Fancy Type Focus

When I was looking for something to wear, I ran across this t-shirt in my closet that I got for being in the 10K race at Arcola's Broom Corn Festival. There's a bit of a mixture of styles in this design. I can see elements of Victorian and American Kitsch styles. The "Coca-Cola/Campbell's Soup" styled font can be seen as Victorian and American Kitsch. The Victorian era had a lot of fancy looking typefaces, but the American Kitsch style also has a lot of script typefaces. There's a happy-go-lucky vibe going on, so it definitely leans more towards the American Kitsch vibe. The banner and clip-art styled graphics further exemplify the style usage. I really enjoy the simplicity of the design, especially the focus on the typography and the few colors used. The function of this design is to get people to check out the Broom Corn Festival.

Running Utensils

I got a huge American Kitsch vibe when I saw this 1994 poster for the Waiter/Waitress Olympics. It's very lighthearted, cute, and fun. Even down to the color choice of a yellow background, it's a very inviting and friendly design. The bending of the two left tines on the fork symbolizes the bending of a runner's legs. It's all very cartoon-ish as well. The font choice also looks like an American Kitsch type usage as well. The function of this poster design is to garner interest and get people to check out the Waiter/Waitress Olympics. I found this image in the 1995 July/August edition of Print magazine.

Electrifying Design

This image by Andy Warhol is scary and thought provoking, much like most of Warhol's works. This poster was created to help the finance the defense of the "Chicago Seven." Warhol must have felt a lot of compassion for the "Chicago Seven," otherwise he wouldn't have made the effort to give a helping hand by making this poster. The colors are very eerie with a black and green grainy and grungy looking electric chair photograph. The message, "Conspiracy means to breathe together" jolts the viewer's attention with the accompanied electric chair. The message is in a bright red, which sticks out perfectly against the dark image. The red also hints at death. The function of this design was meant to garner compassion and sympathy for the "Chicago Seven" and help finance their defense. I found this image in Power to the Imagination: Artists, Posters, and Politics by Jürgen Döring.

Art Nouveau From Under The Sea

This poster for Pearl Beach is very Art Nouveau styled in my opinion. There's a lot of swirling and curvature in the line usage, there's a female figure motif with the swirling flow of her hair strands, and there are floral motifs present as well. It stuck out to me because of the vibrant color choices. Mostly greens and yellows are present, but there's a splash of red here and there. There's a very decorative border, which fits in nicely with the sea elements. The overall feel is very fairy tale inspired which works well with the function. I believe the function of this design is to get people interested in visiting the "awe-inspiring and beautiful" Pearl Beach. The typography on the left and right side as well as the bottom does throw me off, however. There's different phone numbers and locations listed, as well as a stock image purchasing option, so perhaps the function is actually about purchasing images such as these that are available at different locations. The book didn't give me a clear answer, so all I have to go off of is the image itself. I found this image in The Workbook Illustration Vol. 21.

Fear the Ruins

Ever since I read the book, I had to see the movie for "The Ruins." It was pretty good. I'm always into the book more, but that's okay. What's incredible about the movie, however, is the front cover. I absolutely love it! This is totally up my alley and exactly what I'd like to create. I don't even mind that it's all symmetrical. The title looks great all rugged and grungy against a dark background. The center figure is up against a glowing red background, which further puts the spotlight on her. The image is very creepy: a human seeming to fade into a ruin with vegetation growing over her. I'd say by the look on her face that today's just not her day. The image works very well with the movie and book's concept, if you've ever seen or read it. The function is obviously meant to captivate interest amongst horror film fans to get them to watch or purchase the movie. This image belongs to DreamWorks Home Entertainment.

Realizing Blessings

Have you ever stopped to think on your drive home from work or class just how blessed you truly are? Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you were born as someone else with more shortcomings? This set of billboards really can put things into perspective just by glancing at them. In all three billboards, you see a side-by-side comparison of figures seemingly in the same similar pose, but in drastically different situations. The right always shows people enjoying life, while the left depicts the hardships that many people have to suffer through, based on their location. These situations are based on what family you were born into. You don't really have a choice how you are raised or what world you are living in. I love how simple, yet striking these designs are. The website for Save the Children Foundation is listed at the bottom of each image in bold white lettering. The function of these designs is to make an impact and make you want to check out the foundation's website, maybe even donate money towards their cause. I found this set of billboards in Goodvertising by Thomas Kolster.

