16 expression

“All that is good in art is the expression of one soul talking to another; and is precious according to the greatness of the soul that utters it.”

JOHN RUSKIN (BRITISH, 1819–1900) Art Critic, Artist, Poet

ex·pres·sion \ik-'spre-shən\ n

2 a: a mode, means, or use of significant representation or symbolism; esp: felicitous or vivid indication or depiction of mood or sentiment

Expression is a design principle fully dependent on your individual ideas, personal moods, sole emotional outlook on the world, and place within it. It is perceived visually, as well as psychologically, in any visual message. It is also a completely subjective principle and reflects directly on the time and experiences in which you have lived Expression cannot be taught; it is learned by each and every graphic designer. It is also a reflection of your inner thoughts, dreams, fears, and passions. As a result, an inherent bias completely depends upon our separate experiences or realities. Dreams, fantasies, and imagination also influence a designer’s creative process and choices.

The image for this promotional poster for the School of Visual Arts combines visual metaphor and narrative form with the graphic designer’s personal point of view, interpretation, and ultimate expression of creativity, defined here as an organic, evolving process requiring nourishment and constant care.

GAIL ANDERSON

New York, NY, USA

In everyday occurrences and interactions, we hear someone say that they have “expressed their opinion.” However, visual expression is something more concrete, more specific, and more intentional. Meaningful and memorable visual expression occurs when the fundamental elements and principles of graphic design are used selectively and collectively by you to create a “visual experience” for the viewer.

Since the beginning of human development, we have had the desire and need to express ourselves. Although graphic design as a discipline has had a relatively short history, with the name graphic designer first coined by William Addison Dwiggins (American, 1880–1956) in 1922, visual communication and visual expression has always been an integral part of our history. It is evident in the prehistoric cave paintings of northern Spain and southern France, in the Roman Forum’s Trajan’s Column (113 CE), in the illuminated medieval manuscripts of the Middle Ages, and in the mesmerizing neon signs of Times Square and Piccadilly Circus.

This branding program for a landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm expresses an appreciation for natural systems and a strong commitment to the synthesis of design aesthetics and sustainability, which is a driving force of this practice.

SAGMEISTER & WALSH

New York, NY, USA

1989

Les Noces Poster

BRUNO MONGUZZI

Lugano, IT

Bruno Monguzzi and Museo Cantonale d’Arte

BRUNO MONGUZZI (b. 1941) was born in the small town of Ticino in the southern lake district of Switzerland. He studied graphic design at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Geneva, and then in London.

During this time, he was influenced by the work of modernist designers such as Carlo Vivarelli (Swiss, 1900–1986), Josef Müller-Brockmann (Swiss, 1914–1996), Herbert Bayer (Austrian, 1909–1985), Jan Tschichold (German, 1902–1974), and Piet Zwart (Dutch, 1885–1977). Monguzzi began his career in 1961 as a designer with Antonio Boggeri (Italian, 1900–1989) at Studio Boggeri in Milan, Italy, and remained there until its closing in the early 1980s.

Now residing in the secluded town of Meride, in northern Italy, Monguzzi is also a renowned teacher of graphic design, first in Lugano and later throughout the world. In 1981, Monguzzi was the sole curator and designer of the Studio Boggeri retrospective at the Milan Trienalle. In 1983, in collaboration with Jean Widmer’s (Swiss, b. 1929) Visuel Design studio, he won the international competition for Paris’s Musee d’Orsay’s identity and sign system.

Monguzzi is known as a thoughtful and thought-provoking designer and educator. His professional work, as well as his teaching, has always focused on the enrichment and betterment of the human experience through visual expression in graphic design. He has consistently created modern and timeless work that is as visually rich as it is diverse in design, content, and ultimate meaning. It is also devoid of any specific style.

Monguzzi’s work and has been admired by many of his colleagues and described as “street communication at its most impressive. Informational, elegant, bombastic, and magnetic. Always a great light on any city thoroughfare . . . It takes hold of your eye with an initial onslaught of beauty, then sense, then he hands you the gift of intellectual communication.”

From 1987 to 2004, he was the sole designer for Museo Cantonale d’Arte in Lugano. His poster titled Les Noces for the Museo is an emblematic example of how he has realized visual form as a true form of expression—enlivening, enriching, and enlightening. It is clear from this work that he has a passion for form, craft, and function as well as for history, which allows him to integrate the past with the present.

For example, in this poster Monguzzi uses thirty-six letterforms—twenty-two letters are from Herbert Bayer’s alphabets, which are mostly from his Bauhaus Universal type variations of 1925; one letter is from Theo van Doesburg’s (Dutch, 1883–1931) work, four letters are of his own assemblage, and three are from Schlemmer’s The Husband’s Prayer. All of these letterforms are in some manner or another historically and thematically connected to either Oskar Schlemmer (German, 1888–1943) or Igor Stravinsky (Russian, 1882–1971). In this context he, has used expressive and historical-relevant typographic letterforms as a means to marry the past with the present.

