KAREL MARTENS report

Lauren Jastrebski

Seminar in Design

12/1/10

  Karel Martens is a contemporary Dutch graphic designer, born in 1939. He has been an active graphic designer for over fifty years. His work includes designing signage, coins, stamps, phone cards, books and other publications. His work includes the element of, “traditional workmanship and simplicity” (KNAW) This is evident through the paper he chooses to use, such as the Japanese/Chinese fashion in which he binds his books (Hyphen Press). He has produced two books, Printed Matter and Counterprint. His work uses simple colors, forms and type, but the manner he combines them creates a seemingly complex, but legible piece. His work often includes the repetition of colors and forms (Bravo).  Generally his work exemplifies his interest in the printing process and techniques used to create a design on paper (Eye Magazine). He has been noted that what he loves about graphic design is working with limitations, because of the ability to, “exploit” them  and see where the design ends up (Bravo).  

    He also teaches design. He has taught at the Arnhem School of Art, which he also graduated from in 1961 (Bravo). He then taught at the Jan Van Eyck Academie in Masstricht, and Yale University’s graphic design department in the United States (Bravo). In 1998 he and Wigger Bierma, founded the Werkplaats Typgrafie (WerkplaatsTypografie.org). WT is a two year Masters Program for graphic design in the Netherlands. Martens has received awards for his work, including the Dr. A.H. Heineken Price for Art in 1996 (Bravo). In 1998 the Leipzig Book Fair gave Martens’s Printed Matter the prize of being named the, “best-designed book, ‘in the entire world’” (Bravo). 

Interior of his Printed Matter

    In regards to issues we’ve discussed in class, Karel Martens has combined art and design throughout his work. This is primarily because he graduated from Arnhem School of Art as a Fine Arts Major (Bravo). Rick Poyner claims that, “good designers also cross over into art”  and while it is the opposite in Martens’s case, the combination of art and design is definitely apparent in his work. His work has been criticized for, “remaining in the realm of superficiality and beauty” (UCLA). Superficiality and aesthetics is typically more the focus of an artist, whereas a designer’s goal is delivering a message. However,  the attention paid to the aesthetic does not denote a lack of legibility. Martens makes sure that his work is legible, so a message is delivered to the viewer (UCLA). Everything seems carefully placed and treated. Matthew Collins suggests that, “the essential difference between design and art if that design has function while art has mystery” (qtd. in Poyner 97). Martens’s phone cards, stamps and books are functional pieces, but the way in which he chooses to convey their information, especially for the phone cards and stamps have an artist’s touch. The overlapping of colors and type creates forms that are legible, but also transgress into patterns of color. For Martens design has taken over his career, but his fine art training gave way for the things he has produced. Martens thinks that his, “lack of professional instruction” in design actually benefits his work (Bravo). He states that, “I’m really happy that it was that way, because it gave me a broader experience” (qtd. in Bravo). This statement is in line with the notion that, “the open collaborative methods” that result from having knowledge in different areas allows, “cross-fertilization” between disciplines (Beegan and Atkinson 309). 

  Martens’s graphic design is not just a career, it’s his lifestyle. His work has a purpose and is functional. His phone cards and stamps were used throughout the Netherlands, their legibility and uniqueness was a combination of successful design and information conveyed. He still teaches and works with young designers to pass on his knowledge and expertise in the field. His work with OASE, the Dutch architecture magazine which he began directing in 1990, also displays the functionality in his design work (UCLA). Overall, his work evokes a cheerful quality because of the bright but simple colors he uses and organic forms. Despite the intense time spent on the compositions of his work, each piece is still legible to the viewer and serves the purpose to inform.

