, balance text, voice, tone of voice etc. With his mixture of handwritten type and inputs of small graphic imagery they all complement each other and balance out the image as a whole. All dramatic yet legible and it is clear to recognize his graphic style.

It is clear to say that his is influenced from posters in the 60’s, the pop movement and graffiti culture. He’s also looked at fine art portrait artists; taking things and changed things around. He does a lot of referencing in his work, looks at forms of classic communications and takes it to a new modern approach.

Through his works you can also see relations to commercial logos, movies and games; I guess how this is adding to his personal likes, dislikes and influences to his work. (he uses the Disney typeface for another word) But also at the same time as doing this he is stimulating further thought for the viewer making them reflect on consumerism.

So-me’s style was so popular he was commissioned by Nike to print his style on a trainer and commissioned by Kanye West to create his music video.  His style is still very influential today: looking at current advertisements like virgin media’s u can see some of the key relations and styles which So-Me uses.

It is clear to say that so-me’s unique style is very strong and no matter what platform or media he puts it on it screams his unique approach to visual design. From trainers, to music videos his visuals are powerful and exaggerate so-me’s bold technique.
I recommend all designer to look into some more of So-me: his imagery is truly graphic, from his approach, to imagination, bold and consistent style!

Below are some of the musice videos so-me has produced!

JUSTIC – D.A.N.C.E

 KANYE WEST – good life

Vernacular typography I feel can relate to the commercial brands which use particular typography, as the style has become so iconic that people instantly recognise it even if it is used for a different word. Shows how consumerism works through particular typeface recognition. Therefore the script/type has become an everyday and like a dialect to that brand itself.

Myths...

Roland Barthes was an artist which particularly focused on myths, myths of society, culture, aspirations. He makes us look at the things we accept as being normal and natural; reflecting upon the things we take for granted, the things which happen daily. Overall unmasking the signs, symbols and signals of language of the mass culture and commenting on how unrealistic these myths really are.

Myths are unchallenged beliefs, invented stories, ideas and concepts. Barthes wanted to challenge beliefs and myths that had become believable within society and reveal signs and symbols of mass cultural language.
 

This is one of Roland Barthes images: it’s about the French colonialism in Nigeria - sends a political message, things have been completely filtered out.  Entailing the idea of myths that everything was okay and this was reality when in fact it is a complete contradiction to what was going on.


Below I will talk about how myths have become such an influential part of our lives; through advertising, packaging and overall consumerism. The aspects which make us subconsciously allow us to trust in a brand/people and what they claim to do.

In cleaning products there are several myths, but mostly in soap adverts/packaging  there are some of the most expressive in myths, entailing things from cleanliness, natural, life enriching properties to spirit cleansing and making you wild. Some of the craziest allegations to a simple bar of soap! Its not just the imagery on them and the words written but also the packaging itself gives a particular property to the soap; e.g. corrugated card, brown paper, string, hessian all suggest natural substances, creating an organic, pure myth. Instantly its adds value, and expensive handcrafted look which we find desirable and buy into.

In advertising of the beauty department is where we can find myths are most used, enforcing that their product creates purity and perfection. This which makes several of us women/men buy into the products but also influence what we strive to be like in society. The myths with the intention of making people to strive for the same glamorous look that is communicated on the advertisements.
Air brushing images creates that unrealistic image and myth of beauty which all men and women strive for. Several of these ‘myth’ holding imagery which have been obviously airbrushed have been banned; due to the misleading and over exaggerating the ability of the products.

Overall it is clear to say almost everything can make a suggestion and it is so inspiring to see the amount of myths that are hidden in the everyday objects/ advertisements; whether it is about outstanding complexion to cleanliness, life enhancement and magical properties it holds.  All encouraging us to buy into that particular brand or product over others. Whether these myths are but into practice ten years ago or today it is clear to say that myths are one of the most powerful forms of enforcement to believing into a brand/product.

Issue Artists

This week I’m looking at some older artists which dealt with different issues, from political, feminist etc all which have changed the world perception on issues.  All dealt in very  different ways, from interactions to larger letter projections.

