Manifestos, Horse.gif and a rainbow
Five things from this week
1: Principles, rules and lessons
After I made a manifesto last week I started thinking about guiding principles, rules and lists from other artists that have significantly influenced the way I think about graphic design, art and creativity.
They are listed in the order I discovered them.
First Things First – Ken Garland
It states that graphic designers are wasting their time and talents if they only create advertisements for things such as:
aftershave lotion, beforeshave lotion, slimming diets, fattening diets, deodorants, fizzy water, cigarettes, roll-ons, pull-ons and slip-ons.
This totally transformed my understanding of the industry and encouraged me explore things that wouldn’t traditionally be considered graphic design. The manifesto is careful to say we shouldn’t completely abandon advertising but reorient our priorities as designers. Visual communication is a responsibility.
The updated version from 2020 is pretty good and focuses more on the planet.
10 Rules – Corita Kent
A pivotal moment for me as a printmaking student was discovering the work of Corita Kent. At the time I was obsessed with screen printing and studying art at a Christian college. I felt like we were kindred spirits in our joys and frustrations and fell in love with her work immediately.
The way she intentionally used color, shapes and found phrases changed the way I thought about layering materials and meanings. More on Corita Kent later.
Listen to former students, artists and community organizers read 10 Rules. Ed Ruscha reads Rule 1.
10 Bullets – Tom Sachs
In 2015 my friend (hi, Austin) and I walked into The Contemporary Austin not knowing anything about Tom Sachs. We left enamored.
His work fundamentally changed how I thought about art: what it is, what it looks like, who makes it and how it’s presented. 10 Bullets was playing in a back room and it was the first time I saw behind the closed door of an artist’s studio and working practice. It shifted the conceptual importance of art from product to process. The process is the product 🤯
More on Tom Sachs (and Van Neistat) later.
Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far – Stefan Sagmeister
Discovering Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far was an important, “Wait, graphic designers can do this sorta thing?!” moment for me. While I can’t relate to all of the things he’s learned, the scale, scope and execution of every single typographic treatment is otherworldly. His collection of phrases is presented as a beautiful and interactive book.
Sagmesiter has helped me realize that typography (and ideas) don’t have to be contained by screens, posters or pamphlets but can be made from hot dogs, found in discarded furniture or walls of bananas.
Plus . . .
An incredible collection of manifestos by WePresent. They’re all great but my favorites are by Annie Atkins, Christoph Niemann, Jessica Walsh and Guerrilla Girls.
2: Improvised zine
This week I created an improvised zine. Nothing was planned and the story unfolded page by page as I was making it.
Instead of saying, “No,” to yourself this week try saying, “Yes, and…” to see what happens.
3: Horse.gif
⚠️ Warning ⚠️
The following animation has a strobe effect and may not be suitable for people with light sensitivity related conditions.
My students made that!
This week my posters class made an updated version of The Horse in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge (1878). We each made two posters using a frame from the original and then used those posters to create a new animation.
Below are the posters made by Sebio, Sophie, Annika, Emily, Carly, Irelynn, Rachel, Mac, Sami, Lindsey, Jenny, Tova and Juyoung.
One of my students said, “If Eadweard saw this he would (cuss) himself.”
4: Cold Reactor
I can’t get stop listening to Cold Reactor by Everything Everything.
I sent you the image of a little yellow face
to tell you that I’m sad about the emptiness that’s all around me
Why do I try to express complex emotions with emojis? 🫤 Why do I let these little yellow faces try to speak for me? 😵💫
I’ve been pretty unimpressed with AI art, but their music video for I Want A Love Like This uses it in an interesting way.
5: Rainbow print
My wife Carly made this beautiful rainbow print using the Prixel press kit.
ALSO:
Talking about death with your kids –
What’s cooler than riso prints? Animated riso prints! –
Trying to publish but also avoid Adobe? Try Spectrolite –
Recommendations from my students: MakePixelArt.com and ez.bookdesign (thanks, Eamonn and Sophie)
(puts on a short sleeved shirt instead of a long sleeved shirt) “My arms are hanging out!”
✨ Baby update: our little girl is 20 weeks (halfway there), healthy and kicking ✨
oh, how i am enjoying this post & i am only at #4!!
j'adore, c'est manifique, et cetera, et cetera, huzzah!
'Save everything, it might come in handy later' - oh Corita! This is so inbuilt and I've just spent a weekend trying to make space after 5 years of saving things in a shelving unit - it requires management for sure.
I would have loved that horse project as a student, what a great result 💥