Healthy

Designed by Macrina Busato

Deconstructionism

Lilla Rogers Studio

Workbook 37

I thought this was a cute composition.  I enjoyed the illustrated look the images have to them.  It reminded me of the Deconstructionist style with its broken up, collage-like arrangement of images that appear as though they were cut out of paper.  The words and numbers have a ransom note look to them, as they also look like they have been cut out from a book or a magazine.  

"Comic-Con"

Michael Cho

American Kitsch style poster

Workbook 37

 I really enjoyed this retro kind of look for a recent Comic-Con event.  I feel like this classic comic book styled look is going back to the roots of a comic convention.  It kind of reminded me of 1950's styled comic illustrations.  This design uses simple colors that still create forms.   The designer has used a cartoonish, caricature look for the people in this composition.  It's similar to the cartoon-styled illustration look used in American Kitsch designs.  

Timorous Beastie Whiskey label

Designer:  Steven Noble

Victorian 

Workbook 37

When I saw this image, it reminded me of the Victorian illustration style.  I noticed that it had the same visual motifs included in the Victorian style:  The banners with type that are placed above and below the main image, the decorative frame around the image, and lines that create detail.  

I also liked this image because it was humorous in a way.  I liked the pairing of the brand title "Beastie" with the image of a cute little mouse peeking out of the frame.  I love the detail on the mouse created by the small, etched-looking lines.  

"Tosca" Poster Design

Designer:  Echo Chernik

Art Nouveau

Workbook 37

This is a poster advertising the opera "Tosca".  I instantly noticed the visual motifs inspired the Art Nouveau style (female figure, decorative, arching type, organic shapes and lines).  Looking more closely at it, I noticed that the frame around the female figure is actually the silhouette of a man.  The poster does a good job of incorporating elements from the story into the image.  Like Art Nouveau, this design uses a female figure in a long, flowy dress as the main figure.  

"Make the cut"

Late Modern

Designer Firm: Principle Type

Creative Team:  Nathan Savage, John Bohls

Client:  Portland Community College

How magazine pg. 54, Fall 2016

When I saw this image, it reminded me of the design style of Saul Bass.  I liked the visual pun of "make the cut" with the main words cut in half, along with a knife going through them.  This composition makes use of the black negative space by splitting the type.  The form of the hand and the knife are very simple and minimalistic.  The way they connect with each other gives it that Saul Bass modernism appearance.  

Zealous.com advertisement

American Kitsch 

I came across this poster when I was in the Flying Machine in Urbana.  Right away, it reminded me of the American kitsch design style.  I looked more into this flyer, and it turns out it's an ad for a legal consultation agency in town.  This add grabbed my attention because the illustration looked humorous with the man's facial expression and his gestures.  I also liked the Dort of hand-drawn appearance paired with a more clean style of typography.  This flyer may not use the most attractive colors, but it's a playful design for something that is kind of a serious subject.  

Illustrated edition of Frankenstein

Designer:  Isaac Porter

Constructivism

How magazine pg. 68, fall 2016

This illustration depicts a scene from the book Frankenstein.  When I first saw this image, it instantly reminded me of the constructionist art movement.  This illustration uses photographic images paired with hand-made images within a white space.  The images in this composition are arranged in an asymmetrical balance.  Like constructivism, the main colors used are black, white and red.  

Queens of the Stone Age Band Poster

Psychedelic Style

Designer:  Craig Phillips 

Workbook vol. 38 pg. 118

When I saw the typography in this design, it instantly reminded me of the typography that was used in many psychedelic styled band posters of the 60's.  It has the same style of form and arrangement.  Like psychedelic band posters, the typography is arranged around the main figure in the composition.
Aside from the typography, the patterns on the figure and the fabric also have psychedelic qualities to them.  The flowing, organic patterns and curvy lines closely mimic the patterns commonly seen in psychedelic styles of art.

"Leslie Ink Play"

Design Team: Leslie Ink

Arts and Crafts style

How Magazine Fall 2016, pg. 25

This design reminded me of William Morris's printed letter designs.  It uses scrolly, organic shapes and lines to form the letters of the alphabet. A few of the letters use plant-like designs similar to Morris's designs. Each letter is so intricately designed.  When it comes to doing designs on the alphabet, the font used for it is usually the same for each alphabet.  I noticed in this design that each letter seems to be different.  Some letters use thin, delicate lines, while others use heavier lines or are filled with more black on the inside.  

