Zane Sanders- Influence Project (April Greiman)

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Zane Sanders

For my influence project, I took inspiration from famous New Wave graphic designer April Greiman. When I was first researching her work, I listed out a lot of things that I found to be mostly consistent in her style: halftone gradients, geometric shapes, layers and playing with opacity, photographic elements, and sans serif fonts. Additionally, in class, we learned that a lot of her style is the result of being one of the first people to integrate technology into their work and whenever that technology made a mistake, she would integrate it into the work.

At first when starting, I had no idea where to start but once I saw the work her WET Magazine cover, I had my main inspiration in putting a centered person to be the main focus. I also knew from the start that I wanted to use the layered 3D text for the “Little 500” font just as she does in the poster below my design. Sticking with the Little 500 theme, I knew stripes would be something that I wanted to use to show speed and also just a lot of uniforms have stripes on them in the race. That paired with tilting my typography as well as the stripes in the bottom with the text on them conveys the speed that I was looking for as well as fit into April’s style of slanted text in some of her work.

Below the stripes, is a checkered flag which since it is a bike race, fits the theme. I added a gradient on it too because April works a lot with gradients and images with a gradient. On the right, is a large circle with a halftone gradient as well, which again is representative of April’s halftone shape and gradient work that is often see in her designs. I also made it a circle because in my mind, it sort of represents a bike wheel which is also a circle. Lastly, the two shapes at the top of the poster are layered over each other with the opacity lowered as April likes to layer and play with opacity as stated earlier. The left shape is a geometric shape that I feel like April might use in her work but the shape on the left, is representative of the podium for first, second, and third in the race just flipped upside down.

Lastly, the middle and background are what I struggled the most with in this project in trying to make it them both look right and cohesive as well as reflective of my influence. For the main middle shape, I traced the IU Student Foundation logo which sponsors the race but, I made it into one shape and did not color it as to distinguish it from any official logos. I then added layered squares around it like is also seen in the WET cover but put my own spin on it in color and placement and layering with the main shape. I added a halftone gradient on the main shape to make it stand out more too. Finally, the photo in the middle is turned into a half tone color image but, I am not sure I love the way it turned out and maybe should’ve made the dots smaller. I covered the eyes of the biker as April has done in her works as well as put the actual bike on top to show the significance of the race. April also likes to use little photographic elements in her work too so I think that turned out nicely. The background was a struggle until I realized in some of her work, she likes to use a paint splatter texture in the background so that is also what I chose to do instead of a solid color or another halftone gradient which might blend in with the circle and main shapes.

Overall I feel that I represented the style well and while some aspects could be improved, I like the overall way it turned out however, when doing an influence project like this, it is hard to not compare yourself to the graphic designer and I had to continuously remind myself throughout the process, and even now, that April is a known, professional graphic designer who has spent decades designing in her own style and this is only my second graphic design class so it was okay for my work to not be perfect.

Image of April Greiman’s “Your Turn My Turn” poster

Otl Aicher Influenced Little 500 Poster

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Livi Ackerman

For my Little 500 Poster I was inspired to design like the artist Otl Aicher, a German graphic designer. Originally I took a lot of inspiration from his 1972 Olympic posters which where very bright, colorful, and primarily photo-based. However once I researched a bit more into his work I was really inspired by his graphic work and wanted to challenge myself to create a more illustrative poster.

Aicher’s Christkindmarkt Poster (1947) is where I took the majority of my inspiration from. I liked the simplicity, colorfulness, and how there’s a lot of movement which is perfect for a Little 5 poster. In my design, I decided to change the composition up and add more shapes emerging from the bike path. I decided to make the squares more flowy and dynamic, representing the fabric of the jerseys used. Red and candy stripe jerseys represent the team that raises the most money for the IUSF’s philanthrophy, Student Helping Students, yellow represents the team who won last years’ race, and green represents the team who got the fastest qualification time. I also found it appropriate to add some checkered finsih-line flags as well as the color blue. While blue doesn’t have significance on race day jerseys, it is still a flag that is seen in the IUSF logo. I wanted to add more stars and shapes to my design as my own stylistic choice, I feel like it adds to the sparkle and fun that is surrounded around the greatest college weekend in the world. For Typography, I decided to use a bolder, simpler font than the one that Aicher used because I wanted it to balance with all the colorful elements I used. I feel like the typeface I used still has that retro-feel and also doesn’t clash with the rest of the poster.

