PAUL RAND

Paul Rand was a pioneer of graphic design itself. When he started out there was no such thing as graphic design. This was a time when Modernism in the arts was in its heyday and this was the core ideology that drove his career. He celebrated the works of artists from Paul Cézanne to Jan Tschichold, and constantly attempted to draw the connections between their creative output and significant applications in graphic design.
Simplicity and functionality were characteristics of Modernist design, and also an ambition to 'defamiliarize the ordinairy'. Rand was especially interested in what artists did with ordinary objects like apples (Cezanne) guitars (Picasso) machines (Duchamp) etc, and sought to 'defamiliarize the ordinary' like they did. For Rand this was a useful approach for corporate work, for example when he needed to create lively and original packaging for mundane items, such as light bulbs for Westinghouse”
He is famous for many corporate logos, many of which are still used today, like ibm and ford.
He is regarded as the one who has actually set standards for the creation of corporate logos, and that too, by devising the pre-requisites of modernity, simplicity and ease of recognition. Many of these logos or their basic designs are still in use.

http://www.paul-rand.com/
http://www.logoblog.org/wordpress/paul-rand/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rand
http://www.iconofgraphics.com/Paul-Rand/
http://acg.media.mit.edu/events/rand/index.html

Neville Brody by Pam

Neville Brody is renowned for his challenging creativity of ideas incorporated in graphic design and typography. Throughout his career Brody has been recognised for his innovative designs displayed on the covers on several record albums in the 70's, here his motivation was inspired by the "punk rock" era.

His artistic contribution to independent labels such as StillRecords and Fetish Records in the 80's, soon became highly recognised and his career then lead him to become Art director for a style magazine "The Face", and later "Arena" a mens magazine.

From this point Brody continued pushing the visual boundaries and implementing his own ideas producing designs for numerous t-shirts, badges and poster designs for "Cabaret Voltaire" and post punk band "23 Skidoo". The innovative ideas Brody expressed in Fuse magazine had adopted a new visual language of it's own, which displayed visual and architectural elements of typefaces combined into design.

This creative expression of incorporating typeface into design became publicly approved of and Brody soon began designing his own Typefaces for FontShp in the early 90's. Some of his well-known designs include, Industria, Arcadia, Insignia and Blur some of which have revolutionised the arrival of digital type design.

Example of "Arcadia" font type.

Throughout Neville Brody's career he has also successfully shared his creative style globally by publishing "The Graphic Language of Neville Brody" of which has been identified as one of the world's best Graphic Design books.

In 1994 Neville Brody co-founded "Research Studios" with Rwa Richards and today mainly focus on providing

visual electronic communication designs to a diverse range of international clients including, The Times Newspaper, BBC,Sony Playstation and Nike to name a few. xx

www.researchstudios.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Brody

www.fontshop.com/fonts/designer/neville_brody/

www.indentifont.com/show?16x

www.artandculture.com

Ivan Chermayeff

IIvan chermayeff a prolific designer, illustrator, and artist, Ivan has created memorable, iconic images for literally hundreds of clients. He is a founding partner of Chermayeff & Geismar, a leading graphic design firm in the fields of corporate identity, brand development and logo design. Chermayeff's trademarks, posters, publications and art installations for contemporary buildings are widely recognized and have received nearly every award bestowed by the profession,'Good design at least part of the time , includes the criteria being derived in relation to the problem at hand - not obscure,trendy or stylish,A language visual or verbal, must be couched in a language that is already understood .

'The key to success is having good ideas , not doing what you are told but what u believe is right .'

'Design is direct towards humans beings,to design is is to solve human problems by identifying them and executing the best solution .'

Ivan Chermayeff studied at Harvard University, the Institute of Design in Chicago, and graduated from Yale University, School of Art and Architecture.

Whilst experimenting and growing up with his fathers Archetectual experience which was really involved i his and gieshmars partnership, Chermayeff found design a easier and understandable form of turnover(making money) . For himself which took him on towards his outstanding accolations in the field of design.

http://metroartwork.com/ivan-chermayeff-biography-artwork-m-217.html
http://www.cgstudionyc.com/http:/.htm
http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chermayeff.html

http://www.papermag.com/?section=article&parid=3241

http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20080125/a-half-century-of-solutions

Post 2: Cien: TIBOR KALMAN

Tibor Kalman.

