Anti design was an art movement originating in Italy, lasting from the years 1966 to 1980. The movement emphasized striking colours, scale distortion and questioned the function of the objects in various ways. The movement was a retaliation against the perfectionist aesthetics of Modernism whose designers placed emphasis on style and aesthetics of good form. It was a way for designers to express and show their new way of thinking by stepping out of the boundaries set by those aesthetics. Anti design puts the function at the centre of the design and then questions it, providing a new perspective on the function. The famous Joe sofa designed by Paolo Lomazzi in 1970 looks like a giant baseball glove. It suggests that forms don’t have to be invented, they can just be recycled. A more recent example from 2016 by Clark Bardsley is a chair that in fact, cannot be sat on. It is a wooden frame of a chair designed to fit over any everyday seat and transform it into something new every time. Making a chair that you can’t sit on breaks all the rules and may seem ridiculous. However, it reminds us of its function we often take for granted. The digital revolution ushered in a new era of design and with it came new sets of rules, aesthetics and functions. In a time where technology is becoming less limiting and more accessible, everybody can do graphic design and therefore, more people can express themselves. Art and design has almost always been a reflection of society and a way for people to retaliate against something. The same can be seen in the graphic design industry today. The recent pandemic influenced years have severely affected our society which is evident in the work it produces. New and unconventional designs often gain traction as they stand out in their visual appearance and just like in the past, they remind us of the function of the design. I am now able to reflect back on my recent experiences and projects undertaken during my placement. The studio Superhero Cheesecake, where I have spent my past six months, is known for beautiful, high end interactive experiences. These usually consist of carefully selected fonts and color palettes, often trying to convey things like elegance and exclusivity. However, one project that stood out was a dynamic colourful game to launch the new Gucci Basket sneaker. The project was already standing out from the beginning by the way it was approached by everyone in the studio. It was simply different from all the other projects. After launch, the success of the project was evident from the client feedback, but mostly from having won the Site Of The Day Award from the Awwwards and the FWA. When visiting websites of other Site Of The Day winners, although being beautifully designed, they reminded me of a quote from one of the recommended articles. The quote is by Steve Watson and states, “Everyone talks about the magazines with lots of white space—the ones following the Kinfolk or Cereal aesthetic. A magazine with that approach has to work harder to hold my attention than one that’s doing something more unexpected.” He also added that, “The real challenge is to look beyond conventional places to find the best”. This helped me contextualise the success of the Gucci Burst game I was able to work on during my placement. It also made me realise that successful unconventional designs carefully break rules and have to be chosen for the right occasion. “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” - Picasso.
Filip Havlena Graphic and Media Design Sources: http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/antidesign/ https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/the-new-wave-of-anti-design-magazines-will-question-your-sense-of-taste-and-thats-a-good-thing/ https://www.madewithover.com/trends-copy/anti-design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv7a3TcxugQ&t=332s http://www.clarkbardsleydesign.com/arm https://www.awwwards.com/sites/gucci-burst https://gucciburst.gucci.com/
2 Comments
sarah temple
1/7/2022 12:27:47 am
Insight from Art on the value of invention is really useful here Filip. Perhaps you have struck on the most innovative of ideas - that what is genuinely revolutionary and new in 2022 is that recycling is imperative, design/re-invention is obsolete. Perhaps a genuinely 'pro-fessional' designer is the one who rejects a need for constant new-ness.
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sarah temple
1/7/2022 12:48:17 am
Make sure you read and respond to David's V's post with linked themes to yours on Anti-New and GAN (2 posts earlier)
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