My name is Anu and I am a student at London College of Communication studying Graphic Branding and Identity. Currently, I am a remote design intern at a branding and broadcasting agency. The moment I began my first internship, everything was new. From meeting new people, having a new work environment and a new outlook of how I see myself and my surroundings. My experience as an intern made me become aware of the limitation in creativity as we follow such strict principles of modernism that we would be told we are wrong if we do not follow it. Protesting this, the Anti-Design movement began to go against all the principles with the aim to ‘renew the cultural and political role of design.’ While modernism is about using grid layouts, having a limited colour palette to keep it minimal, and believing that ‘form should follow function', Anti-Design wanted more and more, purposely going against and bending the modernism principles by having bold and striking colours, mixing high and low materials, and embracing ornamentations and decorations. They wanted to put the ‘form before function.’ The strong impact of Anti-Design spreading in fashion, furniture design, décor and food styling would display people’s creativity and make imagination a reality when stepped outside those principles. Anti-Design was a way to express the message of not caring and creating designs however they wanted it. I admired the fact that although the movement had been dissolved, the idea and the concept of anti-design stayed. It shows the strong emotions of the movement and marks its influence on the design industry. As the movement is coming to light again, it will be more talked about and practised so I do wonder what the response to it will be. Those who are unaware of this movement could become intimidated as it may be overwhelming due to its rich use of colours and its decorative elements. Some may even avoid using the anti-design concept for a brand as it would come across as ‘ugly’, ‘unfinished’ or ‘untrustworthy’, even though calling it ‘ugly’ would be a compliment for the Anti-Design Movement. Anti-branding is a global movement against brands formed by a large number of society members in order to spread the word of disapproval and dissatisfaction with corporate actions (Holt, 2002, pp.70) Throughout the years, brands have changed their identity many times and more brands are now re-designing their logos to simple black and white colours with similar sans serif types such as BT and BALMAIN. These are a huge difference from their first logos which have been unique, and all had a distinctive quality. I think it has both pros and cons when converting to minimal logos. I feel that although the brands may lose its identity the consumers are used to and possibly being like other brands, the industry is constantly developing and their discipline changes with how their consumers interact with the brand. The brand now is becoming more minimal and more recognizable by the mark or style. They also would want their consumers to tell them the story and have the brand mean different to different people so people can display their own values to it. I think the brand which has succeeded in anti-branding is a cigarette brand called Marlboro by creating a minimal packaging which did not include the brand name or the description of the product to be known it was their brand. The red triangle was very impactful and memorable. no name This was a campaign for anti-design, and it was trying ‘to convince you that not having a design somehow puts them on the moral high ground.’ As many brands create a unique pattern or packaging, no name used the simplest design, lowercase Helvetica on a yellow background. The anti-brand approach attracted more people, getting demands on merchandise that was sold overnight. I found this anti-brand approach very smart marketing, unique and can’t be done again kind of style as it left a memorable impact. The fact that no name is straightforward and doesn’t pretend to be something else also adds a fun characteristic to the brand. For me, I think Anti-Design is exciting and I want to learn more about it. Breaking or bending rules is great. We can’t always be just designed by the principles. During my DPS, I have not created or taken part in an Anti-Design project. I don’t think I can say I am confident with my knowledge of Anti-Design so I would like to learn deeper into it, as well as about anti-branding. During my intern, I am designing posters, created newsletters and webpages mainly using grid layouts and making them simple and user-friendly. What I am doing in my internship is the opposite of Anti-Design which made me wonder and imagine what if I was to create an Anti-Design concept piece with the brand colours. Anti-Design has left a great influence on the design; it encouraged and reminded us that we don’t always need to be inside the rules. Breaking rules may be the best method for creativity to run wild.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2022
Categories |