“I see this as a business that affects people’s lives and affects peoples brains”

In the mid-1980s two names changed graphic design, one of those being Tibor Kalman. Tibor Kalman, who died on May 2, 1999, after a long, courageous battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, was one of the small number of graphic designers whose endeavors were legend within the field and widely known outside as well.

Tibor may not be as influential on the daily practice of graphic design as the Mac, but his influence over how designers think and how they define their role s in culture and society is indisputable. For a decade he was the design profession’s moral compass and its most passionate provocateur.

Kalman was best known for the groundbreaking work he created with his New York design firm M & Co, and his brief yet influential editorship of Colours magazine.



Throughout his 30 year career, Kalman brought his restless interrlectual curiosity and subversive wit to everything he worked on. From Album cov ers to Talking Heads, to the redevelopment of Times Square he was a sure inspiration and freshness to the design world.



Kalman incorporated visual elements other designers had never associated with successful design, and used his work to promote his radical politics

Tibor Kalman founded the legendary, multidisciplinary design firm M&Co in 1979. In collaboration with his wife Maira, the abstractly progressive firm primarily created gr

aphics, magazines and film titles, and books. Following the release of a record album cover for the rock band Talking Heads, M&Co gained major attention for "pushing the envelope" on conventions of design and typography, and went on to become a major influence on emerging designers.

The Kalman's social concerns and reactions to modern attitudes resulted

in products that are enjoyed internationally as they address current issues, including time (5 o'clock really is the most important time for many of us) and garbage (crumpled paper can have a real nice look). Their eccentric line of watches, clocks, and paperweights, which combine wit and whimsy with good graphic design, helped ignite the current demand for designer-created products.

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-tiborkalman

http://www.salon.com/people/obit/1999/05/19/kalman/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_Kalman

http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=30&fid=167

Paula Scher.

Paula Scher.
For the past 3 decades, Paula Scher has seemingly been at the forefront of Graphic Design. On the AIGA website she is described as being "iconic, smart and unabashedly populist" and that "her images have entered into the American vernacular".
Scher has been a principal New York office of the distinguished international design consultancy Pentagram since 1991. It is also known that she began her career as an Art Director in the 70s and 80s when her multifaceted approach towards Typography became very influential to the design world.

Scher's was the designer of the logos for Citibank and Tiffany & Co. from this, stemmed the use of these works as case studies for the regeneration of some classic American brands.

"Scher has developed identities, packaging for a broad range of clients that includes, among others, The New York Times Magazine, Perry Ellis, Bloomberg, Target, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the New 42nd Street, the New York Botanical Garden, and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." - aiga.org

Useful links on Paula Scher:
x AIGA
x Paula Scher - Wiki
x A bit of trivia
x Interview with "Pr*tty Sh*tty"
x From Paula herself -a pdf file.

jerome april grieman

April Greiman’s innovative transmedia ideas and projects have been instrumental in the acceptance and use of advanced technology in art and design since the early 1980's.


Born in Metropolitan New York City, April initially studied at the Allgemeine Kuntgewerbeschule (General Arts Trade School) in Basel, Switzerland and the Kansas City Art Institute. She moved to Los Angeles in 1976, establishing her multi-disciplinary practice, currently called Made in Space. Her radical visual identity and publishing projects for progressive Los Angeles schools such as California Institute of the Arts and Southern California Institute of Architecture were noted for their pioneering exercise of early Macintosh computers and software, as well as their emphasis on novel video and digital exploration.


She has exhibited in varied cultural institutions, lectured academically and professionally, and is in the permanent collections of MOMA, The Smithsonian/Cooper Hewitt, and the Library of Congress. She is currently represented by Tom Jancar Gallery in Los Angeles.

April Greiman: April Greiman’s innovative transmedia ideas and projects have been instrumental in the acceptance and use of advanced technology in art and design since the early 1980's.

In a time when the field of graphic design was changing dramatically due to technological advancements such as motion graphics, the world wide web and interactive applications, April Greiman played a key role in advocating for these new technologies and the increasing role they can play in design.

There isn't much in her field that Greiman hasn't tackled. She's designed everything from biscuit packages and corporate logos to TV commercials and has received the Medal of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the Chrysler Award for Innovation.

Greiman has a history of collaboration with renown architects to produce signage, exhibitions and color palettes. Interested in both print and virtual space, she developed projects for Vitra’s Workspirit Magazine, and the MAK Center for Art and Architecture.

