JUDY Quote : Ellen Lupton

The power of the grid is to lift the designer outside of the protective capriciousness of the "self" by providing an existing set of possibilities, a set of rules.


I choose this quote as it is about grids which I am interested in as 'the' symbol for our culture. Grids are everywhere in culture: In buildings, roads, screens. Pixels are a grid. Fonts and Writing are a grid. Perspective is a grid. Often grids are not so visible or obvious, but we are nearly always looking at a grid unless we are looking a nature. Lupton writes that grids "can be seen as metaphors for the human need to make sense of the world and to position ourselves in control of it."
For a graphic designer, grids are essential, even if we are trying to challenge their ubiquity. "A grid is the graphic design equivalent of a building's foundations." The quote suggests this is a very useful thing, as though we might be a little lost as designers without a grid to start from. The Capriciousness of the self that Lupton talks about suggests a certain instability and unaccountability. Perhaps she is suggesting the wildness of the human imagination can be a little out of control with out a structure to reign it in. Perhap grids are what allow us to communicate with each other as we have all grown up with grids and understand them. For example a font that strays too far from a grid, may be illegible. A piece of music that does not adhere to or imitate music structure, may just sound like unpleasant noise.

Tibor Kalman Quote

Tibor Kalman "The difference between good design and great design is intelligence"

I find this quote by Tibor Kalman challenging. It is challenging to think about and seek out what it means to not only be a good designer but to be a GREAT designer.

Kalman valued originality and pushing boundaries in design. He once said “Everyone can hire a good photographer, choose a tasteful typeface and produce a perfect mechanical. So what? That means ninety-five percent of the work exists on the same professional level, which for me is the same as being mediocre.”

He did not want to do what everyone else was doing and he also sought to challenge his clients to think this way. About clients, he once said, “We’re not here to give them what’s safe and expedient. We’re not here to help eradicate everything of visual interest from the face of the earth. We’re here to make them think about design that’s dangerous and unpredictable. We’re here to inject art into commerce.”

Kalman also understood that being a ‘good’ designer meant nothing unless the conveyed message of the design led it’s audience to action. When he sold a “design” to a client, he did not hype a particular typeface or color, but rather convinced them of how the end result would advance both client and culture.

Another thing that Tibor encouraged was for designers to think ethically about what they were creating. He believed mass media had turned America, and other countries who emulate American culture, into a nation of “consumer drones.” He understood the powerful role designers played in influencing public opinion and thought that they could (and should) play an important role in turning the tide of the future.

What is the difference between good design and great design? The intelligence to solve a problem in an original and effective way. Excellent design provokes action, it may even influence public opinion on a mass scale or possibly turn the tide of an entire culture.

NICOLA Pauler Scher - Quote.

"Language is a deadly weapon" - Paula Scher.

At first thought, this quote is hard to explain. My mind first wanders to the angle of literary writing, not to the area of Graphic Design. Though on second thought, my mind wanders back a step, and I think, perhaps the quote can work both ways. Like in many areas, Art/Design/Literature, there is often a point when these particular sectors of the creative world
can intertwine. Actually, it’s becoming more and more common to do so.

With that in mind, I take this quote to mean that, within the area of Typography - the manipulation of text, language (and use of the text visually) can be used to get a point across just as well as an image itself could. And this, can be considered a “deadly weapon” - an effective device for execution of a point.

Like in an artwork, or a photo, a point can be put across easily, without a large amount of engineering. Though with text, a point can be shown, in a complex yet understanding way. Rather than just focusing on the aesthetics (which is the main point of an artwork), it focuses more on the imagery of the mind, not only the eye. A quote to back this thought up, would be from the Un Mundo Feliz website, is “Sometimes, there’s no time to create singular images... so using typefaces in the right way is enough. The idea is that a word is an image, a word is a world”.

I can’t say what this quote means exactly, because clearly I am not the one from which the quote came, but I can in fact give my interpretation of what it can mean and what I have learnt from my research.

ROXY David Carson's Quote

"It’s not about knowing all the gimmicks and photo tricks. If you haven’t got the eye, no program will give it to you.”

David Carson

When I was looking through the list of possible quotes we could chose from, this was the quote that stood out to me the most. I have believed this idea for most of my life, way before I had even heard of the quote or knew whom David Carson was.

