A typographic piece created as a submission for the first annual Diemen Awards student challenge. The brief was to form a typographical interpretation of a quote by acclaimed graphic designer Paul Rand.
“Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated.” -Paul Rand
// Original artwork
// Lettering
// Design rationale
With my design, I wanted to convey a metaphor concerning graphic design: that design is a cleverly engineered, transparent way of carrying important information in a light and agile fashion, like a paper aeroplane. It is, as Paul Rand says, so simple yet so complicated.
Each stroke, and every line, word, and character, was carefully crafted around this idea. There are subtle nuances in the design that can only be observed on close inspection. Each character is held in place by a rope, their weight and centre of gravity having been taken into account. There are four ligatures on the word “Aesthetics”. All of the block letters have been realigned slightly to imply a suspended weight.
I drew on various sources of inspiration for my piece, such as the Modernist and Dadaist typographic movements.
I chose not to use colour in my design for simplicity and clarity, two qualities that are important to effective design.
