Thinking Form

Massimo Vignelli


Massimo Vignelli was born in Milano, Italy on January 10, 1931. He studied at Accademia di belle arti, In Milan and later at the School of the University of Venice. In 1957, he came to New york and taught at the Institute of Design of Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago for 3 years. He also taught at the Umanitaria School of Graphic Design in Milan and at the Institute of Industrial Design in Venice. In 1960, he established a design studio with Elena Vignelli focusing on visual, product, furniture and exhibition design.

I chose Massimo for I had briefly heard of him while attending JCCC and we also talked about him my my History and Philosophy of Design class. Even though he did create some absolutely amazing pieces, I have also heard that his work was a collaboration between him and multiple people. But this just goes to show that it is true what they say: that most designers, most of the people who actually put in the time and hours, do not always get the credit. Instead, the firm will. Which honestly, is fine by me. 

Dick Bruna


"Dick Bruna was born in Utrecht, Netherlands on August 23, 1927. Since he was a teenager he had interest in design. After the war, Bruna and his family moved to Hilversum, Netherland. He doesnt’t like school and work as intern in Utrecht, London and Paris instead. He highly impresses of Picasso, Leger, Mattise, Braque, Rembrandt, Gerrit Rietveld and Van Gogh works. In the early 50's, He had a chance to make book covers. His early work was influenced by Mattisse's collage. "The first year a series of about six books appeared, the second year there were roughly eighteen, but soon afterwards there were more than one hundred a year. I realized that I, at this rate, had to apply all possible techniques: drawing, tearing, cutting, collage. The black bears were my art school." Dick Bruna by Joke Linders."

I find Bruna to be one of those whimsical designers. A person who is able to illustrate his images as he sees them in his head. They are exciting, energizing and precise. Illustration has never been my strongest suit, but I love it tremendously  And hopefully from looking at work such as Bruna's I can help better understand how to produce work such as this. One day I too hope to illustrate for a children's book for my family and I have a story we have group up with over the years. How wonderful would it be to see your thoughts turn into a reality.  

Kurt Hauert


"Kurt Hauert was born on July 19, 1924 in Aarau, Switzerland. In the early of his education he studied mathematics and science before he enter the foundation course at the AGS (Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel known as Basel School of Design). From 1946 to 1949, he studied in major a teaching degree in drawing, writing, and handicraft. in 1949, he move to Paris to study copperplate printing and etching."

I love the simplicity of Hauert's work. He takes a form, such as a chair, and strips it down to a minimum, your eyes just recognizing it from the obvious qualities left behind. I also enjoy his use of the san serif font, playing off of its smooth edges to create typographic boxes. Your eye fills in the spaces and sees the packaged font as a group. I enjoy how he has played with this. 

Rene Burri


"René Burri was born on the 9th of April 1933 in Zurich, Switzerland. He started his education at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts under Hans Finsler who gifted Burri his first Leica camera. The strict formalist of Finsler's style still influence Burri's work. He also learned typography course under typographer Alfred Willimann for three-year-long course. In 1955, He worked with Magnum agency,a first prime agency for photojournalist worldwide founded by Robert Capa, David Seymour, Henri Cartier Bresson, George Rodger and William Vandivert. In 1959, Burri became a full member."


Photography has always captivated me. And Burri's photos are no exception. His work involves a study of contrast, and that is evident in all of his photos. Being black and white, the reader notices the subtle changes in light and the subject colors. I particularly love his image of the train at the station, with it's steam being released into white smoke. His cropped angle provides a mood of adventure in a bustling environment. 

Paul Himmel


"Paul Himmel was born on April 1, 1914 in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1923, Himmel met Lillian Bassman for the first time and later on they were married in 1935. In 1932 he finished his degree in Science and started to teach. In 1945, he started working as a professional photograper and a year later he studied photography and graphic journalism at the New School under Brodovitch."

Himmel's study of the human body is very intriguing as he plays not only with the form of the limbs, but also the distortion of the camera/focus. He manipulates both variables which is quite interesting. He also captures crowd shots, showing motion. This quality I hope to somehow bring into my work: to be able to use the computer to manipulate my work in a positive light, and to provide motion even though my designs will be 2D. 

Paul Himmel

"Armando Milani was born in Milan on October 11 1940. He studied at Scuola Umanitaria in Milan under Albe Steiner from 1957-1962 and then worked successively for Ufficio Grafico Roche, Studio Giulio Confalonieri and Studio Boggeri. In 1970, he established his own studio in Milan. In 1977, he moved to New York and collaborated with Massimo Vignelli for two years before he open his own studio. He is specialized in branding programs, design of logos, corporate identity programs, book design and posters."

I find that I enjoy the organic, yet geometric designs when they are paired together. What I mean by this is that I enjoy the simple, yet bold elements a designer is able to produce when they have been in the field long enough. This is why I truly love the work of Himmel. He is able to take such simple geometric shapes and turn them into unrecognizable, solid, images that pop off the page. 

