Shigeo Fukuda“Shigeo Fukuda (February 4, 1932 – January 11, 2009) was a Japanese design prodigy and creative multi-potentate as a sculptor, graphic artist, and poster designer. Most importantly, Shigeo Fukuda was greatly influential as a designer of optical illusions.” (Penny, 2017) “Mr. Fukuda was expert at communicating messages using minimal graphic means. Although he admired Japanese woodblock traditions, his sparse style was universal, his symbolism bridging cultural divides.” (Heller, 2009) His design style is influenced by Swiss-style so it is very concise and clear, it makes me feel comfortable, I want to learn and try that concise style to my creative. He also is good at play around with the optical illusions. He uses the optical illusions skill on his artwork in many ways, I can find different views or meanings on his artwork because he plays the optical illusions trick. That feeling just like I can find more than one artwork in his one artwork. His artwork let me understand the importance of the color chose of artwork again. Basically, black and white or other contrast colors can make a good contrast effect, the optical illusions are higher than level, it also uses the graphics to create some funny staffs.

Here is a great quote from him on the topic of illusion:“I believe that in design, 30% dignity, 20% beauty and 50% absurdity are necessary. Rather than catering to the design sensitivity of the general public, there is advancement in design if people are left to feel satisfied with their own superiority, by entrapping them with visual illusion.” (Penny, 2017) What he told to the Idea Magazine and his artwork give me a bright inspiration to my creative. I should not limit my thinking and ideas even though that perhaps is a wired or dumb idea, I should make the thinking become true first, don’t kill that thinking in my mind. But I think it is not meaning the design can be 100% absurdity, still need to let the design become beautiful and concise, can let other people have the mood to understand and enjoy the work. I also get information from his word “Rather than catering to the design sensitivity of the general public, there is advancement in design if people are left to feel satisfied with their own superiority, by entrapping them with visual illusion.” My understanding is just following my sense, my style, do not take so serious about other people what they think about my work. Each creation is a good opportunity to improve myself, I think there is not a formula in this area to set up what is creation, so be proud of myself is good.

Massimo VignelliMassimo Vignelli was born in Milan in 1931, he is one of the most important figures in the history of design and graphic design in particular. In 1972, he designed a subway map for the New York City Subway.

The following paragraph is part of an interview with him. “Gary Hustwit: Can you talk about the map you designed for the New York subway system in the ’70s? Such a controversial thing. It’s funny, but I realized the other day the mistake I made. So this is really the clearest kind of map I have ever seen in terms of information for the subway. It’s very simple. Every subway line on the map has a color, and in reality they already have one. And every station has a dot, you know. Every stop is a dot—no dot, no stop. It couldn’t be easier than that. There is nothing to fragment the legibility of this. Instead, if you look at today’s map, it’s a total disaster, with fragmentation all over the place. I can show it to you. And this is what we tried to avoid.” (Hustwit, 2015) From this paragraph, it is not hard to

find, what design style he is intending to. He works firmly within the Modernist tradition, and focuses on simplicity through the use of basic geometric forms in all his work. I checked his works, he is great at typographic, his style is very concise and can let me quickly find out what is the main topic of his work. He knew how to use the color in the best way to let people find out the topic of his works, his way to highlight is very great and concise.

In his New York subway system design, he used the 45 and 90 degrees lines and a lot of dots to complete his work, he just keeps the design look like simple but it is very useful to people, he finds the position of the map. The subway map is the product of logics and geometry to simplify complexity. His map gives me information is not everything needs to be complex, but it also can strongly to highlight the theme of the creative work. I want to try to create works are concise, not complex and useful, I think I need to do that step by step, just try to not complex my work first.

Glenn JonesGlenn Jones, he is a freelance designer and illustrator from Auckland, New Zealand. He has been working in the industry for over 20 years, focusing on corporate identity, packaging and illustration. In recent years he has been concentrating on his own T-shirt brand Glennz Tees and his collection of NZ inspired art at Glenn Jones Art as well continuing freelance illustration and design work. (Glennz.co.nz, n.d.)

