Three-dimensional design à la Wucius Wong: Serial Planes in repetition and gradation

Dordt College—Three-Dimensional Design Foundations
2014 © Wade D. Vollink
Serial Planes
16" w x 13" h x 7" d
photographs by versluis

This semester at Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa a new course in three-dimensional design is being offered. In this student design project, titled Serial Planes, as Wucius Wong states, “Volume is represented by a series of planes, each plane is a cross-section of the volume. Thus, to construct a volumetric form, we can think in terms of its cross-sections, or how the form can be sliced up at regular intervals, which will result in serial planes.” (1)

The serial planes in the design above rely on the effective use of gradation of shape for impact. The positive curvilinear forms are contrasted with the negative circular shapes that move diagonally from larger to smaller and vice versa. The broad curves resonate and enhance the circular shapes.


It’s interesting when the same design is repositioned to a vertical elevation—the effect of the new perspective becomes very architectural.

1. Wong, Wucius. Principles of Form and Design. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993. 247. Print.

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The Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete Identity

A Chicagoland based Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete Truck delivering to a building site on Clark Street and Grand Avenue in Chicago. According the the Company’s website, “Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, a family-owned business is believed to be the first concrete company in the country to convert fourteen of its mixing trucks to run on natural gas.”

Logotype and truck icon was designed and drawn by David Versluis in 1983.

Nearly thirty years ago I worked with Martin Ozinga III to design an Ozinga logotype, graphic identity and stationery system. For the stationery and business cards the logo was a combination mark with a carefully rendered and reproducible icon of their highly recognizable red and white striped trucks juxtaposed with the logotype illustrated above. The truck itself was the graphic identity and there was never any reason to change it. As part of the graphic program I indicated where the logo should be placed on the truck doors.

The logotype was used for a while but eventually was replaced by a script-style logotype. Recently, however, I was surprised to see new Ozinga trucks around Chicago carrying the sans serif logo, very similar to the one I designed in 1983.

An interesting connection is that the annual Hilda Ozinga Art Scholarship offered by Dordt College is funded through the generosity of the Ozinga family. Hilda’s husband, Norman was a partner when the company was known as Ozinga Bros. Inc. Norm was an uncle to Martin Ozinga III, the company’s president.

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Team !Melk—“The New Navy Pier: Design Team Search”

An important design event…

A blue ribbon panel has selected five finalists vying for “The New Navy Pier Project: Design Team Search.” The displays of each design team are currently on view at the Chicago Architectural Foundation located at 224 S. Michigan Avenue. !Melk, HOK and UrbanLab invited Thirst to be a member of Team !Melk as the graphic communications consultant. On Monday evening one of the finalists, namely Team !Melk, will conduct an open colloquium. The gathering will be a conversation with members of the Team focusing on their Great Pier collaboration. The event will be held on 20 February from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at AIA Chicago, 35 East Wacker Drive / Suite 250.

Members of Team !Melk are: !Melk / UrbanLab / HOK / Thirst / Terry Guen / Zoë Ryan / Conservation Design Forum.

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Pattern of Relationships: What’s in a Brand Name

This is a nicely arranged section from the Walker Art Center’s Graphic Design: Now in Production exhibition. Pictured, starting at left and moving clockwise are: Trevor Paglen’s, “Symbology” (United States Army Heraldry Embroidered Insignias); Dexter Sinister’s, “(We Would Like to Share) Some Thoughts on a Possible School Badge,” Neon Sign; partial collection of Christophe Szpajdel’s hand-drawn “Death Metal” logos.

This is copy from the wall documentation:

—Branding
Brands identify everything, helping to distinguish one thing from another in an otherwise crowded marketplace. Although branding is most often associated with businesses and corporations, it can also be found throughout society—from secret military groups to black metal band. More than just a logo, a brand also consists of a larger visual and verbal identity as well as the perceived values that both define and set apart an organization, a community, or even an individual.

