JANELL OHM
Abstact Thoughts on Design:
An Artist’s Resumé
As a digital art student in a studio-oriented program, projects, readings, and discussions never deviate from the big question: Is design art? As an advertising student on the creative track, projects, readings, and discussions further perpetuate my anxiety surrounding the big question.
Table of Contents
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VII.
About Me Theoretical Responses Collage Drawing Handwritten Letterform Was this when we were humans or flowers? The Answer
Fig. 1 Self-Portrait (2013), Illustrator.
About Me
When I was 14, my mother finally allowed me to get a Myspace. Although I was a late bloomer in the social media world, I’ve been attempting the perfect biography for about eight years. Like everyone, I deleted the space long ago and gave in to the genius of Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, a long list of hilariously middle-school-angst-filled-oneliners about myself are hoarded in the basement of a social media corporation. Roosters actually give me the creeps, but this is the best self-portrait I’ve ever done.
Fig. 2 Heart (2013), Graphite & Paper. Fig. 3 Brain (2013), Graphite & Paper.
Theoretical Responses to the Big Question 1. Art is life, design is the body. 2. Art is better, design is boring. 3. Art is bullshit, design is bullshit. 4. Why is this a question? 5. Good art makes you feel something, good design makes you want something. 6. Art is visually challenging, design is visually pleasing. 7. Art is about the emotional process, design is the conclusion. 8. What about album art and title sequences? 9. Art is subjective, design can just suck. 10. (Good) art is messy, (good) design is clean.
Fig. 4 Rotation (2012).
Collage I can pinpoint the beginning of my designs with my lengthy collage phase. Organizing given information in an interesting layout, manipulating objects to create new forms, and creating context with an overall image made out of displaced images - collaging is my closest experience with art in relation to design.
Fig. 5 Mysterious Juxtaposition (2012).
Drawing Paper and graphite (or charcoal and cavewall) is still the best innovation, and it will always be my favorite form of manual labor. I doodle on grocery lists, I take class notes on a sketchbook, and I still make birthday cards with magic markers and folded printer paper. It’s raw design without the Command Z function.
Fig. 6 Untitled (2012), Pen and Paper.
Fig. 7 Handwritten: Stage One (2014), Vinyl & Acrylic on Canvas. Fig. 8 Handwritten: Stage Two (2014), Vinyl & Acrylic on Canvas.
Handwritten I had a deep conceptual vision for this piece. It’s a multi-media and layered illustration of human age v. nature and technology, natural design v. mechanical design. Yet during its first critique, it was summed up with one word: creepy. I’ll take it.
Fig. 9 Handwritten: Stage Three (2012), Vinyl & Acrylic on Canvas.
Fig. 10 Iskrem & Gullfisk (2014), Illustrator.
Letterform Design can rely on text for its information and clarity. Yet letters are expressive, subjective, paradoxical. It is to be read, but I wish I had the ability to innocently look at a word and see it as a whole abstract image. What would it mean to me then?
Letters and words are symbols, but what these symbols mean, how they make you feel, and what you read/hear will depend on the environment. I chose a phrase from my quote book that my friend once said, but I don’t remember the context. I then stamped the phrase on separate pieces of paper using different colored ink. I altered the pieces of paper through paper cuts and folds, resulting in a series of images with the same original text but with many versions of the text. Depending on the piece, the same phrase, copied with the same stamp, portrays a different expression.
Fig. 11 Was this when we were flowers or humans? (2014), Ink & Paper.
Fig. 12 Heart & Brain (2013), Graphite & Paper.
The Answer As for now, these are the connections I have made, the concepts I have shown, and the work I have done to combat (or combine) art & design. Hence, my creative process has been and always will stem from the big question.
2014