As new graphic design students taking fundamental courses in typography and design it's interesting to also be studying all of the ways to break the rules. We are learning to apply them, the old adage about learning the rules before you try to break them comes to mind. It keep things interesting. It reminds us that we can experiment and try new ways of seeing the world and then creating art that reflects that. Wolfgang Weigert did that. His values were artistic freedom and exploration and then like it or not, he started a revolution in graphic design.
One of the things I really admire about New Wave Typography is the ability to use words, letters, as design elements in and of themselves. I was really captured by the work of the young Chinese graphic artist Jianping He as he is a master of this ability. Below are some examples of his work.
His fusion of photography with dynamic typography first drew me in via the work that appeared in our textbook:
I am inspired by his integration of leading-edge, innovative placement with his Asian sensibilities. His compositions are edgy and very current while still suffused serenity and ease. Even when he uses color it does not complicate the composition or make it fussy. It retains its powerful simplicity. It's design negative space.
Even when he uses a purely typographic solution, the result appears both hard and soft; yin and yang as seen in his design for 2005's Best 100 Posters of China:
A detail of the top right type:
His web page (linked above at his name) shows humor and his love of typography:
This is the same page translated with a sweep of the mouse:
A closer look allows us a glimpse of the sense of humor involved in each word:
Even when showing (and celebrating) his Germanic educational roots, his own artistic direction is still conspicuous:
The China Image silkscreen Jianping created for the Taiwanese Poster Design Competition in 2004 uses a photo montage that includes a 3 dimensional typographic element that close up looks like the ubiquitous Chinese pottery design seen everywhere in the US . I'm not sure if the fact that white is historically the color of funerals and death has anything to do with the concept of this design as I found no further information.
Jianping is famously interested in the art of his peers and edited a book called, "All Men are Brothers" in which 108 international designers discuss their process from concept through realization. The title comes from a classic Chinese tale in which 108 revolutionaries fight for freedom for the poor over the rich in the manner of Robin Hood. This is indicative of the way in which Jianping views design and his place in it's sphere.
Go here to read a great interview with Steff Geissbuhler.
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