Graphic designers not only help create brands, but also have taken on the subject of branding in self-initiated projects that document lost logos of the past, turn themselves into brands, or scrutinize the latest corporate makeovers in online forums. Innovative branding programs, particularly for cultural organizations, have pushed the boundaries of traditional identity design by creating flexible and variable systems and new tools for implementation.

Blogs and social media have stimulated public conversations about new branding campaigns, bringing individual consumers closer to companies and organizations. Facebook, the largest social media community, has emerged as a new kind of branded transnational agent, with more than 800 million users worldwide.

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Maureen Mooren: “The Walker Art Center’s Graphic Design: Now in Production”

On exhibit at the Walker Art Center in Minneopolis is the Marres Identity System designed by Maureen Mooren. Marres is the name of the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Also included in the Walker installation are Mooren’s 2008 poster designs for “Marres in Between: This is Not a Damien Hirst.”

It’s interesting how the dexterity of graphic identity systems has changed over the last 60 years to become more agile and flexible, particularly in the digital age. For many years graphic identity in the form of standard and consistent logo use followed the adage, “repetition makes reputation.” Obviously, the Marres identity is for a cultural organization; cultural institutions at times can be less stiff compared to “big brand” graphic identities.

In the Graphic Design: Now in Production exhibition, catalog co-curator Ellen Lupton writes: “Graphic designer Maureen Mooren designed an identity for Marres, … that consists of multiple renditions of the center’s name. Presented in black and white most of the logo variants employ drawn or constructed letterforms rather than existing typefaces. Mooren aimed to express the open curatorial program of Marres, countering the fixed institutional voice.” [1]

“This is Not a Damien Hirst” promotional posters indicate the Marres identity in promotional pieces. The Marres’ posters advertise the event, which focused on the work “For the Love of God” by Damien Hirst that was presented simultaneously at both the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Maastrict. The event highlighted the devotional objects and art from the collection of the St-Servaes Church in Maastricht.

1. Blauvelt, Andrew, and Ellen Lupton, eds. Graphic Design: Now in Production. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2011. 201. Print.

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Young Ae Kim: visiting designer at Dordt College

above: portrait of Young Ae Kim
below: portfolio project for SangsangMadang — KT&G Imagination Seed Identity Program.
The SangsangMadang company’s website states:

KT&G Imagination Seed is where you grow your artistic imagination:

1. supports new imaginations
2. supports and advocates cultural variety and uniqueness.
3. communicates and shares with the world

The concept of KT&G Imagination Seed:

1. We aim open projects, such as external co-projects, which allow individuals and the public to realize projects that they can plan, exhibit and perform by themselves.
2. We pay attention to and seek out small but worthy art works.
3. We support young artists of design, photography, music bands, etc. with our practical artist support programs.

The Dordt College Department of Art and Design is pleased to announce Young Ae Kim will be on campus Tuesday 11 October as a visiting designer. During the day she will be visiting several classes as well giving an afternoon presentation highlighting her various projects. Young Ae Kim who teaches graphic design at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion is an energetic teacher and versatile designer and artist. Each year she runs the acclaimed week-long graphic design workshop called “Design Habit” which is open to all students who would like to participate.

Here’s the schedule:

Young Ae Kim: Visiting Designer
Tuesday 11 October (All events held in the Art Gallery Lobby)

Dordt College Department of Art and Design

• 9:30 a.m. Senior Seminar (the M.F.A. in Graphic Design)
• 11:00 a.m. Graphic Design 3 (“Imperfect Beauty”)
• Lunch with students and faculty
• 1:30 a.m. AIGA Presentation Young Ae Kim will discuss her personal work.

