The Magazine
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Retrospective Eighty-Seven is a celebration and study of the artists, designers, and technology from the year I was born, 1987. It is an homage to works created by the designers of that era, and incorporates new ideas from the technical advances that have brought graphic design into the twenty-first century.
I have used both well-known and anonymous contributors of the visual culture that are referenced here. I repurposed the visual language of the Nintendo 8-Bit system graphics, that would be familiar to the children of the 70s and 80s, to celebrate Illustrator, a pivotal software introduced in 1987. I have also taken iconic designs, like that of designer Paul Rand and household prints like TV Guide to re-introduce products released in 1987. I have given new meaning to movie posters and Broadway shows, to showcase the eras new technologies. I am proposing that the graphic architecture, ad works, and technologies that arose during this time are critical to how designers operate in the 21st Century. I make this known by utilizing “real” 1987 graphic design motifs for newly re-imagined designs of “what could have been”.
Retrospective Eighty-Seven involves my re-use and interpretation of the design processes of advertisements produced in 1987, for both wry and reverent review on the design of this era. I showcase formal attributes like color, font, and form, as well as the period style of Postmodernism by emulating its historical counterpart. In undertaking this project, I wanted to identify and refer to an era through its design ethic, and include things humorous, unexpected, or even ironic. I have found that the suitability of ideas, graphic models, and the clever re-mix of these design elements presents a challenge to the coherent theming. The strength of theses pieces represents my interests,
