Neshan 28

In the past, geographical, philosophical and cultural divisions of this flat world were named East, West, and Middle; and their influence and interconnection was slow and gradual over many years. Now, the world is a small, solid sphere, spinning in the solar system, monitored by us every day from space. We can now forecast the weather from shifting cloud patterns and plan our vacations, without being afraid of winds and storms, and ghosts and their superior and predominant gods. If in the past, narrow minded and dominant ideologies were... > more

In 2001, I did what any parent of a 10-year-old does and started visiting secondary schools. I hadn’t been into one since I was at school in the 1970s, and one aspect of these establishments amazed me. I recall school as a largely non-visual experience. Walls were bare. All the emphasis was on words. You could study history without looking at a picture of anything. But at the schools I now visited, the walls were covered with projects made up of words and pictures, with fancy typefaces and everything mounted on coloured papers. In some... > more

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear his name, Amirali Ghasemi, is the definition of the word “crowded”. Those who know him personally will understand what I’m referring to. He’s very active and every month you would be able to see his name appearing in various exhibitions-whether it’s for a show on a smaller scale or for one on an international level, he is either an organizer or a contributing artist. He is concerned with the contemporary and pays less attention to the past. His appearance, from what I recall, is being on foot, ... > more

Today’s young Iranian graphic designers are confronted by an important question; one that stays with them at all times and with every step, and becomes complicated when art is their other preoccupation. That is “What is my identity?” What one can observe in Iranian graphic design almost immediately, is the continuous attempt to discover new ways of moving from its native culture and tradition to the visual aesthetics of the western world. Homa Delvaray has successfully created a brilliant visual approach, through instinct and passion... > more

The Experimental Film Society (EFS) is an independent, not-for-profit entity, specializing in experimental, self-initiated and no/low budget filmmaking. Founded in 2000 in Tehran, Iran, its aim is to produce and promote films by its members. It unites works from a dozen filmmakers scattered across the globe, whose films are distinguished by an uncompromising devotion to personal and experimental cinema, regardless of budget. Among the members we come across names such as Dean Kavanagh, Jann Clavadetscher, Mohammad Nick Dell and... > more

Using but 8 musical notes one can compose an infinite array of sound and rhythm; such is the fascinating work of Mexico City based design studio Hula Hula, where musical metaphor abounds. Founded 16 years ago by Javier “Cha!” Ramirez and Quique Ollervides, and currently led by Cha! and Aldo Lugo, Hula Hula came to be amidst the 1990’s final grand push towards the digital age. Hula Hula’s influences are broad and plentiful. These span the illustrations and letterings of Robert Crumb, Gary Panter and Lynda Barry, to a multitude of both national... > more

For many foreigners Russia is a dominion of grizzly bears, black caviar, and cellars stacked with bottles of vodka. Others see it as a realm of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Kandinsky, and Malevich. The stereotypes may vary, but the inevitable mystery, intrinsic to the seclusion of this distant land, nevertheless, persists. Situated between East and West, Russia has always been unpredictable, enigmatic and rich with visionary spirit and innovative creativity. In the early 20th century, this phenomenon of Russian cultural... > more

Please tell us about the history of graphic design in Brazil. When was graphic design established both academically and professionally? Graphic design was established in the early sixties in a single school in Rio de Janeiro, with teachers from the Ulm School of Design in Germany. This was the only school in Brazil until mid-eighties when other schools opened. Nowadays there are more than 380 design schools in Brazil, in the areas of fashion, product design and graphic design. There is also a movement in the Brazilian congress to create a law... > more

Some art pieces are like careers: dense, prolific, and impressive- and can offer their viewer an incredible feeling of lightness. Kazumasa Nagai’s career in art humbly resembles these words. Nagai was born in Osaka in 1929 and did not begin his creative studies until after the second World War- when the imperatives of reconstruction and independence were necessary creative needs for him. After sculpture studies at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, Nagai participated in the 1960 launch of the Nippon Design Center (NDC) and for... > more

Andrzej Klimowski is an artist who always seems to be moving against the tide. In the 1970s, he was living in Poland using collage and photography in his poster designs, when the predominant trend in Polish poster design was painterly-symbolic. During the digital age, a wave of computer-manipulated photographs pervaded graphic design, but Klimowski returned to images made entirely by hand. He himself has said: “with the increasing and almost infinite possibilities of image manipulation offered by the digital media, I consciously decided to... > more

A regatta that took place in 1882 and having no more than twenty participants, has developed over the years into the world’s largest sailing event: Kieler Woche. The first Kieler Woche after World War II was held in 1948, and took on a new form: the prior sporting event acquired sociopolitical and cultural significance, and soon came to be known as both a sporting experience and a popular festival. Posters for early Kieler Woche events had been previously put together by a non-designer and without a universal identity. In fact, in 1948 and... > more

The continual advance of technology and production techniques has opened new and exciting opportunities for contemporary graphic designers to create, distribute, and discover each other’s work. Likewise, as the design profession evolves to adapt and incorporate changing technologies, so too have the methods and techniques employed to visually explore the communication of information and language. Recent works by studios Fathom and Synoptic Office investigate unique ways in which typography can be used to illustrate stories or visualize data... > more