R R 9.95 9.95 || NOV NOV 18 18 giving designers from the borders a chance to be seen (DIS)(E)(RUPT) THE SYSTEM
DESIGNED to BREAK the SILENCE Pei-Ling Ou is advocating for the freedom of expression in the landscape of a pro-cencorship China - and she’s doing it through design
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SOMETHINGMOON
THE THE MACAU-TAIPEI THEMACAU-TAIPEI MACAU-TAIPEI DESIGNER DESIGNER YOU REALLY DESIGNERYOU YOUREALLY REALLY WANT WANT TO KNOW WANTTO TOKNOW KNOW
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/ Jyni Ong
S
omethingMoon is a design studio in Macau and sometimes Taipei. The studio’s output includes beautifully bound books, typographic identities, web design and more. Despite the variety of output, each project is
highly refined and crafted with a sense of distinct character. With such a mammoth output, it is surprising to know that SomethingMoon is in fact, only one designer, Ck Chiwai Cheang. Garnering international acclaim for the last ten years from Warsaw’s International Poster Biennale to the Tokyo TDC Annual Awards, Ck’s powerful design output champions independent arts and cultural groups in Macau. Macau is situated on the South East coast of China. A former colony of the Portuguese Empire, Macau and the rest of the Pearl River Delta metropolitan area is the most densely populated region in the world. Despite this mass of people, Ck is one of the very few book designers in the independent publishing industry in Macau, often working for the local arts groups in the community. SomethingMoon studio designed the website and printed matter for the 9th Small Theatre Festival, Book Plays earlier this month. The festival has been running since 2010 and each year explores different themes in a new form. This year, the theme was “no master, daily work” and although this phrase is the product of a slight mistranslation, the gist of the theme is centred around typography. The design is centred on the clear and accessible type and framed by a background grid that provides depth to the structure of the sleek strokes of the Chinese characters.
The studio also designed the Macau Drama Yearbook earlier this year. “An integral part of Macao’s cultural memory”, the elegant book places equal emphasis on photography and type. Integrating the text and imagery to form unique compositions that are only possible with Asian language as the characters are based around a quadrilateral format presenting an inherent grid-like structure to their appearance. By comparison, the latin glyph has more diversity in shape with ascenders and descenders creating such a variety of form that this matrix structure does not have quite the same effects. A recent production at Taipei’s Wellspring Theatre titled The Unnamed III debuted this year with supporting promotional material by Ck. The designs reflect the surreal nature of the production which explores “incognito communication” through the cast of its nine members. The printed material warps Chinese characters with the English translation of the title, developing a strong visual identity that bonds the two languages together. Ck’s original design aesthetic plays with the pictorial balance of the type which acts as a mode of information as well as an intriguing compositional element; a consistent design endeavour from SomethingMoon and a testament to the talents of Ck’s graphic design.
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OSMOND TSHUMA / Nana Ocran
A
lmost a decade ago, Zimbabwe born graphic designer Osmond Tshuma moved from a Harare design studio to Johannesburg University. Influenced by the content he found in South
African magazines and on TV, his aim was ‘to be and do better’ than he was. While studying, he developed a passion for typography, which he used as a tool to comment on southern Africa’s history. From this, his Colonial Bastard Rhodes typeface was born. A few years on from creating that font, he’s moved into the world of advertising direction. Now, with award-winning work under his belt, he has a long view to use his creative platforms to continue to tell nuanced African stories, using the broad spectrum of design. Q) When and why did you create the ‘Colonial Bastard Rhodes’ typeface? During my final year at Uni, I was writing my paper on postcolonialism in contemporary Southern African advertising; then I
Q) Could any other ‘colonial bastard(s)’ have substituted and what would their fonts look like?
thought of linking this to my practical module. The idea was to create a typeface that echoed the characteristics of Cecil John
I would have used the same approach for creating Colonial Bastard Stanley,
Rhodes: a wealthy, power-hungry imperialist. So, the font was a
Colonial Bastard Livingstone and Colonial Bastard Bismarck typefaces. For
social critic of him and colonialism in southern Africa.
instance, for creating Livingstone and Stanley I would have looked at materials produced during the time of their travels in Africa, right up until their
Q) What were some of the design methods you used?
passing. For Bismarck I would have looked at materials produced during the colonisation of Burundi, Cameroon, Namibia and Togo.
