Book Project Update 4/27/12

After class Thursday the 26th I took screen shots of all the documents I have been working on, the following are works in progress.

three versions of a potential title page:

table of contents:

alexey brodovitch spreads:

will post updates once I have made revisions.

Alexey Brodovitch

Alexey Brodovitch was born in Ogolitchi, Russia to a wealthy family in 1898. His father, Cheslav Brodovitch, was a respected physician, psychiatrist and huntsman. His mother was an amateur painter. During the Russo-Japanese War, his family moved to Moscow where his father worked in a hospital for Japanese prisoners. Alexey was sent to study at the Prince Tenisheff School, a prestigious institution in St. Petersburg, with the intentions of eventually enrolling in the Imperial Art Academy. He had no formal training in art through his childhood, but often sketched noble profiles in the audience at concerts in the city.

At the start of World War I at the young age of 16, Brodovitch abandoned his dream of entering the Imperial Art Academy and ran away from home to join the Russian army. Not long after, his father had him brought home and hired a private tutor to help Alexey finish school. Upon graduating, Brodovitch ran away again on several occasions. The war tore Alexey’s family apart, but upon the ending of the war the family was reunited and the Brodovitch’s made their way to France. Upon arriving in Paris, Brodovitch wanted to be a painter. A Russian émigré in Paris, Brodovitch found himself poor and having to work for the first time in his life. He took a job painting houses, while his wife Nina worked as a seamstress. They lived in a cheap, small apartment in the area of Montparnasse, among other Russian artists who had settled in Paris at the end of the 19th century. This group of artists, including Archipenko, Chagall, and Nathan Altman, would meet at the inexpensive Académie Vassilieff, which offered painting and sculpting classes without an instructor.

On nights and weekends away from the Ballets Russes, Brodovitch began sketching designs for textiles, china, and jewelry. By the time his work for the ballet had finished, he had already compiled an extensive portfolio of these side projects and was selling his designs to fashionable shops. He gained public recognition for his work in the commercial arts by winning first prize in a poster competition for an artists' soiree called Le Bal Banal on March 24, 1924. After these wins, Brodovitch's career as an applied artist took off. In 1928 he was hired by Athélia (the design studio of a Parisian department store) to design and illustrate catalogues and advertisements for their luxury men's boutique. Although employed full-time by Athélia, Brodovitch offered his service as a freelance designer on the side, eventually working for Harper’s Bazaar from 1934 to 1958 as art director.

Throughout his career, he continued to teach. His “Design Laboratory,” which focused variously on illustration, graphic design and photography and on occasion were offered under the auspices of the AIGA, provided a system of rigorous critiques for those who aspired to magazine work. Today Brodovitch's legacy is remarkably rich. His layouts remain models of graphic intelligence and inspiration, even if seldom imitated, and the artists, photographers and designers whose careers he influenced continue to shape graphic design in the image of his uncompromising ideals.

Vessel Project: Finished Product

Models of Vessel Designs

The following photos are of my three different ideas for my vessel project, the last one is the one I have decided to do for my wooden vessel. 

first model

 

second model

 

 third model

Statement of Purpose for Vessel

What I am putting in my vessel are porcelain earrings given to me by my grandmother, along with a few other older pieces of jewelry that I love to wear because they have memories and stories attached to them. I am torn between three ideas for my vessel right now but despite which design I choose, I would like the vessel to display and project the beauty in the jewelry. If my vessel has multiple storage areas they would serve as places for different types of jewelry to go (rings, earrings, etc). I don't want my vessel to hid or trap the objects whatsoever, I'd like to have them covered to stay safe, but once the lid is taken off I would like them to be flaunted.

Vessel Project: 3/12/12 [Inspiration]

doll-like jewelry box

 

multiple openings maybe?

love the idea of removable storage/compartments, allowing for multiple rings or earrings to be stored

The Nature and Aesthetics of Design by David Pye Reflection

David Pye starts out this excerpt from chapter five by saying, "We must distinguish between 'limitations' set by our unwillingness to incur work and trouble on the one hand, and real limitations set by our inability as workmen on the other." I don't think we stop and reflect on how much energy we actually put into our work these days, he explains how we as people set our own limitations on our work because we are just being lazy, when in reality our process could be much more involved if we took the time to actually work as hard as we possibly can. From this he explains how manufacturers aim towards the cheapest way possible of creating products today, in order to make the most profit. This is where designers have a hard time of working, because they are set limitations from the very start of their work, only being able to use specific amounts and types of materials when creating for a customer. Throughout the body of Pye's article he talks about how time has transformed the way we handle and work with materials. I found his discussion on material to be very dry and repetitive. He moves into speaking about beauty and art in today's world. I love when he says, "The value of beauty, then, is that along with human contact it enables us to break out of the otherwise impregnable spiritual isolation to which every one of us is born and to feel ourselves at home in the world." The aim of design is to promote human happiness; so I love how he explains what we can take away from experiencing art and design, that in our broken corrupt world there is still art, a beautiful form of expression that can't be taken away. He jumps from idea to idea in a very stiff manner so at times it is hard to understand what Pye is trying to portray but the excerpt from chapter 9 is ended nicely when he says, "Crisis or no, while there is life there should be hope somewhere, and so long as there is hope there will be art..." which is extremely true in our world. Artists and designers won't every give up on making our world a more advanced and beautiful place; its what they were born to do.

Kendall Buster Reflection

After exploring Buster’s work, I take from all of her pieces a sort of awe because of how delicate her pieces look. The projects she has suspended from steel rods from the ceiling look like fragile paper lamps, when in reality are very strong and intricate designs. At first I thought Buster only worked with white paper lamp looking materials but as I continued to explore her work, realized her latest projects were done with stainless steel rods which is extremely admirable knowing how difficult steel is to work with. I would love to walk through one of her exhibits because they seem very interactive, as you can see in her Long Pierce skeletal frame sculpture, there are people inside which would be a fascinating point of view. 

 Long Pierce

 Double Chalice (1996)

I love her work and would adore having one of her pieces hanging from the ceiling in my future home, I know it would be admired every time a new person would step foot inside because of her intricacy and attention to detail.

 

Martin Puryear Reflection

After looking through Martin Puryear’s website, my take on his work is that it is very simplistic but so thought-provoking because you just think of how many things one piece could be inspired by. Although most of Puryear’s pieces allude to recognizable forms and subjects, he intends for every piece to remain independent of specific interpretations; which I think is wonderful. I think that his gallery of pieces allows any person or audience to take away a different feeling or emotion from each of his works because every person can interpret for themselves what they think a piece means. He uses form and material in a very frugal way, constantly using minimal material and thin lines within his sculpture; adding to the minimalistic qualities of his work. Overall I would love to be able to see all of his pieces in person, I specifically have spent quite a bit of time looking at his pieces entitled Desire (from 1981), Ladder for Booker T. Washington (from 1996) and C. F. A. O (from 2006-07) because his woodwork is incredible.

Cardboard Seat Project: Duality Chair inspired by Irene Martindell