The Didot logo poster is the creative design of the Didot logo inspired by the works of Alexey Brodovitch. Brodovitch is a household name in the graphic design world. He is the brain behind the modern glossy magazine which focuses on style. During his time, Brodovitch also founded fashion and advertising photography. The works of Brodovitch was driven by the changes in complexity, size, and values which were effectively implemented in his works to provide the viewers of the resulting materials with a sequence of varying experiences that evoked positive energy and movement on the resulting works. 

My Didot poster which features the Dior models makes use of the same principles which were implemented by Brodovitch and are still in use in the modern aesthetic arena and is also heavily implemented by the women in graphic design. Despite being rendered invisible by the largely male-dominated industry. Connory (2019), insinuates women in graphic design plays a key role in setting the trends of the industry. The women have been involved in the design work in a various way such as theorists, partitioners, historians, consumers, and as objects of representing (Buckley, 1986). In my opinion, the exploration of ideas in graphic design had been largely done through the collection references from other design work, collaboration with other individuals through a community copying the original design works of individuals such as Alexey Brodovitch and many more. In most cases, the exploration of the ideas is inspired by the curiosity and creativity of individuals. The exploration of these ideas makes use of various methods such as selection, classification, and prioritization of a given kind of design. The exploration is also affected by categorizing the designers in terms of their styles and movements which results in varied modes of graphic design production. According to Buckley (1986), women are believed to posses sex-specific skills which act as key determinants of their design abilities. These sex-specific determinants make the women dexterous, decorative, and meticulous thus driving their capabilities to explore ideas more than men. These skill exhibited by women enable them to naturally suit certain areas in the design industry of the decorative arts such as the embroidery, jewelry, weaving, graphic illustration, pottery, knitting, and many others. The resulting design works of these women are always used by both men and women making them universal.

  Alexey Brodovitch revolutionized the Harper’s Bazaar magazine by creating an iconic Didot logo which acted as an inspiration to some of the greatest visual artists of the 20th century (Purcell, 2002). The Brodovitch designs have a signature use of white space with a cinematic quality brought about by the obsessive cropping of the layouts, These qualities are seen in the Brodovitch’s design work resonates with the design principles which revolves around movement, balance, emphasis, hierarchy, repetition, contrast, rhythm, pattern, proportion, unity and variety. In essence, every design work implements these key design principles to create aesthetically things while optimizing the experiences of the user at the same time. These key design principles enabled Brodovitch to come up with pages that blend beautifully, typographies, cropped photographs as well as designs that were bold for Harper’s Bazaar magazine (Purcell, 2002). The implementation of these principles enables Brodovitch to revolutionize the design of the at the magazine inspiring visual artist of the 20th century as a result. 

 During his time at Harper’s Bazaar magazine, Brodovitch departed from static layouts as well as the conventional posed studio photographs to smoothing which was considered exciting and was latterly replicated in various magazines of the United States. The emphasis of his design was unique double-page spread where photography was exquisite with crisp Bodoni typeface, and elegant white space was laid out in a blend. In my opinion, every artwork is an expression. Artworks always represent the inner state of the artist. Thus, in the most cause, the artist may make use of various channels such as form, color, or the medium to expire or manifest their inner states. The artist often creates their artworks by beginning in various combinations of mediums such as paints on canvas. In some cases, the artists may create existing artwork using a different combination of materials bringing out a different perspective of the artwork. Thus, in the three classical branches of art which include sculpture, painting, and architecture, the ideas may be manifested differently depending on the inner state of the artist which influences his or her choices of color, form or the medium of expression. The expression of feelings by these artists hugely relies on the medium assisted by form and color. However, Buckley (1986) argues that in some cases that, the manifestation of ideas by the artists is always influenced by their gender, as women tend to give a feminine approach to their issues. 

Artworks always represent the inner state of the artist. The workers are always done in accordance with the design principles. However, some of the best designers in history such as Alexey Brodovitch seemed to have disregarded the then existing principles of design to come up with revolutionary designs. Brodovitch’s design ideas were manifested through form, and medium, which made them unique. Nonetheless, today the exploration of ideas in graphic design has been done through the collection, references from other design work, collaboration with other individuals through a community and copying the original design works of individuals as opposed to Brodovitch era. The exploration of these ideas has made use of various methods such as selection, classification, and prioritization of a given kind of design. 

References

Buckley, C. (1986). Made in patriarchy: Toward a feminist analysis of women and design. Design Issues, 3-14.

Connory, J. (2019). Plotting the Historical Pipeline of Women in Graphic Design. Retrieved 11 April 2019, from http://dharn.org.au/plotting-the-historical-pipeline-of-women-in-graphic-design/

Purcell, K. W. (2002). Alexey Brodovitch. Phaidon Press.

