Final Project - "Push"



Jordan Was Borin' Before I Wore 'Em

Air Jordans or "Jordans" are probably one of the oldest and most infamous brand of shoes produced by Nike.  These shoes were essentially designed for the legend himself, Michael Jordan, and he endorsed them.  The first pair of shoes were released in 1985 and every year after that, the Jordan release has taken the world by storm.

The first pair of Jay's were called Air Jordan I and they were designed by Peter Moore in 1985.  The shoe recieved alot of publicity because it violated the NBA's uniform rules with it's bright black and red design.  In 1994 the Air Jordan 1 was re-released with a lack of success. However, the Air Jordan 1 has been the most reproduced Jordan shoe with over 90 different color schemes.

The Air Jordan 4 was released in 1989 and was designed by Tinker Hatfield.  Thanks to the shoe’s comfortable cushion and unique, sleek design it was the first Jordan shoe to be released on the global market.  Actor and film director, Spike Lee, helped launch the ad with the infamous “Can/Can’t” TV commercial and he also let the shoes make an appearance in his movie “Do The Right Thing”.

Considered the most unique shoe of the Jordan line are the “Six Rings”.  These shoes were released in 2008 and are a combination of the seven pairs of Jordans that Michael Jordan wore during six of his championship seasons.  The combination includes the AJ6, AJ7, AJ8, AJ11, AJ12, AJ13, and the AJ14.  The Jordan company has released the color scheme of each team that the Bulls defeated in the 1990’s ¾ LA Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Seattle Supersonics, and the Utah Jazz.

Gimme that Bass!

Saul Bass is one of my favorite graphic designers.  I'm a big fan of his works, especially his movie posters and flyers for musical events.  His designs are simple, but they are so moving and powerful and they allow you to draw up your own conclusion as to what the movie, play, or musical is supposed to be about. 

Anatomy of a Murder. 1959. Through the use of simple shapes, colors, and lines, Saul Bass achieves a well-balanced and proportioned movie poster. In its entirety is simple but I believe because it is so simple, it causes the eye to move all around the illustration just in case you happened to overlook something the first time.

Vertigo. 1958. The poster uses a great emphasis on line & shape in both the figures and the font causing a sense of balance throughout the whole poster. However, the spiral encases a point of emphasis surrounding the two figures.

Saint Joan. 1957. The colors used in this piece cause a somber feeling but it achieves a sense of unity at the same time, especially in the background with all the different red & purple tones -- maybe those colors symbolized "fire" sense of Joan of Arc was burned to death. Although the squares are not perfect, they do come together and create a neat background for the simple figure to stand in front of. The overall texture of the poster, excluding the font, is rugged, which happens to emphasize Joan of Arc's lifestyle -- rugged.

Paul Rand - Logo Analysis

Essentially, there's a difference between a good logo and a great logo.  A good logo usually consists of something appealing to the eye, but will it be recognizable for years to come?  A great logo is different from other logos, it fits the company's image, it's practical, it's more than what meets the eye, it's simple, it can be scaled in various sizes - big and small, and it conveys the company's intended message.  Famous graphic designer and logo expert, Paul Rand was able to achieve such great logos for large corporate companies like IBM, UPS, Enron, Westinghouse, & etc.

American Broadcasting Company Logo. 1962. This logo is probably one of the most recognizable logos around the world. In my opinion, one of the easiest ways to achieve recognition with logos/symbols is simplicity. Rand took a simple shape like the circle and placed a simple type in the center of this space. To me, this creates a sense of unity, proportion, and balance.

Eye Bee M Poster. 1970. We are automatically able to recognize what Rand intended to illustrate with his use of simple lines and shapes. When I look at this illustration, I feel a rhythm as my eye moves from the "eye" to the "bee" to the "M". The color against the black background create unity as well.

