Final Blog Entry of Fall Semester 2010

Matt Lanter

17 December, 2010

Final Blog Assignment

Ecker

Graphic Design History

I have decided that for my last blog assignment in my Graphic Design History course, I would go on a search for some of today’s most illustriously, professionally, and inspirationally done artwork that sets a new standard in modern art.  “What does the meaning of ‘new standard’ have to do with art styles”, you may ask?  Fresh, colorful, and exciting new complexities that immediately kick-start imaginative thinking in design work much along the same lines of an innovative recipe made with the same old ingredients; it revitalizes the dish and brings about an astounding taste for the viewer/chewer to enjoy.

 Although most well-known artist’s works are found in magazines and award-winning books; the first piece that I have chosen is not so widely renowned… yet.  However, what the artist with the alias of Marcos333 lacks in notoriety make up for in motivational beauty and stirring creativity.  I found some of his work on the website www.abduzeedo.com, which is just a blog consisting of nothing but innovative and moving artwork done by modern artists in diverse ways.  He can be found under a link on the main page called ‘Daily Inspiration’.  There may be hundreds of other artists whose work is really fine here, but towards the bottom of this page, there are a few from Marcos333 that really stand out to me. One of his is a huge fly that is made from hundreds of big and small circles; each of them with type inside.  This is a profound exploration of sundry advertisement ideas to conglomerated businesses such as Levi’s Jean Co.  The circles that make up the design are quite engaging as the eye takes in the beautiful design that advertises the famous blue jean brand.  What really responded to me about this one was the use of groups of circles to make up the entire body and the coloring style which could be stated as having a spectrum of psychedelic color through it.  From an artistic viewpoint, I feel that in this piece there is a truly personalized style connection between the elegant use of iconic psychedelic absurdity and innovatively simplistic fly-on-the-wall design of today.  It is amazing that Marcos333 is not that famous because I think an artist that produces work like this deserves to be.  To me, this image quite literally catches the spirit of the times and reminds me of how amazing art can be in this day in age.

From the other side of the gamut, an artist that was selected from a scattered group of widely established artistes from all over the world was Matt W. Moore.  I found out about Moore on the website for the book Graphis Design Annual, www.Graphis.com.  His work is placed in the Portfolios > Illustration link found on the main page.

Even though you can find quite a bit about Moore’s professional status and achievements from there; his work presents to the viewer well enough with no introduction necessary.  The inspiring piece of his that I chose was the magazine cover for Bonecrusher Magazine.  It is the one that resembles imaginative cogs designed to be the innards of a clock.  Notice how the use of flowing lines between the overlapping circles helps to guide the eyes and give focus to the arrangement as a whole.  Again, like the artist Marcus333, I find similarities between his styles of art and mine.  The rendering of circles into a progressively larger picture reminds me much of the multifaceted nature of my own work. 

In both works I have chosen, there seem to be confounding similarities as well as enlightening divergences.  Where one uses the colors that are strictly black and white, the other uses many and where one is slightly elusive, the other is positively glowing.  What I find most curious about these pictures is the way they both revert to the same style, yet one artist is more well-known even though his work was not as good as the lesser famous designer.  How could it be that even though they are both creatively inspiring, I am puzzled as to why Marcus’s work is considered less good than Moore’s?  It must be because of their source of where the art was found.  Moore’s scheme is much more popular, therefore is more highly perceived as greater graphic design work; yet where Marcus’s design is advanced in comparison, because of the origination, it is considered less creative.  I struggle to find any sensible reason as to why that is.

I was acquainted recently with the fact from a teacher of mine that knowing what good graphic design is similar to wine-tasting; to try many different kinds is to know how to judge which the best are.  The superior is obviously going to be found in venerated “containers” (books or magazines).  However, of the two pieces that I have chosen, I must contritely say a highly-esteemed source origination does not make the art any better than that of a lesser known basis.  This negates the theory to which I was informed of, and was so significantly known to be fact.  Well, considering personal opinion on inspiring graphic design, I do not think that it has anything to do with respect to the source.  It has only to do with the amount of encouragement it gives someone to make more designs.

"Mind Power"

This image was found on designers-magazine.com.  It was done by Brazilian designer named Fabio Sasso.  I really like this image because it reminds me something I wish I cold do; create a mind explosion that blows even garbage trucks away. The concept is really strong, and the tutorial of how to create such an image is quite extensive and very thorough. The colors are very realistic and the shadows match to the light source, which give this picture a realistic feel.  I am going to try this tutorial and create my own similar style when I get the chance. 

"Smoking Squid"

This is yet another image that was linked from blogger to DeviantArt.com.  The artist alias is "Weilynn" and the piece seems to stand for something that I could not have any clue.  I really like the attention to detail and the precise attributes that the squid is displaying; a disgruntled look in his eye, an almost worried look in his brow.  If I didn't know any better, I would say that this is the real-life version of a cartoon character in SpongeBob!  The artist did a very good job rendering this photo and it really makes me not want to ever smoke a cigar, thats for sure.

"Preserve Green"

This picture was on a blog on Blogger.  It was found to be on the website DeviantArt.com.  I think that this picture is just masterfully done, and it really shows amazing attention to detail.  These metallic bugs seem to be preserving the green leaf either for later consumption or possibly to protect it from the sun.  What I like the most about this picture is the real crisp details in the leaf and the bugs themselves.  I would be very impressed to find out that this picture has been done in Illustrator or Photoshop.  It seemingly looks so real, that it could pass for an actual photograph.