Compositionally I am very happy with how this turned out. If I were to go back and make any improvements, I think I could have played around with stylizing the little 500 bike more, making it more artistic and less vector-esque. I believe adding some texture would be beneficial for the look of the poster as well.

Influence: (Left) Otl Aicher, Wiederaufbau, Plakat für die vh Ulm, 1947 (Right) Otl Aicher, Christkindmarkt, 1947

Josef Müller-Brockmann Influenced Poster

Image

When crafting this poster, I started with a grid, Müller-Brockmann style, letting those lines be the invisible guides that shaped everything else. The typography came next, bold and sans-serif, laid out with the kind of clear, no-nonsense communication he championed. Then I played with geometry, stripping down bikes to their core, and basic shapes, and casting them in primary colors for a pop of energy and a nod to the Swiss penchant for simplicity. Layering those elements, I let the colors overlap and interact, adding depth and a sense of movement, hinting at the race’s excitement without any fussy details. It was all about balance, using space thoughtfully, creating focus, and keeping it crisp. In the end, the design emerged as a modern take on classic principles, as functional as it is eye-catching.

The influence of Josef Müller-Brockmann on this poster is unmistakable in its disciplined adherence to grid-based design and the asymmetrical balance that guides the viewer’s eye across the page. The bold, sans-serif typeface is a signature element of Müller-Brockmann’s work, emphasizing clarity of information and a timeless aesthetic that shuns the superfluous. In this design, typography is not merely a carrier of text but an integral part of the visual hierarchy, commanding attention and establishing the event’s identity with authority.

The graphic abstraction, reducing bicycles to their most basic geometric forms, showcases Müller-Brockmann’s influence in the way it communicates motion and dynamism without resorting to intricate illustrations. This reduction to essentials aligns with his belief in a universal graphic language. The color scheme—rooted in primary colors—projects a sense of playfulness while remaining true to the Swiss Style’s limited palette, ensuring that the design remains approachable yet sophisticated.

AUSTIN ~ INFLUENCE PROJECT

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Natalie Austin

I enjoyed working on this project a lot, and I liked the concept of designing something that could be a professional project for IU’s campus. I worked for the past two and a half years with the Vice Provost Office on their marketing and communications team, which mostly looked like creating different social media engagement content for the undergraduate student body. What I particularly liked about this project was that it closely resembled something I would have been assigned during my internship. I liked the creative freedom we had, but I also liked how it was constrained by the influence we needed to choose and copy their design style.

This is a sample photo of my poster. — Click here to see full PDF version!

My influence was Otl Aicher, a German graphic designer. Aicher is best known for his graphics work for the Munich 1972 Olympics; however, he is also known for his corporate identity designs, including projects for companies such as Lufthansa and Braun. Throughout his career, Aicher’s design focused on creating designs that were both functional and aesthetic. Keeping a strong “Swiss Style” throughout his design work, he emphasizes clarity, simplicity, and readability through clean lines, bold colors, and an overall minimalist design. It was these identified elements that I tried to replicate throughout my poster design. I focused a lot on one of Aicher’s exhibition designs, which includes a wide range of black and white graphics. One of the first things I noticed throughout these designs was the repetitive geometric shapes and designs, as well as the bold black lines spaced across his work. Aicher seems to create a rhythm with geometric shapes that are seamless throughout his compositions and successfully paint an impactful scene. Even with the minimalism of what is included within his designs, Aicher’s work carries a powerful voice. Beyond this, Aicher also adds a lot of dots or lines to give texture to the shapes that he uses. I tried to copy these design choices through my simplistic geometric inclusion at the top of my poster, which created a frame around the cyclist as well as giving it some texture and the interesting quality of turning some into dotted lines. I also wanted to include the simple bold lines, like Aicher using them to frame as well as put emphasis on the event’s information.