I have always thought that if you didn’t have any talent or eye or colours, patterns, space or design, no teacher or book is ever going to be able to teach you how to be creative or create great designs. These things are natural talents, not some technique that can be taught to anyone. Yes, graphic designers use such programs as Illustrator and Photoshop to create their art but these are simply tools. If you were to teach the same techniques to someone with no artistic skills, the chances of their artwork being on the same par as the graphic designers are very small.

David Carson himself is an excellent example for this quote. Carson wasn’t educated or taught graphic design or typography. He even “broke all the rules” of graphic design. He had natural talent. He had an eye for design.

I believe David Carson’s thinking behind the quote is the same – or very similar - as my idea.

- Roxy

QUOTED,Ivan Chermayeff

QUOTE;"Design is direct to human beings ,to design is to solve human problems by identifying them and executing the best solution ."

Designing is direct is to human beings, simply is saying that designing is for the people .That's who it is for ,calling the people human beings is simplifying us as creatures .Letting the reader/listener know that as a human we have certain traits and behaviours which can be manipulated .

By having a problem we can also create answers , with these answers we can use to construct a design that will manipulate the human into feeling , believing,and acting in a way in which the problem should be solved.

Given that the subject matter is design .The major tools on which we have and use for the answer come in many different applications of the design world.Such as colour,shape,form,texture,position.Having a problem for these design tools can be in many different varying areas within the field as well. From corporate loges ,landmark sculptures , web design , fashion design , and so on .Using these tools within these areas to captivate the emotion/mood/thought ,required is the mere element of design .

Acknowledging this thesis ,know the problem in which u are designing is the up most importance ,without total understanding of the problem and ranges in which it is understood ,releases the limits of the designer with potential,purpose, accuracy to apply to the answer needed .

Chermayeff used this general idea throughout his successful career within his teams as well as individually .Having this generally made him a very well known and respected designer .Creating accuracy,disciplined acuteness,professionalism,neat,clean,appropriate answers entrenched in designer history .

MSHELL Sagmeister music

stefansagmeister | graphicdesignandmusic

Graphic Designer Stefan Sagmeister has always had a love of music. In fact, his goal when setting up his first studio was to design music graphics specifically. As none of the labels he approached showed interest in his work, he seized the chance to design the cover for a friend’s album H.P. Zinker’s Mountains of Madness. It was for this design that he was nominated for his first Grammy in 1994.

Since then, Sagmeister has designed CD album cover art for famous artists such as Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Live, David Byrne, and many others.

In 2005 he won the Grammy for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package category for art directing Once in a Lifetime box set by Talking Heads. He received a second Grammy Award for his design of the David Byrne and Brian Eno album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today in the Best Recording Package category, which was awarded in January this year.

Of Sagmeister, recording artists have said that he has a unique, almost telepathic, knack of understanding their music and an ability to communicate their messages.

When Stefan Sagmeister set up his first studio, with the goal to design music graphics, he wished to only take on work of those artists he liked. This has become his current reality.

http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/sagmeister.html http://rateyourmusic.com/list/doigman/covers_designed_by_stefan_sagmeister http://designmuseum.org/design/stefan-sagmeister http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Sagmeister

http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-work-stefan-sagmeister

NICOLA Woody Pirtle

Woody Pirtle established "Pirtle Designs" in 1978, in Dallas, Texas. It is said that over the next 10 years, the firm created some of the most celebrated design work of the century. Pirtle's website states that "During that period, the firm created identity programs and marketing materials for Baylor University Medical Center, The Dallas Museum of Art, TGI Friday’s, Dallas Opera, Diamond Shamrock Corporation, National Gypsum, Centex Homes, Gerald D. Hines Interests, Simpson Paper Company and NCR, to name a few."

Later on Pirtle Designs merges with Pentagram, the International Design Consultancy that was founded in London 1972. For years Woody worked as one of the partners of Pentagram, and worked on a number of prestigious projects. Some of these include work for: Bacardi Global Brands, The Rockefeller Foundation, Princeton University, Amnesty International etc.

"Today, Pirtle Design continues to provide unparalleled design and consulting services that run the gamut of business and cultural endeavors, producing work for a diverse range of national and inter-national clients" as the Pirtle Design website states.













Helpful links on Woody Pirtle:-
x Pirtle Designs website
x Wiki
x AIGA
x Little blurb
x Snippet of a workshop