Ode to the Yellow Hue

I have always thought of yellow as an inspirational color, and the one most associated with innovations and ideas. A few years back I painted the walls of my apartment a pale yellow ("butter"), thinking that I would be inspired by the color! Strangely, I never associated the color with energy even though it obviously represents sunlight. "Yellow, in most cultures, is associated with the power and energy of the sun and is a perfect partner for sustaining and adding power to green." Jack Bredenfoerder writes about color trends on the Landor blog. In this post, he explains how the economy can dictate the tastes people will have in 2010 and beyond. He asserts that because we've experienced such an economic downturn that people will move towards more simplicity in their life, and less 'bling'. Sustainability issues are reaching the forefront of many peoples minds, and that may encourage folks to use materials efficiently and reduce waste by reuse and recycling.

I've included a natural pale yellow wood chair in the inspiration board above to represent the idea of sustainability, and the cool yellow light above represents the inspiration that yellow brings us. Tropical colors are also being forecasted for 2010, since people are dying to go on vacation! There are a couple warm yellow colors included in the Pantone color forecast, to represent sun and the warmth of lying on a tropical beach in paradise (that would be nice). Yellow also reminds me of citrus, and the shocking taste of a lemon. Yellow is the taste of cool lemon water while dozing in the sun on a breezy summer day.

Yellow Hue study. Includes every swatch of yellow color aid - all tints, shades and pastels from Yellow, warm Yellow and cool yellow.

The Education of a Designer

Many times since I began working in graphic design people have told me that my designs are minimalist. While in those times I definitely agree, I'm not sure that it's good to be put into a category at all. Tim Brown discusses the differences of minimalism vs. simplicity in his most recent blog post. He explains that minimalism is a reaction to complexity, and reflects changes on the surface of things. Simplicity is the result of a deep understanding of the concept and organizing and paring down to only the necessary components. He references John Maeda as an expert on the topic of simplicity. Maeda is the President of Rhode Island School of Design and recently wrote a book called Laws of Simplicity. Haven't read the book yet but just decided to get it on Amazon!

This is really interesting for me, since I'm learning a lot about my design sensibilities in this first semester of school. Minimalism does not necessarily represent simplicity, and simplicity does not necessarily represent minimalism. Sometimes when I'm designing something - postcard, book cover, type exercise, etc - I look at the composition and ask myself what can be taken away but maintain the strength of communication? Is that minimalism or simplicity? Teachers and clients have described my style as minimalist so I wonder if that's it. However, a composition can be both simple and minimalist. For example, I will post the type composition that I created a few weeks ago. This is a combination of the two, because only the necessary components are there and the strength of the message is not diminished by simplification of form. This was the class that Rick Valicenti was visiting and he liked it - he said he was 'taking it home with him'.

I look forward to reading Maeda's book when I have some free time. It looks like it applies mostly to product design but I know he's done a lot of digital design and programming as well. Maybe it will shed some light on these concepts for me, because as refreshing as minimalism is sometimes given the constant bombardment of visual stimuli in our lives, it seems that simplicity is the next step and requires more in-depth exploration and a stronger concept.

A New Direction for America?

Yulia Brodskaya's work brought up an overall design trend towards all things handmade, and this topic reminds me of a talk that Kurt Andersen recently gave at Pratt, promoting his new book Reset. He assures us 'It's the end of the world as we know it, but it's not the end of the world.' Check out this great interview with Kurt Andersen on The Colbert Report.

What we need is not a return to a slower, simpler time, but to strike a balance between the all-too-American value of bigger is better, and the possibility that people could ONLY want what we actually need... in the design world this could mean great things! Beyond the aesthetic of handmade visuals and art, the back-to-basics value could extend into the materials being used and the method of production. Things don't always have to be shiny-and-new. Hmm... this makes me want to visit the flea market to pick up some dusty old inspiration.

For those of you interested in dusty old stuff too, here's a list of the largest flea markets in nyc:
Antiques Garage (25th between 6th and 7th ave)
Grand Bazaar (25th between 5th and 6th)
Also there's another one around 40th and 8th ave
Brooklyn Flea is great (one in Fort Greene and another at the Brooklyn Bridge)
Housing Works Thrift Stores are a great resource for books, clothing and furniture