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TwoPoints.Net is directing the new Elisava postgraduate program...

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:59:47 -0400

TwoPoints.Net is directing the new Elisava postgraduate program in Typography. Based upon the traditional northern European typography education, this postgraduate program concentrates on typography as a tool for the undertaking of visual communication projects.

Typography, photography and drawing have traditionally been the principal tools of graphic design. The digital revolution has helped to fuse the tools of the trade, which require the subsequent and thorough knowledge of graphic generation tools (software). The democratization of design has prompted the proliferation of designers without the proper qualifications, as well as a gradual impoverishment of the ubiquitous matter of visual communication that surrounds us.

Typography is, moreover, the only tool exclusive to graphic design. (Others tools such as form, color and composition are common to all artistic and creative disciplines.) Faced with a savagely competitive marketplace, the mastery and control of typography are crucial weapons that are the mark of good designers.

This postgraduate course covers the Swiss-Dutch-German typographical tradition and establishes a base for all students serious in their study of communication design or for those already established in this area who wish to acquire additional training. Students will attain the knowledge and technical skills necessary to execute graphic design projects professionally and with typographical excellence.

Find out more…

Andea Ederra has nice control over her compositions. I like to...

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:47:30 -0400

Andea Ederra has nice control over her compositions. I like to think of Andea as a sensitive typographer. Her typographic treatments are especially considered. Andea has an eye for comfortable margins.

This project is called Souvenir, the form of the project reflects the content. A souvenir as a phenomenon is self-indulgent and is often flashy. Souvenir’s are personal and rather gratifying. A Souvenir = A little extra.

Julien Vallée is a graphic designer and art director from...

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 09:21:00 -0500

Julien Vallée is a graphic designer and art director from Montréal, Canada, who creates tangible images for clients from The New York Times Magazine to Swatch and MTV-One. Julien’s work was granted recognitions such as the ADC Young Guns 6 Award and Creative Review Award 2010. It was featured in numerous publications and appeared on various book and magazines covers such as Computer Arts, IdN and Gestalten’s book Tangible. It was also exhibited around the world in Berlin, Zurich, Montréal, London, Shangai and Seoul, just to name a few.

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Julien Vallée and his studio do an incredible job of creating digitally influenced ideas but for real. His concepts aren’t always dominant but his execution is his staple for sure. Julien has an eye for a surreal aesthetic. When looking at Julien’s work, his studio manages to tease the viewer. Figuring out what is actually going on in the composition is the fun of it, but they never give you too much time to break it down. Brevity gives Julien’s studio much character.

Video

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:10:14 -0500

Long Island, New York.

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:42:57 -0400

Long Island, New York.

O_o

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 02:00:52 -0400

O_o

Rafaël Rozendaal makes websites as art pieces, pieces are sold...

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:57:00 -0400

Rafaël Rozendaal makes websites as art pieces, pieces are sold with the domain name, work remains public, and the name of collector goes in title bar. Collectors in France, Sweden, UK, Spain and Austria.
Lived in Amsterdam, Rio, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, Portland and Berlin. His father Arie Rozendaal from the Netherlands. His mother Heloisa Castello Branco from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His great grandfather Humberto Castello Branco, former president of Brazil. Rafaël lives and works in hotels.

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Rafaël is a web artist that has been influenced by the boom of the internet in the 80’s. He has established a new niche in web development. Every space he creates on the web is dialogue. He often presents his websites in galleries as interactive exhibitions, he allows his work to exist in two very different mediums. Rafaël is utlizing cyberspace to it’s fullest. Selling websites as peices of art is such a fascinating idea, the collector gets to own the domain but the work must stay public. This is revolutionary to an artists career. Their work doesn’t get displaced and is still available for the public to see, and the collector still has a sense of ownership. We all can learn something from Rafaël Rozendaal, thank you.

Everynone is a production company located in New York & Los...

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:13:00 -0400

Everynone is a production company located in New York & Los Angeles.“Words”, is by Will Hoffman and Daniel Mercadante. Will Hoffman is the kind of fellow that once you see his work, you will make it a priority to research more. His ideas are simply equations, he alludes to an idea by setting up different scenarios and composing them next to each other, encouraging the audience to formulate. Will Hoffman is incredibly sensitive to sound and motion. His narratives feel tender and receptive to new emotions and perspectives that are usually overlooked in the American culture. He manages to establish this sensitivity without shoving his ideas down your throat, he respects his audience as much as his content. Each one of his films feel like a lesson. Discovering new information on your own is an incredibly enriching process; Will Hoffman will give you just enough detail for you to self-reflect, educate, and motivate. Get on this guy.

