PERFECT POISE IN GRAPHIC DESIGN

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There are graphic designs the touch of which is well worth considering in detail. Whereas many artists have developed lithographic nuancing in the form of chromatic gradations and air brushing to create resonant, even mysterious, atmospheres, a few others have chosen to make waves by way of sharply etched, frozen-in-time configurations. Looking closely at how they do it seems to me time well spent.

The American graphic above is a study in composure. Not only that, its mood evokes a weight of alienation from widespread actions. This is a figure and a situation at odds with the haphazard shuffle, due to some recognition that slowing things way down best meets the exigencies of nature itself. Thus the landscape assumes an eerie distribution and an even more eerie coloration. The peacocks accompany another richly pristine creature, not quite of the world in general. Here the revolutionary intuition of Art Nouveau is both deliciously charming and disconcertingly severe.

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The black and white of literature, racing off the page in human forms whereby a fervent black gown virtually extinguishes clamorous clowns. Graphic design intensifying the sense of combative power inherent in taking a firm (and yet action-packed) line.

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