A LOOK INTO
PAUL RAND, DR. ALDRETE & JESSICA WALSH’S WORK...
JESSICA WALSH
PAUL RAND
DR. ALDERETE
JESSICA WALSH
1
JESSICA WALSH
J
essica Walsh (born October 30, 1986) is an American graphic designer, art director and illustrator, and founder of creative agency &
Walsh.
After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts from RISD in 2008, Walsh moved to New York City. to intern at the notable design firm Pentagram. She turned down a job at Apple where she was offered nearly $100,000 annually to accept the internship under Paula Scher at Pentagram, where she would stay for nearly a year. She then worked as an associate art director at Print magazine and had design work and illustrations featured in various books, magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and New York Times Magazine.In reflections about her time at Print magazine, she identifies it as one of the best things to happen in her career as it was how she found and developed her personal style. In 2010, Walsh met Stefan Sagmeister. He looked through her portfolio a nd offered her a job at his design studio, Sagmeister Inc.In June 2012, after two years at the firm, Walsh was made partner, at age 25.In homage to a nude self-portrait Sagmeister had sent out to announce the formation of his own firm 19 years prior, the new partners released a photo of themselves naked in their office to announce the renaming of the firm to Sagmeister & Walsh. Blending handcraft, photography and painting with digital design, Walsh works primarily on branding, typography, website design and art installations. Her signature style has been described as “bold, emotional and provocative”with the occasional surrealistic flourish,and her art has been said to look “hand-made and at times quite daring.” Walsh has workedz on projects for clients including Levi’s, Aizone, Adobe and Colab Eyewear,and rebranding efforts for The Jewish Museum of New York and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut.Walsh and Sagmeister collaborated on Six Things: Sagmeister & Walsh, an exhibition that opened at the Jewish Museum in March 2013, and ran for five months. For the exhibit, an exploration of happiness, they created a soundactivated sculpture and five short films. In July 2019, Walsh announced she was leaving Sagmeister & Walsh and forming her own studio, & Walsh. Walsh has said that the studio is a fulfillment of her dreams as a teen to run her own business and 2
the studio will become one of 36 female-led creative studios in the United States. 40 Days of Dating In 2013, Walsh and fellow designer and friend Tim Goodman decided to date for 40 days to see if they could overcome their relationship issues and fall in love. They documented the social experiment on a blog, 40 Days of Dating, launched in July 2013.In support of the blog, which earned more than 5 million unique visitors in less than a year,they appeared in segments on talk shows Todayand The View.In September 2013, Warner Brothers purchased the film rights, with a screenplay to be written by Lorene Scafaria, and Michael Sucsy attached to direct.Walsh and Goodman will serve as consulting writers on the script and also wrote a book for Abrams, 40 Days of Dating: An Experiment, out in early 2015. 12 Kinds of Kindness In 2016, Walsh and Goodman began a second project together, which they described as a “12-step experiment designed to open [their] hearts, eyes, and minds”. They set up twelve tasks in which they displayed kindness to people and recorded the results. The experiment was live from January 13 to March 15, 2016.
Jessica Walsh is in the 0.1 percent. That’s how few founders of ad agencies with national or international accounts are female, according to Ad Age. Ms. Walsh, 33, a graphic designer and art director who started the firm &Walsh last year, is determined to increase this astoundingly low-sounding figure. And so she also started Ladies, Wine and Design: a nonprofit that runs free events, talks and portfolio reviews for women and nonbinary people. “It was just always a dream of mine to have an agency that was entirely my own,” Ms. Walsh said. “There are so few women-founded creative agencies out there. I want to see more of them.” A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Ms. Walsh evolved her lush, tactile style partnering with the graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister when she was in her mid-20s. She also worked on a number of personal passion projects, including 40 Days of Dating, a popular blog written with Timothy Goodman, an artist, that they turned into a book. And she’s hired around 30 people at &Walsh to strategize branding, advertising and social media campaigns for clients from tech giants like Apple and Snapchat to small start-ups such as the Riveter and Pet Plate. Ms. Walsh keeps long hours, extended by social media. “Work is my passion and I love that work and life is intertwined,” she said. “I work with a lot of my family. I work with a lot of my close friends on projects together. To me, it doesn’t feel like a burden. However, I don’t ask that of our employees! I’m really proud that we’re not a sweatshop like many other agencies are.”
