Great Talent, Overdone Style
You see this style every day… in magazines, on the web, and on TV. This stuff is made by some extremely talented and gifted artists, but I think there is one thing they lack: creativity.
“But Chris,” you might say, “look at all the swirls and colors and flashes!” That’s exactly my point. They all look the same. Granted, it is some amazing work, something I could only dream of creating, but it’s becoming overdone. For example, the two images here were designed by two different artists. They’re beautiful designs, especially the way the graphic elements flow with the photographic. But there doesn’t seem to be any individual style; you’d probably think the same guy designed both of these if I didn’t tell you different.
The style makes for some amazing visuals, especially when animated. The motion graphics using this stuff is beautiful. But I think it needs to be used in moderation, like any good thing. Otherwise, we’ll stop seeing the talent behind the design.
Twenty years from now, they’ll have a name for this era in design and some art student in college will learn about it. I hope this doesn’t become the “Age of the Swirls”. I think some of these extremely talented artist should take a hint from the graphic design masters like Paul Rand: sometimes, subtlety is key.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Hey!…Man i just love your blog, keep the cool posts comin..holy Monday
December 17th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Haha, I’ve thought the same as well. Granted it is a style on to itself, and as such there will always be impersonators; I agree that a piece of work should have only what it needs. I like minimalism, but I prefer work that is very busy as long as the elements tie into each other in some way. What this style came from is a reaction against people like Rand. The same happened with typography, creating the Grunge style.
Modernist graphic style is very clean, logical, planned, and looks great. What happened is during the counter-culture movements there was a reaction against it towards anarchy, with organic and emotional flow. I’m sure you’ve see it too, from other works, like Pollock, where the “feeling” and “idea” is more important than the result even if it looks like crap.
I love counter-culture because it explores things not as openly considered before it came about, even if it has become a cultural commodity in our generation. What I really respect is an artist that can combine the free flow and organic feel of grunge with the planning and balance of modernist style.
Cheers,
Apollo