Design Today- 2

During the past three decades computer has become a dominant design tool in the field of visual communication. As a result of this development, a generation of young designers have decided to look for alternative ways of image making in order to express their ideas.
Among these designers Paula Troxler is a good example. She graduated from HGK Lucerne in visual communication. Paula says drawing has always been her passion and that is why she concentrated on this medium during her education.
In general, hand drawn images play a significant role in Paula Troxler’s work. Paula says she never starts sketching on computer. She believes hand drawn sketches give her the possibility to try out different ideas as quickly as possible. This interest in handmade design enables her to be involved in different stages of both process and production of her work. For instance Paula sometimes screen-prints her poster. She thinks this experience helps her to understand how to create images depending on the potentials and the limitations of screen-print.

Next to designing posters and books, an important part of Paula’s work lies in her collaboration as an illustrator with other graphic designers. These illustrations are mainly for magazines. She says a significant difference of creating images for magazines or posters is that the image of a poster needs to convey the message in a much quicker way. On the other hand, in a magazine the reader is mostly confronted with both images and text at the same time. Therefore the illustrator is able to express her/his feelings in a much more free and poetic manner.
One of the most successful works of Paula Troxler is called, “Every day a drawing”. For Paula this self-published calendar is like a playground that enables her to create one drawing for every day. These drawings might be used in other projects later on. They are done with different techniques and they vary from simple geometric forms to more complex and meaningful images. These drawings show the ability of Paula in conceptualizing and communicating new ideas. Some of these drawing could look like miniature posters on the wall. Paula Troxler knows the characteristics of each communication media and she changes her drawing style to make it appropriate for them. Without a doubt her work is an excellent example among today’s young designers when it comes to combining the two worlds of illustration and graphic design.