Koloman Moser
Posted on 07/06/11.
Koloman Moser (1868-1918) was an Austrian artist who exerted considerable influence on twentieth-century graphic art and one of the foremost artists of the Vienna Secession movement and a co-founder of Wiener Werkstätte. Beyond his graphic work for books, postage stamps and magazines, his designs in architecture, furniture, jewelry, and textiles helped characterize the work of this era. Moser drew upon the clean lines and repetitive motifs of classical Greek and Roman art and architecture in reaction to the Baroque decadence of his turn-of-the-century Viennese surroundings. In 1901/02, he published a portfolio of elegant graphic designs for tapestries, fabrics, and wallpaper entitled Die Quelle (“The Source”). Along with Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann, Koloman was one of the designers for Austria’s leading art journal Ver Sacrum.
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Julius Klinger
Posted on 07/06/11.
Julius Klinger (1876-1942) was an Austrian painter, draftsman, illustrator, commercial graphic artist, typographer and writer. In 1895, he found his first employment with the Vienna fashion magazine Wiener Mode. Here he became acquainted with Koloman Moser, who would later be his teacher. In 1897 he relocated to Berlin, where he worked extensively as a commercial graphic artist until 1915. Together with the printing house Hollerbaum und Schmidt, he developed a new style of functional poster design that soon gained him international reputation. Beginning in 1918, Klinger designed a comprehensive and noted campaign promoting the “Tabu” company’s cigarette rolling paper, that was advertised all over Vienna in 1918/19. Klinger devised a promotional strategy, spanning from small newspaper ads to huge billboards.
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René Gruau
Posted on 06/04/11.
Renowned illustrator René Gruau (1909-2004), created some of the most iconic fashion images of the 20th century and influenced the graphic style of a whole generation of fashion illustrators. Gruau’s illustrations for his friend and long-time patron Christian Dior chart one of the most successful creative relationships of 20th century fashion. His bold lines and fluid style were perfectly in tune with the spirit of Dior, capturing the energy, elegance and audacity of the brand. Of his continuing dedication to silhouette and outline Gruau said that ‘with a single line we can express grandeur, nobility, sensuality, the line synthesises sensations and concentrates knowledge.’
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Ludwig Hohlwein
Posted on 01/11/10.
Ludwig Hohlwein (1874 -1949) was a poster artist, graphic designer, architect and painter. He is counted alongside Lucian Bernhard, Ernst German-Dryden, Hans Rudi Erdt and Julius Klinger as one of the most prominent, and an influential representatives of the art of advertising. After studying in Munich and Dresden, and study tours to London and Paris he settled down in Munich as an architect. From 1904 Hohlwein regularly presented prints, watercolors and tempera paintings in the Munich Glass Palace. His signature style is easily recognisable and it varied little over his 40 year career. The drawing was perfect, his figures full of touches of color and a play of light and shade that brings them out of their background and gives them substance. He is said to have been inspired by the work of the British duo the Beggarstaffs who virtually created the modern poster, with clear outlines and large areas of flat colour.
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Armando Milani
Posted on 26/10/10.
Born in Milan 1940, Italian graphic designer Armando Milani studied with Albe Steiner at the Società Umanitaria. In 1970 he founded Milani Design studio with his younger brother Maurizio, and in 1977 moved to New York where, after a collaboration for two years with Massimo Vignelli he opened his own studio. He specialises in logos and branding but is best known for his simple but powerful poster designs.
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New Booktrust leaflet
Posted on 22/02/10.
We recently worked on this leaflet for Booktrust, promoting the importance of reading picture books with young children. The lovely illustrations are by the very talented Katie Cleminson; look out for it in libraries and early years centres near you!
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A lot of Crayolas
Posted on 21/02/10.
We love this very jolly print we just picked up in Miami by Mickey Myers. Myers began her career as an artist in Boston in the mid-1960’s, managing an art gallery, running a graphic design business, and creating limited edition silkscreen prints and posters which were exhibited nationally for two decades.
Link: http://www.mickeymyers.com
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