Interview: Felipe Taborda...wow...

I loved how he emphasized on the fact that design and art are NOT the same thing and that those young people that expect to be artist through design are mistaken...harsh but right on!...

He mentions the importance of how you need to devour all the information around you to find inspiration...

and he also talks a little about latinamerican design...and how he has noticed that there is a difference in colors, spontaneity, and a profound conscience of their culture...
this last part blew my mind...because lately I have been questioning myself on why am I so interested in expressing a concern of my culture through my work...why can't I step away from that...i guess...maybe I should just let it flow...

well here it goes...it's in spanish : S

¿Y qué tanto cariño les tiene a sus computadoras?
Bueno, son instrumentos de trabajo, tan importantes como un compás o un lápiz. Yo no tengo vínculos afectivos con ellas, yo soy 'no tecnología’. Con decirle que ni siquiera tengo celular.

¿Y cómo diseña?
Con lápiz y papel. Todos mis diseños, todos mis conceptos, están en papel.

¿Cuántos vínculos tiene el diseño con el arte?
Ninguno. Diseño gráfico es información y diseño industrial es funcionalidad. Sigamos con el ejemplo de la lanza: quien la creó buscaba funcionalidad: un instrumento para cazar. Si la piedra no tuviera esa forma y no matara, el diseño sería malo. Pero funcionó, y fue un gran diseño, un gran descubrimiento que cambió el mundo. Esto es pura funcionalidad, no es arte. Los jóvenes que creen que a través del diseño van a ser artistas están equivocados. Ahora, si uno logra –además de informar y ser funcional– un diseño bello, estético, chévere, guau.

¿De qué se alimenta un diseñador?
De todo. Hay que meter nuestras narices en todo: leer revistas, libros, ver todas las películas, escuchar música, ir a exposiciones de arte, escuchar a los Beatles, a Michael Jackson y a Wagner. A mí me interesa todo lo que es bueno. Me fascina una lograda pieza gráfica, el buen arte, el buen cine, la buena comida, como la peruana (ríe).

¿Y cuál es el nivel del diseño latinoamericano?
Espectacular y creciendo cada día más. La prueba es mi propio libro que, a propósito, tiene a Machu Picchu –un ícono latinoamericano, no solo peruano– en la contraportada a través de una pieza gráfica hecha por la agencia peruana Studio A. El diseño es una actividad directamente involucrada con la economía de un país. Países como Brasil, México y Argentina tienen una presencia mayor de diseñadores que Perú, Colombia o Chile porque su economía es más grande. El dinero no motiva la creatividad, pero sí influye en la aparición de más diseñadores.

¿Hay un estilo latinoamericano?
Yo no lo había notado antes pero, después de recorrer Europa y Estados Unidos mostrando mi libro, noté que los latinoamericanos tenemos una frescura, un colorido y una espontaneidad que no existen en otros lugares.

¿Y el diseño latinoamericano mira a nuestro pasado?
Hay de todo. Eso sí, los diseñadores latinoamericanos tienen una conciencia bastante profunda de su cultura. Sin duda, un plus para seguir adelante.

whole interview...thanks to:
http://peru21.pe/impresa/noticia/diseno-no-arte-informacion-funcionalidad/2009-10-29/259781

Sweet 90's...

color color color...

definetly barroque inspired.

Grunge font!

Today I dedicate my blog to the early 90's scene, and I'm talking about, before the polyester shirts, the bowling shoes, and Sugar Ray, before the platform shoes and the Spice Girls. I am talking about the grunge, flannel wearing, ripped jeans, 'i don't give a crap' 90's.

A lot has been written about the 90's fashion: clunky shoes, baggy jeans, dirty long hair, dark red lips, cross and chain wearing look...don't why but I immediately think Janeane Garofalo.

But it's been hard to find stuff about design or music videos. And I think music videos made a huuuge impact during these times. They were the laboratory for experimenting (along with photography) with visual effects, and the combination of art and movement, a kind of 'videoart' thing (After all the 90's were huge on the self-proclaimed bohemian artsy-fartsy scene). I remember videos like "Loosing my religion" from REM which pictured a LOOOT of artistic references one that was very famous at the time...Pierre et Guille. This video plays with slowmo and with flashes of light, like a fade to white effect edited really really fast.

Another very interesting characteristic is the use of the green screen. The 90's were big on green screen, putting images of the sky or of a great landscape on the background, like "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden. This video is also an example of color, lot's of bright color, even for a grunge band, or "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana. (Maybe it has something to do with the rasta, pot-smoking, tie-die influence the 90's also had, i dunno.) Anyway, there was lots of it, color I mean (pot too), giving it something of a kitsch photoshoped look, it was the beginning of Photoshop anyway.


90's grunge design changed history! big time. New fonts came out. They didn't care about order, it was all about chaos. Designers like, the awesome and crazy, Stefan Stagmeister so fond of grunge type that he did a piece of work on his body with an exacto knife...yep....i did mention crazy somewhere..

And we cannot forget of David Carson, his work is pure 90's...love this man...

Felipe Taborda

Since I am from Latin America I decided to look into graphic design from this part of the world...I wonder why it hadn't occur to me before hahaha...oh well...i guess is very much underrated...

i found a lot of talent...

The one I decided to post today is Felipe Taborda...from Brazil...I am loving his work...he designed the Taschen book on Latin American Graphic Designers...I'm looking into buying it now...

hope you like...

Michael C. Place...

One of my favorite designers right now...he still does a lot of work with printmaking... i love love love a million times!!!

His work is very pop, modern, fresh with a touch of naive...lovin' som' mo'!

logomania...

i reeeeally like this logooo!

Findings...

On a wall around Old San Juan...

very simple flyer design...

i think it's kind of nice for a children's clothing store called MELOCOTON, meaning "Peach" in spanish...

Findings...

Something I found around art school...

the tradition of gate design...

I really like gate designs...Here in Puerto Rico we received this tradition from Spain. Gates were initially developed in Rome for the need to protect and to enclose a space with treasures or important goods, at the same time it was important to let light come through. At first gates were simple bars made out of wood, later on bronze, but it was not until this knowledge arrived to Spain that they started making them out of iron and became an essential part of the entire arquitecture.

When the arabs arrived to Spain they found gates to be very useful to protect their lands from invasions. So they took on this way of construction and made it their own.

It was not until the 11th and 12th century that gates achieved their maximum expression, a more romanesque syle.

With the advent of modernism, this spanish tradition, of decorated gates is slowly dying in Puerto Rico, but we can still find them around...standing still, tall, and beautiful...

VerMints

Love, love the box...it's like a little 'go green, hippie-happy little box of mints. It kind of reminds me of DIY stuff because it looks like a hand-made drawing...and it's a tin box like an old altoids' mint box that has been painted over...

BTW-->the mints taste blehck!....just admire the box....