Sorry… doesn’t quite do it for me. Not only that, but I have a difficult time classifying it as “design”.
We just got the latest issue of HOW Magazine, which happens to be the International Design Annual. For anyone who isn’t in the creative world, HOW is a pretty handy magazine for Designers and Freelancers that usually has some great tips on running a business. Things like setting rates, turning down potentially disasterous projects and interviewing tips. Two or three times a year they, like all other magazines, put their stamp of approval on what constitutes “good design”. Or rather, they get three or four judges to give their stamp of approval on what they think “good design” is.
I can only imagine the posturing and high minded arguments for or against each entry. This year it seems that the best design in the world, is less “design”. A series of 16 posters, each with a print run of around 120-200 promoting underground concerts around Montreal.
I don’t necessarily have an issue with the style itself, though I am tired of it. It was interesting for it’s playful audaciousness a few years ago. A rebellion against all things corporate or digital. But since it’s so easily replicated, it’s everywhere now and lacks the “Holy shit! I used to draw like that on my note books in high school! That’s sooooo crazy!” impact it once had.
Here’s a quote from one of the artists about the project that took the top honor: “The ideas used in the posters to get the message across could be a literal element from the show, have to do with some kind of play on words or just be a total freakout of what we think is visually appropriate for the event.”
Sounds like pure interpretation to me. Does that count?
I wish we could do “total freakouts” that we think are “visually appropriate” for our clients. Unfortunately I don’t think we would be able to count them as clients for long.
But enough about my creative jealousy, and back to my original point; Can it be classified as “design”? Where is the line between “Art” and “Design”? Simply saying that it has type on it doesn’t hold water. And saying that it was for a paying client or that it’s promotion doesn’t work either. When you remove the designer’s self-satisfying style, are you left with any kind of meaningful residue of a message?
If not, I vote “art”.