Otl Aicher, Graphic Designer Olympic Poster Design

Otl Aicher’s designs also tend to keep to a few simple but bold colors. As seen in his work with the Olympics, he focuses on a bold green color but then uses different shades and tones to create contrast and visual interest. I wanted to emulate this design choice throughout my work, but I also wanted to reflect the spirit of the Little 500 scene. I chose to restrict my color scheme to black and red because it copies Aicher’s design choice while also giving some symbolism to a race flag. In addition, the red color follows the university’s color choices, which adds to the theme of the event. Finally, looking at Aicher’s work, you will see a very simple type is used throughout all his graphics. I wanted to choose a sans-serif font that would remain simplistic and copy the heart of Aicher’s designs while also carrying weight and standing out from the geometric-shaped art behind it. Looking back at the project, I would say the biggest challenge I came across was finding the balance between copying the style of my influence’s designs while also remaining independent and creating my authentic work. It is easy to just copy element for element and apply it to the theme of the Little 500 event. However, it became more difficult to take apart Aicher’s design, understand the meaning and reason behind each of his design choices, and apply his style to my design work trying to stay unique and also remaining specific to the Little 500 event and Indiana University’s brand. This process required a deep dive into Aicher’s design principles and a lot of trial and error, as I had to completely scrap and redesign my poster at least three or four times to ensure that my final product was a true reflection of his style while still being original. It was a challenging but ultimately a rewarding experience that helped me grow as a designer.

Jake Greene Influence Poster – Josef Müller-Brockmann

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Jake Greene

I chose Josef Müller-Brockmann as my influence for this project. I felt that his work was unique for its time and even today, and was interested to see how well I could replicate his style. I think that between the sparse use of color, multiple languages, an iconic sans serif typeface and some texture, this poster makes for a great tribute to Brockmann’s work.

Shown below are some of Brockmann’s pieces that inspired this project. You can see the use of angles, the sideways text, as well as similar coloring and noise usage. These are mostly his later works, which are the ones I tend to see more often.

Eye Magazine | Feature | Reputations: Josef Müller-Brockmann

Josef Müller-Brockmann "swiss style" - Graphéine

I tried to capture the motion, speed and action of the Little 500 race with the blurriness of the images used. This, paired with the slant of the focused image of the rider’s hand on a handle, emphasizes the high energy feel of the race.

My biggest issue with this project was not only making the poster look old and texturized, but also choosing the correct font as well as placing the larger focused image. I wanted everything to be as accurate as possible to Muller Brockmann’s works, so it took a long time to find the perfect font and spacing for everything. Overall, though, it turned out as a great tribute to Brockmann’s designs.

Little 500 – John Alvin

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Nicole Stawski

This is one of my versions of a Little 500 poster inspired by the graphic designer and artist John Alvin. When going into this project, I knew I wanted to choose an artist that would challenge me. I love movie poster and theatrical poster design, and I wanted to choose an artist whose style I liked but have never tried. John Alvin came to mind because he created come of my favorite movie posters, specifically the renaissance Disney posters such as “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast”.

There were a few aspects of Alvin’s designs that stood out to me when looking over his portfolio. I noticed much, if not all of his work, was very art based. Many of his posters seem either illustrated or even painted. I feel that he paved the way, in a sense, for the stereotypical Marvel “floating head” poster since many of his work includes the busts of characters/actors, as can be seen in his “Batman Forever” poster. Additionally, his designs often feature centered type and imagery, as well as vignettes and darker silhouettes. I wanted to use these ideas in my posters and it lead me to my person favorite, which can be seen above.