Inspiration from where?...

I like to go all over for inspiration. A few places in particular are Issue.com, Behanced, and of course, Pinterest. The following are designs that I find to be influencing my work currently while working on the workbook.

This design was produced by a friend of mine. She is one of the greatest people I know and has always had a talent when it comes to design. She is my rolemodle and inspiration to continue in the field.

With this particular design she won an award at the 2014 AIGA Conference this last fall. She is currently a Senior, studying graphic design at Missouri State University in Springfield.

Her name...

Alexis Ried  

The following is from Pinterest:

TM Research Archive

After looking at the work posted on the TM Research Archive,  I realized just how much you can accomplish by simply manipulating type. I have always known the possibilities were just about limitless, but it amazed me just how much I have not thought about before. 

I chose the following designs and designers for they "spoke" to me in the light that they are designs I connect with and have learned from in just this short amount of time. 

Designer:

• André Gürtler 

Swiss typographer and teacher recognized as an authority on type and type design, also an editorial collaborator for the Typografische Monatsblätter for over 20 years and designed numerous typefaces including Unica, as part of ‘Team 77’.

This cover is inspiring to me. When I first looked at this type I immediately thought it said "rise." This just goes to show you that visually, type can be expressed in multiple ways. Verbally, you will recognize the meaning. But it can also be expressed literally. 

Designer:

• Heinrich Fleischhacker 

(1940) Austrian typographer, graphic designer and teacher who attended classes at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel, worked for Herman Miller, taught and served as head of the typography class at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel.

I love the hand written effect. The "shorthand." It almost reminds me of a doctors note: written in a carefree scribble, yet important. It is simple: using type and lines to balance one another.

I love how he has considered all forms of communication. Sign language is a language and important for people to understand. With these drawings, he is visually writing a note. I love this concept he has formed. 

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Designer:

• Robert Büchler

(1914–05) Swiss typographer who studied and taught at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel, where he initiated classes that explored the new technology of phototypesetting. He is renowned for creating a body of work recognized as quintessential ‘Swiss’.

The simple quality of the white space and minimized, purposefully-restricted, color pallet is refreshing. There is but a small paragraph with a unique justification of a dramatic ragged right edge that perhaps emphasized a word or phrase. The orange is used to due the same, highlighting certain words. 

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I chose this design for I enjoyed the use of reflection and direction. Your eye naturally follows the larger type from left to right, up the vertical line of "l"s and finally to the right, off the page with "z"s. It is visually graphical even though it is obviously type. The letters are not only a reflection of themselves, but they also mirror the horizontal, smaller, type at the top.

 Robert understands the rules of type and knows when is an appropriate time to break them. I enjoy how he has divided the text within this poster, separating, more like grouping, the information accordingly. He was not afraid to group the larger unites together (such as the one large box of text) but by sub grouping the type, he has made it easier to read the information.

This is beautiful. The simplicity, rhythm and symmetry provided by this work follows the Gestalt principles, leaning on them to guid the audience. It is visually appealing and the reader naturally follows the type, wanting to read it and decode its meaning.

 

Designer:

• Unidentified
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I love the obvious use of a grid. It is simple and without any other pages, there are but unlimited guesses as to what the grid actually was, but it is systematic and industrial, just as type can be. To me, this reflects type and letter press. Red, the only color on this cover, represents the ink, or perhaps the rust that would be prevalent on the machines of letter blocks. The white lines and borders confine the spaces and images even though they seem to be bleeding off the page. 

Designer:

• Siegfried Odermatt

(1926) Self-taught Swiss graphic designer who opened his own studio and later founded Odermatt & Tissi with Rosemarie Tissi. 

Odermatt calls himself a self-taught graphic designer, although he attended various courses at the School of Applied Arts in Zürich. From 1943-46 he was a freelance collaborator with the painter Hans Falk. He then started to work independently. Since 1968 he has run a studio with Rosmarie Tissi. Both have a reputation as pioneers in graphic design. Odermatt has received numerous international distinctions and awards.

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I am partial to the organic material that is used along side the industrial type face, Monotype Grotesque. It is raw in a unique form as the image takes up most of the cover space, leaving a small bit of white room at the top for type that may be smaller than 12pt font. The poster is about the image, and yet due to the coloring of the font we still recognize its presence. The bold white light that is left on the rope is shown again above the wood, and it acts as a perfect canvas for the information.

What I have gained:

Hierarchy plays a large role in each cover/poster design presented above. Whether by larger type, difference in x hight, color or justification, each designer knowingly decided to emphasizes certain pieces over others. Also, the overall principle that I found present in these pieces to be important was rhythm. The way in which the audience was able to follow the type and text, getting a sense of the movement and feeling each poster wanted to portray. 

These designers are magnificent and to be researched and inspired by. I hope to bring a natural flow to my workbook and use these posters as a base foundation. I wish for it to be simple, yet bold and inspiring.