The Printing Ink Company A nice reminder.

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:13:30 -0400

The Printing Ink Company

A nice reminder.

Irma Boom is an Amsterdam-based graphic designer specializing in...

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:51:00 -0400

Irma Boom

is an Amsterdam-based graphic designer specializing in book making. With her use of unfamiliar formats, materials, colors, structures, and typography she makes the book into a visual and haptic experience.

Irma Boom studied graphic design at the AKI Art Academy in Enschede. After graduating she worked for five years at the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office in The Hague. In 1991 she founded Irma Boom Office, which works nationally and internationally in both the cultural and commercial sectors. Clients include the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Paul Fentener van Vlissingen (1941-2006), Inside Outside, Museum, Boijmans Van Beuningen, Zumtobel, Ferrari, Vitra International, NAi Publishers, United Nations and OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Koninklijke Tichelaar, and Camper.

Since 1992 Boom has been a critic at Yale University in the US and gives lectures and workshops worldwide. She has been the recipient of many awards for her book designs and was the youngest-ever laureate to receive the prestigious Gutenberg prize for her complete oeuvre.

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Such a fascinating paradigm that books should rarely look hand-made. If the content suggests a careless form, perhaps it is respectable– but in most situations, a book shouldn’t look hand-crafted. This idea of personal performance or perhaps studious rigor is often desired only by the creators. Books shouldn’t get the same response or reaction as a purchase from a thrift store, unless this is appropriate with the main idea. Irma Boom does a incredibly good job of consistently representing the form of the book.

Lernert & Sander are two dutch artists and friends who...

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:12:54 -0400

Lernert & Sander

are two dutch artists and friends who decided that working alone was getting boring and started collaborating on art related projects. Since their first video Chocolate Bunny they’ve been working on commercials, leaders, art movies, documentaries and installations. Their aim is to make simple and communicative works, that takes little note of the existing border between contemporary art and commercial projects. Their highly esthetic, humorous and dedicated works are often challenging the media and its viewer, in a simple but very effective way. Their work was selected for international festivals in New York, Rio de Janeiro and Oberhausen.

Sander Plug (1969) works as a freelance graphic designer and artist. He graduated in 1993 as industrial designer at the technical university in Delft and finished his Masters in Art in 2004 at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. He has exhibited in several group exhibitions in Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona. He is a teacher in the graduation year of the Art Academy in Utrecht.

Lernert Engelberts (1977) works as a director and writer. He made Driving Miss Palmen, a Dutch soap set in India. He was editor/writer for RE-magazine. He wrote a dramatised garden program with Arjan Ederveen which he also directed and collaborated with director Michiel van Erp in 2006 for the documentary Warm Stories. Lernert also finishing his first highly critically acclaimed book of short stories Real Bad People. He publicises in the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant about art, was curator for Lost&Found, and is advisor for the Filmfund at research and development.

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Revenge is such a common weapon in battle. It seems easy, failure is rarely considered and execution is the main priority. If only this motive could be applied in all of our interests. This video takes a very neutral perspective on revenge. It is extremely powerful how Lernert & Sander allude to these ideas of revenge by engaging the view in decision, by forcing the viewer to anticipate, hypothesize and hopefully learn. These ideas are often ignored when revenge is the main motivation. What a beautiful way to express such a phenomenon. Stunning.

CUT-UP Burroughs, Gysin & the cut-up Project Modes of...

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 06:40:00 -0400

CUT-UP Burroughs, Gysin & the cut-up Project Modes of Practice Edition #1 Fabrikzeitung September 2010

The September 2010 edition of Fabrikzeitung Zürich launches a new cycle of special issues devoted to modes of artistic practice. The first issue in this series deals with the cut-up project as an experimental practice linking literature and the visual arts. The articles focus on William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin as the first practitioners of cut-up, the historical conditions of its (re-)discovery, but also on the relationship between the artistic method and the collaborative aspects of production, publishing, and distribution.

