Die Gestalten Verlag
Twopoints.net, Published in 2012
A relatively recent publication due it being published in 2012. Therefore the designs featured in this book consist of modern 'ugly' design.
Most of these designs are produced in contexts where subjectivity is preferred over objectivity. I.e. Art shows, album covers and poster designs. This is because the context themselves are more subjective than corporate requirements. For example, music is a subjective and emotional medium where everyone has different tastes. To communicate the emotion of the music to the reader, a more subjective approach of the albums cover design would be effective.
What is common about these designs is the lack of consideration to modernist design principles. Typography is often the main focus of these designs but it is bent and manipulated to create a more pictorial and artistic representation to communicate the designers message. As a result these designs have a visual that are far from the corporate design approach. For example, the trend today amongst corporate design to use 'rounded' typefaces such as FF Mark and Gotham as seen on the recent Mastercard rebrand. Corporate designs are international and widely seen in society through billboards, advertising, social media, etc. They require more consideration to legibility and readability because of its larger audience and how the audience views their brand. As a result their design language becomes a definition of what good design should be because the success of the company is linked to its branding and therefore its design. The designs in this publication go against that, and by going against this definition is equated to being 'ugly'.
However ugly design is not just superficially ugly. Design studio Bureau Mirko Borsche's identity for the Symphonie Ochester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has clear rationales behind the unorthodox design treatment.
The corporate identity for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra uses a combination of different typefaces that come together to form an identity that is reminiscent of the work from Emigre. On first glances, this design is considered to be ugly due to the unusual letter forms that are rarely seen in corporate design. However when reading the rationale behind these choices it becomes clear the decisions the designers made to achieve the aims of the campaign.
- Black and white colour scheme is used to represent the suits and dinner jackets attendees wear.
- Mostly sans serif type design and seating to represent the events modernity and of the orchestra.
- The unorthodox type represents the orchestras boldness to create something new and unique.
However these rationales are hard to decipher without the explanation given by the studio. Modernism or 'good' design is designed so that communication of the message is paramount to the aim. Embellishments hinder the legibility and thus the the message isn't as effectively communicated. As Vignelli states "I can write the word 'dog' with any typeface and it doesn't have to look like a dog. But there are people that think that when they write 'dog' it should bark". Following this quote should Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra's identity try to explicitly communicate its boldness and creativity through the typeface? Another factor that possibly limits the designs communication is that ugly design is not the norm of design language today. Therefore the general public are adapted to ugly designs look. This point can be explained through Rick Poynor's critique of Modernist type design. He states that illegible black lettering of Pre-War Germany we see today would have been entirely legible during that period. Therefore the legibility of Swiss Design, according to Poynor, is not based on its principles but its exposure and continued use that has made it become the new paradigm for good design. This can be applied to the now known 'ugly' design. It is ugly now because the design language of today still retains clarity and order of that of modernism. Experimentation and expression through design has become the norm and therefore still suffers from lack of efficiency in communicating its message. However this point can be argued against through rise and fall of Post Modernism. Post Modernism failed to become the new 'International Style' and because it shares similar subjectivity in its design rationales to ugly design of today, it can be inferred that ugly design will ultimately be referred to as another fashionable trend in design.
This quote in some ways summarises the aesthetic and reasoning behind the emergence of ugly design. Modernist design had become corporate and impersonal as the aim of their designs was for form and function. The communication of the message was paramount and should be clear without any personal motivations from the designer. Therefore Modernism represented a cold and functional aesthetic. By breaking it, it allowed the designer to create more expressive pieces of work but at the expense of legibility and functionality of 'good' design.
An interview with Rob van den Nieuwenhuizen of Drawswords studio allowed for a better understanding of the emergence of ugly design. To establish some context, Drawswords is a Graphic Design practice that creates work for cultural institutions, publishers, the music industry and commercial clients. Nieuwenhuizen states that his influences growing up were punk music which is a key factor in the emergence of the experimental design as seen in Weingarts work and subsequently leading to Post Modernism. The anti establishment messages embedded in the genre encouraged people to go against the established norms, and for designers, this meant going against Modernism.
Another key factor is the DIY attitude present at the punk shows he attended. This aligns entirely with the studios who are championing ugly design. They are small independent studios and freelance designers who decide what design should be for themselves. Rarely is ugly design by larger, more commercial studios like Pentagram.
Being that music was a large influence on Nieuwenhuizen, the subjectivity of music s evident in his subjectivity of his designs. The punk influence can also be seen through his attitude towards his teachers, he did not like the style of his teachers designs which were "uninspired, reserved and by the book" which he did not agree with at all. It can be inferred that his teachers were following modernist design theory.
Finally Nieuwenhuizen states that he doesn't necessarily aim to create 'ugly' design, he designs more towards the unconventional. Making something unconventional in his terms makes the design more "dynamic and interesting".
In an interview by design studio Ines Cox and Lauren Grusenmeyer, their views on ugly design align with that on Nieuwenhuizen. Cox and Grusenmeyer don't intend to create 'ugly design'. they choose their decisions based on how well the choices achieve the aim or communicate the idea. they intentionally use certain styles but do not judge it on good or bad design. They state "Instead of concealing the process, we find it more interesting to dismantle it and expose it." Hence as the visually busy nature of ugly design unlike the clean and restrained aesthetic of Modernism. In their quote "The meaning of 'beauty' and 'ugly' is very personal. For us, beauty lies within things that come out of a necessity, things have to look the way they look." it bears similarity to form follows function. However in their context form takes on a more expressive and unconventional meaning that may not have the same clarity as established examples of form following function.
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