Theo Dimson

A Look Back at Theo Dimson | Inspiration | Applied Arts Canada's voice for  visual communications

Theo Dimson, a known graphic designer, was born in London, Ontario, on April 8th, 1930. Growing up with comic books and magazines, he became interested in design at an early age. With a scholarship, Dimson attended the Ontario College of Art and Design and graduated in 1950.

After Graduation, began a three-year apprenticeship with Art Associates Limited in Toronto. He freelanced for seven years before rejoining the firm in 1960 as vice-president of creative design. In 1960, Dimson became president and director of a new partnership Reeson Dimson & Smith Ltd. The company then later became Dimson & Smith & Smith Ltd. And maintained this name until Dimson created Theo Dimson Designs Inc. in 1985. He was the president creative director of this company.

He is the author of Great Canadian Posters and has been commissioned by Canada Post to create stamps. He has had solo shows in Toronto in 1978, and at the Royal Ontario Museum from 1992-to 94. Dimson is a me

mber of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, Associate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, and more.

Dimson was internationally recognized and received awards and accolades in books and magazines articles in countries around the world.

Sadly, Mr. Dimson passed away on 18 January 2012.

Some of His Works

A LESSON FROM ALOES
A Lesson From Aloes – 1980
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Christopher Columbus – 1981
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF ART
Ontario College of Art – 1980
NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL
National Book Festival – 1980
THE MEDICINE SHOW
The Medicine Show – 1984
THE LAST HERO
The Last Hero – 1985

Post Modernism in Europe – April Greiman

Readymag Stories: April Greiman
April Greiman

Early Days

April Greiman is one of the leading women designers in the New Wave, post-modern style. In her early years, she grew up in New York City and attended the Kansas City Art Institution where she studied graphic design. Afterwards, during the early 70’s she enrolled at the Basel School of Design where she studied under the supervision of two well-known masters of this period, Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart. Here she also found her interest in the International Style, and her later ‘New Wave’ style.

Using New Tech

Greiman started experimenting with graphic design during the advancement of computer technology despite the hesitancy of many modernist and contemporary fellow designers. Her experimentation and curiosity in the digital aspects of design were liberating her from the traditional approaches. By incorporating advanced technology in her design process, her works soon became unique and had multidisciplinary aesthetics. This marked Greimen’s name among other leading voices of the New Wave style in this turning era of the American graphic design landscape.

How she uses digital media and her disciplinary approach to design

Greimans’ work explores the various styles of typography and ways to alter her two-dimensional canvas into three-dimensional space through the process of a kind of layering. This kind of process would have been extremely difficult to achieve with traditional tools.

Her Impact

Greiman was one of the leading voices to advocate for the importance of Macintosh in graphic design. She also demanded more recognition and influence from female designers. Greiman and other’s advocacies for female designers have continued to this day and contributed greatly to the current gender landscape of the graphic design world.

Works

SCI-Arc Admissions
Cover for Wet Magazine
Sci-Arc, Changing Concepts of Space in Architecture and Art.
Poster designed by Greiman
Poster designed by Greiman

Psychedelic Illustrators of the 60s and 70s – Robert Wesly Wilson (1937-2020)

Wes Wilson

Artist Robert Wesley Wilson, who is generally recognized as the father of the 1960s rock concert poster, was one of the best-known designers of psychedelic posters.

Wes Wilson was an American artist and one of the leading designers of this era. He is best known for designing posters for a person named Bill Graham of The Fillmore in San Francisco, he invented a style that is now synonymous with the peace movement the psychedelic movement in the 1960s. In particular, he was known for inventing and popularizing a “psychedelic” font around 1966 that made the letters look like they were moving or melting.

His style was heavily influenced by the Art Nouveau movement. Wilson was considered to be one of ”The Big Five” San Francisco poster artists, along with Alton Kelley, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, and Stanley Mouse. Today his posters are converted among collectors, bringing hundreds or thousands of dollars. He experimented with fonts and colours to make it seems as though the letters were themselves moving.

BG #5-1 1966 Jefferson Airplane Fillmore Poster Wes Wilson BG5 BG-5
BG #5-1 Jefferson Airplane Filmore Poster – Wes Wilson
Juxtapoz Magazine - Wes Wilson, An Originator of Psychedelic Poster Art,  Dies at Age 82
Playboy Cover 1967 – Wes Wilson
WES WILSON (1937 ) [PSYCHEDELIC ROCK CONCERTS] Group of 15
1937 Concert Poster – Wes Wilson

Colour

Artist – Pascal Blanché

The “Blade Runner” is about an officer in search of a former blade runner who has been missing for over three decades. The main colours that are consistently found are warm oranges reds and yellows, contrasted against the bold blues. The use of the cool indigo contrasting against the oranges and red, really make the poster pop. The glow is extremely vibrant, the complementary blue tones are a natural fit for the orange. Without colour, this poster would be very flat, boring, and not as enticing. The theme and use of colour in the movie is portrayed in the poster well.

My Yearbook Spead

Yearbook Spread by Chelsea W.

The yearbook spread I created, was made with watercolour, sharpie, and a small use of markers, on mixed media paper. I love working with multimedia, using what I have available to me in whichever workspace I have. Even when there are dried out markers I would still use them for the difference in texture. In the centre of my spread is the self-portrait of myself, done with watercolour, the pose is fun, bubbly, and has an openness to it, trying to portray myself being ready to take on the toughest things life throws at me in the most positive way. The intermediate blues, reds, and yellows I use are my favourite main colours to work with. They each contrast and balance each other out so well, it’s pleasing to the eye. I mentioned that I would love to be born in the ’80s, for the style, colours, and fun poping designs. I attempted to pull those characteristics through my piece as the theme. Despite the current (organized) mess on my desk, I had a lot of fun creating this work.