The Seduction of Design
The cover of the Fall issue of Perspective, the International Interior Design Association’s quarterly journal, is essentially a small poster. As such, its meaning has as much to do with the act of making it as with the resulting artifact. In order to make a great poster, one must be able to sense the policeman or soldier lurking around the corner as he applies his message of provocation to the wall. One must be able to feel the possibility of a parent or religious authority discovering his innermost desires as he creates a message of sensuality and seduction. He must feel the edge of the precipice… and step over. Great design, universally, is about the creation of that which seduces and provokes. The seduction of great design can be a soft whisper in your ear or the smoke-crackled voice of a blues singer—raw, coarse, and unapologetic in its call to your emotions. This illustration for the cover of Perspective is about that kind of raw seduction. The kind that leaves us saying, “I don’t need to understand exactly how or why this object was made, I only know that I want it. And I won’t settle for anything else.”
Cover for the Fall issue of “Perspective,” the journal of the International Interior Design Association
© 2009, Legendre+Rutter
Art is Design
When my wife, Miki, asked if I would collaborate with her on the creation of some ceramic pieces for a local Fall arts sale, I was more than happy to accept the challenge. Yann and I, after all, have been stressing the idea that the brand of design we practice professionally from day-to-day is no different at all from the creative process required to conceive and make anything unique. Art is design. For us, there is very little separation between the disciplines imposed on us by colleges and universities of “fine” vs. “applied” arts. Here are just two pieces I did from a small collection, especially designed for the Lycée Français de Chicago (International French School) Fall Market. Miki created some simple but elegant bowl forms. I thought they’d be perfect for application of these bold and playful characters, which draw inspiration from some French masters. -Lance
You can pre-order online at our store.
The merging of human and animal forms was a special talent of Picasso, and the loose brush renderings remind me of what I love about Matisse.
© 2009, Legendre+Rutter
© 2009, Legendre+Rutter
il Museo in Erba Exhibits “Picasso”
There is in Paris, as in many cities in the world, a museum made for children: the Musée en Herbe (Museum in Grass). The first foreign satellite of this museum is in Bellinzona, Switzerland, which offers special exhibitions related to the world of art created for children. il Museo in Erba, whose goal it is to surprise, amaze and educate kids, offers them a space created precisely for their unique “culture of play.” Each quarter, the museum offers an exhibit centered around the work of one famous artist. For the Fall of 2009, il Museo in Erba has created a special children’s exhibit featuring some of the work of Pablo Picasso. The poster designed for this exhibit is a continuation in a series of posters that serve as biographical portraits of the featured artists.
Poster for the Picasso exhibit at il Museo in Erba, by Yann Legendre
Posters designed for previous exhibits at il Museo in Erba: “Gauguin” and “Niki de Saint Phalle.”
© 2009, Legendre+Rutter
Where Have All the (U.S.) Posters Gone?
We can argue all day and night about why the printed poster is disappearing from the visual landscape, but the truth is that posters are still being produced all over the world. Designers everywhere are creating posters that are well-conceived and beautifully crafted, but there is evidence that the poster is simply not taken as seriously in the U.S. as it is in almost every other part of the industrialized world. As evidence, look at the major International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA) endorsed poster competitions around the world over the past year. Very few US designers enter these competitions and, for the most part, even fewer win anything.
Two such competitions stand out: the prestigious Toyama International Poster Triennial in Japan and the China International Poster Biennial. At Toyama, of the 4,516 posters submitted for judging from 49 countries, only 52 were from the USA. And of those, only 7 were selected for exhibition at the Toyama Museum of Modern Art (out of 409 exhibited). In China, the numbers were even more stark: of the 178 posters selected from all entries, 106 came from Asia, 66 from Europe, and only 5 came from all of North and South America.
What can we say? We’re trying to do our part to keep the American poster alive on the international design scene. Legendre+Rutter had three finalists chosen for exhibition in Toyama and four of the five US posters selected in China.
Finalists in the Toyama International Poster Triennial: “Cet Obscur Objet du Désir” by Legendre+Rutter and "Imagination" by Yann Legendre
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by Lance Rutter, Toyama Poster Triennial
Finalists in the China International Poster Biennial: "Niki de Sant Phalle" and "Fantasmagoria Fukuda" by Yann Legendre
Finalists in the China International Poster Biennial: "Music Awards Dinner" and "Homage to Mucha" by Lance Rutter
Legendre Wins SND Awards of Excellence
In the Society of News Design’s 30th annual competition, Yann Legendre was recognized with two Awards of Excellence for his work with The New York Times. Legendre’s illustration for the cover of The New York Times Arts & Culture section, entitled “The Year in Culture, 2008” received the award in the categories of Feature Pages and Illustrations. This illustration assignment represents a core capability of Legendre+Rutter not found with most traditional graphic design studios.
The 8-color silkscreen poster of the cover is available on our store. It was recently named a finalist in the 3rd Bolivian International Poster Biennial. © 2009, Legendre+Rutter
