80s Design is Alive, Well, and Living in 2019” by Nadja Sayej, published in PRINT, March 6, 2019
80s Design and Aesthetics
Response
Present day, the principles of “collage and “mixed media” are used in public advertising and artistic commercials, sometimes to pay homage. In today’s cyberculture, we see more the ideologies behind patterns and 80s typography used. The image above does a great job of organizing and conveying the message through its effective typography and use of a square line background. It incudes a style of photography and color choice that help maintain the focus on the two sides of the face. The statements made through this style is something from 80s and before then that became nostalgic. The expression of the two sides could be considered different due to the right looking more focused on what can’t be seen on the face normally. Many works like this would be a result of “photocopies/zines,” which gave many artists the ability to have a more individual voice then they may of had. This process similar to how photoshop would make putting images and type together more efficient and effective without the struggle of manual labor. Kruger’s work above is associated with postmodernism in how it uses collages and type to communicate, with a significant focus on the photography. The use of photos in a “collage” manner canconsidered nostalgic due to how intriguing something that used to be done by hand is. The colors are purposeful in how they may reflect or convey the goal of the photo’s use through how there are two shades of red. The left side of the person’s neck being darker than the right is more prominent as a result of the red banner. The strategic color choice, use of the differently colored photo versions and cutting and pasting them against a colored background looks like it inspired by what is considered design from the 1980s.
Annotations
1980s Nostalgic Designs_Annotation 3
Caldwell C. Ellen, Broad Museum, “The History of your body is a battle ground”
daily.jstor.org, the-history-your-body-is-a-battleground
Kruger, Barbara, Untitled, 1989, thebroad.org, image
https://www.thebroad.org/art/barbara-kruger/untitled-your-body-battleground
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