BLOG 3 Wicked

I found this in a book entitled, Typography Workbook [Samara].  The design was done be Cato Purnell Partners of Richmond, Australia. I love the combination of typefaces used and placed so skillfully to attract the viewer to the wicked moon - the scoop of ice cream. 

The ice cream is photographed from behind giving it the look and feel of the moon. 

I'm not sure I have ever seen the typeface before used for the title.  But I was immediately attracted to it.  It is an light-weight san-serif font.  The width of the letterforms seem varied and the designer has given the letters each their own character -most notably the crescent moon to dot the "I" on wicked.  This little detail links the word to the photography of the moon-shaped ice cream.  Also, extending the descender on the "K" past the baseline helps differentiate the logo by breaking the horizontal baseline thus making the work stand out further.  It appears the all of the text is embossed in gold. This brings thought of richness, opulence, decadence.  Under the product line, The flavor is set in a decorative script which greatly contrasts the title font.  It has sumptuous curves distinctly different from the main product labeling and further communicate the luxurious nature of the product. The dark character if the image and the unusual quality of the text give the overall feeling of uneasiness, sinfulness, self-indulgence.

Wow!  This must be some amazing ice cream!

Source:   Samara, Timothy, Typography Workbook, Rockport Publishers, Beverly, MA 2004

BLOG 2 Oscar Wilde

 Last semester, I took GDS 120 and part of the class was to have a blog were we posted "award-winning" graphic design.  We were tasked to go to the library and look up periodicals, magazines, and books to find these works of graphic design.  It was intriguing.  I loved looking up gems of graphic design.  Anyway, I found an article in a CMYK magazine about this book.  It was so interesting I had to order for myself.  The book is entitled Men of Letters & People of Substance by designer/illustrator Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich. I thought it would be a fun blog post since we just did our portrait.  The entire book consists of text images of important historical and literary figures.  I found this book captivating and the art that de Cumptich makes with text and a bit of color unbelievable!

This particular piece is an image of Oscar Wilde using the typeface Avalon.  The image that de Cumtich created of Oscar Wilde really capture the facial features of the man himself.  Of course, I've only seen pictures of him.  But the moody, dark, melancholy of Wilde as well as his softness and humanity can be seen in the text image as easily as a photograph.

This book is really amazing.  Definitely take a look at it if you get a chance.  

Source: De Vicq De Cumptich, Roberto, Men of Letters and People of Substance, David Godine Publisher, Boston, Massachusetts, 2008.

BLOG 1 Giselle (1959)

This poster was composed by Armin Hoffmann of the Basel School in Switzerland.  The Basel and Zurich Schools were involved in the development of the International Style of Graphic Design and Typography (commonly called the Swiss Style).  I first learned of the Swiss Style when I took Graphic Design History in Fall 2010.  I just fell in love with the style: the clean lines; lack of clutter; simple geometric shapes; use of photography; the "to the point" message.  This poster has always been one of my favorites.  My daughter is a dancer and it reminds me of how graceful, strong, athletic she looks when she does the perfect turn.  The poster is very subtle and soft in nature even though it is in such a stark color scheme - black and white.  It is a beautiful representation of dance.

This poster is an advertisement for the ballet Giselle.  As I said, the Swiss Style just gives the facts.  For example the location of the title. Giselle (probably Helvetica) is vertical, quite large, has very tight kerning, and is place on the very left and bottom margins of the page.  It is the first thing that one sees upon looking at the piece.  The location and dates are also in Helvetica in a tight block at the top left-hand corner of the page.  The block is flush-left.  The gorgeous picture of a ballerina caught in a turn: the movement of the dress can be seen clearly.  But the ballerina is treated much differently than one would expect.  It is in black & white and cast in shadow. Overall, this gives a beautiful, other-worldly effect for the poster.

Source:  Meggs, Philip B. and Purvis Alston W., Meggs' History of Graphic Design 4th Ed., Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2006.

ITC Legacy Sans Serif Standard Book

The creator of the Typeface Family of ITC Legacy^® is Ronald Arnholm. While studying under Paul Rand at Yale, he took a class on the history of typography and was inspired by the work of Nicholas Jenson. Arnholm was fascinated with the 1470 edition of Eusebius which is set in Jenson's Roman Typeface. He created a revival of Jenson’s work (Jenson Roman) in the Linotype Library. He was not satisfied with this typeface and went on to create ITC Legacy^® to capture all the qualities of the original. In 1992, he designed a companion series of sans serif typefaces based on the structure of the old-style serif fonts. Ronald Arnholm was born April 1, 1939 in Barre, Vermont. He studied graphic design at Rhode Island School of Design, before gaining a Master's of Fine Art from Yale University. He is currently an art professor at the University of Georgia, Lamar Dodd School of Art.

Sources: http://www.linotype.com/655/ronaldarnholm.html

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