| Text from Igor Arih |
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| 04.08.2008 |
| Form - good servant bad master |
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| There are some women whose appearance immediately attracts you. At first sight they are like magazine dolls. At second sight it's no different. Until they open their mouth. They have pretty little noses, shiny lips, full volume hair and are ready to spend a quarter of an hour and more on a public toilet to cover the spot that has burst out of their bosom. A little volcano protruding out of the décolletage and screaming! An error of nature, destroying completely the only valuable thing she owns - her shape. There is no contents anyway. But there are also women who have irregular noses and natural breasts. Their looks reach deep in the spine. As they talk, they cut at knee-height. Their form is not gaudy. They are aware of their main asset - their brain. The content is trendy.
How a badly designed label for a top-quality wine turned into an example of good design. I like to tell this story. A hundred years ago an excellent French winemaker started producing top-quality wine. With its quality increasing, he decided to improve the package and stop selling jug wine. He bought Bordeaux bottles and went to see the nearby printer, asking him to print and first also design the wine label. The winemaker had just commenced his business and asked the printer not to make the label too expensive. The printer respected his wish and designed a simple black-and-white label. He gathered all the necessary wine-related data and arranged it into what he thought a logical hierarchical sequence, maybe added a chateau drawing (in the same colour) and printed it all onto simple white paper. The printer didn't have the knowledge of a famous printmaker nor did he have many typographies in his range of lead types to make harmonious arrangements. The printer designed and printed the label to the best of his ability and knowledge. The local art teacher immediately described it a botch! One of the reasons he did so was the fact the winemaker had not commissioned him, the academic, but rather the local printer, who despite the artistic incongruity managed to create the label for excellent wine. It was easy to read the name of the chateau, the year and some other data, together with the drawing forming a garment for the contents. As the winemaker bottled the first series and dispatched it to restaurants, the customers who enjoyed good wine nodded upon the first sip despite the modest and artistically incongruous appearance. And so did the art professor! Years went by. The winemaker made the wine even better. Gradually the wine was being shipped around the world. Yet he refused to replace the label. Maybe he added another colour or a patch of gold, but the basic typographical structure remained incongruous and the chateau drawing kept its distorted perspective. Why? Through time the artistically impaired label absorbed all the associations of this top-quality wine like an empty battery. Its incongruity became its characteristic. It has become the trademark of this excellent wine. Even more. A hundred years later many academically educated designers, myself included, legitimately consider this an example of a superiorly designed wine label. And it is only because the first printer bowed to the contents. On purpose or out of ignorance? That's of no importance. It must have been out of respect for good wine. Minimalism and manipulation of errors have become my basic principles and guidelines to first-rate design.
One word says more than a thousand pictures! With its products, WannabeSociety.com has brought the minimalism of form to the null point. The form only exists in that there is none! There is only one word. In capital letters. Black on white or white on black. In Helvetica - the simplest of typefaces. With no visible design elements. Everything is subordinate to your selection. Your contents, the chosen word triggering an eruption of associations. I have not seen a stronger message printed on a T-shirt. When WNBS start selling wines, the white or black label will only state CHARDONAY or MERLOT.
Igor Arih,
Bol, 9 July 2008 |
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1. okrep said
05.08.2008 10:20:28
Igor se strinjam, vsebina je in!
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2. Camus said
05.08.2008 15:40:20
Alelujaaaa ...
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3. Andja said
12.08.2008 00:10:46
Super.
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4. mateja said
25.08.2008 22:05:33
kreativna inovativnost.
inovativna kreativnost.
kreativno inovativna kreativnost.
inovativno kreativna inovativnost.
ja, hocemo se vec dreka! prosim, se vec dreka!
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5. Camus said
28.08.2008 14:05:25
Mateja ... kreativno inovativna kreativnost in inovativno kreativna inovativost se pišeta z vezajem med podrednima deloma pridevnika, torej kreativno-inovativna in inovativno- kreativna. Nisi bila kaj prida marljiva pri slovenščini ...
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6. primorc said
01.09.2008 18:34:39
Mimogrede, a je kdo opazil, da je chardonnay napisan z enim n premalo?
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7. Igor A. said
01.09.2008 18:53:07
Se mi je zdelo, da so komentarji za nekaj dobro.
Hvala Primorc. Ampak bom pustil tako. Rad imam napake. Samo iz njih se kaj naučimo in nas naredijo človeške.
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8. bissgets said
22.09.2008 11:42:03
chardonnay -> chardonay -> chardone -> šardone -> šd
si bon -> šipon -> šp
malvazija -> mv
merlot->mr
cabernet sauvignon->cs
cabernet->cb
sauvignon->sv
rebula->rb
chateau d'yquem->cy (šy?)
itd.
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9. wow gold said
28.04.2009 08:46:00
good information, thank you very much
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10. Kaylynn said
11.04.2011 04:56:56
uJpimz It's spooky how clever some ppl are. Thanks!
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11. cialis said
26.04.2011 17:08:17
Aloha man! I quite agree with your thoughts. Thank you for having written this.
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12. Flip said
08.06.2011 04:03:17
Youve got it in one. Couldnt have put it beettr.
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13. GIGIO said
26.06.2011 05:04:04
Content is the new master. New world is comming. Be ready
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14. Gertrude said
15.11.2011 12:03:56
Posts like this birghetn up my day. Thanks for taking the time.
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15. ZyprexaWG said
28.12.2011 23:26:47
In comp. how switch work i.e on and off, i.e 0 and 1?
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16. Jodi said
01.02.2012 05:01:31
Nothing I could say would give you undue cdriet for this story.
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