Contributions by:

Jürgen Ploog, Craig Saper, Kyle Schlesinger, Oliver Harris, Jed Birmingham, Marc Matter, Martin Büsser & Tomasz Stompor

16 Pages, Total Edition of 3500

Concept: Tomasz Stompor & Gregor Huber

Design: Gregor Huber & Ivan Sterzinger

Hyoun Youl Joe is a South Korean Graphic Designer, this is his...

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:31:04 -0400

Hyoun Youl Joe is a South Korean Graphic Designer, this is his thesis on Mimesis and it’s influence on our lifestyle and its relationship to design.

echo of mimesis

        1

        mimesis is a form of imitation, either by an individual or by an entire social group, in direct response to the behavior of others or to the environment in which we exist. most of my works have been various explorations in mimetic logic and phenomena as elements that constitute culture and society. my interest in mimesis started with the following questions: 1) why do people mimic or imitate others, and what is the result of this imitation?: what are the causes and effects of mimesis? 2) what do they mimic or imitate?: what are the inspirations for mimesis? 3) how and where does the mimesis proceed?: what is the process of mimesis?
        as a graphic designer who produces and deals with images and signs, i am interested in a phenomenological approach to mimesis in terms of both form and structure. i focus on the relationship between the origin and duplicate, or between the thing itself and the things copied through a number of visual methodologies: order, symmetry, hierarchy, comparison, progress, rhetoric, accident.
        the social and cultural behavior of human beings is based on mimesis. french philosopher of social science, rené girard notes that “if human beings suddenly ceased imitation, all forms of culture would vanish. neurologists remind us frequently that the human brain is an enormous imitating machine. to develop a science of man it is necessary to compare human imitation with animal mimicry, and to specify the properly human modalities of mimetic behavior, if they indeed exist.” i am interested in human imitation and imitation in the realm of design.

        2

        assimilation by mimesis
        from a social and cultural point of view, the mimetic behavior of humans arises from several causes. first, they learn by mimicry, as for example the process of children’s learning language and people’s learning other foreign languages. second, they criticize through mimicry, satirizing another. one example of political sarcasm is american comedians, jon stewart and stephen colbert, who sarcastically mimic a president or congressman. third, humans assimilate into an environment and a system of organization, losing their identities by mimicry. the boundaries between the self and environment are blurring, causing depersonalization. korean artist do-ho suh has brought ten uniforms that he had worn in 39 years into the gallery in ‘uni-form/s: self-portrait/s: my first 39 years’, a piece that reveals depersonalized identities within the systemized korean society. our contemporary social structure with its insistence on systemization and organization forces us to be assimilated so that each person’s identity is supposed to blend into the environment. as the volume of elements of similarity increases, the group consisting of these similarities takes on a uniformity of pattern, erasing the character of individual elements.

        3

        echo of mimesis
        little by little in the process of duplication, things copied transmute or lose their original nature. the more frequently this process is repeated, the wider the gaps between the original and the copies grow. the quality of the copies may be either inferior or superior to the original, depending on the mimetic faculty. i am interested in the gaps and the relationships between the original and the copy in either case. to explore the process of inferiority, i have made experiments using various means that enable copying - printers, xerox machines, silk-screen, carbon(less) papers, etc. this experiment was not merely to verify the fact of physical transformation of material but to study the metaphorical or rhetorical representation about mimetic structure and phenomena in our society.
        in my work ‘echo of mimesis’, i experimented on the relationship between the original and the replica and the transmuting process of copying. for this project, i used carbon papers and a lithographic press as a vehicle of making duplication. i put carbon papers between each of the papers, then i drew one shape on the first page using a pen. as a result of it, the shape on the first page has blurred, and each one of page’s texture has transmuted depending on the pressure of drawing. i also used a lithographic press instead of carbon papers as another tool for the same experiment. the replica can not be same as the original due to its getting acquiring various effects in the process of copying. as this process is repeated and the number of replicas increases, the nature of the replica becomes totally different - one without homogeneity with the original.
        in a process of mimesis, the transmuted nature of the replica does not merely depends on physical mimetic faculties, but also on an environment and experience that affect people’s perception from a psychological and social perspective. this occurs because the replica produced in a certain environment is supposed to be recontextualized in a the process of adapting to a new system.
i am interested in the process of subjectively perceiving images, objects and symbols because people’s cognition and interpretation depend on the influence of environmental factors on one’s their perception of stimuli.
        in ‘six gestures’, i have explored how people communicate with each other using only their hand gestures. six people were asked to guess stories being acted out through hand gestures. even though the hand gestures were the same, the imagined stories were quite different. six people have guessed new stories different from others, based on the hand gestures. the given visual information is was interpreted and understood in a completely subjective and arbitrary in how it is interpreted and understood. its interpretation depends on the context.
        nowadays, the mimetic faculty via digital technology has reached new heights; with each new technological advance, mimetic speed grows shorter. media of digital type such as the internet enable images and text through mass copies to reach people almost instantaneously. traditionally, people have believed that things copied are were inferior to the original, but the technological development of the mimetic faculty reverses this relation. the advent of high resolution and sensitive cameras enables us to visualize a range that the naked eye can not catch. contemporary people are surrounded by realistic virtual images coming from media. now that the digital virtual world has emerged in earnest, and we are surrounded with virtual images, the duplication’s surpassing the original breaks down the boundary between them.
        according to french philosopher jean baudrillard, the world is constructed on the representation of representation; in this world, people consume insubstantial signs. simulation threatens the difference between true and false as well as between real and imaginary so that it is impossible to identify what is real and what is not. in our society of simulation, people inevitably receive messages of simulacra through the media, which affects their perception of reality. corporations inundate us with hyper-real advertising. i am interested in the role and function of media that enables us to connect with the insubstantial space of signs.