Young Ae Kim’s USD webpage mentions that:

[She] has a B.F.A. in Industrial Design from Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul Korea and she holds an M.F.A. in Graphic Design, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Savannah, Georgia. She writes, “I am happy with a design when it makes people smile. There are many ways an object can make someone smile: familiarity, surprise, beauty, satisfaction, pride, simplicity, humor or wonder. If an object stimulates this reaction whilst performing the function for which it was created, then it is well designed.…”

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Futura and the Dordt College architectural sign of 1955

Pictured above is the original Dordt College architectural sign of 1955, which is composed using the Futura typeface. It’s perhaps the classiest exterior sign on campus. The 8 inch high metal letters are 1.875 inches deep and are mounted to 4 inch thick limestone blocks with .5 inch stand-offs, which can create pronounced drop shadows. The generous letter spacing seems to mitigate the encroachment of the geometrically circular “O” into the space of the other letters.

Futura is a sans serif face that adheres to the tenet of being assembled from geometric shapes and the characteristically consistent stroke width suggests automation. Futura was developed with 1920s Bauhaus influences and is the quintessentially twentieth century modern (universal) typeface with classical proportions that helps to convey the concept of form ever follows function. It was one of the commercially popular sans serif type styles of the mid-twentieth century.

Regarding “universal” Futura during the Bauhaus era, Ellen Lupton (crediting Richard Southall and Christopher Burke) puts it this way:

While any graphic designer of the period would have required skills in hand lettering, only a few embarked on the more challenging task of creating a complete, industrially produced typeface. One who did so was Paul Renner, who began work on Futura in Munich in 1924. Although early versions of his alphabet included experimental characters with extreme geometric forms, the final typeface — released in 1927, after three years of ongoing development — is more conservative. The circular “O” of Futura links it to the cruder, more programmatic experiments of the Bauhaus.[1]

1. Lupton, Ellen. “Herbert Bayer: Designs for ‘Universal’ Lettering. 1925 and 1927.” Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity. Ed. Barry Bergdoll and Leah Dickerman. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2009. 200-03. Print.

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sliced, uppercase typography = a noisy rebelliousness—a hint of disrespect

photograph by versluis, 2011

This framed piece was photographed at the recent Art in the Streets exhibition in Los Angeles and indicates the upper portion of a Polish poster for “Beautiful Losers: Sztuka współczesna i kultura ulicy.” This poster was a promotional piece when the “Beautiful Losers” exhibition was displayed at the Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland during May–August 2007.

As an identity “Beautiful Losers” uses a striking logotype, which was initially developed by Iconoclast Editions in 2004 for a multimedia project about “skateboarder/gang/graffiti art.” The design of the logotype fittingly utilizes sliced, uppercase typography that connotes a noisy rebelliousness with a hint of disrespect. The project, “Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture” became a global touring exhibition along with an art book catalog and seems to have been the prototype for MOCA’s Art in the Streets show this year. An acclaimed documentary film, titled Beautiful Losers was produced in 2008, which featured many of the participating artists. Here’s The New York Times review of the movie (the comments are interesting too). And another movie review from the Guardian UK.

Here is a description about “Beautiful Losers” from Iconoclast, which collaborated with the artists to produce the traveling exhibition and catalog:

Beautiful Losers is an exhibition of multi-media art and design that explores the recent work of a diverse group of visual artists that have emerged from the subcultures of skateboarding, graffiti, punk, and hip hop in U.S. urban centers. The core of the project involves painting, sculpture, and photography, as well as film, video, performance, and product design by more than thirty individuals who have emerged in the last decade—some now established figures in the art world, but many receiving their first broad exposure here. [1]

1. Beautiful Losers: “Press Release.” Iconoclast Editions. Iconoclast, 2004. Web. 11 Aug. 2011.

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The Paris Book Fair at the Porte de Versailles

Upper right, clockwise: 2011 brochure cover design with the new “typographic” logo signifying the new Fair format. Below the brochure cover is the “mascot” symbol/logo that was used on the 2010 Salon du Livre de Paris street banners, which lined both sides of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Book publishing still lives. Street banners photograph © versluis 2010.

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Nuances of a logotype: a case study of the Steelcase logotype

The logotype form of the trademark, Steelcase Inc. “Logotype means the special typographic treatment of the word.” Select the graphic for a larger view of details (image above is from a photocopy).

