Dumbbell or Dumbbottle?

This is one cool bottle to say the least. A lot of items are meant to accentuate people's hobbies and active interests. This is the first time that I have seen a bottle that been designed with a gym theme. Clearly shaped like a dumbbell, this bottle is holds a sports drink special for those who enjoy pumping iron. My favorite part about the piece is how the amount of liquid in the bottle is reflected as the weight of the dumbbell

??

I randomly found this ad searching "cool ads" on Google. This ad is very funny to say the least. At first glance one would think that it is green buttocks with the arbitrary use of the beer bottle as a penis. Upon further examination it is the curved side of the two bottles put together. I liked this ad because it focuses on the main purpose of liquor, especially beer: gets you drunk and makes you pee. It is one of the few ads that I have seen with a very clear message and the brand included in it that does not involve typography.

Bus x Limosine

Although this piece is not a graphic, I picked it because I feel as though it is an influential component to design. Throughout time, the changes in the different styles of graphic design as been influenced by the technological advances of the time. This is true with the Model T Ford of the Early Modern period, the CC-3 of the American Kitsch period, and the iPhone of contemporary time. No matter the time period, technologically offers a sleek, new edge and many artists are influenced by that in order to accurately depict the style of the time period.

This is one of the newly invented limo buses for Chicago Limousine Company. Its sleek design puts a twist on the average rectangular limo. Its curvilinear shapes could actually be a new influence/motif on today's art.

I read a lot a lot and I got the bright idea to look up cool book covers and I literally Googled "cool book covers" and came across this one lol.

The book cover has a very serious look to it due to the use of a neutral color as the main color of the design. It is very cold and one-sided and reminds of the use of steel during the International Typography Design Movement. It didn't really move me much because it does not make the book look interesting.

What wound up drawing my attention in was the use of the two heads serving as the wheel and recording tape of a cassette. It reminds me of the conceptual images used during the Contemporary time period where the message, imagery, and text were taken into context for the intended design.

Salvador X Simpsons

I am a huge Simpsons' fan! While randomly looking for postmodern art references. I came across this one and instantly fell in love!

It is a remake of Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory". It is very postmodern with the use of pop art icons used in place of the clocks. It also embodies postmodern art with the use of a well known piece that has been reconfigured for modern humor.

Although this piece is on the fence, I think that it can be considered both fine art and graphic art. It plays a comedic role along side the meaning with Dali's original piece which carries the meaning that time is persistent and uses imagery in his piece to express life, sex, and death. The recreation with the Simpson's still holds the same emphasis on time I believe. The Simpsons is the longest running animated series in television history and I think to use the characters in place of the clocks symbolizes their duration through history and how they themselves can be seen as a persistent memory since many age groups are able to relate.

Psychedelic X Nouveau

While surfing the web for Psychedelic posters, I came across this one. It immediately grabbed my attention because it reminded me of the homework question asking if Psychedelic should be renamed Art Nouveau Revival. This is because of the combination of visual motifs that are prevalent in this poster that it is ambiguous of both eras.

Typical of the Psychedelic style, the visual motif includes complementary colors and the use warped and bent lettering. What really captured my attention was the use of the feminine figure that was typical of the Art Nouveau period, influenced the Edo Art Period of Japan. The woman is made of many curvilinear lines that are also of the Art Nouveau period. Her coloring is also more pastel along with the title of the event which immediately pulls the eye to the center and most important part of the piece.

The use of this poster is what Psychedelic art was primarily used for: concerts. This can easily be seen by the name of the event along with dates, bands, and ticket information listed at the bottom.

After going to Furniture Lounge, I decided to look at furniture for my blog this week. I randomly came across this chair on rapper Kanye West's blog.

The Panton chair by Verner Pantoni is a simple curved shape that resembles many of the kidney curves we have seen in American Kitsch art. It reminds me of a futuristic Cesca Chairs that were mass produced during the Late Modern period with.

Red Russian Robot

I really really really love robots and took an immediate liking to this image as I was strolling across pictures of robots used in different motifs. Whenever I see robots, I usually see them used in a scientific form or in a vintage toy form. This is the first time I have ever seen one for political use.

This poster reminds me of a plakatstil or with the appearance of age on it, it just might be a plakatstil. The color red is used in different hues along with ray bans in the background. This is to create the emphasis of fear or importance along with the red star and symbolism of Russia which is Communist and is a depiction of Communism being the "Big Red Machine"

It reminds me of the political posters that we have studied during Pictorial Modernism Movement because of it being a poster and having a simple, geometric design laid out with a decent amount of detail with the use of some shadowing. It reminds me of the poster works of AM Cassandre.