UPS Logo. 1961. After looking at some of the old UPS logos, I noticed that Rand's appeared to be the most simple - nothing too over the top. The lines and overall shape create a composition that's well-balanced and well proportioned. Just about everyone in America knows that UPSes' sole purpose is to deliver packages and Rand did a great job illustrating this by placing a bow-tied package on top of the shield.

Much About Mucha

During the Art Nouveau time period, Czechoslovakian artist Alphonse Mucha was considered the “father” of this time period. At this point in time, this “new style” of art and architecture became popular at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The art style was most noted for it’s organic, free-flowing, curvilinear forms. After Alphonse took it upon himself to make an advertisement for the debuting play Gismonda, in Paris, his art style became the talk of the town. Thus being the reason why “Art Nouveau” was nicknamed “Style Mucha”. The art style was very popular around Europe and eventually branched into many different areas of the world.

Mucha’s works were seen in advertisements, books, jewelry, wallpapers, etc. Most of his works focused around beautiful, idealized women who often had long-flowing hair and clothing. The colors he used often consisted of pastels and organic, floral values. For as long as Mucha’s style and popularity set the world on fire, it was later put it out to rest. When Alphonse Mucha died in 1939, due to pneumonia, his style was considered “outdated”. Twenty years later, Art Nouveau appeared to have risen from the dead because it found itself plastered on many psychedelic posters and music albums for music artists like Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and the Incredible String Band. British musician and Stuckist artist, Paul Harvey, was greatly influenced by Mucha as well. Stuckism is an art movement that promotes “figurative paintings in opposition to conceptual art.” You can definitely see a Mucha influence in some of Harvey’s works.

Antoni Guadí

When you think about architecture and the creativity and ingenuity that is backed behind it, you usually think of something that has never been done or seen before. I remember reading Dr. Seuss books and being fascinated by the whimsical structures illustrated in many of his stories and wondered if there were any buildings that bared any kind of resemblance. When I was 11, my dad ended up taking a military assignment over in Germany and he brought my family along as well. We ended up living there for three years and over that time period, we were able to do a lot of traveling. We got to visit many different countries, including Spain.

I actually had the chance to view some of the buildings constructed by Antoni Guadí. I can honestly say, viewing his works in books, on the internet, or in magazines doesn’t do the real thing any justice, especially the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família. Despite the building being very big in size, the intricate detail that Guadí wanted to design is amazing; considering the fact that back in the 1900s, when the project first began, all of the details in the stone were hand-carved. Even though Guadí passed away before his masterpiece was complete, his work was continued under a long list of other architects and researchers. Luckily technology has advanced far enough workers to be able to use a CNC milling machine to add in the detail, but much of their designs are based off of "reconstructed versions of his lost plans and modern adaptations". It is estimated that the Sagrada Família won’t be completed until 2026. I wonder if the completed version will end up being what he had in mind.

Helvetica - Top Font Choice

Like a lot of graphic designers, I find Helvetica to be one of my top choices for font usage. Its almost hard to put in words how this simple, sans-serif font has had such a huge impact and significance in society. Who could have guessed that this well-known font, created back in 1957 by Swiss typeface designers Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman, would be such a huge hit. I can totally agree when Mia Fineman says, "Miedinger's letterforms were smooth and well-proportioned, with a pleasing roundness that feels friendly yet sleek and efficient, like an amiable, perfectly groomed flight attendant in business class."

In a way, this font takes on its own personality and speaks to us as a way of saying, "Hey, I’m simple, readable, and I won’t put a strain on your eyes. Choose me, if you have a hard time choosing from another font-face." It has enough power to be corporate or friendly, boring or exciting, plain-jane or illustrative. After watching "Helvetica" in class, I found myself driving and looking for any and everything that Helvetica might have been used for, on the way home. I immediately became amazed by the number of business logos and street signs the typeface was responsible for. Target was easily among the few recognizable business, along with JCPenney, the Toyota dealer, and even the lettering on the back of my iPod.

http://www.slate.com/id/2166887/slideshow/2166963/fs/0//entry/2166966/