Spellbinding Design...Well...Maybe...

Just in time for Halloween! I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist posting this. Okay, okay, I know... it's not the best example of Graphic Design, and that's the whole point of this blog: to show great examples of Graphic Design. It may not be the best, but it certainly serves it's purpose well in this design! If anyone has seen this movie, they know just how hilarious it is, and the cover reflects that very well. This cheesy DVD cover has an over-sized moon as the backdrop of the town. The title is a typical sci-fi/fantasy Disney styled serif font, somewhat resembling the Harry Potter logo. The image of the three Sanderson witch sisters is hilarious, especially Bette Midler character's lips! It's all topped off with the corny special effects fake lightning powers coming from her finger tips. A cheesy cover for a cheesy movie is the whole point of this design. The function of this cover is to spike a humorous tone and get people to purchase the movie. It's one of my favorite Halloween flicks, and if you haven't seen it, you definitely need to check it out! I couldn't find out who exactly did the artwork, but it is owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Don't Get Shot!

This image is horrible...but absolutely hilarious! This Italian restaurant wasn't afraid to push the boundaries a bit and pull the race card. The design is fairly simple: Bold black san serif font against a grainy white background... riddled with some bullet holes. The name and address of the restaurant with a small image of the inside of the restaurant is in the bottom right corner. Everything is flushed right except for the name of the ad agency on the left. It's nice to see that some people aren't afraid to stereotype themselves for the sake of a little humor. The use of a bullet hole on the word "yet" creates a nerve-wracking undertone, but therein lies the humor. The function of this poster design is to use a playful racist joke to get people to want to check out this restaurant. This design was created for Positano Restaurant by Kirshenbaum & Bond ad agency in 1987. I also found this design in Advertising Today by Warren Berger.

One Word Impact

This just goes to show how a simple design layout can have a huge impact based on location placement. The design is so simple: a bold black word against a white background. There's a border and some text at the bottom to show what the message is actually going for, but the one word alone speaks clearly enough. Just incorporating and relating an outside bench to a bed and a dumpster to a kitchen wrenches at my heart and ties a knot in my stomach. This is probably one of the simplest designs I've ever seen used in one of the cleverest ways possible. The function of this design is to tug at people's hearts and make them want to get involved in helping the homeless. I found this design in Advertising Today by Warren Berger. This ad was created for The Miami Rescue Mission by the ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami, Florida.

Visual Noise

I think this piece is a great example of graphic design. The image is pretty simple, but it's definitely striking. The screaming face fading into visual static noise goes great with the title. The use of actual noise, the specs of color branching out along the left side of the DVD cover is pretty clever as well. Three examples of noise are used throughout the entire piece: The visual noise, the depiction of audio noise, and the title. I love the contrast of the typography and the background. Also, the smearing of the letters underneath the prominent white letters of the title further gives viewers visual interest, as well as upholding the purpose of the title, which is mimicking the visuals of sound frequencies. Overall, the image is creepy and can cause quite the impact when being exposed to the right crowd. The function of this design is to cause fear and capture interest in horror fans to get them to want to purchase the DVD. I was unable to find the exact designer for this piece, but it belongs to Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

A Sleepy Haze

After seeing some people post images of movies, books, and CD covers with great examples of graphic design on them, I decided to take a look at my own collection for a change and see if there was anything worthy to blog about. I'm a HUGE Stephen King fan, but a lot of his covers are extremely weird and all over the place. This newer publication, however, is a great example of graphic design, in my opinion. The title "Doctor Sleep" is exemplified by the style of the typography. All of the letters are made up of what appears to be a smoke or haze. When we think of the words "sleep" and "dream," what do we envision? Movies depict dream sequences usually with an accompanied haze or foggy filter, sometimes even a smoky border around the frame. Therefore the smoke-styled typography goes well with the accompanied title of the novel. The typography also gives the cover a mood. Since the letters are wispy and moving in all directions, you would assume it would create a chaotic feel, but seeing as how smoke moves in a slow manner, there's a very calm and tranquil feeling just by looking at the letters. The main focus is obviously the text based on the colors used. The background is very dark and the text is white and stands out in the contrast. The only image we see used is of a woman in red behind the letters. We only see her in the center of the cover however, and the rest of her image fades out everywhere else. This doesn't detract the focus from the text. The splash of red gives a sort of dangerous tone, possibly an alert, which contrasts with the feel of the text. The function of this cover is to grab attention from the public and sell copies of the book. Stephen King's name is huge and takes up half of the cover, which people immediately see. With his reputation, just seeing he has a new novel released is enough to have people reaching for their wallets. It worked on me, seeing as how I still have yet to read it, yet it is sitting on the table right next to me as I type up this blog. Congrats, Mr. King, you've done it again.

