Category: General Posts

Unfortunately the snow storm really messed up class days, and this course in particular missed out on two valuable face time critique sessions because of it. So with only one week left before the deadline for all ten brainstorming exercises I was quite excited to see what my students were ‘bringing to the table’ today.

Of course I hadn’t allowed for the mass snot fest running rampant through the university right now (that’s what happens when you go sledding in a t shirt at 11 o clock at night in a blizzard, people!), so consequently half the class was off sick and several of those who made it weren’t exactly glowing pictures of health 🙁

Anyway, enough griping. Some great ideas on show and the level of execution was again, pretty nice (remember, the purpose of the exercises is to 1) push creativity beyond the obvious/predictable outcomes and 2) to raise the level of mark making/execution high enough so that the students can then apply it to future graphic design projects instead of presenting initial ideas on scrappy bits of paper with undistinguishable images on them.

Here are a few of today’s brainstorming exercises:

Continue reading “Brainstorming exercises – one class to go”

We had the absolute pleasure of the company of Art Chantry (and his lovely wife) this past couple of days. Not only was he in town to give a Visual Voices lecture, but he also has an exhibition running in our gallery.

For those of you who have been living under a stone, here’s a very brief outline of Chantry’s design career – his prominence began in the early 80’s when he became the art director of the Rocket, a monthly music magazine. Prior to that he had tried, unsuccessfully, to tout his portfolio around all the usual corporate design offices in the Seattle area. Chantry quickly realized that the only way he was going to ‘make it’ was to keep true to his design beliefs and pretty much establish the style synonymous with the Pacific West Coast single handedly. Almost immediately he emerged as a graphic designer known for quick turnarounds and innovative ideas about production. Chantry is probably best known for expanding on the aesthetic of punk music, in posters and album covers for bands like Nirvana, Hole and the Sonics, as well as some lesser-known groups. Some of his famous techniques include torn-edge collage, taped images, messy script, punch-printed lettering, startling juxtapositions and endless variations on the possibilities of photographic graininess achieved by repeated photocopying.  He advocates for a low-tech approach to design whilst keeping in mind the history of art. Art Chantry’s work has been exhibited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian, the Louvre….. and Bradley University!

Continue reading “Art Chantry; The ‘poster boy’ of grunge”