This week’s poster design idea is inspired by a book cover design for Øl og Snaps by Danish Artist Paul Høyrup in 1948. I’m Dane-by-Marriage and have come to be familiar with Snaps. I think it’s one reason that Denmark is regarded as the happiest place on Earth. What I really like is that this cover illustration has a real A. M. Cassandre feel. Cassandre is one of my design heroes. So I wanted to try to emulate the grainy stipple techniques that are one characteristic that Høyrup’s illustration shared with Cassandre’s work. I borrowed the color palette and subject matter from Høyrup’s cover.  The intent wasn’t to copy, rather to recreate the essence. The goal is to draw on the knowledge gained when I find my new found skills appropriate for a given design solution. Here is the result of my design exercise:

I didn’t know it was called Tangrams. I just remember it as the puzzle game in Grandma’s closet. The box called it Pythagoras – 179 Puzzle Games. It was a favorite and I inherted the game years latter. It is perhaps one of my earliest explorations into the world of design. Tangram is an Ancient Chinese moving piece puzzle, consisting of 7 geometric shapes. Move them around and create picture. Abstract, and very simple. Try it online at http://tangram-patterns.appspot.com/tangram . There is even a website dedicated to Tangrams.

Well, the other day I was doing my design study, an online search to expand my knowledge of my chosen profession. I stumbles on a designer named Designer Barney Bubbles. That’s right, Bubbles. His actual name was Colin Fulcher. Don’t even remember how or where I stumbled onto a site that mentioned his work. While exploring his work, I was drawn to a couple of his pieces. The Damned: Music For Pleasure (1977). Artist John Coulthart describes the art as follows,”The Damned sleeve is a Kandinsky-esque portrait of the band with the group’s name spelled out using abstract shapes, an approach to album lettering he was to use for other artists as the decade progressed.” Kandinsky-esque, that’s the ticket. When I was in college I liked studying the Russian Constructivist movement.  Then I can across, Ian Dury & the Blockheads: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (1978) 45 sleeve. Wow! It is a beautiful mix of Tangram elements and early New Wave. Right down to the pink and green. This piece touched me on so many levels. You know, when you look at a design and smile to yourself. That little voice says, “NICE”.

There are those purist that only feel HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos are achieved from multiple exposures. But you don’t always have HDR in mind when you shoot. Especially if your shooting for your own image catalog. So, where do you start. There are commercially available Photoshop filters that let you accomplish faux HDR from a single image. One example might be ReDynamix, it looks good but I haven’t tested it out. I started out with some canned PS Actions I downloaded from the internet. Mixed results, and some interesting outcomes. Nevertheless, I wanted a specific look. I hate that little voice in my head that says, “I’ll know it when I see it.” Found an interesting HDR Tutorial online. Played around with what I learned in the tutorial. Best thing about tutorials is refreshing your knowledge base. There where a few PS techniques I had neglected to use and since overlooked them in my day-to-day workflow. Some of the best results came from my photographer pal who says he gets good results in Camera Raw.

So, Combining techniques I managed to have some fun. Better yet, I look forward to integrating HDR in my design. Here are some of my experiments:

There is so much talent and inspiration out there. Where? Everywhere! The web is a great place to find new places where the creative juices flow. Today, on one on my mindless surfing adventures I landed Ammo Magazine.  In there own words they’re addicted to illustration. Check it Out!

Things are busy here at our Advertising Agency in San Jose, CA. Imagine what it was like for Designers, Illustrators and Artist back in the great depression. Closest I can come to that vision is the “Dot Com Bomb. And when things get rough, seems like the first to feel it are the artist. The WPA was a great program to help those who needed work.

The program built many public buildings, projects and roads and operated large arts, drama, media and literacy projects. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing and housing. I’ve always heard of the great poster designs produced in stunning silk screen, wood cuts and lithography. I always love the Silkscreen posters. I admire them greatly. I found a great resource online at the LIbrary of Congress. I was delighted to find a 1939 Calendar with whimsical illustrations.

March has to be my favorite design, but they all are great. We can learn a lot by studing the simplicity of these images. Take that knowledge and apply it to our designs.