Hulse and Durrell

I wasn’t exposed to mainstream graphic design as a kid, but once I migrated to Canada I was greeted by the beautiful designs of the 2010 Winter Olympics throughout Vancouver. Since then I always admired its art direction- made possible by multiple designers including the likes of ‘Hulse and Durrell’.

This design studio consists of Ben Hulse and Greg Durrell, who share interests in sports and design. They believe that opportunity is brought by complexity and their aim is to develop impactful design solutions for their clients. The studio has worked with sports brands such as the redesigned Canadian Olympic Team.

Hulse and Durrell began working together in 2007 remotely in cafes, all while collaborating with clients worldwide. They later worked with the design team of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games. This eventually resulted in the graphically-striking identity of the games.

Hulse and Durrell’s favourite moments while working on the project revolved around the torch relay and the Olympic torch. Greg Durrell proudly remembers being allowed to be a torchbearer after following the torch relay in late 2009 as a documentary photographer, while Ben Hulse favoured their contributions to the design of the torch used in those relays.

WORKS CITED

• Halse and Durrell Design Ltd. “Info.” Hulse & Durrell, Halse and Durrell Design Ltd., 2020, hulsedurrell.com/Info.
• Clarke, Ian. “Ben Hulse & Greg Durrell.” HeyThere, Ianclarke.ca, 2020, heythere.ca/interview/hulse-durrell/.
• “Filmmakers.” Design Canada, designcanada.com/filmmakers.

Images obtained from

• https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_swimming_canada_by_hulse_durrell.php
• http://heythere.ca/20interview/hulse-durrell/
• https://natedsanders.com/blog/2019/09/2010-olympics-torch-vancouver/

Reudi Baur (b.1956)

French-Swiss designer, Reudi Baur was born on March 5, 1956, near the beginning of the late 20th-century Postmodernism movement. Spending his early years in the city of Paris, Baur later moved to Zurich, Switzerland to study graphic design, studying under Michael Baviera with Lars Müller as a classmate.

Baur eventually graduated in 1979, returning to France to begin his design career, partaking in cultural projects by developing concepts for museums, including the curation of design exhibitions for clients such as the Project Gallery. He later expanded his reach to Parisian art institutions such as the Pompidou Center, where he designed its facility navigation system.

Baur’s work is heavily focused on architecture and urban development, whereas his body of work involving brand identity merged the two disciplines together to form a new branch of design. Personally, Reudi prefers developing a recognizable and appealing visual language for his clients’ audiences.

Reudi later formed the Intégral design firm alongside Pippi Lionni and Philippe Delis in 1989, with present-day branches in Paris, Zurich and Berlin. It was also after the creation of these studios where Baur noticed a change in attitude in his clients, who became more analytical and meticulous towards proposed design solutions.

WORKS CITED

• Baur, Ruedi. “SHORT BIOGRAPHY.” Ruedi Et Vera Baur, Ruedi Et Vera Baur, ruedi-baur.eu/en/biography/short-biography.html.
• Butler, Andy. “Interview with Graphic Designer Ruedi Baur.” Designboom, 25 Mar. 2014, www.designboom.com/design/interview-ruedi-baur-03-24-2014/.

Images obtained from

• http://www.ruedi-baur.eu/en/
• https://www.architonic.com/en/story/tlmag-ruedi-baur-swiss-graphic-design-past-present-and-future/7001409

Paula Scher (b.1948)

Born in Virginia on October 6th, 1948, Scher lived her childhood years in Philadelphia and Washington DC, later attending the Tyler School of Art in Pennsylvania. She eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1970 and soon moved to New York City to jump-start her career in design as a layout artist.

Often, Paula’s design solutions draw influences from the Art deco movement and Russian constructivism, mainly evident in her implementation of typographic elements. Scher has also designed environmental supergraphics, perceiving and transforming the urban scene into dynamic design works.

Paula Scher is often referred to as a “master conjurer of the instantly familiar,” agreeably a valid notion, as she has worked in the design industry for roughly 50 years. Since then, she has designed for companies such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola and CBS Records.

Scher has taught at Yale University, Tyler School of Art, Cooper Union, and at the School of Visual Arts in New York for at least 37 years, where she bore witness to the evolution of technology and its growing involvement in graphic design.

Although she acknowledges its convenience, she believes that it is not the technology that makes good design, but the designer.