3
JESSICA WALSH
PET PLATE
“
Dogs are like humans except way, way better. So why shouldn’t they be able to eat fresh, real food just like humans? That’s where Pet Plate comes in, delivering top quality, chef-crafted dog food straight to your door, made with fresh ingredients in a human-grade kitchen. In search of a new identity as fresh as their food, Pet Plate came to us. They wanted to show the world that they are a fresh, human quality dog food with a good sense of humor.” “One of Pet Plate’s main objectives was showing that they serve human-quality dog food. With this in mind, we took inspiration from the traditional blue & white style decorative plates that have roots in cultures all over the world. We balanced the fine
4
5
AISHTI
FOUNDATION
T
he Aishti Foundation is a 40,000 sq foot exhibition space in Jal el-Dib, a short drive up the Mediterranean coast from downtown Beirut. We developed the concept and design for Aishti’s campaign to highlight their location by the sea side. The foundation building showcases works from Salamé’s 2,000-strong collection as well as a variety of high end luxury retail shops. To celebrate the opening of The Foundation, Tony Salamé asked us to conceptualize and design a campaign around the intersection of fashion and art, while highlighting its location by the sea side. We also created an animated series of the campaign for their Instagram and social channels.line illustrations with bold, funky typefaces and humorous copywriting to establish a playful tone of voice.” ART DIRECTION: Jessica Walsh CLIENT: Aishti By the Sea DESIGN: Felipe Rocha, Fumi Omori PHOTOGRAPHY: Aron Filkey & Mate Moro RETOUCHING: Daniel Plateado PRODUCTION: Molly Brunk
6
JESSICA WALSH
7
8
Aizone Campaign FW15 W
e developed the concepts, art direction and design for Aizone’s fall/winter 2015 campaign. Aizone is a department store in the Middle East. Illustrations often depict a 3D object or environment in 2D form. We decided to twist this notion and create a 3D environment that looked like an illustration. Playful props like purses, plants and pitchers of lemonade are made from paper and drawn in a quirky, cartoon-like style that pops with color. A series of accompanying videos animate fashion items and figurines among the vibrant settings and scenarios, while a behind-the-scenes film shows the creation and construction process of each of the sets.
The Design Museum of Holon held a retrospective of our work, with a musuem takeover titled Sagmeister & Walsh: A Retrospective.
The Design Museum Holon is the first museum in Israel dedicated to design, located in the town of Holon, just outside of Tel Aviv. Every 5 months, the museum rotates exhibitions within their gallery space, inviting select designers to fully take over the space. Inside of Ron Arad’s architecturally beautiful building, designers are encouraged to transform the space into an interactive & fully immersive display of their work. From top designers to fashion icons to private Israeli collections, the museum has been home to the work of some of the world’s best designers. With select pieces of our work from a variety of mediums, we took over the walls of the entire museum, spanning two full floors. We displayed over 70 pieces of our work, including branding, advertising, art installations & our self-initiated projects. The installation included video projections, interactive pieces, sketches & posters. TimeOut Israel wrote “Using various techniques, expressive tools, and unconventional materials, Sagmeister & Walsh breathe new life into Marshall McLuhan’s well-known phrase: ‘The medium is the message’,” says Maya Dvash, the museum’s Chief Curator. “Their subjective approach, which involves a playful engagement with the viewers’ senses, gives rise to unforgettable images, while encouraging viewers to think about the images we consume and produce in our everyday lives.”
9
PAUL RAND
10
11
P designer distinctive style.
aul Rand, (born August 15, 1914, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.—died November 26, 1996, Norwalk, Connecticut), American graphic who pioneered a American Modernist
Everything is design! Born Peretz Rosenbaum in 1914 and deceased in 1996, Paul Rand is a graphic design legend. Throughout his
After studying in New York City, Rand worked as an
60-years long career, he changed America’s opinion
art director for Esquire and Apparel Arts magazines
on visual communication. With his editorial designs,
from 1937 to 1941. As his work developed, Rand
advertisements, and visual identity works, Rand
assimilated the philosophy and visual vocabulary
brought avant-garde European ideas to the United-
of European art and design, in particular that of
States, mixing visual arts and commercial design. His
the Bauhaus, Constructivism, Cubism, De Stijl, and
colourful combinations, approach of typography and
Futurism. Rand believed that lines, shapes, and colours
use of media translate his desire to “defamiliarize the
could become message-conveying signs and symbols in
ordinary”. His style consequently still have an impact on
visual communications while simultaneously functioning
graphic design today.
as elements in an artistic composition. For example, in a 1947 poster promoting the New York Subways
Rand first made his mark in the 1930s with a bold and
Advertising Company, Rand’s arrangement of dots and
modernist style, designing magazine and book covers a
concentric circles in vibrant colours becomes both an
few years later. He brought winds of change to Madison
illustrative image and a dynamic composition.