His design is funny, creatively, unexpected, simple and clear. He would not consider one thing on one point or one way, he thinks it from a different angle or different point. Also, his skill is incredible, he knows how to mix different things into one with a way which can let people do not feel it is wired. His milk box T-shirt design is an excellent example. If people watch it roughly, they think it is a beautiful and simple milk box perhaps. Actually, the milk box is including a lot of elements, a plane, some funny and casual text, cow shape logo and Chinese special element which around the cow. He has a full charge on his design, he knows what he wants, how to do and he takes care of the details. On the other hand, it shows people to think out of the frame, do not limit the ideas in people brain.

“I think it’s often the designs that are done in no time. The clearest ideas are the ones that work the best because I kind of have this theory that if you’re walking down the street and you’re passing someone, you want that t-shirt to be understandable straight away. And without using text or anything like that, people see it, they like it, they understand it and hopefully it’s memorable as well.” (Envato, 2017)Clearly, he is a man who knows how to change his time and knows when need to do, what time need to relax, to charge himself.

“Sometimes people might feel things don’t move along fast enough for them. Well the reality is, it won’t be picked up straight away, but as long as you keep on putting your work out there, keep on looking for opportunities and finding people that inspire you, the world is your oyster. Opportunities are endless.”- Glenn Jones (Envato, 2017) Obviously, he knows the difference between designer and audience. Sometimes, the designer creates something which the designer wants to explain something to the audience. But the audience cannot understand the designer, they may look at that art in other view and find other meanings which is not the designer excepts. He wants to create a stuff everyone can understand and receive it, he understands the importance to get feedback from his audience.

From Glenn Jones, I understand if I want to become a professional, I need to know how to arrange my time, need to get an advice and feedback from other people, do not limit myself in one point, need to thinking in different view, and when creating

the work, I need to put my all heart into it to take care of any details, detail is a thing.

Milton GlaserMilton Glaser, (born June 26, 1929, New York, New York, U.S.), the celebrated American graphic designer, illustrator, founder of Milton Glaser, Inc. Also, he co-founded the revolutionary Pushpin Studio with Reynold Ruffins, Seymour Chwast and Edward Sorel in 1952. In 1968, he established New York Magazine in partnership with Clay Felker. He attached many things in the design area.

“Some things are effective, even though they do not move people visually or imaginatively,” he says. “Effectiveness and beauty do not always line up together. But I suppose if you were providing a basis for judgment for what makes a great poster – it’s one that reconciles beauty and effectiveness.” “The brain operates in two ways,” he adds. “Logically, or intuitively and through the imagination. The really good stuff comes out of that reconciliation of brain and heart, logic and emotion. You have to anticipate what your audience will understand, then search for a solution that is appropriate, powerful and not repetitious.” (Dawood, 2018) Milton Glaser truly knows what is the invention of his design and how to let his design trend to its invention and his audience. He knows the designer needs to create the design can let everybody understand it, it is very important to let everyone understand what the designer thinking and what is he creating. And more, he finds a way to mix his design ideas and the audience comprehension into one design work. He also talks about the basic skill about how to create a good design, it is reconciling beauty and effectiveness.

“If you can’t draw as a designer, you’re in real trouble,” he says. “Many people in graphic arts are incapable of drawing, and this limits them to layout, collage and typography. I come to each project with an open mind, then what emerges stylistically is something that is driven by the audience.” (Dawood, 2018) Drawing is a base for other elements of design. Becoming to a graphic arts designer, drawing is a code part even though just draw a sketch out it also will help the designer to continue and expand their idea.

From this two small paragraphs, can find the audience to the designer is important, the designer needs to communicate with the audience, knows what audience want, knows what audience can receive, knows the difference understanding to the design between audience and designer. Designers should not design something in a very casual way, they need to bring their heart and brain into it. Taking time on the details is one way to show how designers care about their own work. Drawing something out on the paper or on the someplace is a good way to expand the design. Drawing skill is also important in the graphic arts area cannot ignore it.

