Blog 3 Sam Spencer

In class last week I noticed how some of the Swiss posters that emphasized photographic elements had this sort of airbrushed affect about them that was familiar to me in contemporary photography, even though it does have a retro-ness to it. It reminded me of late 90s rock bands with high saturation and airbrushed faces, which probably just echoes some of the distortion of surrealism, as the book mentions. The poster from this reading that reminded me of this thought from last week was "All Roads Lead to Switzerland," which was described as having a seamlessness about the space it depicted. Although it is intentionally asymmetrical, it has a uniformity and balance to it. There are a lot of details working to make the forms very cohesive and into little patterns, like a textile, even in the bricks that fan outwards to push the text towards the viewer. Something that was mentioned in the reading was experimentation with the photo and the page in the way it would be interpreted while being held or mounted-- how the edges of the poster might interact with light or their surroundings. I had not thought of why that might contribute towards designer's use of white on the edges of pages in this way. Obviously when looking at page layout, we leave white space on the edges, but in a photograph, I had not really considered why something as simple as vignetting, or sort of its inverse, may have come in to practice.

Hollis, R. (2016). Graphic design: a concise history.

Anton Stankowski's work stood out to me because it aims for objectivity in the way that I think of Swiss design as being known for. While looking at his work I found that he has a lot of photographs available to view outside of his work making posters. These photographs interest me because they focus so much on form that they feel almost abstract, while they also place the viewer in a seemingly uncomplicated position.

Anton Stankowski: Untitled (1932). (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.artsy.net/artwork/anton-stankowski-untitled-1940

In a quote from him, he describes that the best way to advertise something is to become it, or experience it. I think this photo conveys some of that sentiment, as it feels less like looking at water on a sidewalk, and more like feeling the way water expands across a surface, or glancing down at the sidewalk moving past you, or maybe even relating to the water formations; the way they cross a sidewalk perpendicular to the same way you do. 

This is one of Max Bill's posters, who was mentioned in the reading for his use of rainbow color and "controlled, exact relationships." While I think this is sort of an amazing way of interpreting light while also referencing the medium of printing and bringing a page to life with color in general, and the designer's position as the conductor of these colors, it is very dull for me to look at because I have since seen it repeated so frequently. But, the textbook's description of his approach to work definitely helped me to understand the line of thinking that produced this, and to appreciate it more than I have in the past.

Blamire, M. (2008, May 22). 1972 Munich Olympics. Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/blankaposters/2513577615

In comparison, this is an album cover by brit Jamie xx! Clearly, this motif has been reproduced a lot since.

In Colour (Jamie xx album). (2019, December 3). Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Colour_(Jamie_xx_album)

Hollis, R. (2016). Graphic design: a concise history.

I liked how the reading described this poster by Paul Colin, even though I am not sure I fully understand it. But, there was something about the 3D-ness of the R conveying the idea of air. I liked the quote about him describing a letter gaining significance in the context of its harmony amongst other letters in a word. This is similar to how design in general was described in other chapters, but it sort of reaches across studies into thinking a bit about linguistics and sound. I like imagining here the way that our brains interpret sound and vision and all senses very inter connectedly. The book did not go into this, but this poster hinted at it for me. 

Tan. (2013, February 8). Nick Knight for Lane Crawford Spring/Summer 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://trendland.com/nick-knight-for-lane-crawford-springsummer-2013/

French designer Alfred Tolmer's thoughts on layout and page design, that look more like magazines we understand today, interested me because it reminded me of an interview I watched with fashion photographer and filmmaker Nick Knight. In the interview, Nick Knight describes how he feels that magazines let photography down by emphasizing the medium's limitations rather than exploring them and expanding on them. Also, by not giving them the breathing room they deserve and instead focusing on text in an uninteresting way rather than designing better while keeping content to writers. In many ways, I think Tolmer was breathing life to layout by experimenting with manipulation of images and creating harmony around them by hand. The above photo is an image Knight created with 3D scanning. He sees fashion photography as moving towards film in capturing motion and simulation. I am not sure what I think of Knight's analysis, as he says magazines killed photography, but I saw some similarities with Knight and Tolmer's approaches.