Abstract Expressionism Photography Publication

DESCRIPTION 

abstract expressionism through portraiture/figure. emulating qualities seen within charcoal or oil pairings where marks are draw out or smudged to emulate emotion or feeling. bringing this into photography combined with product photography. so the concept is that the portraits express the perfume or product and that the two can co exist within a commercial environment! Trying to flip the standard of commercialism into something more suggestive and abstract.

CONSIDERATIONS 

> Cheap, mass producing publication 

> Simple pulled back minimal aesthetic 

SUGGESTED APPEALING PUBLICATION EXAMPLES 

Discussion 

> Cheaper to print newspaper if mass producing 

> Also less time consuming if binding books yourself 

NEWSPAPERS 

William Mebane Trump Newspaper 

Each image featured within the publication can be displayed as a poster, which is Area of Practice’s way of taking advantage of the unbound, oversized tabloid format. “We printed mini-spreads and paced them by hand,” says Cybele Grandjean, the other half of the studio. “We focused on varying the pace of up-close, pulled-back, black-and-white and colour imagery

typography heightens the starkness of the content, where Prophet by Dinamo was chosen for its blunt and powerful aesthetic – “I know, it’s hard to to make the connection with the name,” says Kevin. It was a long and considered process, where not only did they want a well-executed publication with a typeface to match, but also to avoid the feeling that they were celebrating the language – “and that’s remarkably hard,” he says. “We wanted a font that had visual weight, wasn’t pretty, wasn’t trendy, but felt unique and ownable.”

CHANGE THE LENS - BLM 

powerful new identity system. It needed to be bold, inclusive, clear and universal – a language that would remind the world of the reasons for posting the black square on social media in the first place.

typeface that would mimic its bold and powerful motives – one that was less centred on polished typography and more concerned with the immediacy of its approach.

Diaspora - Typeface 

history of Italian immigration between 1880 and 1920

dual identity soon became a “recognisable, fully fledged persona encompassing characteristics of both cultures,” explains Apolline. And, with this in mind, the display font aims to capture the hybrid identity.

Fontsmith 

By designing a tabloid newspaper, we were able to show a series of intentional clashes – there are wonderful moments where the spreads collide together creating tension, a nod to the idiosyncratic nature of the font itself. Looking disparate and archaic when reading like a traditional newspaper, the specimen opens out to single spreads to match the idea of a split personality."

Underline Studio - Lines Breaking - Social + Political Issues in South America 

The latest in the newspaper series, Lines Breaking, looks at the Central American refugee crisis through a wider lens, and features various artists’ and thinkers’ responses to the humanitarian crisis in the form of articles and poems. “The newspaper is an invitation for the audience to listen, to look, to see … and is divided into four posters that cover four of the most tragic events emanating from this crisis,”

King of Limbs - RadioHead Album 

The artwork is designed in the guise of a Sunday newspaper, complete with plastic packaging printed with the album name and imagery. It contains two 10-inch clear vinyl records in a sleeve, a CD of the album, a perforated blotting-sheet artwork, and a newspaper containing art and texts by Donwood.

“It’s not like the news stops when a newspaper comes out,” he continues. “It’s just ‘this is what’s happening today’. So this is released into the world on this day, and this is where this band are right now… it is a continuing thing.”

The newspaper giveaway was inspired by Donwood witnessing the free paper mayhem that often takes place on the London Underground.

They’re almost harmless things to me. And I love the heritage of them, and what newspapers have done to change the world from being a really class-based, almost feudal system to people being able to get information cheaply.”

Where the music is elevated by the packaging into something almost spiritual, almost holy… I wanted to get away from that thing where you elevate the music into something it isn’t.

REFLECTION

> Newspapers adopted as the physical output for many projects for a reason that elevates the design or topic explored 

> eg. that place issues and stories relevant to news or current affairs, or as a way reflect the foundation on earlier periods of time

> How can I adopt a newspaper aesthetic in a way that feels relevant for a more fine art outcome on abstract expressionism?

Newspaper qualities provide: 

= Quick reads (not really quality photographs with the paper stock)

= Learning about current affairs 

= Throwaway

= Old aesthetic 

 

"trying to flip the standard of commercialism into something more suggestive and abstract" 

= Tabloid could present something more commercialist culture, but the quality of the newspaper is what interests the photographer

= Newspapers have almost a transient, delicate quality 

= The subject he is presenting is also in some form looking at altering this negative capitalist notion of commercialism into something more organic, nurturing and creative 

= Could the newspaper format be a way of bringing this sense of vulnerability and delicacy?

= The presentation of this dual identity in Diaspora is interesting, could I present the two sides of the commercial world and the more organic abstract world of James' photography within the newspaper? All depends on the photography he gives me but he may well have two themes within the photography

= In a sense, newspapers are commercial: they rely a lot on ad revenues to survive and advertisements in newspapers are seen as a part of the newspaper format now for readers (you don't even think twice about it) 

= This means using a newspaper format makes sense for the topic, but could the images be presented in a advertisement format way to heighten this justification even more?  

= I like the justifications behind the newspaper choice for the RadioHead project around changing the way information can be learnt within the masses, newspapers could also be a way of helping the masses reach more art, which would typically be restricted to glossy expensive publications and magazines  

ARTICLE - THE CHANGING WORLD OF NEWSPAPER DESIGN 

> More visual, bold, colourful, more white space, less block text, reader needs to be engaged more than ever before now with the rise in digital media and possible death of print 

> Newspapers adapted, some creating special issues with different topics each week, others creating layouts that would compliment digital reading 

"Each of the papers featured has invested in great imagery – from bold photography to colourful illustrations – as well as innovative supplements and special editions, and all have redesigned their print titles to better complement online reading experiences. The book also looks at the creation of ‘360°’ news experiences: a case study on German paper Die Welt examines its redesign under Edenspiekermann and its acquisition of a TV news channel, allowing the paper to provide rolling news coverage in between print editions and offer a more joined up on and offline experience.

What’s striking looking at these newspapers is how much richer they are than newspapers of old – papers like Libération have a long tradition of great design and photography but now images are combined with bold colours, contrasting type and a more playful and in some cases, experimental approach to print design in both their daily and weekend editions."