Avenue by creating advertisements inspired by the famous German Bauhaus school, or by movements
From 1941 to 1954 Rand worked as art director of
such as De Stijl or Russian constructivism. Rand was
the William H. Weintraub advertising agency, where
convinced that the strength of graphic design lies in its
he collaborated with copywriter Bill Bernbach. Rand
ability to be a universal language, through the simplicity
advocated advertisements in which text and images
and geometry of its forms. He thus said: “one quickly
were integrated into a codependent whole, with words
realizes that simplicity and geometry are the language
and pictures working together to create an effective
of timelessness and universality”.
and engaging message. His advertisements, especially for Orbach’s department store, pointed toward a new
After the war, from 1955 onwards, he distinguished
stripped-down approach to advertising copy and
himself with progressive graphic identities that served
design. During the 1950s and ’60s, as American
companies’ interests. As an artistic director, he helped
corporations were turning to graphic designers to
to transform the advertising industry by emphasizing
create contemporary trademarks and consistent graphic
the importance of graphic design and visuals over
standards, Rand became a prominent proponent of such
writing. He produced logos for large companies such
visual-identity systems. Now ubiquitous trademarks
as IBM, ABC, UPS, or Steve Jobs’ NeXT, still legendary
designed by Rand include the logos of Westinghouse
and almost unchanged to this day (except UPS).
(1960), ABC (1962), and IBM (1972). His designs for corporate annual reports were also broadly influential.
12
By creating complete brand identities, Paul Rand
transformed
corporate
communication
in
North
America. According to his colleague Lou Danziger, he managed to persuade companies, almost on his own, that design can be a powerful business tool. As an author, teacher and designer, Rand confirmed the idea that good design is good business as Thomas J. Watson Jr., IBM’s CEO, stated. Paul Rand invites his clients, students and ourselves to look at the world with a fresh eye, because: “everything is design! »
Poet and businessman Born in Brooklyn from Orthodox Jewish parents, Paul Rand started practicing his art as early as 3 when he recopied commercials in his parents’ shop. Well not exactly recopying, because the Jewish religion represses figurative representation. This is probably where his interest in abstraction began. In 1934, after taking lessons at New York’s Pratt Institute and the Art Students League, Rand began his career by making illustrations for a union that sold them to newspapers and magazines for advertising and articles. The following year, yearning for more control over his work, Rand went solo, creating layouts and ads for a small group of clients. He was 21 years old. During this period, concerned that his Jewish identity might hinder his progression in the professional world, especially in advertising, he changed his name from Peretz Rosenbaum to Paul Rand - a name that since became iconic, foreshadowing his genius in brand identity. In his magazine covers, since the late 1930s, Rand adopted both European modernism and American spirit and functionalism in his graphic style. His distinctive signature was praised by László Moholy-Nagy, a master of the Bauhaus and one of Europe’s most famous modernist designers, who had recently immigrated to Chicago. “Among all these young Americans, he writes, it seems that Paul Rand is one of the best and most competent. He is an idealist and a realist, who uses the language of the poet and the businessman.” Rand’s work was regularly featured in the daily lives of Americans in advertising posters and logos for consumption brands, from alcohol to make-up.
