Us & Them

Objectivity + Subjectivity in Design

Can Graphic Design ever truly be objective, or is there inherently always an agenda present? If so, does this agenda always come from the designer, or can it be infused into the work by the viewers preconceptions and life experiences? If Graphic Design is indeed inherently subjective, by harnessing it can it then be used to affect our environs and break down social barriers, through sheer visual communication?

Proposition 86

California will be addressing big tabacco this fall in its state vote on Proposition 86. The innitiative proposes to add large taxes on all tobacco products which would nearly double the current prices for cigarettes et al. As a casual smoker, I think this is a brilliant move. It's a habbit that quite simply kills thousands of people a year, and anything that deters this trend in my mind is a positive thing. Clearly there's a huge opposing force, a la big tobacco, and the No On Proposition 86 campaign is sure to be massive, efficient and well-tailored to champion its cause.

Mapping Border Crossings

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Mexican immigrants enter the US illegally each year. Of these immigrants thousands perish every year due to the hazardous conditions associated with the process of crossing the border. There are several groups that have organized to come to the aid of these immigrants, one of which is Humane Borders. Their position is not political, their stance on the crossings themselves is nutral. HB is realistic, they realize this is something that is happening and will continus to happen regardless of the associated risks. So they have organized to make the process a more humane one.

One of the more intruiging pursuits of Humane Borders is their graphic mapping system. The group has mapped out popular border crossing locations between the US and Mexico and marked locations of interest, including water resources and dangerous obstacles. Humane Borders has also devised a signage system that alerts immigrants as to stretches of desert that are too dangerous to cross or that have had high casualty rates due to extreme or harsh condistions.

I am intruiged hot only by the humanity behind the mission of Humane Borders, but also by the fact that many of their projects are graphic in nature and rely upon very core components of visual communication. Rich territory for social and political research.

Album Artwork Is Back

With the release of iTunes 7.0 I do believe that we have re-entered the age of album artwork. Albeit digital, for the past several years we have seen the demise of album artwork. For those who chose to download, rip and burn, it is rare that the once heralded album artowrk is held  and studied, much less even seen.

In the dawn of the 12" album artwork was god. This was a place for the designer to explore and get radical with liberal communication that often subverted mainstream design, while still agressively achieving its goal of promoting bands and moving records.

Tape cassettes shrunk down the format, CD's reverted back to the squared format, but with the introduction of MP3's we pretty much said goodbye to album art. Well, iTunes has provided a new realm for this artwork of yore, the iTunes visual gallery. For the first time it's a practical venue for music's natural visual companion. Granted, it falls far short of the classic printed material, but at the very least we get to see the artwork once again. Thank god.   

Lightning Bolt Graphics

Not many people can say that they've single-handedly changed the course of a sport. Gerry Lopez not only made Pipeline the world's most important wave, he made the lightning bolt the ultimate graphic in surfing culture.

Born in Honolulu, Lopez got serious about surfing in high school and by the mid-60's he was shaping his own boards. Chasing down tube-rides soon became his profession and with his entrance to the rather official world of competetive surfing and became the opitomy of the new age surfer.

In 1971, Lopez established Lightning Bolt surfboards with Jack Shipley. The trademark, fueled by the Lopez aura, came to represent Hawaiian surfing. Virtually every top pro rode the boards on the North Shore during the '70s.

Now a cliche graphic element, the lightning bolt was the visual heart of the brand and movement that Lopez created. Birthed in the 60's and exploded in the 70's the lightning bolt graphic is not only eye catching but a tried and true visual element. Too bad it's plaid out. Following the current pattern, I think if we give it another decade it'll be back on top.

Mark my words.

The Aesthetic of "Push"

In an average day the average adult encounters hundreds of icons and symbols. Most of the content or meaning that these symbols carry are learned culturaly, and vary greatly from region to region. Recently Timo Arnall compiled a body of research surrounding the current visual vocabulary relating to the aesthetics of "touch", and in doing so compiled a large body of every day symbols used to communicate the notion of "push".

From his research and analysis Arnall derived a system of icons that connote various degrees of physical interaction, including objects, how they are used and how they interact in space and context. The body of work is fascinating and quite logically organizes a fairly complex system of instructional marks and gestures. The interesting question that the work seems to pose however, is how do these glyphs and symbols translate international bounderies? Do they inherently rely upon cultural norms and understandings? And if so, what are the keys to transcending idiomatic barriers and cultural baggage?

Universal Warning Signs

In 2003  Joshua Abbey of the Desert Space Foundation, launched an international competition to design a warning sign to be placed around the site of a future nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The international competition currated 150 finalist designs from an international community of entrants. The Las Vegas exhibition of winning entries drew several thousand visitors and eventually made its way to  California and Colorado.

The aim was to generate a system that would effectively warn visitors to the site that the location was extremely hazardous to tresspassors, but here's the catch. The sign must endure for approximately 10,000 years, which is the estimated life span of readiocative waste.

In truth, it is laughable to expect that ANY form of communication could endure for such a period of time, nevertheless, entries were submitted (several of the submissions can be found here http://www.desertspace.org/warning_sign/uwsGallery.html) and a winner was chosen.

"Blue Yuccas" were granted best-of-show, the winning concept coming from UCLA architecture graduate student Ashok Sukumaran. The solution proposed that a genetically altered strain of Yucca be planted around the site, which would grow virally and eventually expand the entire storage location. The concept being that language is rendered useless, so is any sort of semiotic solution, assuming that in 10,0000 years these modes of communication would be rendered useless.

Relying then on an altered species of plant, theoretically found no where else on the planet, this solution would act as genetic warning sign. The blue and aggressive landscape would act as a beacon suggesting that not only was there sometime entirely unique about this location, but that its terrain should not be explored or inhabited.

Essentially, there is no solution. The entire proposition is absurd, assuming that we are intelligent enough to devise a communication system that could transcend such a period of time. But as it is, Ashok Sukumaran was insightful in that he cirumnavigated the language and symbol paradox. I just hope that no one has the misfortune of having to test the system.

Love Craft

Why has this taken so long? We've been talking about alternative energy cars since the 90's. Scratch that, the eighties. The first reference to cars running on leftover food products i can remember was in Back to the Future II, when Doc explains that there is no longer any need for uranium to travel in time. Instead ordinary bio-waste from scraps of food could be used.

The future has finally arrived: http://www.lovecraftbiofuels.com

There are several DIY upstarts converting old diesel vehicles into vegie or biofuel cars. It's genius and it's great for the environment and it's CHEAP. If you are in a position to consider it, I urge you to do so. 

Parody v. Pastiche

In the larger conversation of graphic design we often grapple with the idea of parody versus pastiche. Both deal with mimicry of borrowed styles, but 'parody' calls upon the original's idiosincracies while 'pastiche' takes on the personality of the original style without any additional satire or commentary.

When Jamie Reid had to cancel a talk in London, Stuart Bailey stepped in and designed his own invite (above image). In your mind, is this graphpic invite pastiche, parody, or simply ripping off of style?