Saturday 11 August 2012

Why I am obsessed with Graphic Design

I am a perfectionist with a short attention span.  I am a pathetic Fallacy because I am affected in my mood by what I see in the empirical world around us.  Just like you or anybody else.

Graphic Design at its most perfect makes sense of a messy world. 

Looking a the Nike Tick or the Adidas symbol  on a passing persons T-Shirt calms me down in a similar way to a piece of music (Adagio for Strings in G) or a fine piece of art (John Martyn Great Day of His Wrath- in particular the orange vermillion colour spot he draws you eye to in its conception)

Take Jonathan Barnbrook the font designer as an example.  He has a social conscience, having met him he is well-read, loves George Orwell and is an essentially down-to-earth bloke.  I am also interested in Social Reform although I am in the unfortunate position of being an anarchist- Therein COMPLETELY pointless except to question everything.  My view on God is the same, IF there WAS a symbol for the God of today it would be NOT a cross (as this has too much tie-in with the dogmatic formula of the corrupt churches throughout History (Although thanks to the Medicis who were both Popes and also politicians, we have had the Renaissance) Gods symbol would be a QUESTION MARK in Black against a white background square.  But essentially there is no God in my opinion today.



Being a perfectionist is difficult because everyone else tends to be slower.   They are not, it is just that I communicate badly compared to your average person so COMMUNICATION through Graphic Design is singularly my kind of interest.  It is communication in a way that is quickly understood.

However, if you can try to follow my piece I would be chilled-out.  I know I go off on tangents, which is again, backing-up why I like Graphic Design at its best.  Because it draws my attention to visual message stuff out of a chaotic place.  Graphic Design when it is NOT perfect, is also something that gets to me, but that doesn't matter especially.


So back to Barnbrook design - He has articulated the sense of chaos in everyday life in his finely executed font designs.  There is ALWAYS space BETWEEN letters (which could also be metaphorical for the NON-sense and surreal) but how you influence the exacting science of a font influences the overall feeling.  The smooth against the rough.  Barnbrook also names his fonts surreal names such as Bastard, which is my particular favorite, probably because it is called a rude word.

Barnbrook design for the Olympics logo.  Obviously.  SEE HOW incongruous it is - and FUNNY as it is surreal and serious at the same time


The surrealist painters are funny.  Because they juxtapose totally absurd things and it brings lightness to being.  Like successful comedians do also. 

But I am running away from my original point, as would be consistent with my short attention span.

Why I rate Graphic Design so much- 

Brands I rate - comparing the two competitors




Nike - 
A tick
From schooldays you remember the tick as a positive against the cross of making a mistake.
The Tick has a motion to it- perfect as Nike represents a Sports company
Just Do It - Simple, no nonsense, can apply to absolutely anything in your life, it is just STRONG in the sense of it being a VISUAL memory
It is ANONYMOUS - So in your head, ANYONE could be telling you to Just Do It - in a positive sense, so you are not afraid to do anything.

I am a perfectionist, so Nike is the most perfect logo to me.


This is the NEWEST logo.  And is a Flower- this is more succesful than the ultimate three stripe logo as it connates flowering talent or just positive life, spring, change, etc.



Adidas 
Against Nike, there is more complications.
3 Stripes against one swift stripe (The bare essential)
If we were to imagine Adidas as posited against Nike which it is in this example, ALREADY it is less than perfect.
It is harder to understand though as I look at it as a Brit.  Already there are problems in communication.  Adidas is a German company - therein I understand Nike being American better already.  The Germans work with a different language construct so perhaps this is why.
ANYTHING against a TICK is a CROSS.

Therein, unfortunately, in being the first brave bold guys, Nike have already nuked-out any competitor from a Graphic Design point of view.

So, in a brief write-up I have explained what gives me a sense of calm and peace in the form of Graphic Design.  It doesn't stop bad graphic design from being made, but at least the brands that are succesful are age-old and Nike will always, because it is SO popular and cool, be around to look at on clothing or anything else.  Nike is THAT COOL that it didn't need to be an Official Olympic sponsor.  Which almost makes it MORE publicity clever than the other brands as it is again seperated-out.

Not very funny stuff so I apologise, but sometime it's cool to explain serious stuff and the reasons why stuff means stuff.












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