The modern American man Rand’s art achieved its full maturity in the 1950s, which coincided with a dynamism in the New York art scene, inspired by European abstract art. Indeed, European modernism - embracing abstraction, asymmetry, and dynamism in typographical and pictorial composition - attracted considerable attention since the Second World War, as many artists had left Nazi Germany for America. Rand embraced these new trends with open arms, already touched by German and British modernist design in his teenage years. His inspirations
are Cassandre, Miró, Klee, or Léger... He once stated: “It is integrity, honesty, absence of sentimentality and absence of nostalgia, it is simplicity, clarity. That’s what modernism means to me...” One must underline that at that time, in the middle of the Cold War, abstract artists (like Pollock) were promoted by the American government via the Congress for Cultural Freedom, a propaganda organization. In contrast with the figurative communist art, the red enemy, abstract art was praised by large fortunes and institutions such as the MoMA, Rockefeller, or IBM. Because it was new and exhilarating, or simply to avoid the wrath of the government that blacklisted “communist witches” or anyone with sympathizing ideas, artists embarked on this art which also guarenteed political immunity. Paul Rand is one of the lucky fews to be both a modernist and an American. Other artists are often refugees and can be accused at any time of being Reds. Rand is therefore in a very good position to be the man of the moment.
13
H
is tenacity gave the world of graphic design
These are some of the book covers Paul Rand designed. If you want to see the full collection click here.
more credibility: Rand proposed an abstract and universal language aimed at supporting a
company’s growth, restoring a bad image, or deterring anti-communist detractors. But many of the leaders he addressed did not always see this in a positive light, or thought that a new logo alone would be enough to make people change their minds about a company. As he then pointed out, “the trademark is created by the graphic designer, but it is the company that makes it”. A good brand image does not stand alone, do not judge a book by its cover.... ! Véronique Vienne explains it: “To stand up to these authoritarian leaders, he had only one stone in his bag: the certainty that the graphic principles he applied were the right ones, that visual language was universal, that rigour did not exclude poetry, that simplicity did not mean nudity, that freedom was not synonymous with anarchy, and that abstraction was a wonderful means of communication.” Stubborn, but rightly so.
NeXT ! In 1986, for example, he worked for Steve Jobs who commissioned him to create a visual identity for his computer company, for the coquettish sum of $100,000. Since the designer had a very specific methodology, he proposed Jobs a 100-page booklet that described the creative process step by step to the reader, up to the final (and unique) proposal. Giving the client a written argument was part of Rand’s usual process, who avoided any oral presentation. Later, when Steve Jobs was asked how it was to work with Rand, he replied, “ I asked him if he would come up with a few options, and he said,’No, I will solve your problem for you and you will pay me. You don’t have to use the solution. If you want options go talk to other people. » In his explanatory guide for the client, Paul Rand explained the origin of the change from Next to NeXT: it sounded too much like “Exit”. By including an “e” in lower-case, close to upper-case characters, the word gains a new rhythm and requires another form of concentration from the reader, who then reads the word as it is really written. It should be noted that even today, NeXT is still written in common text, as if it was an acronym: Rand’s concept has gone beyond graphics.
An unparalleled signature
For the short story, the cube of the logo was first placed
Paul Rand succeeded in changing the American business landscape through his work, being a key player in this
straight on the surface, without an oblique axis. In his
economic transition. He still is one of the few designers who signed all his creations, posters or magazine covers, as
file, Rand had added what would now look like an
early as 1936. A way to elevate them as works of art and to display his artistic authority and creative decision-making
envelope mock-up, with a sticker of the logo placed at an
to the client. A hell of a dare, we wish we could do the same today!
angle. During the printing of the report, someone asked
14
him “Why don’t you make them all like the one on the
Rand was undoubtedly an pioneer, both in style and in vision. By changing others’ look upon brand identity, he shook
envelope?” This simple modification is the key element
up the whole history of graphic design. But no one should hope to reach his level by taking inspiration directly from his
that convinced Steve Jobs, so admiring of Rand’s work
work, because according to his friend and colleague Louis Danziger, a graphic designer: “If you want to be as good
that he reprinted the booklet for distribution.
as Rand, don’t look at what he does, look at what he looks at. »
15
Rand, period. Rand’s multiple renderings illustrate the versatility of its logos on various platforms, from advertising to packaging, stationery or signage. When he presented his creative idea, Rand presented only one concept to his clients in brochures he had designed and written himself. He developed it well beyond the demand, to point out the quality and potential of the proposed design, and anticipate any customer request. For control purposes, Paul Rand could sometimes go so far as to negotiate a lower remuneration, in order to be sure to remain in control of his work. Uncompromising on THE solution he offered on paper, he was supported by Noyes who rounded off the angles orally, and finished persuading the reticent bosses. The eye-bee-M logo, created internally, was actually banned at first, before becoming the icon we know today ! For some companies, Rand continued to monitor the evolution of his creations for several decades, to adjust them to changes and trends.
