Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

2008 is a defining year in political history with the culmination of months of campaigning, rhetoric and staging by the three final contenders for the next President of the United States: John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But which candidates truly mastered the art of portrayal? Their official campaign merchandise is a telling visual portrait of how they wish to be represented.

Beginning with McCain, he expresses his strong military background and personal heritage through his logo and with merchandise including a nautical lapel pin and Irish buttons. McCain also appeals to coalitions and branches of the armed forces through a variety of apparel. Perhaps the most noticeable difference from the other candidates is that McCain chooses to employ few images of himself. Clinton and Obama both have artists’ renderings of themselves for posters. McCain only uses unaltered photographs of himself on merchandise.

Next up is Clinton with her surprising portrait with “rising sun” found in the accessories section of her official campaign Web site’s online store. According to the site, this original Hillary Clinton print, designed by Hollywood screenwriter Tony Puryear (”Eraser”), is an exclusive to Hillarystore.com. The posters (there are two versions) are “Union printed in USA using 100% wind power and vegetable-based inks.”

“Senator Clinton is a beautiful, strong and inspiring woman, and I wanted to make a poster that reflected that. Rather than putting a slogan on the poster, I chose to put her name, because she is surely the only leader at this level with whom we are all on a first-name basis, and to me, that reflects her personal warmth and connection with ordinary Americans.” - Tony Puryear

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A few weeks back I read an interview from the weekly German newspaper Die Zeit with french designer Philippe Starck. I don’t normally make it a habit to read weekly German newspapers. I prefer the bi-weekly ones much better. You know, more objectivity, less fluff.

Starck is a superstar designer, if you will. A design celebrity. Kind of like a Britney Spears of the design world. Just with a beard and a little less crazy. He’s designed countless products and interiors…everything from toothbrushes to hotels and restaurants around the world. In the 1990’s he began championing product longevity as part of his design process. He’s said that a designer’s role is to create more happiness with less. A nice thought.

In this interview Starck said that in two years he’s retiring from design. He’s reached a point in his life where he looks back to the objects he has produced over the past 20 years and has come to the conclusion that he has done nothing but contribute to materialism. “Everything I have created is absolutely unnecessary”

He went on to say that “design is really a terrible way to express oneself.”

The design community took a collective gasp and everyone started lining up to take sides, Read the rest of this entry »

Blogging anyway. So…where to start? I began by making a list of things to talk about. Things I have read recently about design or maybe just some stuff about myself so you can get to know me a little better. You know, something funny and charming that would win you over by the time you finished this first paragraph. I like puppies and I recycle. And there it is.

Okay, well maybe not. Perhaps I’ll just follow Richard’s lead and start off with what I do.

I’m the Senior Graphic Designer here at the IMA. So what does that mean exactly? Any graphic designer will tell you that we get this a lot. Not a big deal. Don’t be afraid to ask if you ever find yourself in this situation. My own family still has trouble figuring out exactly what I spend my day doing. When I was growing up I loved to draw things. I was a drawin’ fool. Mainly Spider-Man and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This, of course, implied to every adult that knew me that one day I might just become a successful artist. Watch this kid; he’s going places!

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Imagine receiving a DNA collection kit in the mail with your name on it, swabbing the inside of your cheek, transferring the cells onto a piece of special paper, and mailing it back to the return address. In the lab, a technician extracts your DNA, runs it on a gel, and captures a raw digital image from that gel. Then, your DNA sample is destroyed. Convicted felon? Father of another child? Or just redecorating the condo with your unique DNA portrait?

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“Signage” is a popular term around museum marketing offices. It gets a work order, designed, produced, and lives out its purpose. But what happens to the dozens of exhibition and museum signs when the show is over, the program done or the sign is just passed its prime?

A company called BetterWall allows you to buy those exhibition banners from around the world to become timeless works of art for your home or business. Started by a husband-wife team of environmental consultant and art historian, BetterWall works with museums through its “Recycle and Reuse Program” to help museums remain green by taking tons of vinyl banners off their hands and selling them, giving a portion of the profits back to the museums. I have a National Portrait Gallery, George Washington “Lansdowne” sign that used to be displayed on the Mall in Washington, D.C. framed in my living room, but this article by a Washington Post reporter was the first time I had heard of a company who made authentic museum advertising available to the public.

As unique objects produced in limited editions, the banners embody great art, great museums, and contemporary advertising trends. — BetterWall

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