On Saturday, February 7th, the AIGA EMERGE show took place at
the Loyola Marymount University. For those still interested, it’s a forty to an hour drive from
Cal State Los Angeles. I thought the exhibition served its purpose. I really didn’t care much from whom or where the design came from, but that the design was being displayed for discussion. The exhibition filled the air with laughter and noise, and even the spilling of wine. And yet, the design pieces were the center of focus. I thought that most of the pieces were visually quite good, and some compelled me to question them. The pieces that were done at Art Center were in every way unconventional and provocative. The purpose of their work broke the rules of tradition, while exploring the madness of contemporary design. While at the same time, it questioned what
is acceptable design. And, for those hackled by Jim about “good design,” it was a big Ha to his face! (Luv ya Jim ☺). Many of those unconventional techniques they used to decorate their posters/pieces were that they would put text underneath a line or on top of a graphic, the visual hierarchy leaned toward aesthetics rather than the information, and so forth. Other pieces that were quite interesting were the
landscape design, which visually popped out of the canvas (the space that the graphic can occupy), and the books. But, out of all the design pieces at the exhibition I enjoyed the motion graphic pieces the most. They were breath-taking from a typographical standpoint. As, the words and individual letters would vanish and reappear in and out of the empty white space or follow the person’s conversation, like the karaoke machines but more visually pleasing. All in all, folks, the exhibition is worth checking out if you have the time. Why not spend it somewhere you can get insight on what else is out there in the design world? It was where fellow designers emerged.
