Monday 16 November 2009

What is Graphic Design? Part Two: Work the Metaphor


This image called 'The big squeeze' by Israeli graphic designer Noma Bar uses a visual metaphor to represent the oil gains to be made from Iraq. He uses the negative space between the thumb and forefinger to create the image of a huge drip of oil, visually being squeezed from the tiny country. This is the first Israeli artist I have ever knowingly come across and I'm really interested to see more.... I really like the simple concept and I think the message is really well presented, and clear, especially when put into context.

This is another piece by Noma Bar entitled 'When Doves Cry'. Bar has used the imagery of two crying doves and a VW camper van to represent the mourning of the death of the hippy dream.
I love his simplistic imagery and style, and use of visual metonym to communicate a simple. clear but interesting theme.


This controversial advertisement exploits the 'pornification' of our western culture. There is no doubt that sex sells, but this image created uproar. They have used sex as a way to make the audience stop and stare, which I think it does, but I honestly think it's almost too shocking. The clothes which the models are supposed to be selling do seem to pale into insignificance in this ridiculously explicit scene.


This Japanese logo for the 'love your earth' design competition uses a visual metonym to represent the context. I think it is really interesting that the use of images, and symbols even more so, can create a language which is universal, actually making image far more powerful than word.


These advertisements from Saatchi and Saatchi for a campaign called 'People in Need', to raise awareness for people in other countries that are so poor that the people are struggling just to survive, while using our consumerism as a weapon to guilt trip the audience. I think that this is a brilliant way of raising awareness, actually materializing the things that these people need in a language that the greedy English public will understand. There is something seriously dark about these images, seeing these people accessorizing with these products almost seems to exploit them in some way. In my opinion this only makes the audience understand the severity of the issue even more.



This advertisement for a French beer uses imagery to represent different cultures; the german sausage representing the 'German Character', and the woman dressed in the traditional dress at the time of the French revolution representing the 'French Refinement'.





This French Aids campaign uses this hideously disturbing, but extremely powerful imagery to emphasise the horror of aids, using these terrifying, giant insects to represent the aids virus being sexually transmitted. Both are in settings furbished in white, and both human characters glamorous and attractive, only making the contrast with the black insects even more vivid. I think it's fair to say that only the French could get away with this!



This smoking awareness poster by Tahamtan Aminian, an Iranian graphic designer, uses calligraphy to communicate the message along with incredibly simplistic imagery. I suppose this is in a way, a visual metaphor; using the calligraphy as a replacement for the build up of ash. I actually love the way that I cannot read the advertisement, the Iranian calligraphy creates an interesting visual image, and the fact that its lost in translation allows us to interpret the the campaign in an entirely visual way. I think it's still fairly clear what the message is.



This may not be one of the most famous images of Saul Bass, but it's one of my favourites. This poster for Billy Wilder's comedy 'One, Two, Three' uses visual metaphor in the way that the 3 balloons are displayed comically across the woman's chest where her breasts would be. This communicates both the sexual and humorous elements of Wilder's comedy.

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