From 1956 to 1991, Paul Rand signed the identity of one of the largest corporate design projects in North American history: IBM (International Business Machines Corporation). This is the very beginning of corporate graphic identities. Before, all visual media was conveyed by advertising, but companies quickly understood that to survive in this jungle of images you have to stand out, and not only through advertising. Above all, it was crucial to set distance with the communists; presenting a modernist and innovative image was an obvious solution! IBM’s new design mission - supported by Thomas Watson Jr., the son of the company’s founder - visually transformed every aspect of the company, from electric typewriters to computers, advertising and architecture. The idea was to break with a conservative image and look towards the future, to illustrate IBM’s renewed growth. It was completely new at the time. Watson called on Eliot Noyes, a former colleague and architect who worked on curative design of the MoMa, among other things, to set up a team composed of Paul Rand (for graphics), Eero Saarinen (architecture) and Charles and
American branding
I
BM is the first company for which he conceives a brand identity and all visual communication campaigns. While this is only a fraction of his work, his achievements for ABC, UPS, Westinghouse, Cummins or Enron become visible and
ubiquitous in the United States and abroad. They are the symbol of a post-war global culture crowning the political, military and commercial success of the United States. His work is available on his website.
16
Ray Eames (scenography, publications, videos). IBM’s new identity is thus conceived as a global, moving, immediately recognizable work of art delivering a strong message. With design as the main driving force. Charles Eames pointed out, “design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.”.
These are some of the postersPaul Rand designed. If you want to see the full collection click here.
17
18
DR. ALDERTE
19
J
orge Alderete (born 1971), also known as Dr. Alderete, is an Argentine illustrator, animator, editor and owner of several businesses, best known for his comic book and kitsch aesthetic in his work. Most of Alderete’s career has evolved in Mexico, where he came in 1998 and with the exception of a year in Spain, has since stayed, living and worked from his apartment in Colonia Roma in Mexico City. Most of his work is related to Mexico City’s music scene, especially rock and surf bands, having created about eighty CD covers and various other promotional items including the billboards for the 2011 Vive Latino music festival. Alderete’s work has appeared in publications, including anthologies of graphic arts in Mexico, the United States and Europe and has also done animation work for MTV, Nickelodeon and Mexican television.
He is part of the musical group Sonido Gallo Negro since 2010, as a thereminist and illustrator live during
His work has been published in several specialized
the shows.
anthologies such as Illustration Now and Latin American
In 2012 two books are published that compile his
Graphic Design (Taschen); Illusive, Pictoplasma, Logos
work Sonorama (Ed. La Caja de Cerillos) and Otro Yo
series, Latin and Play Loud (Die Gestalten Verlag);
(Acapulco Ediciones)
(Actar), Kustom Graphics (Korero), among others, and
At the end of 2014 his first graphic novel Black is Beltza,
his work has been exhibited in different galleries and
published in Euskera, Catalan, Spanish and French
museums of the world and Mexico, such as the City
(Bang editions).
Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the National
Since 2015 he has been a member of AGI (Alliance
Museum of Cultures where presented the Tike’a Rapa
Graphique Internacionale). And that same year I made
Nui Exhibition, a long research around the culture of
the La Salvación tour with the Fabulous Cadillacs,
Easter Island.
drawing live during the shows of the band.
In his long career as a designer and illustrator, he has also worked as an independent animator for several television stations, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Fox Channel and Once TV. He is founder, along with Juan Moragues, of the record label Isotonic Records, specialized in instrumental rock. He has designed more than 100 disc art for groups from different parts of the world, including Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Andrés Calamaro and Daniel Melero (Argentina), Lost Acapulco, Twin Tones (Mexico) and Los Straitjackets (USA) . In 2008 he published his book Yo soy un nadie, in the French publishing house Black Cat Bones, with which he celebrates his first ten years in Mexico City. A year after this symbolic celebration, together with Clarisa Moura, the Vertigo Gallery, a dynamic space, nestled in the heart of the Roma colony, has specialized in design and illustration.
