BIO: Mark Ward is a graphic artist based in South London and working internationally. His style is influenced by 80’s skate culture and Americana combined with elements of his British identity. Like a glace cherry gone rotten, Mark’s images inject the everyday mundane into the sun-drenched California he was sold as a kid to bring a different perspective to the American dream. I like the typography used in this piece, the depth he has managed to portray by simply playing around with composition. I also like how self contained it is, how nothing leaves the circle template, therefore making a great logo design. The colours used are actually quite subtle if you were to pull them apart; a pale blue, a dull yellow and black. However when they are brought together somehow the final piece is incredibly vivid and attractive. This is a piece commissioned for the company Zoo York. Mark uses seperate illustrations of places and objects you would usually find in New York City and brings them together to form the number 93. I am not entirely sure why the number 93 was chosen, but this is only one part of a whole series. Other examples of this series include a 24 which contains all Parisian related objects, a 75 which seems to be Tokyo inspired and an 86 which is London related. When put together the idea is very well communicated. This last piece is quite confusing as I have no idea if it holds purpose in terms of advertising or promotion. However what I do recognise is the similarity between the top of the mans face and the illustration used to promote the 'Coney Island Steeplechase' in the early 20th century. A visual that has become synonymous with the American way of life and gimmickry.
A fascinating eight-minute look at Hatch Show Print, a 130 year-old working letterpress shop (established 1879) in Nashville, Tennessee.
After watching the video a quote I was struck by was; 'everything is done by letterpress, hand cranked, hand inked, hand trimmed, hand wrapped and we call the customer from a rotary telephone'. I just think that that is so fascinating in this day and age. It seems as though a lot of people use vintage imagery and vintage techniques to seem cool, they want a different approach so they go back in time and the results are usually successful. However what I find interesting about this is this business does not use older techniques to be different, but instead is just interested in preserving the methods. They like the time consuming aspect and are not averse to spending an entire week on just one edition. I love some of the final pieces, especially the music posters, advertising concert dates and CD releases. A particular poster that I have always liked, and have a replica of myself is one promoting the King himself; Elvis Presley. After researching about Hatch Show Print it was a pleasant surprise to find out that they actually designed the original. The simple blue and red lettering, which subconsciously instills patriotic pride, and the blue portrait of Elvis work so well together, I love the minimalist yet impressive design.
Neon Gray are a multidisciplinary art and design kinship from Baltimore, MD and San Francisco, CA. They focus on typography, photography, print, packaging, web, analogue design and art direction. After looking at their page they have quite an impressive portfolio of wide ranging pieces. However it is their typographic pieces that I was most drawn to. Below are a few examples of my favourite pieces.
BACK ON TRACK
2007
Three steps towards recharging the godforce of your crystal.
Back on Track is a series of analog designs created by laser-cutting manila folders. We used our stencil typeface, Waving Hello.
THE SLOW SLEEP
2007
The Slow Sleep is a custom typeface that was created for use on various personal and commercial projects. The aim was to create a font that showcased the boldness of retro fonts that have recently been making a comeback, but to also steer away from prevalent sharp right angles, drawing inspiration from rounded retro fonts like Frankfurter. The name was chosen because of its reminiscence to big dilated pupils and being in bed all day long.
SAY EVERYTHING
2007
Make custom messages spelled out in your favorite office supply! The font Olimpyc was created specifically for this purpose (although we like it on the screen/in print too). Each letter was designed within the constraints of a standard 3"x3” Post-It pad. There are 26 pads in all; one for each letter of the alphabet. Each set comes with a separate sheet of punctuation marks.
In conclusion I like all the above pieces because the fonts are bold and stand out. Their legibility is crystal clear, there is no looking at the type and taking a few seconds to figure out what it being communicated. The messages are concise and therefore these typefaces are very successful in their aims. They are all sans serif, obviously taking inspiration from the Bauhaus approach and are most probably visible and recognisable from greater distances.
