Letter J and Letter W (left to right) Aside from his graphic designs, Igarashi is equally famous for his alphabetical sculptures that he created in the 1980s. One prime example is his Aluminum Alphabet Series, which is interestingly his only series that has the complete set of 26 letters A…
Born in Tagikawa City, Hokkaido, Japan in 1944, Takenobu Igarashi is now an internationally acclaimed graphic designer. As a child, he grew up in Japan right before his country’s surrender to the Allies during World War II. He enjoyed American products like Hershey’s chocolate bars not for its chocolate, but for it’s bold lettering. America…
Ladislav Sutnar is well known for his infographic designs and his ability to communicate complex and technical information in a clear manner. For about 20 years Sutnar worked as an art director at F.W. Dodge’s Sweet’s Catalog Service, which was a company that produced catalogs of architecture and industrial products. However, in 1960 he left…
Gotham is a typeface created by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones. It is a font owned by Hoefler & Co. It was created in 2000 when GQ asked for a masculine geometric sans serif. It was specifically commissioned by Frere-Jones, but because they both were in a partnership, Hoefler & Co rightfully owns the typeface.…
Piet Zwart is a multidisciplinary designer. he spent most of his career moonlighting as an architect and photographer (1). Although Zwart was only trained as an architect, he also worked as graphic designer, industrial designer, interior designer and a pioneer of modern typography. Piet Zwart was born in 1885 in Zaandijk, Netherlands. He trained as…
2×4 partnered with The Slowdown to codify their mission, vision, and values of a company championing holistic and meaningful media consumption, founding by Spencer Bailey and Andrew Zukerman. As a reactionary to its distinct approach to media landscape, The Slowdown branding reflects a considerate approach to how media is consumed. Unlike most media that is…
The term “Merz” refers to an art style and is a synonym for the art style of Dada. It was popularized and traces back to Kurt Schwitters. He came up with the term Merz in the process of creating a collage with the German word Kommerz, which translates to “commerce” Merz 32 A. The Cherry…
The Bodoni typeface was created by Giambattista Bodoni in 1798 and is now classified as a “transitional” or “modern” font type, depending on the iteration. There are five features which characterize this font: its strong difference between thick and thin lines, its unbracketed, thin serifs, its vertical axis, its horizontal stress, and it’s small x-height.…
The manuscript Fregi and Majuscole was the first manuscript published by Giambattista Bodoni in which he engraved his own type, fused the pages together, and from start to finish produced each aspect without anyone else’s help. This manuscript is noteworthy because it was the first of multiple manuscripts created by Bodoni for their visual appeal…
Giambattista Bodoni was born circa 1740 in Saluzzo, in what is now known as the Piedmont region of Italy. Both his father and grandfather worked as printers, and at age 17 Bodoni decided to travel to Rome to independently find a job in printing himself. In Rome, he secured a job with the Catholic Church’s…
Kanye West and JayZ’s album Watch the Throne is one of the more notable pieces of rap from the 2010s. Serving as the creative Director of the project, Virgil Abloh designed the cover art for it, Which features a gold surface with engraving details. Using 4 way symmetry with the corners, the cover has a…
If you’ve ever tried to photograph with film, and then develop and print the film yourself, you might understand already how involved this process can be. There is a lot of variability in the medium, and it takes a lot of trial and error to get the hang of it. Georgy Kepes was a master…
For the 2019 Fuorisalone in Milan, Samsung sought the 2×4 Studio. The installation focused on how the kitchen of the home is like the hearth of everyday life. Using three abstract kitchens, 24hr Kitchen illustrates the central fixture of the counter in three different environments: morning, afternoon and night. A single kitchen counter links all three…
Kurt Schwitters is known for his use of raw and unique materials in the composition of a collage. His piece, called “Revolving” is one of his earliest forms of this style. This piece was the beginning of a huge shift in Schitter’s work that originally consisted of very conservative painting. Schwitter lived through the World…
Virgil Abloh’s “The-Ten” for Nike is one of the most influential and iconic projects by this designer, and ever. “The-Ten” is Virgils take on ten of Nikes most iconic Sneaker silhouettes, including the Blazer, Air Jordan I, Air Max 90, Air Presto, Air VaporMax, Converse Chuck Taylor, Air Force 1, React Hyperdunk, Air Max 97,…