WORKS CITED

• FamousGraphicDesigners.org. “Paula Scher: Biography, Designs and Facts.” Famous Graphic Designers, FamousGraphicDesigners.org, 2020, www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/paula-scher.
• Long, Molly. “Paula Scher: ‘It Took Me 20 Years to Realise I Was Good at My Job.’” Design Week, Centaur Media Plc, 27 Nov. 2019, www.designweek.co.uk/issues/25-november-1-december-2019/paula-scher-profile/.
• Pentagram. “Paula Scher.” Pentagram, Pentagram, www.pentagram.com/about/paula-scher.

Images obtained from

• https://blog.logodesignguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/paula-scher-min-1280×720.png
• https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/25-november-1-december-2019/paula-scher-profile/
• https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/02/designer-paula-scher-makes-beautifully-skewed-hand-painted-maps-of-u-s-data.html
• https://www.semipermanent.com/articles/interview-paula-scher
• http://www.artnet.com/artists/paula-scher/europe-Tr1fJfe6IQqcnH402WbCCg2

Stanley Mouse (b.1940)

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The son of an animator, born in Fresno, California, Stanley Mouse is renowned for his illustrative posters, fusing Art Nouveau, Pop-art and Psychedelic techniques and motifs.

Mouse grew up in Detroit, known for drawing muscle cars driven by monstrous figures and working as a spray-painter for cars, which made a name for him during his thirteenth year of age.

Dropping out of art school, he began producing art posters for rock bands in San Francisco alongside Alton Kelley and influenced a permanent change to advertising art.

During the 15-year collaboration, Mouse and Kelley produced notable works including a poster starring the ZigZag cigarette man, and a poster incorporating death and roses for the rock band “The Grateful Dead”.

Stanley would then return to Detroit in 1970, where he held a large-scale solo art show at the Detroit Institute of Art and resulted in his body of work to become noticed in various art institutions worldwide. This including the Louvre in Paris, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Mouse later moved to San Francisco permanently, where he produced works for the late Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Moonalice and even Journey.

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WORKS CITED

“Biography.” MouseStudios, MouseStudios, www.mousestudios.com/section/biography. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020

artnet. “Stanley Mouse.” Artnet, www.artnet.com/artists/stanley-mouse/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020

IMAGES OBTAINED FROM

https//moonaliceposters.com/artists/stanley-mouse/

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postrock/2009/04/stanley_mouse.html

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/3864479-181/stanley-mouse-man-who-designed?sba=AAS&artslide=1

Alex Steinweiss (b.1917, d.2011)

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Beginning his design career with Columbia Records (1939), Alexander Steinweiss was mostly known for his album cover designs. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and receiving education from Abraham Lincoln High and Parsons School of Design, Alex was Columbia Records’ first art director.

Recently after landing a job position with Columbia Records, a job opening was published by CBS, whose advertising manager was looking for a designer. Steinweiss disregarded this offer, continuing to work for Columbia Records.

Alex established his position in design history with the first-ever album cover, produced alongside a photographer to make a cover out of the New York Imperial Theatre’s marquee sign. Steinweiss’ motivation was the awful, plain sleeve covers, record disks were packaged in before his breakthrough.

Steinweiss experimented with layout, colour, type and illustration cohesively in a modernist style. Involving elegant type, and vibrant, and eye-catching geometric patterns and symbolic folk art.

By 1937, Steinweiss had created over two thousand covers, mostly by hand.

Steinweiss’ body of work displayed prominence during the 1940s, where music enthusiasts quickly grew fond of music records now packaged in art album covers. A now, a common staple in the music industry, through the unwavering innovation of Alex Steinweiss.

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WORKS CITED

AIGA. “Alex Steinweiss.” AIGA, 5 Sept. 2004, www.aiga.org/medalist-alexsteinweiss. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020

Kennedy, Philip. “Alex Steinweiss and the World’s First Record Cover.” Illustration Chronicles, Illustration Chronicles, June 2016, illustrationchronicles.com/Alex-Steinweiss-and-the-World-s-First-Record-Cover. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020

IMAGES OBTAINED FROM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Steinweiss

illustrationchronicles.com/Alex-Steinweiss-and-the-World-s-First-Record-Cover

https://thevinylfactory.com/features/alex-steinweiss-the-story-of-the-worlds-first-record-sleeve-artist/