Claire Smyth AAD010 Introducing Studio Practice : Graphic Design and Illustration (Art Direction Contextual Research)
Within todays society, magazines tend to usually choose to not going to set out to simply just decorate their stories individually (on their own), as generally / commonly, their goal is to in which combine a range of visual imagery and language in order to effectively enhance the story’s meaning. In regards to this, design variations are a result of that desire and not a cause that is in and out of itself, as especially on a magazine (posters / advertisements / covers / pieces of graphic design) staff, art directors and copy writers tend to spend a tremendous amount of time brainstorming a wide range of different ideas and ways to enhance an image, story or emotion from choosing the design style, selecting related content features and honing the story’s tone of voice etc. To then effectively translate that process to the likes of web design, the use and execution of different frameworks can give immense flexibility within a given format, especially as custom fields for styles within content management systems at the individual post are a start. However, the ability to write custom CSS doesn’t automatically mean that a blog post or price of imagery has been art directed, as art direction tends to transcend custom blog posts, as it is seen as something different and extraordinary through elevating and enhancing a specific meaning.
Art direction brings clarity and definition towards pieces of work, through helping it convey a specific message to a particular group of people, along with combining art and design to evoke a cultural and emotional reaction of which is generally composed within and influenced throughout the likes of movies, music, digital advertisements, posters, websites, magazines and just about anything that we can interact with. As a result, without art direction, we can in which be left with dry, sterile experiences that are easily forgotten. For example and towards certain environments, can a New York subway ad about the homeless provoke you to donate money? Why do you want to beg Clarice Starling to turn around, even though you know she can’t hear you? How do candles transform a regular meal into a romantic evening? which in great relevance to these statements, the continued importance of art direction is in fact solely about evoking the right emotion and creating that connecting to what you are seeing and experiencing. By contrast, when considering art design within aspects of work, design is in which the technical execution of that connection through recognising if: the colours match? Is the line length comfortable for long periods of reading? Is the photo / image / design in focus? Does the typographic hierarchy work? Is this composition balanced? For example, if someone was to tell their partner / spouse that they love them, but say it with a frown on their face, they may get mixed signals or if they say it nonchalantly while watching tv, they may not fully believe it. However, when they say it with a genuine smile and a bouquet of flowers, the meaning will be and come across as so much clearer, which as a result works hand in hand to deliver the point both emotionally and physically as design is perfection in technique; art direction is about the important, yet sometimes the intangible combinations of design, emotion and effects is what in fact truly powers the design.
The widely varying role of art director adds to the confusion around the difference between art direction and design. At one extreme, some agencies hire art directors who are terrible at design but understand it well enough to give direction to designers. On the other hand, some agencies have the role art director as the next logical pay grade in the path to become an experienced designer. Most workplaces are somewhere in between. Many smaller agencies don’t employ an art director for many reasons. That fact misleads us into thinking that art direction is an optional part of the creative process. However, the opposite is true. Art direction is so crucial that it is never skipped, only inadvertently and subconsciously performed by designers who often aren’t ready for that type of responsibility.
For example and in great relevance towards art direction as a whole within the creative industry, famous successful art directors (graphic designers) can in which include the likes of Fabien Baron.
Over the course of his 30-year career within the creative industry, celebrated French director, art director and magazine editor Fabien Baron has in which to this day overhauled the image of five major fashion magazines, as well as crafting various visual identities of multiple blue chip labels, including brands such as Calvin Klein, Balenciaga and Burberry. Throughout Barons work, his instantly recognisable signatures – bold, elegant typography arranged around expanses of white space have in which become very mainstream over the years, influencing the design for everything from the Gap’s sales signs down to Tomato soup cans, which as a result he has then went onto win numerous industry awards, particularly for his work on designer fragrances.
Growing up in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, Baron learnt typography and layouts from his father, who was an art director for several French newspapers. At the age of 20, after studying at the École des Arts Appliqués in Paris, he left to try his luck in New York City and landed at GQ after a meeting with the editorial director at Condé Nast, the late Alexander Liberman. Thereafter, he was introduced to the world of advertising while working at New York Woman, a magazine published by American Express. As a result of his progression / influences, Baron was soon counting department store Barneys as a client and eventually became art director at Vogue Italia, where Franca Sozzani had recently landed the top job. It was here that Baron really developed relationships with fashion designers. He went on to join the late editor Liz Tilberis to reinvent Harper’s Bazaar in the early ‘90s, followed by Vogue Paris and Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. In between, Baron launched his own advertising agency, Baron & Baron and has also co-designed a line of furniture and eyewear. In April 2018, shortly after his resignation from Interview it was revealed that Baron and his wife, stylist Ludivine Poiblanc, had filed a $600,000 lawsuit against the magazine for outstanding invoices. As a result / with eponymous agency, Baron’s role now extends far beyond that of an art director. “Developing strategy is our job now — we have to create business plans and strategies,” he told BoF. “It’s not just shooting a campaign. Now we have to consider the why, the how, the market, the business, what we spend. The list goes on and on.” Throughout the past year in August 2019, Baron was appointed to the creative team of Ports 1961 to lead on the brand’s visual identity amid its turnaround, with Karl Templer helping its fashion direction to where he has gone onto produce various art direction imagery and pieces of work being advertised to members of the public globally and within the United Kingdom especially.
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