My initial research from the radio broadcast focused on cultural appropriation in design, that is, “taking – from a culture that is not one’s own – of intellectual property, cultural expressions or artifacts, history, and ways of knowledge”. I wanted to move from more theoretical based readings to examples of New Zealand design which appropriate indigenous cultural expressions. An obvious example is the koru (curvilinear line punctuated with a circular stoppage), which is prolific in New Zealand art and design (e.g. Air NZ) as a symbol of bi-cultural national identity. However, the translation of the koru from its original purpose is not without controversy e.g. Dick Frizzell, Grocer with Moko 1992.
Looking for suitable graphic design examples, the first one which caught my eye was the bold cover image of issue 102 of Pro Design. It uses the “K” from PLINC Exotique typeface (See House Industries or Photo Lettering), coloured red and black. This image is taken from an Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) poster adverting the International Speaker Tour of Kris Sowersby (founder of NZ Klim Type Foundry) and designed by The International Office. The front of the poster uses an extremely large “K” with information on the event in the top left corner in small text. The asymmetry and contrast in scale is effective and dramatic, and the hierarchy works with with the use of black and red in the small text. On the reverse, the Australian cities are listed in the Exotique typeface with additional information in a small, plainer font.
I like the geometric quality of the Exotique typeface - the way in which it has two layers, and is two-tone. The line and circular stop form immediately suggests the koru and New Zealand, which is emphasised with the colour choice in the poster. I’m reminded of Gordon Walters modernist abstract paintings. As the designer Duncan Forces said “Australian typographers would have gotten a kick out of seeing such definitely Australian names treated in such as an obviously Kiwi style”.
What is interesting is that although the typeface was digitised by Kris Sowersby he didn’t design it. It was designed pre-1971 and according to Sowersby (see comment on ProDesign website) the “koru' like association is purely coincidental”. I think the name of the typeface probably suggests there was an influence from Maori or Pacific design but I can’t find further information. I'd like to investigate typefaces which represent or suggest a national identity or local culture, and how this is conveyed in the font's structural elements.
While doing my paper-based research I have just come across an article that Kris Sowersby appears in! In the May/June 2011 issue of ProDesign there is an article called "Word Games". It is an interview with three artists that have all contributed to a series of typographic post cards called "Sentimental Journey". Poet Kate Champ had the initial idea of creating these postcards and invited graphic designer Sarah Maxey and typeface designer Kris Sowersby to work on the project with her. Champ chose twenty two-word phrases and split the words up, gave half of them to Maxey and the other half to Sowersby to work on separately. At the end of the project the words were put together on a postcard. The result of these were fascinating and captured my attention while flicking through the magazine- which prompted me to read the article. Each designer took an emotional response to the words and created beautiful typography to represent them. In my paper based research i started analyzing each designers approach to the words and that prompted me to research other works they have done to see if my analysis of them as designers were correct! The image of Sowersbys "k" above reminded me of your post and I thought you might be interested in the series of postcards I found.
ReplyDeleteHeres an online link to the series: http://www.designworklife.com/2011/04/11/sentimental-journey-postcards/
-Krissy Andrews
I thought I should clarify my post by saying that it wasn’t my intention to suggest that Exotique is an example of the appropriation of Māori cultural expression in typeface design.
ReplyDeleteMy purpose was to open up class discussion, and my own thinking, about a complex issue, about the ways in which designers are influenced by a multitude of different visual sources, including cultures outside their own.
Obviously, circular shapes are used across cultures and but the choice of red and black by the poster designer seems to deliberately exaggerate and play on any similarities to Māori cultural expression.
I think that Exotique isn’t an example of appropriation because it’s individual and is just as much a part of the European tradition of geometric typefaces and Bauhaus.