20
Life
developed towards surf music (1960s, Beach Boys) and
He is part of the musical group Sonido Gallo Negro
Jorge Alderete was born in the town of Santa Cruz,
instrumental rock. Later, he would integrate himself in
since 2010, as a thereminist and illustrator live during
Argentina (Patagonia) in 1971.He is the eldest of three
Mexico City’s rock scene for both personal and business
the shows.
children to a middle-class family and named after his
reasons soon after he arrived. He says he is a frustrated
father. His mother was a teacher and his father a state
musician; instead, he collaborates with bands through
In 2012 two books are published that compile his
employee. Although born in Santa Cruz, he grew up in
his art.
work Sonorama (Ed. La Caja de Cerillos) and Otro Yo (Acapulco Ediciones)
a small city called Neuquén, in the province of the same name.
He entered college in 1989, his first move away from his hometown. He went to the National University of
At the end of 2014 his first graphic novel Black is Beltza,
Aldrete received his first comic book/graphic novel
La Plata in Buenos Aires to study design and visual
published in Euskera, Catalan, Spanish and French
before he was able to read and took to them immediately,
communication. He worked in Argentina for a while but
(Bang editions).
reading them through his childhood in the 1970s and
in 1998, he and wife Clarissa Moura, also a designer,
1980s. This comic books were not of the superhero kind.
decided to live abroad temporarily for the experience.
Since 2015 he has been a member of AGI (Alliance
In Argentina, they are closer to graphic novels, mostly
Their two choices were Mexico and Spain, and initially
Graphique Internacionale). And that same year I made
written for older audiences, based on classic stories
they went to Mexico. In 2001, on Moura’s suggestion,
the La Salvación tour with the Fabulous Cadillacs,
and others. This kind of graphic has more prestige in
the couple went to Spain, where Aldrete was able to
drawing live during the shows of the band.
Argentina, with many locally produced and imported
obtain work, but returned to Mexico the following year
from other parts of the Americas and Europe. Popular
as they did not feel as welcome in Europe.
He is part of the musical group Sonido Gallo Negro since 2010, as a thereminist and illustrator live during
authors included Alberto Breccia, Hugo Pratt and Corto
the shows.
Maltés.He not only read these books, they prompted
Aldrete has since lived permanently in Mexico, not
a love for drawing, coping what he say, the only one
returning to Argentina except for business and annual
of the three siblings to do this. His parents supported
trips to his hometown. This artist is based in the Colonia
In 2012 two books are published that compile his
him, even sending Jorge to classes, but he found them
Roma neighborhood, which is a center of underground
work Sonorama (Ed. La Caja de Cerillos) and Otro Yo
boring and learning on his own. His interest in graphic
and popular culture in Mexico City. His apartment is
(Acapulco Ediciones).
novel creation was enough to be frustrated in his teens
relatively spacious, with books and spaces for toys and
to be a 14-hour bus ride from Buenos Aires, where all
other items he has designed. It is also filled with doors,
At the end of 2014 his first graphic novel Black is Beltza,
the publishers were. Instead, Aldrete and some friends
with one leading to his studio. He works at home and
published in Euskera, Catalan, Spanish and French
in Neuquén started their own fanzine called Alquitrán.
does not have set hours, generally thinking about or
(Bang editions).
working on projects all the time. Since 2015 he has been a member of AGI (Alliance
His interest in rock music began in the 1980s, but much of the music he was listening to was from the 1970s,
His time in Mexico has modified his pronunciation in
Graphique Internacionale). And that same year I made
punk and hard rock, which had not reached that part
Spanish, as well as vocabulary adapting Mexicanisms.
the La Salvación tour with the Fabulous Cadillacs,
of the world until then.[5] His taste in this music has
drawing live during the shows of the band.
21
22
¡NO! NOT! A book by Dr. Alderete No, Lautaro, don’t do that. No, not that either. Please no, especially not that! This is a fun book about Lautaro’s brief record before he turned 5, made by his father, illustrator Dr. Alderete. An opportunity to set the limits of authority from humor. Edited by Mónica Bregna, a children’s publisher with great prestige in the media for her new publishing project Alboroto Ediciones. Size: 16.5 x 21.5 Binding: Cartoné Pages. 28 riottoeditions.com available on Store
23
A
ldrete does not distinguish between art and design, and his work is strongly surrealist and kitsch. His graphics lean heavily toward a comic book aesthetic with influences from science fiction, graffiti, horror movies and US underground comics.
J
ulius Wiedemann, (who popularized his work in Illustration now!) defines Alderete’s style as “a “pop” style with images of cultural garbage, 1950s science fiction movies, Mexican lucha libre wrestling and surf music in illustrations, animations and psychotropic comics.”
