by Matthew Dickerman
PAPER CUTS
Copyright © 2013 Matthew Dickerman all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written consent from the publisher. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES University of Missouri – Saint Louis One University Boulevard St Louis, MO 63121 first printing: November 2013
I dedicate this book to my friends and family. Thanks for your support!
DIMENSION
13
FLAT CUTS
21
TYPOGRAPHY
29
Paper cutting is a craft that every child learns to do at a very young age. It is a simple concept; create a shape on a piece of paper and cut it out with a pair of scissors. As we become older, though, and more skilled with these crafts, we find more efficient ways of cutting objects out. We might use a straight-edge and knife or program a machine to do it for us. With these more accurate ways of creating shapes we lose the fun, playful forms of our youth when we made art for the fun of it and not for a specific purpose. This is why paper cutting in graphic design is an obsession of mine. Nowadays, graphic design is often created using a gridded layout or on the computer. Compositions are carefully laid out so that different elements on a page align in some way and edges are nice and crisp. While this is appropriate in a number of cases, sometimes you need to get away from that to create interest and make your work stand out from the rest. Paper cutting will give you a mark much different from that of a computer or even one drawn by hand. As a graphic designer I prefer a simple composition over a flashy, busy one and the same goes with color. I prefer flat colors on flat backgrounds. I like the contrast it creates with two hard-edged shapes layered on top of each other. Flat cut paper designs naturally use this technique. It helps the viewer to focus on the message being delivered and not the fancy artistic abilities that the designer might have.
Dimension is another unique quality that paper cut designs can have. Drop shadows are usually pretty hideous and are many times misused. The idea is to add dimension to an element but it just never seems to be realistic. When you layer paper cuts, you achieve a natural sense of dimension and shadows that become interesting to the design. Creating three-dimensional paper forms and filling them with paper elements is my personal favorite way to achieve dimension, even though it can be very tedious and time consuming. Since paper cuts have become more and more popular, graphic designers have taken the craft to a whole new level. Instead of using the technique to create a playful design of irregular edges, they take it to the extreme and perfect each mark to create a design that resembles one that you could make with a computer. A lot of these types of designs are beautiful, custom typography lock-ups. These become even more interesting to me because of the time and effort it must have taken the designer to make it. In a world where everything is so easily obtainable, I think we all appreciate these time consuming tasks and designers who reflect on the old-fashioned ways of designing.
SUZY TUXEN
14
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VCE Season of Excellence 2011
15
YULIA BRODSKAYA
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Stern Grove Festival Poster 2010
PAPER CUTS
YULIA BRODSKAYA
16
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City 2008
17
YULIA BRODSKAYA
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Go White 2008
HELEN MUSSELWHITE
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Hansel and Gretel 2012
PAPER CUTS
18 YULIA BRODSKAYA
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Thrifty Christmas 2008
YULIA BRODSKAYA
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Heart 2008
SHARON OCCHIPINTI
22
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United Nations Advertisements 1995
23
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MILTON GLASER
PAUL RAND
24
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The Second Man 1956
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The Cook 1966
25
SAUL BASS
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Anatomy of a Murder 1959
PAPER CUTS
26 ALVIN LUSTIG
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A Street Car Named Desire 1946
LEO LIONNI
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Great Ideas of Western Man: Epictetus 1952
30 ROB RYAN
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I Can’t Forget 2009
ROB RYAN
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My Heart 2009
31
PAPER CUTS
OWEN GILDERSLEEVE
32
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The Recession
33
JULENE HARRISON
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Falling in Love 2011
JULENE HARRISON
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There Is A Light 2012
PAPER CUTS
JULENE HARRISON
34
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The Borrower 2011
JULENE HARRISON
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The Awakening Of Miss Prim 2013
This book was created by Matthew Dickerman as an assignment in Advanced Problems in Graphic Design at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. The pages were designed in Adobe InDesign CS6 and printed on Butcher White 80lb. text Dur - O - Tone, French Paper Company. The two typefaces used throughout the book are Klinic Slab and Gill Sans.
Bibliography Icons of Graphic Design Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic Minimal Graphics Catharine Fishel Graphic Design: A New History Stephen J. Eskilson http://www.owengildersleeve.com http://madebyjulene.com Book of 2