Josef Müller-BrockmannJosef Müller-Brockmann was born in Rapperswil, Switzerland in 1914, died in 1996.

He has a great name of graphic design, he became a graphic designer by accident cause his teacher found his talent in that area. He is probably one of the most influential graphic designers in history, he also has been defined as the father of Swiss graphic design.

“Brockmann explains his style very effectively: "In my poster, advertising, brochure and exhibition creations, subjectivity is removed in favour of a geometric grid that determines the arrangement of words and images. The grid is an organizational system that makes the message easier to read, this allows you to get an effective result at a minimum cost. With an arbitrary organization, the problem is solved more easily, faster and better. It also allows uniformity that goes beyond national borders (hence the international style!), a boon for advertising that IBM, for example, has benefited from. Information presented as objectively as possible is communicated without superlatives, without emotional subjectivity." ” (Graphéine - Agence de communication Paris Lyon, 2013) His style and his grid system are influencing many

artists, his grid system is very effective, it can explain the meaning or information of design clearly, faster and better. The system also can help people who not good at planning the structure of their design. “Müller-Brockmann hated Neville Brody's work. He said: "Some have set themselves the task of making typography unreadable, of making a puzzle out of it. Illegibility seems to become an artistic project. I don't want to read things like that. The same rational criterion applies to wobbly shapes and fuzzy contours: Can I read these messages faster? No! No! Fonts designed for Neville Brody are not suitable for advertisements and posters. They are exceptions and individual cases should not be the basis for teaching graphics. These alphabets are confused, unattractive and simply bad." ” (Graphéine - Agence de communication Paris Lyon, 2013) From this paragraph can find he thinks the design must be legible, also can find what he thinks of advertisements and posters design. He thinks the design of advertisements and posters should be easy to read, the Swiss style design perhaps is the ideal design for him cause it can allow to people read it faster and understand what the purpose of advertisements and posters. He thinks illegibility is an artistic project. After all, one of the codes of Muller-Brockmann design style must is the illegibility.

From reading those paragraphs, it taught me if I want to learn the Swiss style, I need to find and understand what is the code of it. One of the Swiss style code is keeping the design as legible. Also, I had a basic idea to improve my design structure, the first step is I will go to look forward to the grid system.

Paul RandPaul Rand was an eminent twentieth century American graphic designer and art director. His former name is Peretz Rosenbaum, he born on August 15, 1914, in Brooklyn, NY. Paul Rand is best known for his logo design and corporate branding, creating timeless icons such as the IBM and ABC television logos.

“It is only by association with a product, a service, a business, or a corporation that a logo takes on any real meaning. If a company is second rate, the logo will eventually be perceived as second rate. It is foolhardy to believe that a logo will do its job immediately, before an audience has been properly conditioned.” (Bigman, 2012) Paul Rand through this paragraph tell to people, where is logo meaning comes from, the logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes. But it does not mean the logo is insignificant, it is free still. He told to designers what is the true logo design, designers never need to assign importance or responsibility to a logo, just need to think about how to let the logo connect to the company, let the people know what is the logo represent for.

“Surprising to many, the subject matter of a logo is of relatively little importance, and even appropriateness of content does not always play a significant role.” “This does not imply that appropriateness is undesirable. It merely indicates that a one-to-one relationship between a symbol and what it symbolized is very often impossible to achieve and, under certain conditions, objectionable. Ultimately, the only mandate in the design of logos, it seems, is that they be distinctive, memorable, and clear.” (Bigman, 2012) Paul Rand through this paragraph to warn people the appropriateness is still necessary, and the distinctive, memorable, and clear is the final goal or basic goal for the logo design.