“Steelcase, the primary mark for all [their] products and services, is registered in block form (unstylized) and in at least two logotype forms. Vance Jonson or (Johnson), a New York-based graphic designer, designed the current version, shown here, in the early 1970s. It was intended for use in one color, blind embossing, or in the spectrum of colors as seen on [their] trucks today.”

“Mr. Johnson started this design with the Helvetica medium typeface; the modifications that make it unique are highlighted in the captions.” (1)

1. Ross, Robert W., design director; David M. Versluis, graphic designer, and Donald Wheeler, writer. Steelcase Inc., Corporate Communications Standards and Guidelines. Grand Rapids: Steelcase, Inc., 1993. Section 1, pgs 1-4. Print.

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Roy’s logotype

This homemade, vernacular road sign for an old archery indoor practice range is located on Highway 3 near Cherokee, Iowa. Roy is a rather uncommon first name and Roy’s logotype is rendered as a stylized calligraphic signature that seems unique and friendly. In addition, when a circle encloses the logotype the combination forms a mark that has visual impact of simplicity and strength. Obviously, the sculptural arrow reinforces the point (no pun intended) in a visually compelling way.

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Reminiscences about “Plucked Chicken Press” — founded in 1978 by Will Petersen and Cynthia Archer — specializing in lithography

Front and back of the Plucked Chicken Business Card, c.1980 — from the collection of David Versluis

One afternoon, perhaps in the fall of 1980, while researching art internship sites for students at Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois my colleague Jake Van Wyk and I visited Plucked Chicken Press and met with Will Petersen to discuss the possibility of providing a student internship. Cynthia Archer was there to greet us as well as we entered the workshop, which was housed on the second floor of an old industrial building. Petersen was professional and friendly and with a sense of humor — he was a genuine character. We were impressed with his collection of lithographic stones. The press was located in downtown Chicago just west of the fork in the Chicago River.

Along with the “Plucked Chicken” logo and printer’s mark — the business card design is based on the printmakers numbering system, which is a good way of recognizing a limited edition original art print. Usually, but not always, for authentic prints the artist signs their name in the bottom right-hand corner on the front just below the image. On the bottom left corner opposite the signature the artist writes the number of each print in the edition. So, for example, a print numbered “3/30” signifies that it is the 3rd print out of 30 in the print run.

As published in the current Plucked Chicken Press website (courtesy of Oakton Community College, Skokie, Illinois) here’s a nice synopsis about the origins of the Plucked Chicken logo:

Plucked Chicken — The Journal and the Logo:

Plucked Chicken, a journal of art and poetry, was founded in Morgantown, West Virginia, in 1977. The Chicago poet and writer, Effie Mihopoulos, provided a glimpse of the journal’s birth in an April 1981 Serials Review:

The magazine was started because Petersen just having quit his teaching job [at the West Virginia University] (at 49) and feeling like a plucked chicken, had boxes and boxes of notes, letters, prose and other miscellanea that needed sharing, an outlet. He had a strong editorial background ranging from work with mimeographed magazines in grade school to [poet] Cid Corman's second Origin series; he was also associated with Bussei, which published [poet] Gary Snyder's first poems and [writer] Jack Kerouac's first haiku. Working with shapes one day, Petersen and his wife [Cynthia Archer] came up with one the size of a postage stamp that they liked — it looked like a plucked chicken, and since it seemed symbolic of the artist (a bird that can't fly, ready for the stew or to be barbecued, all goose bumps and no feathers), the name stuck.

The journal ended in 1980 with issue number six when Petersen and Archer moved to Chicago, but the name and logo continued to identify the press they had founded in 1978. Every print published by the Plucked Chicken Press was embossed with this logo.

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Graphic identity for contemporary chic décor: Pavillon des Arts et du Design Paris 2010

These images show the graphic identity, poster, entrance signage, and interior spaces for the 2010 annual Pavillon des Arts & du Design Paris Showcase. Clicking on an image takes you to the source, but with one exception being the photograph in the upper right, which is by versluis and was taken from inside a Paris Metro Bus. The picture was taken last March 2010 as the vehicle was traveling on the rue de Rivoli and passing by the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris.