This is a video I stumbled across on the video networking site Vimeo. I was instantly drawn in because it combines two of my favourite things: films and Saul Bass. I pretty much like everything about this video, from the accompanying music to the texture of the backgrounds. The type used is obviously hand rendered and then digitally designed using illustrator, something I like to do with fonts that I create. The simple, block illustrations are incredibly effective and the way in which the multicoloured lines appear across the screen are not only reminiscent of retro design, but also fit incredibly well within the fictional Tron universe.
Whilst browsing the artists page I came across an earlier project which was similar but instead combined the Saul Bass approach with the TV programme Lost. Again the music is very fitting, but this video it a bit more hit and miss than the other. Some parts work very well, like the zooming into the island at the end with the plane crashing into it, but I feel that the portraits of the characters do not work at all. All in all I like both attempts a lot.
Calenders are something that everyone needs. Once they were just for people with busy schedules and therefore their designs were often plain and uninteresting. However in this busy modern day and age, it seems as though everyone has appointments and meetings they need to remember, therefore designs have increased in style and above is just a small example of the new breed of calenders. At the end of the day you will see your calender every day of the year, so why not have a visually attractive one. The example above is a hand printed limited set available from etsy.com. The designs are simple, with each month occupying one simple colour and the hand drawn designs printed on with white ink. I think its really effective in a subtle way and its definitely a calender that I would be proud to display.
Considering that I have to start producing final resolutions for my 'What is a Line?' brief I thought I would start to look at some pieces of information graphics that could inspire me. I visited the website coolinfographics.com and came across a few interesting designs that I liked.
ONE: Underskin is an infographic that traces the routes of eight different systems within the body (Digestive, Respiratory, Arterial, etc.), and highlights the major connection points. I really like this because even though the composition is in no way similar to the original loop design, you instantly know where the inspiration has come from. It's amazing that even though the design is just coloured lines and circular 'stops', the message is incredibly clear.
TWO:
The State of the Internet. An infographic with a twist, moving imagery. I really like the idea and the video flows effortlessly. The colours used are minimal but effective. If I had one criticism it is that the type moves a little too fast, and it is sometimes difficult to take it all in without pausing the video to catch up.
THREE: Online daters should no longer be considered a desperate minority that trolls the web for love. In fact, a fascinating infographic from Online Schools reveals the truth about online dating — it’s booming and might even be bigger than porn. Per the graphic — which pulls data from a number of sources, including Reuters and The Washington Post — online dating is worth more than one billion dollars per year, with the mobile phone dating market worth $550 million. Sadly, we all seem to be misrepresenting ourselves to attract an online mate. Men lie about their age, height and income, while women distort the truth about their weight, physical build and age. Though that doesn’t appear to stop online daters from marrying much faster than their offline counterparts, especially should the couple in question have met on eHarmony.
I just love it when somebody takes a film or a TV series and makes their own posters promoting them. Here I found a designer who has taken all of Quentin Tarantinos films and made his own version of the promotional poster. Although the standard may not be quite as high as other pieces I have seen, the idea is certainly effective. My favourite one would have to be the 'Jackie Brown' one, mainly because of the subtlety involved. The way he used a 'paper plane' floating across the page, whilst at the same time incorporating the original blue and yellow colourscheme used on 'Jackies' uniform in the film. Also the perspective used is in incredibly interesting, the way he has created depth of field and almost two levels is incredibly effective.
I like the typography used in this piece, the depth he has managed to portray by simply playing around with composition. I also like how self contained it is, how nothing leaves the circle template, therefore making a great logo design. The colours used are actually quite subtle if you were to pull them apart; a pale blue, a dull yellow and black. However when they are brought together somehow the final piece is incredibly vivid and attractive.
This is a piece commissioned for the company Zoo York. Mark uses seperate illustrations of places and objects you would usually find in New York City and brings them together to form the number 93. I am not entirely sure why the number 93 was chosen, but this is only one part of a whole series. Other examples of this series include a 24 which contains all Parisian related objects, a 75 which seems to be Tokyo inspired and an 86 which is London related. When put together the idea is very well communicated.
This last piece is quite confusing as I have no idea if it holds purpose in terms of advertising or promotion. However what I do recognise is the similarity between the top of the mans face and the illustration used to promote the 'Coney Island Steeplechase' in the early 20th century. A visual that has become synonymous with the American way of life and gimmickry.