“How to present a new idea is, perhaps, one of the designer’s most difficult tasks. Everything a designer does involves presentation of some kind–not only how to explain (present) a particular design to an interested listener (client, reader, spectator), but how the design may explain itself in the marketplace…” (Bigman, 2012) This text clear to tell to the designer the presentation is a very important thing. Also, it means as a professional, professional is not just good at design and drawing, professional need to know how to communicate with others. Everyone has different thinking of value, the design will be read in many ways, it also touches a little bit about letting the designer need to think about how to present that.

Through Paul Rand word, I know more about the logo design and understand the

importance of communication again. The logo should connect to the thing what is it present, not let that thing connects to the logo.

For the six paragraphs, I told about 6 designers Shigeo Fukuda, Massimo Vignelli, Glenn Jones, Milton Glaser, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and Paul Rand. They are all a graphic designer even though they focus on a different area. From their designs, I earned a lot of inspirations, their mostly works are in the simple, clear style which very close to or is the Swiss style. I am interested in that style and hopefully I can learn it in the future. Shigeo Fukuda is good at optical illusions, Massimo Vignelli has a very concise design style, Glenn Jones has a clear style and has personal principles on his design, Milton Glaser has great thinking in the design area, Josef Muller-Brockman also has personal thinking on the advertisement and poster design, and Paul Rand told to people what is the real logo design. From their word and thinking, I learn so many things. Especially, the designers need to think about how to let the audience understand what their designs want to explain, the audience thinkings perhaps not always equal to the designers thinking. Being the professional is not mean the designer is just owning an excellent design skill, the professionals all got their own thinkings in the design, has their own code rules on it. From Paul Rand, I learned something about logo design. From Josef Muller-Brockmann, I learned something about the Swiss style and his some thinkings, advertisement and poster created by Swiss style should let people read it faster and clear. From Milton Glaser paragraph, I got some useful ideas and thinkings, drawing is a big thing for the people who want to design something, need to care about what the audience can think about the design. From Glenn Jones there, I found feedback from other people is very important and very helpful to people to design something, knowing the invention of my design is necessary. From Massimo Vignelli, I earned a lot of ideas, his paragraph helps me jump out the frame of thinking and help me think about the stuff from different angles. From Shigeo Fukuda, his works, I got some inspiration from there. Those paragraphs help me a lot, expand my thinking, let me have more power to walk on the road of design.

References:

Penny, M. (2017). Designer Focus: Shigeo Fukuda - Notes on Design. [online] Sessions College. Available at: https://www.sessions.edu/notes-on-design/designer-focus-shigeo-fukuda

Heller, S. (2009). : : : HOMMAGE A FUKUDA : : :. [online] Humanparadise.com. Available at: http://www.humanparadise.com/fukuda_web/introduce.html Hustwit, G. (2015). A Rare Interview With Graphic Design Legend Massimo Vignelli. [online] Fast Company. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/3044133/a-rare-interview-with-graphic-design-legend-massimo-vignelli

Glennz.co.nz. (n.d.). About Me - Glenn Jones | Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Artist. [online] Available at: https://www.glennz.co.nz/About-Me

Envato. (2017). Artist Glenn Jones Shares His Favorite Creativity-Boosting Trick - Envato. [online] Available at: https://envato.com/blog/artist-glenn-jones-shares-favorite-creativity-boosting-trick

Dawood, S. (2018). Milton Glaser: “Art and design are not the same thing”. [online] Design Week. Available at: https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/12-18-march-2018/milton-glaser-posters-book-art-design-not-same-thing

Graphéine - Agence de communication Paris Lyon. (2013). Josef Müller-Brockmann "swiss style" - Graphéine. [online] Available at: https://www.grapheine.com/en/history-of-graphic-design/graphic-designer-muller-brockmann-swiss-style

Bigman, A. (2012). 4 principles by Paul Rand that may surprise you - Designer Blog. [online] 99designs. Available at: https://99designs.com/blog/famous-design/4-principles-by-paul-rand-that-may-surprise-you/