Here's another episode where I gush about my favourite kind of design.

 

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Music and links from this episode

Whiteout by Little Glass Men

Clover by Little Glass Men

Westside Chillers by Little Glass Men

Line-by-line notes

I was asked by Ian Moss

What my favourite piece of design is

And what areas, such as communication, graphic design, architecture

I enjoyed answering the question so much back in episode 122

That I’m going to answer it again

Let’s go for a second round

This is all about my favourite kind of design

This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess

MUSIC

When I think about design that I love

I mean, really love

Almost none of it is new design

In episode 138 I spoke about designing logos

And how all of my favourite logos were Paul Rand ones

I love old graphic design especially, because it has something that I can’t quite put my finger on

Lots of it has has an innocence that’s missing from modern graphic design

Now, you can easily hide behind amazing technical ability

You can hide behind how well you can command Illustrator or Photoshop to realise your pretty pictures

Old graphic design didn’t allow for that

You drew ideas on paper, then you drew them again properly, and somebody would use that as an actual logo

Old graphic design was limited by the production methods available

But because of that, the ideas behind so many of them are amazing

You couldn’t rely on execution to hide behind

You had to come up with an amazing idea, something witty or clever

Witty and clever design is much rarer these days

Maybe it’s because there’s so many more designers

And anybody can be a designer with a laptop and the right applications

So all the good stuff gets hidden under the dross

Or maybe it’s just that modern design favours technically brilliant design over witty stuff

I’m not really sure on that one

But when it comes to designers that I’d love to even have 20% of their skill and intellect, Paul Rand is on the list, but Alan Fletcher is somebody I appreciate even more

Paul Rand was just way more than just a designer, and he embodied what I see a “proper” designer should be

His fascination about the world of design and art never faded throughout his whole career

And his books, particularly The Art of Looking Sideways, are masterpieces

The Art of Looking Sideways is an interesting read for anybody, whether you’re as much in love with design as me or not

That book showed Alan Fletcher at his absolute best

Curious about everything, and using that curiosity about everything to make great graphic design

He understood, so well, that inspiration can come from anywhere and because of that we should be interested in everything

I’ve taken that into my own career, and I’m endlessly pursuing new knowledge and experiences to help fuel inspiration for my design

And of course, he founded Pentagram, one of the greatest design studios out there today doing work

Alan Flecher and Paul Rand were proper graphic designers

Their design work was ideas lead, and it was always about producing the simplest design work possible to execute that idea

They didn’t gradients or flashy effects to do any of that, and it wasn’t available to them even if they wanted it

They relentlessly searched for interesting ideas, and new ways of looking at problems that had already been answered a thousand times

They really were on the cusp of when graphic design started to establish itself as a real profession

When sometimes they’d be called commercial artists

There’s just something magical about that era

Something that’s better than now

I could put it down to a feeling of nostalgia

But I didn’t live through that era, so there’s no reason for me to remember it fondly

I think the reason why I love old graphic design so much

Design like Alan Fletcher’s and Paul Rand’s

Is because it was just pure

It wasn’t diluted in any way

It was just pure ideas

From people who...