Adrian Piper an artists from New York artists who started in the early 70s. She was a conceptual and performance artist, she based her work on the street, interacting with people and seeing their reactions. She dealt with radical, feminist, identity and political issues. Her main concept was talking of invisibility, even difference can make you invisible. Thinking about that concept now and then; it is clear to say that people are so commercialised and wanting to be the same that its just common, peoples identity is being swallowed up. She has created pieces that render issues related to racism, xenophobia and harshly realistic issues; they are issues which she has been through herself, making her work even deeper and personal! She uses photographs, text, books, installations, drawings etc.

Jenny Holzer was an artist from the early 70s, she spoke on behalf of the public; questioning capitalism, emphasized opinions and worked with truisms. A Truism is a statement of something so obvious or self-evident as to be hardly worth mentioning.
Using mass media techniques, she screamed what the public were thinking, screamed these truisms; creating bigger, bolder, brash statements of thought. She speaks from several perspectives, giving a 360 view, catching all eyes, provoking different thoughts, starting debates and really being the voice of the people. Even thought opinions may be contradictive to each other she speaks on behalf of everyone; the victim, the perpetrator and the observer.
It is said that jenny has been influenced by the work of artists Mark Rothko. Rather than using paint and colours to express different views and contrasts she uses words.
 Her work makes us reflect on the current signage today, are we really being informed better with them?  Are they really giving us a view and additional information we don’t already know? She not only makes us look at the words but the visual language and the projection of it.
All of her installations are projected in different ways, creating abstract shapes and forms to the lettering and meanings itself. From projection on t-shirts, buildings to on rooms and rivers; all showing how truly experimental you can be when projecting simple statements.

Similarly to these artists there are also several others which have dealt with political, public issues and exposed people’s views through their work; artists like Barbra Kruger who was also around and that time but also modern artists like Andres Senerrio and graffiti artist Banksy. All of which have provoked thought/opinions in a unique way and influenced the way we think and reflect upon works and imagery presented to us today!

Creative Revolution

The creative revolution from 1954 – 64 was the start of a whole new generation of communication and visualisation of a product/services advertisement.  Creating a form, beauty, concept and idea for communication with the audience. There were a few key people in this revolution, Bill Bernbach, Helmut Krone and Doyle Dane Bernbach; both of which I will talk about below.

Before the creative revolution there were commercial artists who stuck and worked to one formula for designs. Keeping an image squared to the top, having a headline describing the image, a logo at the bottom, small three column text and an image showing the all American dream, keeping a very male dominated focus etc. The imagery was very basic and undemanding yet simplicity can be good sometimes; as it did sell!

Bill Bernback was one of first to start the revolution; knowing that himself and the public knew the advertisements were depicted of lies; he acted upon it.  He brought the idea to the revolution; made it clear that its key to have idea or concept otherwise there’s no communication.  Starting with his very bold VW car advertisement; cutting out the all American dream and switching it with a small cropped image. The’ think small’ campaign was a revolutionary idea, consisting of large amount of white space, a cropped image, and a very different concept. The idea of ‘think small’ – shows that it is affordable, uses less petrol etc; but also being a slight insult to the Americans, telling them to think rather than their big thought.

Helmut Krone another at the forefront of this revolution, he was also part of the VW brand advertisements. With his rule breaking concept of; not having headlines, no logos, no product, lots of white space, headlines as captions mixing up the rules. But the idea and execution of the advertisement itself exaggerated quality and understanding of audience. It is clear to say that his concepts were a breaking point and all of the designs are still being used 40 years late and talked about today!

Doyle Dane Bernbach understood his audience, targeted a particular and made the communication simple. He went beyond the obvious American dream and took a risk. His work uses wit to reflect on the image used, rather than state the obvious, creating an obscure outlook on advertisements of a product.  Looking through his imager it is clear to say he found what wasn’t being done and acted on it, this which we should all be trying to act on today.

Looking at the creative’s in this revolution it is clear to say they broke the rules and their styles, concepts and idea have all been influential on today’s advertisements. There revolutionary ideas have shaped the way we choose to approach an idea. Now knowing of all these concepts and revolution breakers I will definitely take them into consideration and help them to influence the way I think and choose to advertise in the future.



Visual Language

A visual language is a method of communication, a visualisation of speech and language. It is the form to speech, a type and preservation to a visual story. Just as people can verbalize their thinking they can visualize it too. The sheer amount of visual languages and forms preserved today is as of the global village we are sitting in today.

