We go again,

I’ve been thinking for quite some time about what’s important in the business of design, my full time occupation. Taking into consideration the climate of design right now, lack of creativity and originality, I say this in the nicest way possible.

It all started in Summer with my thoughts on stripes and naval patters. Super cool I was spot on stripes took over as per, nothing special. When I think about horizontal stripes I think vertical Stripes consider hatched patterns like tartan. Suddenly there’s a whole new face to Burberrys new print in September. Designed by Peter Saville himself, a real design leader for people in Mark making (a mark would be the logo or imagery that represents the companies trade. A Trademark if you will).

Me in standard NYT fashion, I think about all the movements happening in graphic design right now and discover this movement in trademark design. It’s a whole movement of understanding simple marks that work 100ft big and 1cm in size, it’s really a wave of industrial war time design that represented a built to last mentality that was permeated throughout post-world-war western society. Of course designers would love this because it’s simple to make and easy to sell this idea.

There’s a whole host of reasons why designs like this are easy to sell, mainly because of the market you’re selling it to and the State of design right now. The nostalgia era, where we find Hollywood making call backs to well established brands and easy to sell stories as they are stories generations grew up with & sure fire ways to get a return on investment. Tying this back to design. We start with Facebook and all these companies follow suit Medium, Google, WordPress , Instagram, YouTube all have marks that were well thought out and then stripped bare to fit the icon motif of iPhones app iOS. This is not a coincidence.

Bringing me to the reason I’m writing because houndstooth tartan of Burberry bergdorf goodman and polo are all working. Very reminiscent of this 80’s born class of society – not a sense of individuality but a sense of togetherness according to the times we’re living in. All these marks relate to an audience that needs them so much qualifying a period to these heads of companies saying they matter. When you see ascis. B&G polo, one star converse being what they weren’t before & even what they were before – as in relevant and looking like a 20th century brand.

What we’re missing now is the uniqueness and individuality of businesses, that think different and being discoverable in ways outside the now. This is just a personal opinion though, showing people something they’ve never seen before is what art is about, showing people something familiar is what business is about what’s happening right now is working; designers are getting paid; and quality product is being produced for the people that want it most an older kind of CEO / Managing partner; the big old companies that are long standing and built on a different ethic; important pillars in the analog age – the age when pop art prevailed – I think that’s important to note, I think it’s right to point out because art plays a major role in what people decide is popular, I think there is a solid discussion to be had there wherein people can correctly correlate a style of art to what is reflected in a part of society, parity.

What I would like to see when it comes to iconography or branding and what gets created today are based on different design philosophies. Just as a fan I am appreciative of all new creativity and focuses and people that can see things from different perspectives – the way I see things going I am also grateful for the advancements that are being made in material technology & with that will come new philosophies and foundational thought which I cannot wait to see next

We’re learning more of – Whatever Moves Your Dial

Damilare. Not Your Typical

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