The jacket design for the book was done by Tal Goretsky, and the jacket illustration was by Sean Freeman.

Just Breathe

There's a couple of reasons why I love this image. First of all, I'm obsessed with bare trees. I find them to be extremely beautiful. The other reason I love this image is because you don't immediately see that bare trees are used until you look closely. I thought it was a rather clever way to represent lungs by using a mirrored image of the top of a bare tree. The caption simply says "Breathe" in big bold black letters. This has a double meaning with the representation of lungs. We breathe into our lungs, but the oxygen is mostly provided by trees. Overall, this image is very simple, but very innovative as well. This poster was designed to create awareness and prevent the clearing of so many old growth forests for the Rainforest Action Network. I found this poster in Graphis Poster Annual '08/'09, which was edited by B. Martin Pedersen.

Blood On Your Hands: A Decision

Lester Beall loved to put confrontation of opposing sides into his designs. This is one such piece. In this 1939 ad created for the Crowell Publishing Company, the question "Will there be war?" is asked. The purpose of this ad is to force Americans to choose a side pertaining to either joining the Allied Forces in World War II, or to stay out of the war altogether. The image shows Winston Churchill in front of a red hand print. The red can symbolize getting blood on one's hands, danger, fear, and the tension between the conflicting sides of the argument. The text for "will there be war" is slanted at a diagonal to go along with Winston Churchill's image, which creates an undecided feeling, much like the decision Americans were looming on. Winston Churchill warned about the dangers of Nazi Germany, so the use of his image is justified. The letters in "war" are bold and bigger than the rest of the type to stand out as the driven force behind the making of the image. I love the use of red against a white background, as well as including the complementary color green as the border, which really makes the hand print stand out and pop off the page. This design is very edgy and bold. I found this image in American Modernism: Graphic Design, 1920 to 1960 by R. Roger Remington.

Pointing the Finger

There's no question where this image is directing the viewer to. The huge red arrow at the top of the page points down towards the crowd below, and all of the soldiers' faces are painted over in red with white arrows leading us towards Hitler. The photo is in black and white, except for the inclusion of red, which creates an on-edge tension. Red can symbolize blood, fear, madness, death, among many other things. The main text is on the big red arrow, which takes up the perfect amount of space to create harmony between the text and the images. There's a red smeary mess trailing behind Hitler, which hints at the damage he is capable of. Since this was created in 1939 as a trade ad for Crowell Publishing Company, the exact idea of what Hitler was truly capable of and what he was already in the works of doing wasn't completely known. Lester Beall created this image in prediction of America's fear of the Nazis and Hitler, and what was going on in Europe. Knowing what we know now and how World War II turned out, it's a scary feeling to see the images American designers illustrated pre-war. I found this image in American Modernism: Graphic Design, 1920 to 1960 by R. Roger Remington.

Eye-Catching Design

The cover of Paintbox No.2 by Andrea Fitzner and Albert Winkler is definitely "eye-catching." Fusing a cracked open egg with a human eyeball is great for demanding a viewer's attention. The use of the blue background for the top and the bottom blends perfectly with the color of the eye. The font is big and bold. Using white as the text color contrasts greatly with the blue background, so it's easy to read and stands out. The overall design is very bold and witty, yet simple. The simplicity is apparent with the image not being very busy and the use of only two main colors, white and blue. It's a very contemporary piece. The purpose of this image being on the cover of a book is to garner attention, and it certainly grabbed my attention.