RockBlog

I have been noticing how nature plays a part in the design of many things, especially interior design. People are trying to bring the outdoors inside. Examples come from Pallas Textiles in Green Bay, Wisconsin. www.pallastextiles.com The Ode to Blossfeldt Collection under Healthcare Upholsteries and Wall Coverings under WallPapers are just two of the collections that use natural elements for inspiration.

In another class (theatre) I saw a video about the making of the play "Miss Saigon." For the most part, I wasn't thrilled, except for a part about the design of the poster. It has what looks like a "Kanji" type character over a sun. Actually it isn't a "kanji" at all. It is a very stylized drawing of a helicopter, and it back part of the helicopter is a womans face. I thought it was a great design. It cursive "kanji" thing imparts a lot of information...far east, asia, romance, etc. and the placement of the womans face to look as if she is part of that, and at the same time, being left "behind" is a really good design. I know the design is pretty old (1988) but I thought it was worth mentioning.

The most interesting thngs i have noticed recently in visual culture is how graphics and special effects in movies have gotten amazing. I found examples from the movie Lord of the Rings that are cristle clear, you almost can even tell that they're computer animated. Ill bring the examples into class on wednesday.

Whle watching tv, scanning through recent design magazines, and surfing the web, I have noticed an increase in the pattern work graphic designers have been using. Like Gina said before me, many of the patterns incorporate organic shapes and a sense of nature. Another aspect of the designs I noticed was the repetition of geometric shapes. Whether it be in a collage or pattern, there are numerous geometric designs. I've also noticed an increase in collage work. Many of the collages are mixing images that you would not think have any thing in common but makes sense when put together. One magazine in which I found all of these things was Metropolis. You can look up the most recent work at WWW.METROPOLISMAG.COM Another good magazine to look at is Archive. It's a magazne full of ads, TV and Posters world wide. Check it out at WWW.LUERZERSARCHIVE.COM

There are a few different things I've been noticing about the recent graphic design culture. One thing is that many people have their own digital cameras and computers to crop and edit pictures, so the photography profession seems to be decreasing. Also, the differences in paintings, photos, and digital images are becoming harder and harder to tell apart. Just one of many that I found online is “Bedrock� by Rick Spix. This piece almost seems like it could be a painting. It seems that the variety of line structure could have been created by pencil, and the different tones of color could have been created with a paintbrush. However, looking closer at the piece, the preciseness of the line quality would be difficult to capture with just a pencil. It seems there has been some resurgence in the use of more simplistic colors recently. For example, artists and companies have been using more basic colors such as black and white, sepia tones, or just a few colors to illustrate the piece. Rick Spix uses different shades of gray and a natural greenish color in this piece. Lastly, companies using advertising such as Cover Girl or Abercrombie and Fitch have turned more towards natural, traditional, or old-fashioned techniques to sell product and catch the viewer’s attention. I’ll bring pictures in tomorrow.

Lately I have noticed graphics have become so advanced that it is difficult to distinguish what is real and not. Images have become so flawless where the work in photography almost seems meaningless. I have noticed trends with more classic designs. There seems to be more ornate patterns, bold texts, more use of blacks and whites, but the use more jewel/jem hues. I think a lot of designs are trying to develop a more retro vibe.

There are two main themes that I have noticed when it comes to design. The first is the use of pattern. The mixing of these patterns has created a new sense of freedom. Really at this point anything goes.
The second thing that I noticed was the incorporation of more organic ideas. We see more trees, flowers, and animals than we have in the past. We see more browns and greens as well. One place where I really began to see this trend was in the snowboard industry.

Ever since the first day of class I have been tring to pay more attention to the graphic arts world, and the things that I have noticed are related to movies and games. I haven't played many video games in like 4 or 5 years, at least anything that is new. What I have noticed is the amazing jumps in the realistic quaility of games and movies. One movie or series of movies that amazed me was the lord of the rings.

I have noticed for the last couple of years that our generation is easily influenced by commercials that show something that looks sleek and new or sounds cool, as well as when the product is associated with something unusual or out of the ordinary. New car ads by honda and toyota's scion lineup fit this discription. One of my friends showed me a honda ad that i found to be simply amazing. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/honda-ad.html

I have noticed a trend toward a lot of variety, and a lot of vintage elements being brought back. Many patterns and randomness are becoming popular, as well as more vivid colors. A lot of 1980s-esque ideas are coming back in a madernized way. Earth-tones and worn-looking designs have been a common element for some years now, but are still very prevalent. Especially amongst clothing. People these days have very short attention spans. So things need to be very catchy to be seen at all. interesting enough to keep attention Simple enough to deliver the message quickly. There is a vast variety of styles today. I think that this is partly because of a huge increase in usage of intentional design. Designs are shifting more from "digital" or computer-loooking styles of the 80's and 90's into more organic and free-form design.

In the snowboarding and skateboarding magazines that i gaze thorugh so frequently along with other ads i have come to see the trend that more and more companies are using are abstract collages.
They may use a play on words such as "nuts" and have peanuts and cashews in the snow such as a volcom ad i recently
saw or just a schmorgasboard of random objects with well placed type.

In design so many ideas exist, some in relation to each other and some very distant. I've noticed examples of this particularly in the element of space. Heavy use of space vs. little use. True, the earth tones and retro-ish designs are emerging again in departments stores, and some t shirts portray such complicated abstract patterns we might wonder who is behind this chaos? But let's not forget, less is more...at least in some instances. The collagework we see on popular shirts or layouts in a magazine send a strong message and work our eyes-I find it pleasing. But just as pleasing is the solitude of a single word or object set in a black or white background advertising cologne, perhaps. Where all the space provided in the shirts and layouts is effective, so is the negative space in these designs. How bout another example. If you see a guy with a tie die shirt on you might go ooo swirlies. say you see a guy in a black shirt next to him and on his shirt it says in white text "pants". you might be prone to focus on that shirt opposed to the tie die. So basically I am just pointing out how effective space is in design, whether its filled, or barely occupied.