NESHAN, The Iranian Graphic Design Magazine

Member of International Council of Design ico-D

English | فارسی

Neshan 25

Summer-Autumn 2011

Handmade Design Issue

With the contributions of Majid Abbasi, Pouya Ahmadi, Ebrahim Haghighi, Behrouz Hariri, Steven Heller, Aria Kasaie, Majid Kashani, Farshid Mesghali, Vanina Pinter, Michael Renner, Kambiz Shafei, Setareh Shamdani.

Handmade: Immortality of Poetry and Thought

Ebrahim Haghighi

Before the advent of hardware and software in all aspects of human life, which are now indispensable, all professions and means of communication were based on rules of physics and chemistry executed by human hands upon the order by the brain.  Before the twentieth century theories introduced language as the source of human evolution, Darwin’s theory considered the mutation to humanity as rooted in handling instruments. This idea is still hard to disregard.  During this growth of human hands and brain Capabilities and years after the great in... > more

Opinion

The Manual Process of Design

Michael Renner

The focus on the hand and on manual methods in the process of developing unseen images in Design and Art, has become increasingly important again in the past decade. More interesting than the speculation and forecast of the aesthetic tendencies is the investigation of how this methodology is different to the creation of images in the process of photography or of generative images created with computer code? It seems that the terms emotion and conceptual blending, as defined in Neuroscience, can providing a base to critically assess the... > more

Iranian Contemporary Design

Less is More; A glance at Saed Mashki's Works

Farshid Mesghali

Saed Meshki’s works, at first sight, seem to be quite similar. He employs limited and specific colors and his techniques are alike. One can see minimalism overwhelmed in his works, considering both the number and the kinds of employed elements and also the number of colors which are used. His works are not ostentatious. He tends to use ghosted visual elements, even the type of letters in most of his works, which carries his signature, comes from old typewrites which are scattered on the paper to escape from being pinpointed. I can say his Work... > more

Project

The Collective Design for Azad Art Gallery

Aria Kasaei

Azad Art Gallery has been the vanguard of Iranian art in recent years. This gallery possesses a bold and uncompromising view which is its landmark. Rosita Sharaf and Mohsen Nabizadeh, the curators, have so far held tens of experimental and uncommon projects leading to the advent of a lot of young artists who have been supported by the gallery.  This gallery has always had extensive collaboration with graphic designers. In 2008, Azad Art Gallery placed an order with Reza Abedini concerning a project of visual identity tailored in alignment... > more

Design Today-1

Antoine and Manuel: Decoration and Beauty

Vanina Pinter

Antoine Audiau and Manuel Warosz set up their studio in 1993. Antoine had just completed a course of fashion design in a private studio and Manuel had just finished the course of industrial design in Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Décoratifs. Although they had been dealing with graphic design works and typographic rules in the 90s, it was in 2000s that their unique signature was confirmed: a sense of imagination, the ability to mingle capabilities (creating motifs for wallpaper, carpet or designing furniture). The result was that graphic ... > more

Design Today- 2

Every day a drawing; A review on Paula Troxler's works

Kambiz Shafei

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... > more

Face to Face-1

Yuri Gulitov, Russian Preludes

Majid Abbasi

1. Please tell me about your inclination for handmade works. It’s the most emotional way of expressing my thoughts. For me it’s extremely important for work to convey an emotional message first and all other information after that. 2. Can this inclination be considered a type of Russian design specific tradition or a kind of new Constructivism? I am interested in both so I often combine them in my works.  3. What about the free forms and handmade type design? It is challenging for me to work with letter construction. I often draw... > more

Face to Face-2

Paula Scher, Painting Maps; An interview by Majid Abbasi;

Majid Abbasi

1. Where does the idea of these painting maps come from? My father was a mapmaker, a photo- grammetric engineer, an expert in aerial photography.  He invented a device that corrected the distortion of aerial photography called “stereo templates”. He taught me there  were no accurate maps; they are all distorted. 2. Please explain briefly the process of creating the maps. I unroll a giant piece of canvas and tack it on to the wall in my studio.  I rough out the geographic areas by eye on the canvas and then begin to add information which ... > more

Reference

My Mentor: Brad Holland

Steven Heller

In 1968 Brad Holland became my first and only mentor – I was just 17 and he was 24 – and his most important lessons focused on the ethics of making art. He taught me that an illustrator, cartoonist, and even an art director could make a decisive contribution not only to publication, but the culture. Holland inspired this kid who desperately wanted to be some kind of an artist but was indoctrinated into believing that commercial art was a lesser art. Holland convinced me otherwise.  He never illustrated anything verbatim but always... > more

Different

Ordigami, or How I learnt to fold information!

Pouya Ahmadi

Origami is the art of folding paper. Since its emergence in Japan in 17th century AD, Origami has been classified as a decorative art form. However, by mid 19th century, the perception of Origami had shifted in the direction of modern art. The recent movements within this category of art have proved that Origami is more than just turning a two-dimensional surface into a three-dimensional object. Etienne Cliquet is an artist/researcher based in Paris who has explored numerous horizons within this area. His work explores the concept of Origami... > more