He is a true poet of expressive form and function.

The redesign of a series of Vladimir Nabokov’s book covers for Random House was an exercise in collaboration and visual expression. Each cover was designed by a different graphic designer, whose sole requirement was to use the same black framed specimen box—the type used by collectors like Nabokov to display insects. Each box is then composed with paper, ephemera, insect pins, and the like, selected to evoke the book’s content and theme. The designers represented here include Michael Bierut (Speak Memory), Peter Mendelsund (King, Queen, Knave), Stephen Doyle (Pale Fire), Barbara deWilde (Stories), Marian Bantjes (Transparent Things), Dave Eggers (Laughter in the Dark), Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin (Despair), Helen Yenthus and Jason Booher (Invitation to a Beheading), John Gall (The Eye), Chip Kidd (Ada, or Ardor), Carin Goldberg (Pnin), and Sam Potts (The Real Life of Sebastian Knight).

JOHN GALL

New York, NY, USA

The duality of this playing card is the basis for a promotional poster celebrating “Amore y Arte” (“Love and Art”) and the integral relationship between Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907–1954) and Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886–1957), two celebrated Mexican modernists of the twentieth century.

CARBONE SMOLAN AGENCY

New York, NY, USA

Expression is also a quality of inner experience or the emotions of a graphic designer communicated through other visual elements in a composition. Historically, this is evident in all forms of visual art, including painting and sculpture. The viewer cannot separate actual form and its integral expression when viewing memorable work such as Pablo Picasso’s (Spanish, 1881–1973) Guernica, the paintings of Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956) and Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960–1988), or the sculptures of Alexander Calder (American, 1898–1976). Expression transcends all visual artists and graphic designers, as well as their own, individual personal experiences.

Visual communications provide a means for you to “express” your imagination in ways that do not rely upon the spoken or written word. Every design element and principle used has the potential to express something. Although their explanation and ultimate use may seem cut-and-dry, the quality of these elements and principles is perceived solely through the expression of the total message.

In keeping with the themes and goals of this festival of used books in which attendees buy, sell, and exchange books, the designers decided to add value to old and used goods by reusing the remaining posters from last year’s festival. The new promotional posters were now more visually expressive due to the evidence of tattered edges, repainted fronts accentuating visible old text, and hand lettering used in lieu of digital typography. This concept and theme was also used throughout the rest of the visual campaign, including recycled and reprinted sponsor T-shirts and shopping bags.

STUDIO SONDA

Poreč, HR

Unusual, three-dimensional constructions representing de Stijl and Constructivism, a monochromatic “blanc” floral arrangement, animal fur, and kaleidoscopic colors all take on expressive meanings and messages when also representing the iconic black letter T of the New York Times Style Magazine.

JANET FROELICH

New York, NY, USA

Hand-drawn, black letterforms and line illustrations, dynamically cropped and composed, are extremely expressive visual elements communicating the intense, emotional, and raw power of each of these theatrical productions—Une Fête pour Boris, Hedda Gabler, Hippocampe, and Woyzeck.

LAURENT PINABEL

Montreal, QUE, CA

Imagery, such as photography and illustration, is the most powerful form of visual expression. When used in combination with typography, color, and other relevant design elements, it can create a distinct and memorable message that will always be associated with a specific human emotion. Understanding form, shape, line, space, and color is also essential to visual expression. With these tools, you can fully embrace, as well as explore, new concepts, technologies, materials, and styles, with confidence and assurance.

Unlike narrative form in which words are organized in a specific sequence to form sentences, visual expression provides a range of forms, symbols, and ideas with malleable meanings. It can help you achieve a greater power and influence in your craft and discipline—to inform, educate, and persuade a single person or collective audience in a meaningful and memorable way.

These unusual, unconventional, and highly expressive hand-built letterforms spell out the statement “Good Work” and are composed of drawing pencils—a clear and meaningful message for any designer who values the interconnection between the “medium and the message.”

JASON TAM

Brooklyn, NY, USA

Bold and expressive mono-chromatic textures are used as simple visual metaphors for capturing the spirit and flavors of Mijovi and each of its products. Combined with bold sans serif lowercase typography and bright saturated colors, this packaging not only stands out among the overcrowded shelves of competing products but also communicates the essential brand message of this line of beverages. The imagery is metaphorically derived and symbolizes the spirit of individuality, energy, and ultimate self-expression.

POULIN + MORRIS INC.

New York, NY, USA