Each letter appears to have its own unique style.  Most of these letters use a good amount of ornaments either on inside or on the outside, creating a frame around them.  While some letters are heavily decorated, it is still identifiable (even though they're in alphabetical order).

I love this creative spin on the alphabet.  It has a wonderful use of shapes and lines to create interesting letter form illustrations.  

Black Acre Brewing Beer Cans

Plackatstil style

Design Firm:  Timber Design Co.  

Client:  Black Acre Brewing Company

How Magazine Fall 2016, pg 48

I came across this package design and it instantly reminded me of the Plackatstil style of the Pictorial Modernism movement.  This design uses a limited color pallet of black, white and the silver aluminum of the can itself.  The shapes used are bold and geometric.  The design of the figures uses a minimalist approach to show form.   The figures on the cans are simple, but you are still able to tell what they are.  The figures in the images are presented by themselves with no ornamentation or background imagery around, much like the Plackistil styled advertisements.  

"Medusa Olive Oil"

Artist: Thanh Nguyen

 How Magazine, Fall 2016

Art Nouveau Style

This is a package design for the Medusa Olive Oil brand.  I found this design as I was flipping through a magazine.  In a way, it reminded me of the Art Nouveau style we have been discussing in class.  In Medusa's face, flat black shapes are used to create form on her green skin.  The organic lines of the snakes twist and curve throughout the olive plants.  The snakes in Medusa's hair create a frame around her face and up around the sides, keeping your eyes moving throughout the design.  The olives themselves are used as decorative elements in the design, similar to the decorative floral pattern motifs used in Art Nouveau. This is an attractive design on the concept art of Medusa.  I enjoyed how the designer chose to incorporate olives as a part of Medusa's hair in addition to the snakes.  

Neil Duerden

Adidas Shoe Advertisement

Psychedelic

Workbook vol. 33 pg. 281

This is an advertisement for the Adidas company by Neil Duerden.  I thought that this was an interesting way to display an ad for a shoe.  For one thing, part of the shoe, what should be the main focus of the ad, is cropped out.  The shoe sits on the rising stream of shapes and swirls, as if it is rising up and outwards, away from our view.  The colors and patterns reminded me of the psychedelic art style.  The design is colorful, organic and full of movement, like psychedelia.  Normally, when I see ads for shoes or sneakers, they are usually associated with sports in some way.  This ad does not indicate sports or activity at all.  This design is very intricate and kinetic.  The diagonal direction of the shapes and the shoe keeps your eye moving from one side to the other.    

Moonstruck Forunato Chocolate Packaging

Kate Forrester

Psychedelic style

Workbook vol. 38

This is a package design by Kate Forrester for the Moonstruck Chocolate company.  I thought that this was a very fun and intriguing design! The design is full of movement, leading your eye around the package.  I love how the type flows around with the organic designs.  I also think that it's interesting that the designer used both the white and the negative space of purple to create the shapes in the design composition.  In my opinion, the design style chose has a kind of psychedelic appearance to it.  The way the shapes bend and curve seem to create movement the way a psychedelic pattern would.  I loved looking through the patterns and finding new shapes each time!

Alternate Book Covers
Reductionist style
Designer:  Brian Gartside
Workbook vol. 33 pg. 218

I found this image in an issue of Workbook.  These pieces are some alternate book cover ideas for the Harry Potter series done by Brian Gartside.
This image caught my interest.  I loved the Harry Potter books and was always so interested in looking through the illustrations on the book covers.  The front and the back were normally jam packed with pictures from scenes and characters from the story.  Here, the artist has chosen a fairly simple design for his version of the book covers.  He keeps the same style of typography for the Harry Potter title, but changes the typography for the title of the story (bold for Sorcerer's Stone, scrolly for Deathly Hollows)
On the back and the on the spines on the book covers, Gartside has included the number each book is in the series.  I thought that this was interesting to do.  There are no numbers used on the original book covers.
This design reminds me of the reductionist/minimalist style.  While the original Harry Potter book covers are filled with scenes and figures, these covers are simplified down to using the title and number of the book, and just one element from the story.  It gives you the information you are looking for (what book this is, what order of book this is, who wrote it)  without presenting you with too much artwork.

I also liked that Gartside included small images of things from the story (flying keys).  These were used to create a nice little pattern around the type.

The designer has also done the same with the back of the books.  He has used a simple design while tying in things from the story.