Nike X Jeff

Nike Footwear is famous for its collaborations with other designers as well as design ideas for creating innovative footwear. This is especially true of the Nike Skateboard collection that produces rare, limited edition themes and then go on to produce numbers in the mere hundreds to be circulated world-wide. This would make the artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement very proud :)

This Nike design was inspired by the missing persons ads that used to be on the back of milk cartoons. The guy on the back of the shoe that is presented with Jeff is one of the graphic designers for Nike. Jeff was such as hardworker that no one would ever see in for days because he would just be creating. So in return, he was put on what engulfed most of his time.

This is personally my favorite sneaker of all time. It keeps the modern look of the Nike sneaker while integrating elements and colors of the past that were seen on traditional milk cartoons. It fully embodies its motif and conveys it accurately through the design.

Marc Jacobs X LV X Nigo

As you guys can probably already tell, I'm really big on fashion collaborations that involve graphic artists. This is in part because graphic artists are very open, creative people while clothing lines are also creative and open, they have a tendency to stay static to maintain a brand loyalty to its customers. The piece that I have chosen is a tri-colab of three of the biggest fashion names: Nigo (BAPE), Louis Vuitton, and Marc Jacobs.

This key chain caught my eye for a couple reasons. 1) One of the major attributes that a graphic designer most have period is to be able to collaborate with other people, and this is a very successful collaboration and 2) This is shown through the style of the keychain.

Marc Jacobs has an animation of cartoon figures that we will sometime use on purses or shirts that resemble dolls. They are are usually very fun and straight forward looking. While the straight forwardness of the keychain is still intact, Nigo was able to step in reproduce the character in his way: bold lines, simple features with an emphasis on the eyes to draw attention to it which goes hand in hand with Jacob's use of straight forwardness. Along with the traditional LV monogram print that is on the back which keeps a traditional feel of LV on the piece along with the logo.

I think that this a great example of a successful collaboration which goes to show what people can churn out when they compose their ideas without changing their initial style.

Me X Sharpie

Drawing influence from a classmate's previous post, I decided to go with the theme of logo tattoos for this week. Subsequently, I felt it only right to use my own :)

This picture is a modified 1875 Revolver that has been fitted with different art supplies. The hammer of the gun is a palette with paint blotches, the chamber is paint tubes, and the barrels are a Sharpie marker and a Bic mechanical pencil.

My motive behind the creation of this piece is that art is the greatest weapon in any fight that mankind can have. It can depict sides, convey messages, draw an opinion, and even offer a fantasy solution without the use of words. Art can speak the voice of the downtrodden, carry the name of the noble, and embody the sorrow of lost.

After getting this in July of 2008, I was rather ticked at a similar release on a tee-shirt labeled "Weapon of Art"



I still think mine is better!

Saks Fifth x Communism

This ad immediately caught my eye the moment I laid eyes on it. It is the campaign for Saks Fifth that was issued in 2009. What immediately caught my eye was the typeface that reads "WANT IT!!!"Its kind of confusing to me because if you bought something shouldn't it read "HAVE IT!!"?

Anyhoo, upon closer examination this bag is very reminiscent of Early Modern art which has struck controversy amongst the graphic design world. Its geometric shapes and lines which were a common motif amongst the time period aren't the issue; the issue has lied in the use of colors. Although red, black, and white were a common motif during this time, many have felt that this ad campaign is the rebirth or shows the support of Communism. I think that it is a very different design for a shopping bag, but I can understand where the controversy lies. What do you think?

N=Z

I was browsing the web and came across this ad. On first glance I actually overlooked the whole premises of the ad. It is an ad for Necafe coffee. The had has the N of Nescafe flipped horizontally so that resembles a Z. The Z is used as a sign of fatigue and sleeping. When you get to the last row of Z's, it gradually turns and flips over and turns into the N of Nescafe. The purpose of his ad is to endorse how strong Nescafe is that the coffee can awaken you from any type of fatigue, no matter how long it might be.

Takashi x Louis Vuitton

I am a huge fan of the contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Murakami has revolutionized contemporary art through the use of his style, known as Superflat. Superflat is a combination of anime with pop culture. The result is a colorful array of characters with alluring designs and shapes. I usually google around to look at some of pieces and I was very surprised a few years ago when I discovered this piece that Murakami collaborated with Louis Vuitton on.

This piece really grabbed my attention but it is not in print or statue form as most of Murakami's pieces appear. Instead, it is a teddy bear. Murakami was commissioned by Louis Vuitton to incorporate his art work on limited paraphernalia. This teddy bear is one of the few logos that Murakami designed for Louis Vuitton incorporating his style of Superflat along with the floral logo that has been used by Louis Vuitton for more that one hundred years.

The piece serves as a modern introduction of a classical, unchanging design that all of a sudden has incorporated today's use of digital art along with the flagrant colors that is seen in today's modern urban style.