Dutch phone cards

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Works Cited

Bravo, Amber. “Dutch Master”.  Dwell, At Home in the Modern World. May 2010. Vol. 10

  Issue 5. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. <http://www.dwell.com/magazine/big-ideas-for-small-  

  spaces.html>

Eye Magazine. “An Anti-Monument to Success” 2001. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. 

       http://www.eyemagazine.com/review.php?id=69&rid=160

UCLA. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. http://classes.dma.ucla.edu/Spring06/155/projects/ryan/  

      karelmartens.pdf

 KNAW. “Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Art for Karel Martens”. Press release. 4 Sept. 1996. Het Trippenhuis, Amsterdam. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.knaw.nl/cfdata/news/pressrelease_detail.cfm?nieuws__id=183>

Playtime & Monterey Pop

Playtime by Jacques Tati

  Playtime is basically the documentation of a 'modern' world set in Paris.  The film captures how people function in this modern world and interact with it's  products, specifically Monsieur Hulot and the American tourists. The buildings, furniture, windows, doors, clothing, and even the travel advertisements are industrial, some are not functional (such as the chairs) but it is all considered modern.
  Kent Jones's article on the film states that it was a result of Jaques Tati's strive to create a, "supremely democratic film that would be able 'everybody'". Jones also discusses the extremes Tati went to to build the set for Playtime.  From the set being so large it had its own, "power plant and approach road" to Tati having it shot with the expensive 70mm format camera. I didn't know that it took ten years to make the film, but I wasn't completely surprised because the sets they create for each scene, and the overall motif of the film, seems very meticulously put together to achieve the feel of a  impractical "modern life"of Paris and it's people.


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Monterey Pop by D.A. Pennebaker

 Monterey Pop is a documentary of the 1967 music festival in Monterey, California. The documentary focuses on the people at the music festival, the setting of it and the musicians that performed there, capturing the culture of the sixties. It's lively and intense with emotions. Armond White, author of "Monterey Pop: People in Motion" says this even was an instance of "people in motion" because of the, "loose, give-and-take" accounts between, "spectacle and spectator". Meaning, the  honest emotions of the audience resulting from the performers and the general atmosphere of the event. White makes note of the way the documentary was filmed in regard to the camera work, with close intimate shots of people and the, "long, hand-held shot". The cinematography really captures the spirit and mood of the event.


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Comparison of  Playtime & Monterey Pop:

   Both movies attempt at illustrating a modern world. However,  Playtime does so intentionally and Monterey Pop's purpose is not to reproduce specific accounts of modernity, but to document humanity at the time, and just so happens to reveal modern life. Everything in Playtime was organized, attempting to be perfect, but bland. It also seemed that the city and everyone it in was interested in the future and the most modern and newest things.  In Monterey Pop the complete opposite is happening. People were interested in only that specific moment. The people and performances are spontaneous.  Playtime  is so strict, while Monterey Pop is  fluid and natural.  Both movies capture a "cultural phenomenon". But their cultures are structured so differently. There definitely is a sense of Monterey Pop in the restaurant/dance scene in Playtime, when things start to get really wild and unpredictable. But since the purpose of that scene was to show the lack of function and sustainability their modern furniture/life had, I think Tati also expressed that in the actions of the dancers in that scene, who like the restaurant were breaking free from something.
  The way each was filmed is also  distinct to the  atmosphere being conveyed. Whereas Playtime was shot with expensive cameras to capture the most intense, "clarity and depth" Monterey Pop was obviously filmed with a handheld camera a majority of the time and  goes in and out of focus. The mood for Monterey Pop is more important than the aesthetic, and it's just the opposite for Playtime.
  In regards to what we discussed in class about Modernism, I'm thinking of the magazines shown. How David Carson's designs for Ray Gun magazine were modern, but in a completely different way than the the more clean and traditional magazine displays we looked at.
 Overall, both depict modernism is very different ways, but both convey the significance modern trends had on effecting people and lifestyle.