For some context, Kacee Taylor writes about the annual fair in the blog, Le Best of Paris:

This art and design exposition presents new pieces engineered by the biggest names in painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, tapestries, jewelry, antiques, and furniture to at least a crowd of 45,000 visitors. Internationally recognized, this 5-day event houses over 80 vendors sharing their unique visions, eclectic styles, and chic décor from all over the world. (1)

In addition, RetroStart in their blog states:

Pavillon des Arts et du Design is internationally renowned for showcasing the best works of historical, modern and contemporary decorative arts and design from the 1860 to today. Created in 1997, the event brings together an eclectic mix of the traditional with the contemporary and the great names with talents of tomorrow.

… some examples: Philippe Rapin, Pegaso, la Galerie Parisienne, Modernity, Galerie de Casson, Yves Gastou, Dansk Møbelkunst. (2)

The graphic identity of black, white, and red colors strongly suggests a throwback to Modern with the consistency and style of international graphic design of an earlier era. In interesting contrast to mid-twentieth century modern typography (Helvetica) is the symbol of the “orb” as “global figure,” which seems postmodern.

1. Taylor, Kacee. "Pavillon des Arts & Design." Le Best of Paris. Le Best of Paris, LLC, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. lebestofparis.com
2. Akkerma, Pieter, and Margriet van der Wiel. "Pavillon des Arts et du Design Paris 2010." RetroStart. N.p., Mar. 2010. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. www.retrostart.com/Design/Fairs/

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Illuminating the Word—The St. John’s Bible and Marcel Breuer

Essentially, Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer’s buildings are recognized as a response to life. This is expressed in the church he designed for Saint John’s Abbey (a Benedictine monastery) and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, which was completed in 1961. Breuer and his design team built this church with all poured reinforced concrete in molds and the bell tower is freestanding. When you are inside, the interior space feels like one is surrounded and enfolded by a large shell, which seems very intimate and very sculptural.

photographs by Versluis

Some pages of the Saint John’s Bible are on display in another campus building also designed by Breuer. The building, part of which is shown here, is associated with the library (notice the mold marks on the concrete).

Viewing this Bible will renew and inspire one’s Christian faith and is certainly well worth traveling to see. Information from the exhibition states, “This exhibition is devoted to a single work of art, an illuminated, handwritten Bible commissioned by Saint John's University and Abbey in Minnesota” —Library of Congress

The Saint John’s Bible (photograph from the Library of Congress)

John Frontispiece: The Word Made Flesh (John 1:1-14)

Donald Jackson, artistic director

“Stepping out of darkness, which alludes to the chaos that precedes Creation in the Bible, the golden figure of Christ brings light and order. Words in golden script, from Colossians 1:15-20, link the figure of Christ with the words ‘And lived among us’ at the upper right. A keyhole jutting into the left margin recalls the tradition of locked and hinged manuscripts in securing, protecting, and holding the ‘key’ to the Word of God.” —Library of Congress

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Classic

I think it’d be most accurate to say that the designers at Coca Cola “got it right” the first time through. Also, their team should be credited, through the years, for having made the decision to stick with the original design. It’s legible and perhaps a bit dated but (I hate to say it) unmistakably that cold, fizzy beverage for a hot summer day... we all turned 21 and drank beer instead, but that’s a different discussion. I remember the Pepsi logos from ’91 and on and feel like they’ve been getting worse with each new design. The 1905 Pepsi looks like a fun bike ride, which is great, but far more ‘old-timey’ than anything else on the chart, and they only kept it for a year before pandering to some cheap, mindless and grammatically incorrect gimmick. (“Drink Pepsi: Cola Delicious” Really?)

There aren’t many traces of when my dad was a student of graphic design — a few charcoal sketches of my oldest brother as a baby, the plans we draw out for home projects and some studies of the timeless Coca-Cola bottle (glass).

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