During the 1920s, Man Ray explored how photography could be manipulated after the image was taken. He presented Noire et Blanche (1926) with both the positive and negative photograph beside each other. A very strong political and racial narrative underlies this set of photographs and during the roaring 20s, if anyone had actually taken the…
One of the icons of the surrealist movement not coincidentally plays with Man Ray’s fashionable upbringing. Cadeau, from 1921, is nothing more than an iron with nails woefully glued onto it. Though the work was stolen from the exhibition he had made it for just hours after opening (Mundy), Cadeau embodies irrationality, Man Ray’s work,…
Jean Carlu is one of the more famous art deco poster designers from France during the 1900s. This piece in particular, “American’s Answer! Production”, was actually one of the pieces he created in his years in the United States of America, where he was kind of hiding out during World War II. Not so much…
Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia in 1890, Man Ray was arguably one of the most important artistic figures of the Dada and Surrealist movements. His contribution to art spanned for more than 6 decades with his most influential period occurring between 1920 and 1950. Firstly it must be noted why he goes by Man Ray.…
Max Bill (1908-1994) “Even in modern art, artists have used methods based on calculation, inasmuch as these elements, alongside those of a more personal and emotional nature, give balance and harmony to any work of art.” (a) Max Bill was a key component to the Constructivism movement. His Avant-Garde inspired work has been…
Paula Scher – Biography Paula Scher was born and raised in states along the east coast. Born in Virginia in 1948, she grew up in Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania and studied at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in illustration in 1970. Educated during a time…
Jean Carlu is one of the more famous art deco poster designers from France during the 1900s. This piece in particular, the Monsavon, was just an advertisement for a soap brand in France. Jean Carlu is one of the four main designers during the Art Deco era in France. In all honesty, in most of…
It’s surprising just how many notable American typefaces Ed Benguiat has had the pleasure of being a part of. Among the mass of successful fonts is ITC Avant Garde. It was published in 1974 and has been a classic font in the world of design and typography (ITC Avant Garde Gothic). The sans serif font…
My final piece I am putting into Piet Zwarts portfolio is his project for Jan Wils. While he was working for Jan Wils as an architect he also helped her to create a logo for her architect company stationary. This piece was such an important part of his career because it was his first typographic…
The second piece I chose to put into Piet Zwarts portfolio is The Book of PTT he created for the Dutch Cable Manufacturing Company. This booklet was designed to show children how to use the Dutch postal system. This piece really shows and emphasizes Piets graphic design side. This book is so incredibly for its…
1972 Summer Olympics in Munich Out of all the works that Otl Aicher has created, the pictograms and designs he made for the Olympics were most likely his best known pieces. Using the designs from the ’64 Games as a reference, Aicher created a set of pictograms that could be universally understood so that…
Video: https://vimeo.com/92860357 The Jewish Museum Identity project was a project made for the Jewish Museum located in a seven-story mansion in the Upper East side of Manhattan. It is the most distinguished museum in the United States of America that is completely developed to Jewish art and culture. This museum includes a collection of over thirty-thousand…
Piet Zwart. It is a super strong empowering name but not because of the name itself but the person behind it. I would have never heard of this amazing designer if it was not for the Judge a Book by a Cover assignment and I am very glad I chose him. For me he has…
Italian Art Deco: Graphic Design between the Wars is a book by Steven Heller and Louise Fili. Again, selecting 3 works to describe an individual such as Steven Heller is very difficult when there are hundreds of works to choose from. However, I believe it is important to include this one as it is very representative of Heller on…
In the Kickstarter.com description of the EPA Brand guide re-release they explain “Before 1970, the United States was in a radically different place. Our environment, our cities, our people: abused, dirty, and sick after years of neglect.President Nixon decided to change that. In 1970, the United States Environmental Protection Agency was enacted to confront environmental pollution…