Thornament

at 20:28 on 14 April 2006, dave rau wrote:

Good link Cameron, to cross-comment here and there, I'll say this here:

If it's not a victorian ornament, maybe it's a nice piece of misprinted inky grunge, masking tape, a spray paint drip, the edge of an old stamp, a cracked piece of glass, a well kerned three letter word, a high contrast/high saturation photo, a well-positioned rule line, a carefully shaped box text; it's just another element to reference in our world. All of these things have a place in time, a place in our culture and a place in our design. Find the context. Find the right place, the right culture and make it the right design for both.

We at Iron-On Resistance use ornaments quite a bit, but I hope it's considered thoughtful, appropriate and interesting usage.

at 21:27 on 14 April 2006, the Brightside wrote:

(Owning one of Iron-On Resistance's wallets, I'd say their usage of ornament is appropriate.) As to the thrust of the article, I would suggest broadening the scope of the debate from the ornamental style to a larger discussion of the half-life of styles. That is, "thornament" isn't entirely the problem here--the use and overuse of a certain visual style by well-intentioned but less-skilled or less-conscious designers is. The heavily layered, botanical look works well for certain designs, where that look has been utilized because it aids communication. If it wasn't added thoughtfully, then it could rightly be said to be detrimental. This is mostly an echo of the discussion in the linked article, and Dave's post above, but it was what I had to contribute.

at 22:46 on 14 April 2006, dave rau wrote:

Brightside, good point. Style cycles are hastening at an exhausting rate. Certainly the web fuels the rate and the size of the audience participating in the trends.

The web gives a lot of power and momentum to grass roots movements; sometimes that might even be a style. I tend to think the grassroots or independent has more authenticity than something adopted by corporate, but let's be real, the authenticity is in the concept, if the concept is good then it's much easier to buy into the associated elements (style, culture, a following, etc).

As David Carson says, a designer ought to imbue a design with their background, their personality; that's the only unique thing they bring into the mix. When everyone has the same tools to work with it becomes about the user of the tools. Just as the text in a piece should speak something of the writer, so should the designer with the visuals.

And thanks for buying the wallet! As we say, support the independent artists, screw the suits.

at 09:09 on 15 April 2006, the Brightside wrote:

I'm unfamiliar with Carson, but that might be due to my utter lack of design training. (Witness the pretensions of English majors with no art background!)

I don't mean this in a derogatory or contradictory fashion, but seen from one angle, the Carson quote should be rather obvious--of course it isn't about the tools, but the hand guiding them.

It is telling, though, that such a statement is necessary, because it speaks to a certain tendency to suggest that all expression is equally accessible if only one had the means to express it, or the means to purchase the tools to express it. For instance, one remark you hear uttered about nonrepresentative artwork: "Well, I could do that." True, anyone could have, but the artist/designer did it for a reason.

As to authenticity, I agree with your final declaration: The style of a movement will always be adopted by those who neglect the ideology. What's left is the message.

at 19:42 on 05 January 2008, Logo Designers wrote:

i have seen alot of that design - its popular - did a logo for a photographer who wanted that type of viney design

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