Greiman sees herself as a natural bridge between the Modernist tradition and future generations of designers. “In the tradition of graphic design in the twentieth century, you had to be either a great typographer, a great designer/illustrator, or a great poster designer…the world has [now] changed and the

field is changing to meet it.”

Greiman is adamant that we must be open to new paradigms, to new metaphors, to a whole new spirit of design: “It’s not just graphic design anymore. We just don’t have a new name for it yet.”

www.aprilgreiman.com

www.madeinspace.la

www.madeinspaceshop.com

www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-aprilgreiman

www.mkgraphic.com/greiman.html

thanks for reading...

Tibor Kalman

'After fifteen or twenty years in the profession I discovered that design is just a language and the real issue is what you see that language to do'


Kalman was a Hungarian born designer who escaped to the USA in 1956 after the soviet invasion. He began his education in journalism, not design but while working in New York as a clerk for Barnes & Noble he was made director of design and eventually ended up founding his own design agency called M&Co, in 1979. Notable areas of his career are, creative director of "Interview" magazine beginning in 1990, and editor-in-chief of "Colors," the controversial magazine sponsored by Benetton.

In the 1980's Kalman became well known for his use of controversial images to raise awareness of political issues. The philosophy of his art could be described as "position first, style second." His art demonstrates that the designer can, and possibly must, be responsible for the content of the message as well as the presentation. "Colors" magazine took a provocative stance on social problems. One issue offered an article entitled "How to Change Your Race," with complementary images of Queen Elizabeth as a black woman and Pope John Paul as an Asian man.

Kalman never claimed to draw well, nor did he have any formal training in design; he was known for his ideas. The legacy of his influence however, is shown in designers such as Alexander Isley, Steven Doyle, and Stefan Sagmeister, all of whom were employed by him at M&Co and left to eventually start their own successful firms. In this way Kalman’s design principles continue to make a lasting impact in the world even through the work produced by those he influenced.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_Kalman

www.undesign.org/

www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=30&fid=167

David Carson

David Carson is a graphic designer best known for his innovative magazine design and use of experimental typography. He was the art director for the magazine Ray Gun and Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Carson was perhaps the most influential graphic designer of the nineties.


By the late eighties he had developed his signature style, using "dirty" type and non-mainstream photographic techniques. He would later be dubbed the "father of grunge."


To the left you can see a page he designed for the Ray Gun Magazine.





Like Neville Brody, typographer and graphic designer David Carson became influential in the late 1980's and 1990s for experimental typeface designs. David Carson's designs were featured heavily in surfing and skateboarding magazines.

A tribute to other self-taught designers, David Carson broke most of the rules of design and typography, a process that was made easy with the use of desk top publishing programs, such as Pagemaker, QuarkXpress and Illustrator. He experimented with overlapping and distorted fonts and intermixed these with striking photographic images.



To view a list of Carson's book's, click here.

http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carson_%28graphic_designer%29
http://www.designtalkboard.com/design-articles/famous-designers.php

Paul Rand - Pam

PAUL RAND







"Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations".


Rand's career began with a part time position where he produced stock images for a syndicate that supplied graphics to several news papers and magazines. In 1936 he was employed as a freelance-designer to produce page layouts for an Apparel Arts Magazine anniversary issue, his ability to change the visual characteristics of ordinary photographs to become dynamic pieces of art, earned him the respect of the editors which soon followed with the offer to become the art director of Esquire's fashion magazine at the young age of 23.


The Paul Rand brand was clearly expressed on the cover of the December 1940 issue of Direction Magazine with his attempt to try to link his profession and that of the best modernist artists in Europe. This movement in the 40's and 50's set a precedent for other American designers to express their own original ideas and move away from the prominent European designs. Commercial artists were now merging to be recognised as graphic designers opening up endless possibilities in career recognition within the industry.

In 1962 he developed American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and continued to succeed and be recognised with his ongoing outstanding corporate logos still used today.

His work was undoubtedly simplistic, yet clear in the message he delivered through his designs. Noticeably his design characteristics were mainly displayed through the use of typography. Rand shared his talents and skills through teaching design at Yale University throughout various stages in his career.

His modernist approach towards design was shown right through until his death in 1996.

http://www.logodesignlove.co/all-about-paul-rand
http://www.iconofgraphics.com/Paul-Rand/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_rand
http://www.paul-rand.com
http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/designerprofiles/a/paul_rand.htm