        4

        the creation by mimesis
        graphic designers strive to find new methodologies and expressions for exploring their own territory in new ways. however there is a limitation to their creating originals, because their works inevitably involve “choice”. their works have no choice but to take the structure of collage and montage as “editorial form” in that designers choose the typefaces, images and text, and create new compositions using them. although the territory of graphic design is expanding through a wide variety of experiments so that design is often hard to distinguish from works of art, in general, design has a nature different from works of art that people can see only in galleries. while the work of art is an original one-of-a-kind, design is typically mass-copied through media.
        when some graphic designers take a look at other designers’ works, they mention about “style” such as dutch style, british style, french style, european style, american style, japanese style, asian style, etc. they even mention famous graphic designers. numerous graphic designers tend to mimic other styles or designers or to apply other designs. computer graphic programs enable them to do it easily. creating new works by mimesis, they produce a new style.
        i am interested in this historical aspect of graphic designers’ mimetic gestures, because it underlines how each style of graphic design is linked with others. for my work “this is how i show my posters”, i have collected similar graphic designers’ gestures in which they are holding posters as way of showing their works. this project took a typological approach and found similarity within the ways that designers display their work.
artists and designers may explore an interest in the mimetic through this typology. through collecting and observation, they may accumulate numerous images, taking an objective approach to their subject. for example, one german artist couple, bernd becher and hilla becher attempted to archive photographs of industrial buildings; peter piller has collected reproduced photos of girls holding guns; and spanish artist antoni muntadas has collected images of stadiums.
        typology photos are showing similarities and the mimetic principle ranging from man-made objects and architecture to humans’ facial expressions and behaviors. these photos through accumulation document the objects in our world and the ways that we communicate with one another. there are no longer the moment of beauties and humans’ emotional expression, but it document the world where we keep communicate with others and objects as a form of the accumulation. even though the typological approach has become a cliché for in fine art and design, it is definitely one of the an important way means of showing the style and similarities of humans’ interaction in our society.

        5

        without the discourse of mimesis, it is impossible to understand and analyze the context and patterns of not only art and philosophy but also culture and society, because every behavior of humans is generated, proceeded and transformed by mimetic logic.
        as i am a graphic designer, i am interested in analyzing and finding similarities and mimetic patterns among countless objects and images, including symbols. my works explore the relation either between the original and the replica or between replicas. i have preferred to pursue a phenomenological approach to observe the forms and function of man-made objects, diminishing my subjective intervention, rather than to explore a narrative form embodying new stories.
in terms of mimesis of reality, i have focused on virtual reality (hyper reality) in various media, because the digital mimetic faculty has broken down the confines boundaries between imagination and reality, false and true. the digital virtual real world is changing humans’ perception of reality, just as the invention of photography changed the definition of art and the cultural patterns of humans.
        i pay close attention to the roles and function of media such as the internet and tv through which hyper-realities are mass-produced for advertising corporations. the desire of mimesis in humans is unlimited, for through mimesis, we can possess whatever we need and experience the space where we would like to be.