Just as maps and painting are examples of visual languages; so are musical notation, and the different languages script e.g. English, Arabic, Chinese, and Sanskrit. The beauty that someone has had to created these shapes, all with particular features to make particular sounds and pitches; that we are learning and passing on to thousands around the world!

All of the different shapes and forms which make a language are truly unique and without them over the years we would not be able to tell a story or play a piece of music. If it wasn’t for visualisation of language and creation of form; every story, music piece, day-to-day language would be morphed like a game of Chinese whispers.

Through more foreign languages like Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese we find that they create transliteration. This is no matter what accent you have the visual form, with its verbs, asterisks and sheer detailing it all can be written and when someone reads it they will pronounce it in that accent.

It is too often that we just use write these letter formations and don’t admire how much they really make a difference in our lives today. Even though people may just look at the shapes without any meaning; the inner beauty of just the shapes carrying a story and reading out as a story, for people to understand over thousands of years makes the visual languages so beautiful!

After being inspired by this formation of language; I remembered a favourite artist of mine which creates a visual language through his typography.  Luke Lucas interprets meaning into his letter forms; giving them deeper and more literal means. Overall adding striking, beauty and strength to the word used; as well as adding visual pleasure to the commissioned brief.       

Information Design

Information design is designing communication to inform, to make information easier to understand and making complex information clear and simpler. Overall creating an efficient yet effective and enjoyable information. It is a non traditional approach; it’s not just pie charts and bar charts; it is integrating images and visual design to what starts off as heaps of text or statistical information

You find information design everywhere; some of which you may not realise but there has been such thought process and development before being published. Some include: Maps, Broachers, menus, Recipes, packaging, bus stop timetables, instruction manuals etc.

When creating and evaluating design/graphic communication there are several factors you must consider and assess to assure the success of the imagery. Without evaluating and assuring these key elements have been taken into consideration, everything would just be a huge jumble and frustrate the viewers: the last thing any designer would want.  These key aspects are:
Grouping information:  assuring that the lines, spacing, columns are clear and define each section of the layout. This creates a clearly formatted and breathable piece for viewer to indulge.

Consistency: creating a formal/informal language appropriation to the layout or typography. Ultimately decided upon depending on the audience, tone of voice and message you are trying to get across.  

Typography:  Ultimately the type must be legible for the audience, putting inplace headings and sub headings if needed. The type chosen must also be appropriate for the audience, topic or message it trying to convey, enhancing and defining the message.

Grid Structures: Although pushing the boundaries and thinking one step ahead is what we are taught to do; the information and graphics much be clear, consistent and navigate from one place to the other. There are several aspects we must think about to assure cleanliness of the design for example; margins, gutters, columns, relevancy of imagery.

Graphic elements: Whether it be adding bullet points, icons, pictograms, illustrations, shapes, lines etc they all enhance the visual pleasure and consistency of the page. As people say, one picture can paint a thousand words.

Spacing: Different ranges of spacing create different tones of voice to a piece of design. Whether it is all tightly packed together, have lots of white space or positive and negative spacing etc. You must also take into consideration legibility of spacing for type, because if it is tightly packed together in a small, times new roman font, are people really going to bother reading it?

Visual Hierarchy: Creating a visual hierarchy will lead then viewer around the canvas, adding structure to the page. There are several ways to create a hierarchy within a piece of design: type, size, weight, colour, spacing, lines etc. A good example to give is hierarchy of comics!

A few information designers I’ve found to be truly inspirational and really give that additional knowledge and understanding to the graphics are:

Neville Brody: it is clear to say that Neville is one of the more experimental information typographers, breaking boundaries and challenging the type, layout and structure. A style which can be used on posters, t-shirts or magazines rather than on a piece of packaging etc.                                            

Otto Neurath: has created a series of isotypes and was one of the first to start the notion of information design in a visual way. We can see the simplicity in his ideas yet they all created a defined statement!

                                              
Richard Saul Wurman: has given us 5 ways of categorising helping us to understand the notion of organisation within a piece of information and graphics: LATCH: L-Location, A-Alphabetical, T-Time, C-Category, H-Hierarchy. A short film he has created which talks about each of these in more depth!