Initially, I tried a more artistic approach and drew a bike in procreate that I used for different renderings. I felt not entirely satisfied with my first few attempts, so I tried to approach the Little 500 poster as if it was an action movie like the one’s Alvin designed for. I found Adobe stock images of cyclists and used the Filter Gallery and “posterize” feature to make the stock images more artistic. I added a vignette to the sides to make it seem dramatic and put textures on the background because many of Alvin’s designs had a lot of artistic detail in the background. This influence was definitely a challenge for me, but I feel like I learned a lot through this project especially.

Armin Hofmann Influence Poster – Regan Mathies

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Regan Mathies

For the influence poster project, I used Armin Hofmann as inspiration for my Little 500 advertisement. Hofmann’s design style encompasses a unique blend of photographic simplicity and typography. More specifically, Hofmann’s designs capture grainy photos that emphasize the ability of visual resolutions and how they can affect the design’s overall appearance. His design style aims to create complex compositions yet allow them to be simplistic and abstract simultaneously. Furthermore, Hofmann was a significant influence on the design style referred to as the “Swiss Style”. His goal was to use his abilities to represent underlying messages of social and cultural issues, along with their values. Overall, I found his work very inspiring and unique for the direction I wanted to take my poster. His design style allowed me to create a Little 500 advertisement that was dramatic and minimalistic at the same time, which I believe helped me achieve the intended feel.

The direction of my overall design concept was driven by Hofmann’s iconic black-and-white palette and his embrace of low visual resolution to evoke a sense of dramatics. For starters, I used the Adobe Illustrator program to craft a minimalist depiction of a cyclist, intending to create a balance between simplicity and visual interest. I integrated this illustration into my project by using Photoshop modifications. Tools such as motion blur, graphic pen textures, line halftones, and levels allowed me to achieve this intended look. To ensure there was seamless integration with the poster’s black background, I used a mask layer to blend the sharp edges of the cyclist, achieving a cohesive composition.

Following this, I found a font style that is reminiscent of the bold, minimalist typography that Hofmann integrates into a variety of his designs. More specifically, Hofmann’s typographic choices resign in the sans serif genre, with larger width and lack of intricate details. Furthermore, his typography reflects the manipulation of spacing and line heights for added detail and impact. To adapt to this design style for my design, I noticed that I had a large amount of space towards the lower section of the poster. Due to this, I opted to place the primary text within this region. Additionally, I decided to vertically orient the “500”, which mirrors Hofmann’s unconventional approach to text placement. I also manipulated the text “little” in Adobe Illustrator to manually experiment with kerning and aligned the primary text closely to the margins, both to reflect his attention to typographic spacing. Lastly, I decided to create visual contrast in the typography by using various opacity levels, enhancing the type’s visual emphasis.

Regarding the layout of the secondary information in my design, I strategically grouped related information for coherence. By using varying opacities within the text, I prioritized emphasis on the headers with the following information being of less visual emphasis. Ultimately, I positioned this information in the top left corner of my design to utilize the black background for effortless readability.

Overall, I feel like my poster demonstrates a solid effort to embody Hofmann’s design style: however, I want to also acknowledge that I feel it does not showcase my design skills to my full potential. Despite being aware of my decision decisions and why I wanted to make them, I was not entirely pleased with my overall execution. With this being said, I was able to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone and approaching this project with a different perspective of design. The project as a whole emphasized the importance of adapting to the preferences and styles of clients rather than personal aesthetics; therefore, while this project may not have met my expectations, I have learned its importance which will help me in my future in the field of graphic design.

Armin Hofmann’s Designs :

Fernand Léger Influenced Little 500 Poster

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Jennifer Arteaga

For our Influence project, at first, I had difficulty choosing my influence. I was overwhelmed with the hundreds of possibilities I could choose from and couldn’t decide on just one. I later landed on Fernand Léger as my influence. What drew me to choose Fernand Léger was how simple yet powerful his art was. His use of color blocks in the art was also interesting and I wanted to see how I could do my version of his art.

