Is the Design Industry Fickle?
Often times when I hear a designer talk about design celebrities and “who is hot”, I hear them talk about how fickle the design world is. Often sighting that “whoever is hot in the design world, won’t be for long”. I often wonder what I am missing. Compared to other visual/creative fields, it seems like the graphic design world is pretty consistent and faithful to its celebrities. Illustration seems much more susceptible to trends and styles than graphic design. Year after year, you still see the work of Bierut, Sagmeister, CSA, Chip Kidd, Scher . . . in the design annuals. Maybe Charles Anderson isn’t as dominate, and we haven’t seen much in the recent publications from David Carson, but am I missing something? Maybe when people speak of designers falling in and out of favor, they are speaking of the tertiary perimeter of the design celebs and not the legends that I listed above. Maybe I just haven’t been in the profession long enough to see someone totally fade out of the limelight.
I am curious to hear from everyone on this subject. Every once in a while, I will hear a friend or art director mention some amazing designer from the mid-eighties or early nineties that I have never heard of. Are there some designers in the last few decades that I am missing? Could we all learn a great deal from their work? Please share.
March 23rd, 2006 at 10:23 am
Since I recently picked up Thames and Hudson’s Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers. (I know, I know, I have wikipedia, or whatever, but I love their books. I have the architecture and the modern art books as well.)
So I’ve been looking through it lately for ideas (or while waiting for Photoshop to render something) and thinking about “whatever happened to…”
So here is a (partial) list some names whose work I love and should still be alive, but I don’t hear about anymore:
Neville Brody
Fabian Baron
The Designers Republic
Alan Fletcher
Shigeo Fukuda
Eiko Ishioka
Terry Jones
John Massey
Jamie Reid
Michael Rock
Barbara Solomon
March 23rd, 2006 at 11:09 am
I’m happy to report that Fabien Baron is still alive and well, and doing amazing things, mostly linked to fashion. I think his creative reign of Harper’s Bazaar (under the editorship of Liz Tilberis) still looks fresh and extraordinary–and Alexey Brodovitch is a tough act to follow.
Baron’s now designing everything from publications to furniture (for Cappellini), and he’s also a damn good photographer. Dig his ad/design firm’s ultra-minimalist website (www.baron-baron.com).
Fun fact: His father designed the French newspaper Liberation. Does anyone else find foreign newspapers tend to be much better designed than domestic ones?
March 23rd, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Inspiring young designers with passion since the nineties:
Margo Chase (Chase Design Group)
Vaughan Oliver (v23) (4AD)
http://www.leninimports.com/vaughanoliver1.html#vobio1
Steve Tolleston (In San Fran)
Nancy Ogami (designer of Dracula logo for Margo Chase)
McRay Magleby (Still Teaching in Utah)
Jennifor Morla (In San Fran)
Michael Osborne (In San Fran)
Carlos Segura (5inch, corbis)
Why Not Associates?
Howard Greenhalgh
Andy Altmann
David Ellis
Phil Baines
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:01 pm
James Victore, one of my favorites.
http://www.jamesvictore.com/
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:56 pm
What I find is interesting is how insular this’design world’ is, it sounds more like a ‘design country’ with the majority of cited examples hailing from the US with a couple of token British names thrown in. There’s some exciting work being produced from places like Korea, Singapore, Iran, China, Mexico and (dare I say it) Australia for those who care to dig a little further.
March 23rd, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Thanks for the names. I will have to look up some of these names, but some of the names listed (Margo Chase, Jennifor Morla, James Victore . . .) don’t really seem like they have faded.
I guess this all depends on how you define “who is hot”. Some of the “David Carsons” out there, might have just decided not to enter design competitions any more. Unless a specific designer/firm is featured in a publication, or you visit their web site, how can we gauge whether they are current or “hot”?
Chris Bowden, Good point. I know that I am severally lacking when it comes to what is done outside of the borders of the US (especially outside of the UK and Canada). It is also intimidating to think of keeping up with the the great work of the entire “design world”. Can you give a few names from the countries you listed.
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:26 pm
I guess why a lot of US and UK designers become better known and become ‘hot’ is because there are that many more publications and contests for designers in those countries.
Some of my favourite designers outside of those areas include:
Iran
Majid Abbasi – http://www.5thcolor.com/about/au03.htm
Rezza Abedini – http://www.rezaabedini.com/
Norway
Kim Hiorthoy – http://rateyourmusic.com/list/knuten/the_selected_cover_art_of_kim_hiorthoy/
Singapore
Kinetic – http://www.kinetic.com.sg
Australia
Pip & Co – http://www.pipandco.com
Emery Studio – http://www.emerystudio.com
Inkahoots – http://www.inkahoots.com.au
Rinzen – http://www.rinzen.com
My blogsite:
http://www.facingsideways.blogspot.com
Also features links and articles on design firms in my hometown of Adelaide, Australia and the rest of the country
March 24th, 2006 at 8:09 am
Mirko Ilic
March 25th, 2006 at 4:49 am
Borrow from the past and steal from the future!
A lot of graphic designers directly influenced by modernist school (think Bauhaus) is criminally slept on, one who comes to mind is Lazlo Moholy-Nagy’s proteg√© Robert Brownjohn.
Great exhibition about his work at the Design Museum in London.