Mia Marshall LCC DBS / DPS I am currently studying Design for Branded Spaces at LCC. Throughout my studies, the subject of Anti-design is something that has come up here and there, but not at all within my external practices. The idea has always been something of intrigue coming from a place of revolt, exploration and experimentation. There is no doubt it re immersed during the pandemic. Due to the nature of control, we were under I think it made us reflect on this in a spectrum of ways, especially creatively. Along with a lot of time to think about why things are the way they are, anti-design and antiestablishment has seen an increase seeping into the world of art and design once again. As the saying goes, rules are meant to be broken, but is it viable? Born at a time where people were sick of the obsession of functionality, does its meaning prevail in today's society? Created in 1960’s Italy, it was a backlash at the modernist and Bauhaus ideals that form should follow function. Stated in https://www.madewithover.com/trends-copy/anti-design “Almost every great cultural movement in history began with an intuition to purposefully go where you're not supposed to go.” A reaction to a certain set of rules and ideals that has the power to change society. Ettore Sottsass was one of the most prominent designers and artists in the world of post modernism and the Memphis movement, his work was monumental and inspired future generations' thought. He was inspired to rebel by his father who was a Modernist architect, constrained by the rules of modernist design. There is something within humanity that is hungry for difference and strives to explore different ways of thinking. Anti-design has really flourished in graphic design over the past few years, becoming somewhat of a trend despite the stringent rules that apply. It’s fundamental communication imperative makes it quite hard for anti-design to intervene at its fullest capability – you still need to be able to read things and understand what the piece is trying to communicate/inform you of. You wouldn’t use anti design ideals when creating an instruction manual on how to release the emergency door on a crashing plane, or on an IKEA shelf set up manual. That would honestly drive anyone crazy, there is a big space for pragmatism and minimalism, below are some great examples of anti-design being used well. They retract out of the restraints of normal graphic design rules but are still legible and functional to a degree. In a talk on AIGA, Daniel Kalick talks about the various places anti-design can be used well. Someone in the crowd asks a question that has lingered in my mind. “If anti design becomes a trend, is it still anti design?” I guess I lean more on the side of thinking it could be a trend, anti-design was meant to reflect social and cultural ideas going against designs capitalist imperative to produce to make money. It could be a broad trend, a trend to revolt and to go against constraints doesn’t have to be categorized and anchored down like the modernist movement. Are their rules for going against the rules? My own practices don’t usually include anti design, but I'm delighted that I have some more perspective in researching it more. I have always followed tight briefs of what other people want, both in my course briefs and own separate illustration commissions. During lockdown I felt as though the process was so ingrained in my brain, I'd never be able to stray. You receive a brief, research the company/client and find out their ethos, investigate other current ideas that follow the same brief somewhat, followed by design and research, as well as design using different tools to refine the design until you have the finished product. Then after a long repetitive process of presentation, feedback and altering you are finished. There is room for experimentation, but not so much that you jeopardise what the client wants. In a world of designing for other people, it's hard to stray from the safety of familiar design principles. Here are two examples of the poster designs I did as a project brief with LCC Masters Script Writers. As you can see, I haven't really strayed from the set graphic design principles, but I wonder now how different my outcome and process would have been if I applied some anti-design philosophies into my own work. The design – anti design argument is in my opinion more important than the answer itself, it’s the fact that we are questioning the norms and trying to break away from constraints that it is successful, not the necessity that it works. It's easy to follow a set of guidelines for your whole life but I think something unexpectedly beautiful happens when you think in a way that disregards what you know. I will definitely be using more anti design principles in the future to broaden my perspective in the way I work.
1 Comment
sarah temple
1/7/2022 12:16:41 am
Mia - Useful to see design as either functional or non-functional.Purposeful or purposeless. It has been suggested that architects and spatial designers of the future must repurpose materials - that new must be made from old as materials become scarce. Perhaps this process can lead to the new and revolutionary design processes which you speculate on. Make sure you reference your sources in a bibliography (See Waste Age at Design Museum)
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