Non-Commercial Art

Personal Work
"To create this dreamy blue, we used in-camera effects by mixing lights with different color temperatures."
Jiaxi & Zhe
Communication Arts
Advertising Annual 57

The photo above is interesting because it's not a large departure from some of the sculpture and product photography Jiaxi & Zhe have done for clients. What's cool though is this photo is a study in technique. It's an interesting insight into how they use color and light, as well as how they went about achieving it.

Personal Work
Owen Gent
Communication Arts
Advertising Annual 57

The subject matter seems to be consistent with his work for clients, abstract landscapes and people forms. The thing that strikes me as different is there is quite a bit of color contrast and there isn't a real defined purpose in this image. The mid-movement figure and suspended block of matching color, suggests there's been some recent turbulence of unknown cause.

Symbolic Color

• The and Partnership,  New York
• Dan Beckett, Isaac Silverglate
• Micaela Gallino
• Jonathan Horner
• Molly Cranna
• Jennifer Tran
• Ceara Teixeira, Erica Simon
• The Wall Street Journal

I really enjoy the symbolic color of green in this piece. It has what I feel is multiple meanings, first being one of survival in the wilderness. Second being that simply of money (at least for americans). The dual meanings play very well with the contents within the imagery.

Color Discord

found in Workbook 37 Illustration | Fall

These pieces above are fantastic, even though they don't strictly follow color rules. They are clearly intended to be playful, and the compositions are pretty surreal and wild. The variation and contrast of colors help sell the frenetic arrangements. It also doesn't hurt that I'm somehow reminded of Where's Waldo.

Creativity

         

Audi Ad Campaign
BBH, London

Ian Heartfeld
Vinny Olimpio
Ian Heartfield
Benedict Redgrove
Onishi Yasuaki
Sebastian Presoux

I really enjoy this series for a number of reasons. I mean the interesting lines created by the installations, wonderful use of color, everything is quite symmetrical and there's a beautiful car at the center of every piece. Though, most of all, it's the way the creators went about incorporating this idea of a physiological, human response and it's direct connection to the vehicle. The visual style of the vehicle is precise, fastback, low-slung slipping through streets under city lights. Then they superimposed this kind of style upon art installations that surround the vehicle, one shaped like an EKG monitor line, the other like a blue iris. Intricate fine details are in these structures lending themselves to something of an industrial look, but the very human dilating eye and heart rate line are very easily discerned and create a connection between human to machine. The way this is portrayed and techniques to convey this message throughout the series exudes creativity.

Color Harmony Rules

This week just a quick rundown through a few images that align well to some color harmony rules.

"Let's refresh our memories!"
for Panela

Creamos,
Medellin, Columbia

Jorge Montoya E
Sara Sarmiento
Diego Rolda
Carlos Montoya
Bryan Olaya

Analogous scheme running from greens, yellows, oranges, to reds.

"38 million times..."
for UOL music Deezer

Africa, Sao Paulo

Andrea Siqueira
Alexandre Kazuo
Lucas Ribeiro
Lambuja

Monochromatic blue scheme, balanced by dark and light values and repetition of shapes

AlmapBBDO, Sao Paulo

Bruno Prosperi
Luciano Lincoln
Fabiano De Queiroz
Cesar Herszkowicz
Pedro Corbett
Adelmo Barreira
Marcos Sachs

Complementary scheme, oranges in reflected light and backgrounds. Blues for the focal point and outfit pieces. Saturation is reduced on the oranges to help balance out with the bright blues.

Brian Hodges

Robert Bacall Representatives

Triadic scheme, greens in the background, purple and blue flowers, and orange in the sweater and skin tone saturation and brightness has been adapted to keep any one color from creating friction with the rest of the composition.

Color Inspiration

Moma Advertising,

Sao Paulo

Rodolfo Sampaio / Pedro Vargens / Danilo Maia, Lucas Ribeiro / Pedro Vargas

I really enjoy the clear contrast made with the complimentary colors in this series. The even divide of complimentary color schemes works really well to make interest. An even mix of cool and warm creates approachable pieces, while the flip in the focal point helps emphasize the message. It's balanced in shape as well. Meanwhile there is great emphasis made with position and orientation of the shapes in the focal point.

Leo Burnett Tailor Made,

Sao Paulo

Marcelo Reis, Alessandro Bernardo, Vinicius Stanzione / Ricardo Alonso / Renato Ramalho / Kako

This series moves toward earth colors. In particular with the soft-warm pinks make the sky vibrant and fascinating the cool blue snow and waters relax, the tint of the snow in particular creates a more vast sense. There is excellent emphasis created by the placement of the word "jeep," in both pieces. The shade creates depth, and assists the perspective for both as well. The shading and gradation of the composition in the second image is magnificent.

Positive and Negative Space

Elementary Structure
TAPE OVER
Artlake Festival, Berlin
tape art mural installation
Print - Summer 2016

The positive space is an interesting mural using duct tape and reflective tape, interesting variation of color in the reflective tape is emphasized by the contrast on the installation's background but when viewed as intended by the art collective who installed it the piece becomes very interesting. The wooded area surrounding the installation is captivating because of the juxtaposition. The installation while intending to be a microscopic view of a cells structure is so unnatural with straight lines and pointed structures pop like graffiti. It's webbed design appears to resemble a computer component's structure more than it does a living cell's. Nature surrounding such a piece with sunlight playing upon the colors of the leaves and the lines on the trees and the dirt and leaves on the grounds, and variety of trees the scene seems very much alive. Without the natural details of the surrounding woods, this piece on it's own wouldn't have much a voice. 

