Design Rockism

[imomus]

My latest article for AIGA Voice magazine is Design Rockism. Trace design's topsy-turvy path from Josef Muller-Brockmann's 'Grid Systems' to the Groovisions Brockmann doll!

Comments

[scottbateman.livejournal.com]

This is really interesting stuff, especially re: my work in political cartooning. Nearly all of my colleagues, when they break their work down into four or six panels, do it as a strict grid, with exactly equal-sized squares (especially among the older white men who are most of America's political cartoonist, but even among my age peers Ted Rall (http://www.rall.com) and Tom Tomorrow (http://www.thismodernworld.com)). I started breaking out of this about 18 months ago, creating what I think is a much more graphically-pleasing sort of cartooning (while I don't have a degree in design, I've always been an ardent fan of graphic design annuals and monographs). But most cartoonists are "rockist" in the sense that they have no idea of what to make of my non-grid work, and that in some way it's inferior or not really cartooning. It's been interesting to see the reaction. All I'm trying to do is to drag cartooning into the 21st century--is that so wrong?

[scottbateman.livejournal.com]

And of course, THE big Rockist tenant of American political cartooning is, it's not REALLY a political cartoon unless you draw it like the late Jeff MacNelly--with lots and lots of cross-hatching, and a chuckle-inducing joke rather than a pointed and barbed political opinion. Again, I've spent my career fighting these perceptions and trying to do a uniquely individual version of political cartooning. In fact, a small group of us call ourselves "Post-Hatch," i.e. we reject the MacNelly-isms and are going for a simpler look and more opinionated messages.