When “Too Much” is Really Too Much.

One can easily sit and ponder on the following question: can design ever be considered too excessive, too over the top, or to put into basic terms – can design ever be “too much?” When comparing designs on a spectrum – with the concept of minimalism at one end and the concept of baroque at the opposite end – is it possible for design to ever exceed its limitations? Despite the common ideal of “more is better,” sometimes overly excessive designs are just as unacceptable as the commonly misused and grammatically incorrect phrase “more better.” On that note, too much in a design does not necessarily lead to better things. An example of this is seen in the baroque designs that were customary in Europe, especially during the seventeenth century. Anything designed in the baroque style – architecture, artwork, or music – was extremely ornamented beyond necessary means. Like all design, however, the baroque design did have a functional purpose: to portray wealth or status. This can be seen in the baroque-designed construction of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, Austria, which was built in honor of a triumphant war hero [left picture below]. Also, baroque-designed pieces of art were also seen as being unnecessarily excessive and pompous, such as crowns used by past Austrian rulers [right picture below].

(Personal photos)

Returning to the design/creative purpose – thinking, looking, doing, criticism, and doing again – the style of baroque went through this process as well. Baroque designs were brought into society, were criticized, and eventually were somewhat brought back to society through the renewed form of neo-baroque, which was basically a modernistic twist on the original baroque design.

"Again by Heart."

There comes a point in every creator’s life when he/she must consult with outside sources to find sources of inspiration to make new creations in the future. At HitRECord.org, a website that was co-founded by actor, Joseph Gordon Levitt, people have the opportunity to record their records, or ideas (drawings, writings, videos, audios, etc.), and then have them remixed by others, thus creating new pieces of art. The website describes HitRECord.org’s purpose as being a community of people who “record, remix, respond, [and] resonate” in collaboration with each other. Branching off of others’ artwork, as different creators do on HitRECord.org, is just one way for people to find inspiration outside of themselves by making art together.

(Picture from www.hitrecord.org)

HitRECord.org serves as a key example of how the concept of “design” can be viewed more as a verb than a noun. As a noun, a design would be the ending product of a creation, while design as a verb is considered as a complex process. All in all, HitRECord.org is basically an outline of the design/creative process – the process of thinking, looking, doing, criticism, and doing again. A creator on HitRECord.org can view someone else’s creation, and put his/her own twist on it to make an entirely new creation, and receive comments (criticism) from other creators and viewers. At this point, the ancient roots of the word, “record,” come into play: “re” meaning again, and “cord,” meaning heart. Creators can then further remix any previously existing remixes, thus creating the webiste’s community of collaborative art, again by heart.

Free and Accessible Inspiration!

When one gets off track in the creative process, one of the easiest and most accessible ways to get back in touch with inspiration and motivation is right outside one’s front door. As simple as it sounds, new insights to design are available everywhere one goes – from browsing record stores or even finding the beauty in street art. Record stores can offer aspiring creators inspiration not only through musical tunes and lyrics, but also through the eclectic mixture of design found in album covers. The blending of design from different cultures is apparent throughout album art, for example. Kanye West’s “Graduation” album cover contains an Asian-designed influence by artist, Takasu Murakami, and The Velvet Underground’s debut album contains Andy Warhol’s pop art design of a banana. Out on the streets, one can possibly find inspiration through the urban scene of graffiti. Although graffiti has historically been associated with the violence of street gangs, graffiti currently holds a more artistic role in today’s society - sometimes even displaying positive messages or inspirational quotes [see picture below].

(Personal photo)

This is obvious through the accepted urban influence found in current clothing designs or tattoo art. Many young artists have been finding ways to express themselves through their public surroundings, and one can gain inspiration from such artistic expressions.

No Sandwiches Allowed.

Design serves an often overlooked function in society – simple, straightforward pictures can portray important messages to people everyday. Street signs portray symbols called pictograms (e.g., a picture of a dog) and/or ideograms (e.g., a red slash that symbolizes the meaning “no”) that are universally recognized in most cultures, even if they appear slightly different visually. Even signs that portray particular instructions or rules can be accomplished through design across different cultures, but still serve the same purpose. For example, a “no eating” sign in America may be presented as a pictogram of a knife and fork with the red slash ideogram through it [left picture below]. However, in another country, like the Czech Republic, a “no eating” sign may be presented as a more specific pictogram of a sandwich with the red slash ideogram through it [right picture below].

(Personal photo)

However, this other foreign sign would still be universally recognized as a general “no eating” instruction, not as a strictly “no eating sandwiches” instruction. This example of a universally accepted and recognized pictogram and ideogram shows how implemented the concept of design has become in everyday life.

A Softer World.

Something as familiar as a Garfield comic strip in the Sunday newspaper may not initially seem to hold the same amount of grandeur when it comes to design, as let’s say, the classic “Mona Lisa” masterpiece. Although comics are often looked down upon in today’s society as being unsophisticated entertainment for youngsters, there is actually an entire art form behind the makings of comics. Visual communication is the main focus when it comes to producing comics – allowing readers to not only appreciate the comic’s art, but to also allow them to easily follow the comic’s story.

Despite the natural assumption that comics are referring to the Sunday funnies, or the Marvel comic book heroes like Spiderman and Captain America, the design of comics can also be found in forms other than the standard cartoon. On the website, www.asofterworld.com, the two creators, Emily Horne and Joey Comeau, produce a webcomic that consists of photographs and linguistic twists and wits.

(Picture from www.asofterworld.com)

The square framings that split the single photograph into sections give the project a typical comic feel. Horne’s and Comeau’s common use of faded photographs and typewritten font in their projects allow their webcomics to appear aesthetically pleasing. Even if scrolling through the archives of the webcomics results in discovering creations that don’t always seem to make sense, like all other comics, however, A Softer World’s comics also portray a type of story through visual communication.