A
ldrete has stated that “kitsch escapes his hand and it’s impossible to control.” Common elements include Mexico City graffiti, lucha libre, monsters, aliens and 1950s and 1960s glamour symbols.
I
mages have included a mutant with a cigarette and cocktail in a 1960s style scene, soccer player Maradona as an apostle with a burning soccer ball over his heart, a female vampire with a green face, and beehive hairdo, Mao Tse-tung with Mickey Mouse ears.
A
ccording to Aldrete, one thing that distinguishes him from other designers in Mexico is that as a foreigner, he can be attracted to elements of Mexican popular culture, such as lucha libre, that others would shun because it is of the lower classes.
24
25
CARREER Professionally, Aldrete also goes by the name Dr. Alderte. It was derived from a character of the same name that he created while doing animation for MTV, for a show which has since been cancelled, but he kept the title Dr. for himself. Aldrete’s work can be seen in public spaces and publications from Colonia Roma; Mexican, Argentine and Spanish magazines and art galleries in Latin America, the United States, Europe and Africaand is now studied by art and design students. After graduating college, he worked for atime as an editor for various independent magazines and comic books, along with mainstream publications Fierro and the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone. The preparation he did in Argentina paid off in Mexico even securing work before he boarded the plane.In 1999, he published his first illustration in Mexico in a fanzine called SUB, for fans of science fiction, horror, fantasy and police stories.Since then his illustration work has been published in Complot, Matiz, Somos, Gallito Comics, Sputnik, Quo and Reforma.During his short time in Spain, he obtained work with the El País newspaper and the Zona de Obras magazine.He has also done animation work for MTV Latin America, MTV Japan as well as Nickelodeon Latin America, Fox Latin America,
26
and Once TV.From 1999 to 2002 he edited the Zonaste
Alderete’s work has also been shown in art exhibits
graphics section of the Zona de Obras magazine, and
in Mexico and other countries, with his first individual
he did a series of billboards for Nike.
show at the José María Velasco Gallery in 2006. Other important showings have been at the Museo de la
However, most of his work is related to music,
Ciudad de México and the Museo de Arte Moderno.
especially to the rock scene in Mexico City, creating
In 2014, the Festival Internacional Cervantino invited
flyers, CD covers and typographs. The main reason
the designer to create part of the tribute to poet Efraín
for this is his love of music, integrating himself into
Huerta at the event, creating illustrations based on the
this world through bands and nightclubs soon after
Gran Cocodrilo (Great Crocodile) pieces.
he arrived to Mexico. Musical groups with which he has worked include Los Straitjackets, Los Cavernarios,
In addition to the work he does for clients, Alderete
Los Twangers, Los Coronas, Twin Tones, Los Explosivos
has also opened a number of businesses. In 2006, he
and Matorralman,designing about eighty CD covers,
opened the Kong Gallery/Store in Colonia Roma with
and doing all the promotional material for the band
his wife which attracted guests such as which has had
Lost Acapulco.Major gigs include the CD cover for Los
guests such as Gary Panter, Ames Brothers, Rinzen,
Fabulosos Cadillacs La Luz del Ritmo (2008), and the
Little Friends of Printmaking and Hula+Hula. In 2009,
billboards for the 2011 Vive Latino music festival in
this enterprise was reopened as Vertigo, a cultural
Mexico.
center for workshops, exhibitions, and the sales of shirts, books, music and more. In 2007, he founded a
Aldrete’s major break came from being included as
toy line called Plan B with Andrés Amaya, an industrial
one of the 150 best illustrators of the world, according
designer considered representative of Acid Neo Pop.
to the book Illustration now! by Julius Wiedemann. He
He has also created a new record label called Isotonic
also had the good fortune to appear first due to the
Records with Juan Margues, the guitarist from the band
alphabetization of the entries. Since then, his work
Lost Acapulco. This label specializes in instrumental
has appeared in other specialized anthologies such
rock. Despite this activity, Aldrete does not consider
as Illusive, Pictoplasma, Los Logos series, Latino, Latin
himself to be an entrepreneur, as he does not do the
American Graphic Design, Place, Kustom Graphics and
marketing, rather just the ideas.
Play Loud.
Graphic resources for everyone! Find Free Vectors, Stock Photos, PSD and Icons...
27
Design your life.