Design Inspiration for Design Agencies
Within the design and communication environment, access to inspiration, research, reference, trends, case studies, resources etc. is only a mouse click away. Graphic designers have evolved / devolved to become generalists, competent across multiple types of media platforms. The University of Google and of YouTube has become the stimulus and the lazy source of design ideas.
But we want to bring ‘vanished’ art and design technologies, inspiration, stimulation and influence that previous generations took for granted, back into our studio.
Our design and communication agency has an extensive library of books that we are constantly replenishing with gems from second-hand bookstores. My creative partner makes the designers down tools and pull out the books, not only graphic design books but everything from architecture to fashion to jewelry to movies. And as your fingers page over the intriguing content and photography, inspiration comes from unexpected places. Then a pencil and paper. Draw, draw and draw some more. Only then does technology bring the expected layer of perfection to your design concept.
An increasing number of millennials have never used a landline, worn an analogue wristwatch, or mailed a handwritten letter. But certain technologies are being appreciated as authentic and intimate by young people in design studios around the world. Analogue photography’s ability to capture detail, as well as its authenticity, has kept it popular among dedicated amateurs and artists.
Silk-screen is more omnipresent than ever before as a fine art medium, printing by hand invites a more intimate experience with the materials.
We have creative Fridays where we expose our designers to real inspiration with real people, raw and tangible experiences on the street, interacting with cosmopolitan, interesting people and printing posters in silkscreen studios in the heart of our city.
The Parker pen company claims a “worldwide resurgence” in fountain pens. The digitisation of everyday life has led to a change in writing by hand. Writing is becoming more and more exclusive and personal. Some even say that in the future sending a handwritten letter will be a display of wealth and class. I’m not sure about that but my partner and I both have fountain pens and enjoy using them when we get the chance!
The Arctic Monkeys took a bold step by releasing a vinyl single back in 2009 when many of their teenage fans had never seen a black plastic disc go round and round on the turntable. Sales were slow but young fans spoke of the “richer and deeper” indie sound. In 2022, vinyl record sales outperformed CDs in the US for the first time since 1987. Just over 41 million vinyl records were sold in 2022, to the tune of $1.2bn. “Last year's vinyl record sales demonstrate that vinyl is cementing its role as a fixture of the modern music marketplace," RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier said in a post on Medium. "Music lovers clearly can't get enough of the high-quality sound and tangible connection to artists vinyl delivers," Glazier said, "and labels have squarely met that demand with a steady stream of exclusives, special reissues, and beautifully crafted packages and discs."
Equipment from my creative partner’s days of DJ’ing in night clubs in the late 90’s, have found their way into our studio along with some of the greatest house music vinyls.
Art Nouveau in the 1890’s was dubbed the “Golden Age of the Poster” led by Jules Cheret and Alphonse Mucha, spreading decorative poster art and Art Nouveau style to Europe and America. Soviet Propaganda Posters in the 1920’s featuring famous artists such as Kazimir Malevich, Aristarkh Lentulov and Alexander Rodchenko were meant to coerce and persuade. Posters helped define the WWI era, the Art Deco movements and the psychedelic era of the 1960’s. Over the last few decades, poster art has decayed into mass-generated designs that we've all become accustomed to, this dumbing down of one of the most fascinating expressions of design. But thanks to Shepard Fairey and his iconic portrait of Obama and Rory Kurtz’s poster for Baby Driver amongst many others, there is depth once again to the poster movement, rich and meaningful.
Our studio recently designed a set of posters for a client, conceptually strong and telling a story in a captivating way. An absolute highlight for the designers.
The unseen hand of the graphic designer touches and moulds every area of our lives. It stands to reason that inspiration should come from diverse sources so that design continues to fascinate, astound, gratify and satisfy. And as Hitchcock Michalski’s manifesto goes –
We’re here to start revolutions.
To create work that redefines an age.
Changes the eyes that see it.
The world that surrounds it
And the people and brands that live it.
And (every once in a while)
Change the world.