Video

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:05:30 -0400

The spatialforces are a group of architecture students who came...

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:03:00 -0400

The spatialforces are a group of architecture students who came together to investigate on topics apart from their daily grind and their studies. The spatialforces can be regarded as a do-tank, which produces and publishes output of as well social as architectural but always contemporary importance on an irregular basis. Though they do actively seek feedback on our work with this attempt, they primarily want to adress a wider public with the topics discussed, and enhance and encourage the society’s spatial awareness.

Circus Bookazine recently posted an article about the...

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:41:44 -0400

Circus Bookazine recently posted an article about the significance of Muslim women wearing headscarfs for the purpose of style and spirtuality. The writer Tahira Parvez had a very powerful perspective regarding the importance of the headscarf for Muslim women. Currently the full burka has become a very serious concern in our culture and other cultures in Europe. Many people are concerned these women are forced to wear the fully covered cloaks and might be hiding abusive markings. This is a very rationale concern, but I think there should be another solution to handling these atypical scenarios without banning this respectable style of living.

Tahira made a very intuitive and powerful statement saying,”The scarf gives me the chance to not be judged by my appearance, but to allow people to build a picture of me based on my personality, my qualifications, skills, strengths and weaknesses.”

This is such a fascinating idea and something to consider. In our culture women are judged on their appearance way more critically then men. Although this generalization is slowly deterierating, never the less, it still exists. We find it very intimidating as a society to not be aware of a persons physical features, especially womens. We are trained to judge a person based off their presentation and their physical emotions- what else do we have in order to formulate an idea about someone?

Imagine if we all wore head scarfs, in an ideal situation, we would be forced to judge one another based off their vocal expression and their logic. Why does this seem morally more sophisticated? Or rather, fair. It’s because our culture depends on identity in a very contrived, thought out manner. It leaves less room for mistake or exposure. Ironically, preventing any physical exposure, and hiding all of our physical flaws or realities could ideally be a scenario for a more honest form of interaction.

Wearing sunglasses for many people can be a very comfortable shield from direct interaction. If your in a subway and your wearing sunglasses it can be a great means of disconnecting visually from your surroundings; but at the same time, it invites a more vouyer relationship with your enviorment.

Regardless of how we present ourselves, every culture still has a concern for style and a unique representation through some alternative textile option. Self expression is an idea we can agree is a common concern as an individual. How we represent this phenomenon is worth exploring. Head scarfs in the Muslim community is something I have reconsidered as a respectable decision, and an initiative that is very daring in our society. Challenging your means of expression is something that should be pursued more often. Next time you encounter a women in a burka, take a moment to reflect how you view them as an individual and less on their conformity to a religious code.

Ya know- Everyday I stumble upon graphic designers just having...

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:19:00 -0400

Ya know- Everyday I stumble upon graphic designers just having tons of fun. It frustrates me and excites me all at once. At the end of the day, it brings me enjoyment to see so many designists having tons of fun. Here is Charlotte Cotman whose work isn’t that exciting but she is just having so much fun and her work is a playground. I find this normality in playful design super encouraging and a great means to explore inventive solutions. Fuckin’ Fun.

(via doommovement) Now contributing to the DOOM MOVEMENT! Doom...

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:54:21 -0400

(via doommovement)

Now contributing to the DOOM MOVEMENT!

Doom is upon us, ~~learn now~~ before you fall behind.

Music video directed by Côme de Bouchony . Côme is a freelance...

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:51:00 -0400

Music video directed by Côme de Bouchony . Côme is a freelance graphic designer and art director born in 1984, who lives and works in Paris.

He set up his graphic design partice in 2007 after graduating with highest honours from Esag Penninghen in Paris (France) and spending almost a full year at Willem de Kooning Acadademie in Rotterdam (Netherlands).

By Pierre Vanni, the video was made for the shows of Battles,...

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:52:26 -0400

By Pierre Vanni, the video was made for the shows of Battles, Humanleft and Pilooski. Its two years old but totally displays the awkward but sophisticated humor found in a lot of modern day sketch comedy. Pierre’s work has very intriguing presence filled with lots of little effective tricks. Check him out if your not familar already.