Personal Selections

This post is going to be a mix up. After having time to flip through the books Paul has given me over these past few weeks, I've made a few selections that I particularly liked. I'll keep things brief and just point out a bit of what I like about each one. Hope you enjoy them.

G. Collette and J. Dufour
Amsterdam Type Foundry
"Independent" (promotional image, 1930)
~
20th Century Type
Lewis Blackwell

Asymmetrical balance, good use of negative space to give weight.

Roger Excoffon
"Choc" (promotional image, 1953)
~
20th Century Type
Lewis Blackwell

Depth by overlapping, great textures and the brush provides a lot of tension

Michael Going
SX-70 Manipulation
~
Archive Vol. 4 - 1996

High staccato rhythm, very cool depth created by perspective and contrast.

Minoru Kawase, Yoshimitsu Tenbata
Volvo
"untitled" (promotional image, 1996)
~
Archive Vol. 4 - 1996

Very balanced, type and logo near the bottom unify with the paint splatter near the top. Awesome emphasis on the negative space where the car shape is.

Jon Haddock
"Cafeteria"
~
Print 2002

Isolated dark figures kind of balance out the repetition and placement of the red chairs and tabletops. Surreal perspective on gruesome event.

"The Thinkers"
Published in Raw
~
Print 2002

Unified by the repetition of all the boxes and the lines that connect them. Tons of movement happening in this and is overwhelming with the great variety of shapes.

Depth

Adbusters

November/December 2016

This image creates depth by using size variation, overlap and definition. The value distribution and high contrast create a sense of being lost, desperate and on the verge of hysteria. Every avenue of light is wrapped and barred by deep black. The physical textures make the foreground particularly interesting when compared to the surrounding space, they trap the eye just long enough to think there might be a great distinction between those trees and the ones beyond. Overlapping branches make the space dynamic, with their random placement.

Rhythm

Michael Marsicano
"After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned." Illustration of a short story by Dave Eggers
14 1/4 x 9 1/2, ink, graphite, digital
~
Communication Arts May/June 2016

There is a frantic energy to this piece. The curved lines of fur are being pushed from the right sending them towards the left, as well as the curves of the grass trampled below. The background even seems to be manipulated by the charge, warping as the dog passes. The flying bits of color give in the lines in the air give a high tempo, while the large feet and gaping mouth give a certain weight that implies the repetitive thudding and gasping of a sprinting animal.

Balance

A. Richard Allen
"Love Lies Bleeding" Illustration (series)
~
Communication Arts May/June 2016

The piece above is balanced asymmetrically, The small circular red drops near the bottom of the page hold as much weight as the green tie and camera near the top due to their shape, color, and proximity to the edge near the bottom. Diagonal corners are separated by two different values but are similar in shape and size. The tall rectangular shape of the composition also lends a hand to weighting the images within.

Unity

(series) Mike Meadus, designer/writer/illustrator

Mark Lovely/Mike Meadus, art directors/creative directors

McCann Canada (Calgary, Canada), agency

Kent of Inglewood, client

"From a series of 40 posters created for Kent of Inglewood. It may be Canada's shave shop, but it also has men's backs—and faces—with the world's finest grooming products to keep beards soft, lush and styled." 24 x 24, 2 PMS Colors.

Mike Meadus created a clean and unassuming piece, that manages to be tightly unified. Upon a closer look the contrast draws the eye from the center focal point downward. Every shape is set upon an invisible grid. Shapes are placed symmetrically to one another and on any give horizontal line, the shapes do not vary in size and are repeated. Only a single shape is used to create the primary image, a circle. Upon initial view, the image may appear to be something of a simple shape, or square. Given a split second, the eye moves toward the focal point which is defined by tight grouping, and a single large -- nearly -- semi-circle gap below the "mustache" and "beard." Likewise, to the so-to-speak invisible grid, the outlying shapes are constrained by an invisible rectangle, centering an framing the image by leaving equal negative space above, below, and to the sides. The illusion of a thick beard is given by tightly grouping circles. The composition creates closure by guiding the eye from larger, tightly grouped shapes down to smaller, looser shapes near the bottom. Creating a top-down movement. Continuity is achieved through the use of repeated shapes, and symmetry, but is briefly broken to create a focal point. However, the overall image appears unified, in terms of gestalt principles, as larger image it almost comes off as a simple brown rectangular shape among a green background.

Variety

Andrew Miller
"untitled"
~
Adbusters September/October 2016
Cool Fascismo

The image above stood out to me due to it's claustrophobic composition. In the foreground around the man there is a variety of materials; toys, books, figurines, photos and so on... All elements are compartmentalized by shelves, creating something of a grid-like pattern. Every shelf is filled, some over-filled. The orientation is rotated to create an unnatural cascading movement. As if all the pieces were crumbling around the man near the middle of the image. Despite it's variety, the image is unified by the grid and size of compartments.