Week 2 National Visions within a Global Dialogue - A History of ...

A HISTORY OFGRAPHIC DESIGNTwins, This Mortal Coil, the Pixies, Bush, and Lush. He committed himself to high standards, bold exploration, and theimaginative use of found imagery (Fig. 23-5).Michael Johnson (b. 1964), page 484, got his start at the brand consultancy Wolff Olins in the 1980s. His work is bothwitty and clever, using wordplay and strong visual puns as a communication strategy (Fig. 23-6).Vince Frost (b. 1964), page 485, solves graphic design problems through a close collaboration with photographers, illustrators,and writers. This association is exemplified in the design and editing of the literary magazine Zembla. Representinga new era in magazine design, Zembla’s fusion of writing, photography, illustration, and expressive typographychallenges all previous mores (Fig. 23-10).Siobhan Keaney (b. 1959), page 485, creates work that is both independent and experimental. She is known for her nonmainstreamapproach and carefully structured, yet seemingly spontaneous work (Fig. 23-11).Ryuichi Yamashiro (b. 1920), page 487, The tree-planting poster by this Japanese designer demonstrates just how successfullynational traditions can be maintained while incorporating international influences, as Eastern calligraphy andspatial concerns unite with a Western communications concept (Fig. 23-12).Yusaku Kamekura (1915–1997), page 487, Under his leadership, Japanese graphic designers dispelled the widely heldbelief that visual communications must be hand-drawn, and the notion of applied arts’ inferiority to fine art fadedas Japanese designers established their professional status. He charted the course of this new Japanese movementthrough the vitality and strength of his creative work, his leadership in founding the Japan Advertising Art Club to bringprofessionalism and focus to the new discipline, and the establishment, in 1960, of the Japan Design Center. The logoand posters he created for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo received international acclaim and established Japan as a centerof creative design (Figs. 23-14 through 23-16).Masuda Tadashi (b. 1922), page 487, His growing involvement in the use of photographic illustration to solve graphicdesign problems, combined with his interest in collaborative and team design, culminated in the establishment of theMasuda Tadashi Design Institute in 1958. Through his collaborative team approach, unexpected solutions and new waysof seeing things emerged (Fig. 23-17).Kazumasa Nagai (b. 1929), page 489, a sculpture major at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, who turned tographic design after graduating in 1951. His oeuvre might be considered ongoing research into linear form and theproperties of line as a graphic medium for spatial modulation. His poster for “Tradition et Nouvelles Techniques” (Traditionaland New Techniques) creates a universe of geometric forms evoking planets and energy forces moving in space(Fig. 23-18).Ikko Tanaka (1930–2002), page 489, used plane and shape as the nucleus for his work. During the 1950s, he assimilatedmany of the Bauhaus design traditions, and then opened Tanaka Design Studio in 1963. Two underlying visual conceptsin much of his work are grid structure and vibrant planes of color that explore warm/cool contrast, close-valued color,and analogous color ranges. Traditional Japanese motifs, including landscape, Kanze Noh theater, calligraphy, masks,and woodblock prints, are reinvented in a modernist design idiom (Figs. 23-19 and 23-20).Takenobu Igarashi (b. 1944), page 489, After graduating from Tama University in 1968, he earned a graduate degree fromthe University of California, Los Angeles. Upon returning to Japan, he opened his own design office in 1970. Much ofhis studio’s work is in trademark, corporate identity, environmental, and product design. By 1976, his experiments withalphabets drawn on isometric grids were attracting clients and international recognition. He calls his three-dimensionalalphabetic sculptures architectural alphabets (Figs. 23-21 through 23-24).Tadanori Yokoo (b. 1936), page 489, His work replaces the order and logic of constructivism with the restless vitality ofDada and a fascination with mass media, popular art, and comic books. His “Sixth International Biennial Exhibition ofPrints in Tokyo” poster combines a variety of techniques showing the range of his uninhibited design vocabulary (Figs.23-25 through 23-27).Shigeo Fukuda (b. 1932), page 490, His designs are disarmingly simple—as readable and immediate as a one-panel cartoon—yetthey engage the viewer with their unexpected violations of spatial logic and universal order. His irresistible