"Snail"

I found this piece on a blog that lead me to another site called DeviantArt.com.  This site contains many unknown artists that post their art on the site to get their art out in the world.  This picture stood out to me because it has a very good grasp on detail from foreground to background.  Another reason why I like it is because the idea is just awesome! Snails do treat their shells like homes, but never would you think of seeing a snail with a home for a shell.  Wonderful execution and amazing idea all in all. 

"Thirsty Ant"

I found this picture on Dizbat.com.  The artist did not present their name, but it would appear that this is a piece that was designed for characters in a movie or a show perhaps.  I chose this picture because its photorealism just jumped out at me and it even made me a little thirsty too! I would have to say this is some very good graphic designing.

"Televators"

I found this piece of art on the cover of a CD that I would like to own.  The band is called The Mars Volta, a strange mix of musicians that make a more than compelling style of music.  The name of the CD that this is the cover to is "Televators".  It is interesting to me because there is a reminiscent play on some of the works by Salvador Dali with the melting objects and the placement of random perspective.  Very well-designed piece just to be put on a CD, but that is important to bands nowadays.

"In-floral-ential"

I would have to say that this is some really good graphic design.  It was found while in the midst of searching for some tutorials to do in my search for greater knowledge in Photoshop and Illustrator.  Eventually, I would like to be able to achieve some great imagery in my graphic art like the artist behind this work.  It is a beautiful picture of a woman's face that has been made from flowing pieces of what seem to be flower petals on close inspection.  There is a real imaginitive interpretation to this arrangement and I like it very much because of that. 

"No More Flakes"

This image was found in CMYK Magazine located on the magazine racks in Parkland Library.  It is a magazine ad for Head & Shoulders.  The Art Director is Brittany Dameron, the copywriter is Kacey Coburn, and the instructor of the artist is Jamie Overkamp-all from The Miami Ad School in San Francisco, California.  The tag line for the product says, "An ambient expression of just how bad dandruff can look."  This is one of many great images that I found having to deal with various products.  This one stands out to me, firstly, because I use the product everyday.  Secondly, this image dramatizes the effects of dry scalp and puts the spotlight on just how visible it can be.  The placement of the statue works well with this image because it is outside and open to the elements.  Snowflakes in nature resemble how the buildup of actual scalp flakes (ew) look.  All in all, great concept and visually pleasing (almost).

This picture was found on allgraphicdesign.com.  The message of the image serves a purpose, plus having an a woman split up into sections is very eye-catching.  It is an awareness piece for people and companies that are trying to fight for saving animals such as cattle.  The function it serves is to be eye-catching and to promote PETA for their efforts in reducing animal slaughter.  The style is very much a swimsuit-type of spead that you would see in a Sports Illustrated or a similar magazine.  The way her parts are sectioned off make a resemblance between the valued parts of cattle and the similarities of human parts.  I think it is pretty obvious what attracted me to the piece, but the idea was really good too.

"A foot that doesn't stink"

I found this picture in the Milton Glaser Graphic Design book found in the Parkland Library.  It was a watercolor originally used as a poster announcing a series of concerts on various campuses around the country.  The name of the foundation he did this for is called The Poppy Foundation.  It works well that there is a flower growing out of a foot, which somewhat correlates with foundation. 

"Flight of the Conchords"

I figured I would stray away from the books for the week and post something that people may have seen before.  This is the cover of a DVD that I own, a show called "Flight of the Conchords".  This imagery really explains what to look forward to in watching this show; Its about a two-man band from Australia who have come to New York to seek fame and fortune with instruments in hand. The hilarity of the cover fits the characters perfectly; even though they aren't able to gain fans in the course of the episodes, their egos are still blown up by each other.  A must-see!

"Seduction"

I found this image in a magazine called DigitalArts in the Parkland Library.  The cover page uses the words "Sex & Art" to convey what is to be highlighted in the issue.  I personally really liked this magazine because it gives step-by-step directions on how to achieve some masterfully done images in Photoshop and Illustrator.  I really liked this image because it has a vaseline-lensed feel, a fleshy colour palette, and breathless expression to give a 1970s-style glamour and sensuality.  

"Bugs In My Jeep!"

This is one awesome marketing idea for Jeep.  I found this image in the Graphis Design Annual 2007 edition.  The point of the work is for brochures that support the series of Jeep brands.  The work was done by BBDO Detroit.  Upon first inspection, I did not even realize that this was a car ad.  It truthfully looked like bugs pinned to foam board, like the kind that you would see in a museum.  With such a crazy way of inspecting these Jeeps, it really makes this perspective fun for the new viewer of the ad.

I call this one "Save Money On Ink"

This ad for Office Max jumped out at me because I am always trying to "save money on ink".  I found this image in the 2008 edition of Graphis, a book dedicated to master graphic designs.  Of course, the scanner cut off the final part at the bottom that says Office Max, but that really is not the main point of interest to me.  The really interesting things that jumped out at me are, one; it takes quite a bit of ink to make a tattoo, two; the squid is holding money and a printer while squirting ink out into the water, and three; its a sensual design placed on a womans back.  This is humour, art, and sex all combined to make a great graphic design ad.