11/3/10

PIXEL PERFECT- Lauren Collins

• Article follows the working process of Pascal Dangin, the premier retoucher of fashion photographs.
• Dangin has retouched photographs for severl magazines including Vanity Fair,  Harper's Bazaar, Allure, French Vogue, Italian Vogue, V, and  Times Magazine.
• Collins calls Dangin the 'human oxy pad'.
• The article recounts  situations of Dangin at work, readjusting particular characteristics of the models, coloring of the image and gradients among other things.
• Brief history of Dangin's life is given: his mother was a piano teacher, stepfather a guitarist, he was raised in a small town, at age fourteen he left home, worked in a hair salon in Paris, was drafted into the French Army, later was discharged and returned to the salon he worked at. 
• In 1989 he moved to the United States & began doing hair for photo shoots in NYC.
• While in NYC working around the photo shoots he became interested in the computer use for the photos which began his deep interest in retouching.
• "People hire Dangin, in the broadest sense, for the assurance that behind every abtruse technical step there will be an artistic intention."
• Dangin believes that creativity should influence technology, not for technology to influence creativity. In that sense Collins says Dangin is a purist.

   It's really amazing to think about how much work goes into making something look attractive, and that so many people go to Pascal Dangin for HIS opinion on how to make someone more attractive. 

Readings for 11/3/0

Museum Piece- Todd Hays

• Article focuses on the process of April Greiman's poster for the exhibition  of the Museum of Modern Art's  The Modern Poster exhibit in 1988 & brief history of her education and work.
• She studied design at the Kansas Art Institute.
• At KAI she was introduced to the Swiss style of design.
• She  incorporates Swiss typography in her work & contemporary elements.
• 'Design' changed to 'Visual Communication', to stress the new impact technology was having on creating design.
• Cal Arts is where  Greiman first began working with computers in her designing.
• Today computers are a trademark of her design.
• Some of her work includes: 1984 Olympics posters and  designing issue #133 of   Design Quarterly.
• HYBRID IMAGERY.
• Hybrid imagery is a process Greiman  has, "pioneered"  and is the creating layers of information from different time periods-basically the history of something. She did this in the  poster for MoMa to, "carry a message, be visually stimulating, as well as help solidify the significance of the modern poster".(74)
• The elements in the poster represent time,  evolution,  the medium itself represents the present & technology,  and the past.
• Computer programs she uses to create the poster are discussed, such as Paintbox and Empire Graphics. All the work was done on Mac computers.
• Greiman has embraced new technologies for designing, when many other designers have been weary to use them.

  Her move to california was inspired by a trip there in 1976, and she decided to live there because of what she calls the, "entirely new and unique sense of color and light" (74).  It's interesting that she says that because it's essentially true of her work as well.  This article states that she is one of the first designers to use a computer, specially the Mac. Further research I did on her introduction to using the computer was an interview with her by Josh Smith. In it she says that she was at first hesitant to use the computer, but she says she was, "immediately hooked." She says she almost exclusively works with digital tools. The  description of techniques and programs she used on the computer to create the poster outlined in Hay's article are very systematic and no decision is hasty. The process to create the poster resonates with the final product, which looks calculated and formal.  This satisfies the Modern Poster's purpose to represent  the process she uses to make it. 

Hashi, 1985

   Josh Smith's interview with April Greiman was really insightful to her and the process of her work. In it she states that she sees, "everything an as object in space."  This definitely resonates with her work because her work looks as though every object was carefully placed and relationships between forms were considered. Examples I  found for this are her 1985 Hashi poster. It seems so minimal but each line or form is significant to make the space.

  Some designers have argued against abandonment of traditional designing methods for  computers. But just because she primarily uses technology to make her work does not mean she has sold out at all. In the interview she states that she has turned down jobs from big corporations, such as an annual report for Northrop because she, "wouldn't have anything to do with weaponry." It's good to know that there are designers who uphold their own values and morals, even if it means turning down money.  She also states in the interview that she hasn't referred to herself as a graphic designer since 1984 because  at the time she was using computer and video many other graphic designers resisted it, so since her work was not considered graphic design by the design community she called it  commercial design.

 * Relating to our last readings on the difference between art and design,  Greiman says that she thinks there is no difference between fine art and design.