Standing Mirror is part of Elliat Rich’s Other Places series of limited furniture design. Rich evokes intuitive shift between experiences visions and materials which are achieved through the distance ranges. These result from the combination of dust, eucalyptus gas, light and any other magical element that lie between the audience and the masterpiece. Rich intends that the piece off-sets a conceptual underpinning that is filled with a sense of curiosity and joy. The unique color combination used provides a distinct taste which combines multiple hues. The elements used to enable Rich to derive both reality and illusion in a single set which results in the half-object and half reflection achieved. 

According to women design, women get minimal recognition for their work and expose the barriers to the success of women in the industry which occur in the areas of socialization, education and the work environment. These aspects are relevant to the understanding of the piece. The pure element that makes up the artwork are in themselves not given prominence in the same way that the female artists who make up the foundation of the industry are not given prominence (Bruce, 1990). The industry’s continued consideration of women as playing peripheral roles, they remain the courage of the industry. Comparable, in the artwork there is no dominant element, the mirror effect is achieved through the collective role of each component. Rich is an example of women who have taken professional design seriously. Rich completed her Bachelor of Design at the College of Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales and have given a solid input to it if her academic background and touch in Standing Mirror are anything to go by. 

There is a display of professionalism, hence design. The piece brings a balance between taste and design. Standing Mirror is associated with the pleasurable feeling helps determine the great taste as evidenced in the piece of art, provide a perspective on how taste and design differ. For example in marketing, artwork must appear to the sensory aspects of the audience and consumer. Taste is about what appeals to the sensory organs (Bruce, 1990). If this is the basis by which the quality of the artwork is to be determined, then women artists are as much competitive as their male counterparts. For instance, Rich’s Standing Mirror appeals to the sensory organs and thus can be categorized as having good taste. On this basis then, Rich like most women in graphic design, have as much taste as male artists. Hence, their work deserves equal recognition. According to Connory’s (2019), Standing Mirror qualifies sentiments about very few women getting recognition despite their constant contribution to the industry. Connory highlights the common defense by people who focus more on artworks done by male artists that what matter is a good design (Connory, 2019).

However, looking at Rich’s work, one can only be convinced that women create well thought out pieces of art that deserve recognition. The Standing Mirror exhibits the qualities that make a competent female designer. The article notes, and rightly so, that women graphic designers work hard to raise the ranks in the profession and bill themselves professionally (Buckley, 1986). If theoretically graphic design is presented as a male-dominated profession, then the contributions by women like Rich contradict this narrative. Traditionally, women have been confined to lesser domestic roles that are meant not to expose their competence (Buckley, 1986). The value of a work of art depends on its taste. Bad taste products are associated with lower values. On this basis, it is easy to disregard good designs for temporary aesthetic inclinations. The proper approach to viewing products is to consider the design which has more to do with the competence and professional skill associated with the product. The Standing Mirror is the result of a professional design which brings together many skills and elements. On this basis, therefore it merits to be considered among the best artwork. In my opinion, it is representative of other artwork by a female designer. Rich’s piece of art is her struggle ensuring that both the journey and destination have equal importance. The work captures her understanding of places and how she values the robust landscape that is the foundation for every art form. Rich inspiration is in how marginalized indigenous people have to make tough choices to remain relevant to their country. In the same sense, female artists have been pushed to the periphery as graphic design acquires professionalism. The Standing Mirror is, therefore, a symbolic mirror of how society transforms.  

 This piece of art capture the force that is female artists in shaping the future of design and how they remain competitive despite minimal recognition. There are aspects of leadership through the novelty and innovativeness of the idea captured by the art piece which informs of the vital role that women play in shaping the industry and which deserves to be noted. The combination of color hues to bring about a unified color resonates with the need to accommodate various talents, particularly those by female artists so that collaborative design and an accurate reflection of everyone’s input is realized as seen in the resultant mirror feel.   

References

Bruce, M., & Lewis, J. (1990). Women designers—is there a gender trap? Design Studies, 11(2), 114-120.

Buckley, C. (1986). Made in patriarchy: Toward a feminist analysis of women and design. Design Issues, 3-14.

Christoforidou, D., Olander, E., Warell, A., & Holm, L. S. (2012). Good taste vs. good design: A tug of war in the light of bling. The Design Journal, 15(2), 185-202.

Connory, J. (2019). Plotting the Historical Pipeline of Women in Graphic Design. Retrieved from http://dharn.org.au/plotting-the-historical-pipeline-of-women-in-graphic-design/