I had a lot of fun creating this poster and channeling my inner Léger. When brainstorming, I decided I wanted my poster to be of a Little 500 cyclist with his bike. Something I enjoyed was being a little less perfectionist since some of Léger’s work is a little rough but still overall looks clean.

Something I was excited to work on was the color blocks Léger uses. He uses thick squares and sometimes circles to add color to his art. Since the Little 500 is at IU, I knew I wanted red to be the color that stood out the most. I had some trouble figuring out what other colors he uses and how big/small to make the other boxes. I decided to add a green circle on the bottom to also emphasize the wheels of the bike.

Fernand Léger was a french painter who is known for his pieces in cubism and tubism. Cubism is an approach, famously used by Picasso, used to represent reality using geometric flat shapes. Léger’s art in the beginning was mostly cubism until later in his life where he actually created a new approach named Tubism. Tubism is like cubism, but it uses cylindrical forms.

On the left is an example of one of his works titled, “Le Travail”. I used this piece as a form of influence because this poster was of a cyclist too. Léger created this for the Salon des Peintres témoins de leurs temps which is an annual art exhibition in the Galliera Museum.

Little 500 – April Greiman

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Owen Fossmeyer

April Greiman, to me, represents the attributes of what a designer should be; one that experiments in taking risks, while also embracing design in which can be represented as a period piece. Greiman embraced computer technology, software in which was newly introduced, as a design tool.

In Greiman’s work, their is a strong representation of New Wave style as an iconic era for the early 80s. With the implementation of experimental computer software, as well as the overarching addition of the New Wave color pallet, Greiman embraces the time as a period in which the world was also experimenting with fashion, lifestyle, and media (etc.).

In my “Little 500” poster, I wanted to reflect the work of Greiman through the fonts, colors, and halftones.

Kate’s Little 500 Influence Poster

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Kate Acra

My project 2 in J465 was all about influence. During this unit, I’ve learned about different design influences throughout history and specific designers who pioneered their own style. For this project to make a Little 500 poster through an influential designer, I chose to use Lester Beall.

About Lester Beall: (1903-1969) Beall was a self-taught graphic designer who began the modernist graphic design movement in the United States. His transformative work for that time period is described as effective visual communication. Beall is most famously known for the work he did for the Rural Electrification Administration, which advertised bringing electricity to rural America. His posters had bright colors and bold typography and were easily recognizable and clearly understood.

I initially chose Lester Beall as my influence because I was instantly drawn to his designs. As a designer myself, I enjoy taking a minimalist approach and I like bold colors. Therefore, Beall was the perfect fit for my influence and I was really excited to complete this project because it was also a topic that is meaningful to me, the Little 500.

Most of Beall’s famous posters are for the REA. If you research, there tend to be two approaches he designed for this specific campaign. One features a cutout photo against a primary colored background and different flat shapes and typography surrounding it. The other is similar but is based on an illustration with arrows instead of a photo. The approach I went with is the first option because I think that photography can add a lot to a design and the fun sayings in the boxes above the photos gave me a unique opportunity. For the photo, I found a picture of bikers and cut them out using Photoshop. I also added a sepia look to them since that is what most of Beall’s work had. Originally, I planned to make the background of my poster red for IU but decided against it because I liked how the cornflower blue looked with orange and I feel like it suited Beall’s work. I stuck with similar fonts to his to embody the full effect of his design. I also made sure that the block of text at the top of the page was skewed and not 180 degrees. An “easter egg” I wanted to include was the small type that says INDIANA at the top right part of the poster. On Beall’s posters, he always put his last name in small letters in the same spot, so I thought it would be effective to do the same with mine, but in relation to what the poster is about. One thing I added that his posters did not feature was the text about the men’s and women’s races. I felt like this was an appropriate placement for this information because it aligned with the shape behind it and wasn’t extremely noticeable at first glance.

Overall, I see Lester Beall’s influence reflected in my work by the colors, typography, shapes, and photos I chose. This project opened my mindset to other design elements that could work for me in future projects that aren’t what I would immediately choose on my own.