Panóptico de Actualidad Gráfica y Visual
What are you seeing? In-line images and symbols, reminiscent of old chain letter text messages or everybody’s favorite ’90s font, Windings, are back and breaking into branding. The most common version of the trend, which we’re calling Nouveau Rebus, uses dingbats or emoji-like symbols sandwiched in between words, but rebus content can take the form of everything from geometric shapes...
Something about the world feels a bit askew right now. Perhaps it is the exhaustion left in the wake of a lingering pandemic, a looming recession, a worsening climate crisis, and now, a war that makes all of the “This is fine” memes floating around in the digital ether seem dangerously relatable. Recently, as the global crisis continues to deepen,...
Name: Fit Devanagari Designer: Latin: David Jonathan Ross; Devanagari: Kimya Gandhi Foundry: DJR + Mota Italic Release date: Latin 2017, Devanagari April 2022 Back Story: Until recently, finding a well-engineered, widely-available Devanagari typeface that also delivered a punch of personal style was an uphill battle; most of what was on the market was serviceable at best. The hyper-stylized variable letterforms...
In May 1998, a Portland-based veggie burger brand took a risk. The earnestly named Gardenburger spent $1.5 million dollars on a 30 second ad that aired in the middle of the series finale of Seinfeld. It was narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, and featured animated characters named Vern and Edna. It was part of a brand repositioning driven by Lyle...
On April 1, RISD welcomed Crystal Williams as its new president. Williams is a Black woman, a poet, and an academic administrator known for helping small elite liberal arts colleges become more equitable and inclusive. She succeeds Rosanne Somerson, a white woman, educator, and furniture designer with a 50-year career at RISD. Somerson stepped into the role in 2014, after...
You don’t need me to remind you that just over two years have passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. It was March 11, 2020, and two days later the Cooper Hewitt was due to open Willi Smith: Street Couture, a major exhibition exploring the twenty-year career of the groundbreaking and multidisciplinary designer. As with public buildings...
There is a proverb that says tall trees catch more wind. Like Tall Poppy Syndrome, it means those who stand out invite criticism, so it’s best to keep your head down and blend in. Artist and illustrator Maria Conejo is a tall tree who hails from a small town just a few hours south of Mexico City. In this predominantly...
“So, what are you working on, Tim?” It was the early ’90s, and the question was polite, run-of-the-mill banter at a friend’s dinner party. “Some kid’s series,” Tim Jacobus replied. “You’ve probably never heard of it.” And why should they have? Jacobus was a career book cover illustrator. Commissions came and went. No one was really expecting all that much...
This essay is excerpted from The Black Experience in Design. Graphic design is the catalyst between meaning, communication, and image. I am defining graphic design as a professional practice through the lens of and through “traditional design objects” i.e. branding, logo design, typography, poster making, book making, web design—in other words, visual design that serves a commercial function. Historically, in...
Suicide was a band so punk that even the punks hated them. Formed in Manhattan, New York City in 1970, the duo of Alan Vega and Martin ‘Rev’ Reverby made an uncompromising noise that had no precedent, and a DIY aesthetic that was way ahead of its time. Rev created sounds from the detritus around him, incorporating nascent drum machines...
Close your eyes and let me whisper “scent branding” into your waiting ear. What exactly does that phrase conjure? You might think of retailers diffusing scents in-store or selling their own branded perfume. You might imagine hotels, airlines and casinos, experience brands synonymous with an enveloping physical environment. You might also detect a whiff—as I did—of slightly cornball, subliminal gimmickry. ...
Name: Remix Stencil Designer: Ran Zheng Foundry: Ran Design Release Date: January 2022 Back Story: Designer Ran Zheng has called Remix Stencil “a typeface about life and feelings during COVID times”—as its counterforms cut away, negative space overtakes positive shapes to evoke the complex emotions that have been omnipresent since March 2020. “People are isolated by the disease,” Zheng says....
