Graphic Style Lab: Develop Your Own Style With 50 Hands-On Exercises

192 Pages·2015·29.58 MB·english

by  Steven Heller

DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE WITH 50 HANDS-ON EXERCISES
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© 2015 by Rockport Publishers
First published in the United States of America in 2015 by
Rockport Publishers, a member of
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
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Suite 406-L
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915-6101
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.rockpub.com
Visit RockPaperInk.com to share your opinions, creations, and passion for design.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All
images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility
is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this
publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any
inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.
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ISBN: 978-1-59253-910-9
Digital edition published in 2015
eISBN: 978-1-62788-056-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
Design: Rick Landers
Cover Image: Rick Landers
Printed in China
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steven Heller is the cochair and cofounder of SVA MFA Design/Designer as Author +
Entrepreneur. He is the author of 170 books on design and visual culture. In 1999, he received the
AIGA Lifetime Achievement Medal, and in 2011 he earned the Smithsonian’s National Design
Award for “Design Mind.” 
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C O N T E N T S
about the author no. 2 no. 3
3 PLAYING WITH PLAYING WITH VISUAL
V
OLD
preface -NEW-
PPERRSOO NAL SCTOYLNE: STYLE O
A
1. Create an album cover that parodies famous
1920s Russian avant garde design using a photo I
of yourself. 30
7 C
2. Create “tour guides” for different historical
styles, featuring historical and contemporary
introduction applications. 32
PHAVLE FUAN Y. . . 3. Redesign an existing mass-market coffee E
package to make it more appealing to an
upscale consumer. 34
4. Touch the heart of an acquaintance through a
designed gift. 36
11. Use cut-and-paste collage to mash up
5. Invent a beverage company that is multiple styles and images into a cohesive
represented by a venerable heritage, yet is visual statement on a specific theme. 56
of the moment, and design the label for its
signature product. 40 12. Transform a souvenir postcard into social
protest. 60
9 6. Typographically make advertisements or
promotions for something using American 13. Repurpose Soviet agitprop posters to celebrate
wood type. 42 something entirely contemporary. 62
no. 1
7. Combine vintage and contemporary styles 14. Design a chair that is symbolically based on a
to personalize a beer brand. 44 famous person using styles that express his
A GLOSSARY
know the or her period of time. 66
8. Create the identity(cid:4)—(cid:4)logo, signage, menus,
and matches(cid:4)(cid:4)—(cid:4)for a restaurant that has a 15. Express a personal voice in a public
styles you’re vintage French bistro theme. 48 space. 70
playing with 9. Conceive and design the packaging for a 16. Create a vintage typographic identity for a
stationery product that has a vintage veneer regional restaurant. 72
yet is a useful gift today. 50
13 10. Use Italian commercial typographic
references to make an artist’s book. 52
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no. 4 no. 6
PLAYING WITH PSLAyYImNGb WolITicH
AATTTTIITTUUDDEE
TYPE
37. Create a blackletter typeface that
17. Transform a digital idea into an analog 23. Parody any well-known rock-and-roll poster is old and new. 146
outcome. 78 from the ’60s to promote a contemporary
38. Design custom lettering based on classic
musician. 96
18. Evoke 1920s decorative style with twenty-first- banknotes, deeds, or stock certificates. 150
century attitude. 82 24. Use familiar yet novel graphics to shout out a
39. Design a typographic sign, billboard,
new food product. 100
19. Design posters that convey graphic commentary or mural that looks both old and new. 154
on issues of importance for you and society. 84 25. Find a palatable way to express extreme
40. Design a book cover or poster that combines
violence using Saul Bass expressionism. 102
20. Make a visual pun from a well-known logo, word different styles of lettering into one startling
mark, or trademark. 86 26. Using only drawing, painting, and/or hand typographic approach. 156
lettering, design a series of book jackets for
21. Design a DVD box set for a recent action film the cannon of modern literature. 106 41. Make words into signs and signs into words. 160
using type that represents the plot and time
period of the movie. 90 27. Use delftware pottery designs as a narrative 42. Use movie house vernacular as a title for a
theatrical performance. 162
element. 110
22. Create distinctive signs that you can use to sell
43. Reinterpret classic circus poster lettering. 166
produce in a grocery store, farmers’ market, or
vegetable stand. 92 44. Design illuminated typographic compositions
that are simultaneously almost unreadable and
no. 5 ornate, yet entirely legible. 170
SIMPLICITY + COMPLEXITY
PLAYING WITH 45. Make a facsimile of vintage New York tabloid
newspapers. 172
46. Design typography that represents, symbolizes,
or illustrates an individual’s personality. (It can
be a friend or well-known person.) 176
47. Create a series of designs in various historical
styles. 178
48. Make a series of silk-screen gig posters
28. Use silk screen or letterpress to reproduce a 33. Use familiar objects in unexpected ways. 130 incorporating various vernacular styles,
series of inspirational signs and posters with each with its own distinct character, but
bold wood type or metal lettering. 114 34. Design maps with distinct stylistic also with your own personal style. 182
personalities. 132
29. Use airbrush to create a streamlined heroic 49. Design a stylized comics poster that is
representation on a poster for a sporting 35. Make what is a frequently impersonal dense with different layers and characters,
event. 118 experience into a more comfortable one yet perfectly readable. 186
through a product designed in a friendly,
30. Conceive a series of recruitment posters for nostalgic package. 136 50. Use any small everyday thing (paper or object)
a college continuing education program. 122 to make a poster with a message where the
36. Transform sound into visual representation “thing” that you select is conceptually
31. Create optical iterations of the letters. 124 of music. 140 appropriate. 190
32. Provide distinct identities for a single
company’s various products. 126 acknowledgments 192
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preface
STEVEN HELLER
PPERRSOO NAL SCTOYLNE:
A
“Should I have a personal style? What is style?
Is it right to borrow styles?”
T
hese are the most common questions from design and illustration students—and rightly so.
Style is a precarious notion.
Often style is considered more important than substance. Sometimes style is substance.
This book attempts to answer these questions through fifty exercises/case studies of how styles are used
(sometimes abused) and how they can evolve into a distinct design personality, if only temporarily, for the
designer. The case studies address the distinctions between personal and universal style, historical
and contemporary style, one-of-a kind styles, and how lettering, type, and typography can define style.
Everyone has personal characteristics that distinguish or identify one from another. That is style.
All designers use stylistic elements in their work. Style is an essential marker. So choosing a style or
styles is critical. Sometimes the content of an assignment demands a certain style. Sometimes a designer
simply wants to have a certain look. Whatever the rationale, it is important to know the options. This
book is about how to experiment, or play, with styles to become more adept inside and outside of the
classroom. Through fifty examples of professional and student work, Graphic Style Lab will provide
the impetus for designers—beginning and practicing—to learn more about the role style plays in the
theater of design.
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L Y
introduction
HAVE FUN…
P A !
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