Because I’d been working on the report for five months, I’d gathered some research on colonial stereotypes, along with some of
Q) It’s interesting that you created this font a couple of years before
the advertising material of the era. Africans were often shown as
the #rhodesmustfall and #feesmustfall movements happened. Do you feel that you
“savages and unclean”. I chose to use the typeface from the ‘White
predicted some kind of international political zeitgeist?
Man’s Burden’ Pears Soap advertisement, which looked like Bodoni font.
I can’t say I predicted it. I feel like the #feesmustfall movement has always been there; stretching 40 years back to 1976. It might not have been
Q) Was there meant to be humour attached to the name of the font?
that well known but I believe the university student representatives across South Africa have been fighting over these issues before it gained national and international momentum. A luta Continua. I think the #rhodesmustfall movement
No. The title was my own way of expressing my frustration at how these colonial figures are still being celebrated today.
that took place in Cape Town was inevitable. We can’t change what happened in the past but we can reshape the future.
Colonialism was an act of brutality clothed in the farce of civilisation. Families were displaced, enslaved, massacred, wealth
Q) How come you moved from typography to advertising?
stolen and yet the names of these perpetrators are mounted on street names and buildings. I guess it was meant to provoke a
I was first hired as a junior designer by OpenCo, a Johannesburg through-
visceral response towards the images and history of Cecil John
the-line agency. During my time there I slowly fell into advertising as most of
Rhodes.
the jobs I was assigned to were more the art direction type than anything else.
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MUSA OMUSI / Wanjeri Gakuru
F
or the last three years, Kenyan illustrator and graphic designer, Musa Omusi has been bringing Swahili proverbs, “misemo,” to life in vibrant, allegorical fashion.
With 44 illustrations and GIFs in various stages of completion to date, Musa draws inspiration from a myriad of sources including old primary school sketch pads, matatu stickers and shop signage. ‘I love the individual power that each colour holds […] I therefore enjoy a lot of experimentation in my use of colour to add an additional layer of meaning or vibe to my art,’ he says. These reimagined wise and witty sayings have morphed into home furnishings: pillow cases, chairs and poster prints. Musa has also put out a limited line of t-shirts as a collaboration with Kenyan hip-hop artist and entrepreneur, Muthoni the Drummer Queen (MDQ). He also hopes to compile the illustrations in a colouring book in the near future.
Q) You stay well connected with Zimbabwe. Can you talk about the collective that you’re part of over there?
‘Follow the bee to eat the honey.'
Design Massacre. It’s a creative hub that consists of more than 60 multi-disciplined designers from all creative sectors; graphic design, photography, sketch animation, motion graphics and film. We use WhatsApp as a communication platform. Members post their work so that the group can critique them. The aim is to be the leading design base in Zimbabwe and to represent design in the most innovative way possible. Q) Do you plan to eventually go back to Zim? Well I still stay in Zimbabwe; I just travel between there and South Africa, even though I spend more time in the latter. My creative business partner Nontokozo Tshabalala and I created a platform, Mam’gobozi Design Factory to produce work that we love. I would like to establish it in Zimbabwe too. Q) What does the name mean? Mam’gobozi is a lady who knows everyone’s business. In our context she’s a character that speaks to what we do. We are an African brand hoping to create proudly African design work so she becomes the person to tell people about us. Our ambition for the future is to build Mam’gobozi as a powerhouse in design and advertising, and also as a typographic foundry in Africa.
‘The hand that gives is the one that's rewarded.'
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/ Elena Lopez
B
razilian artist, Carol Rossetti, began her project with the hopes of simply helping a few women in
the world. What she got was much greater international recognition and respect from men and women all around the world. Rossetti is a Brazilian graphic designer who takes on the responsibility of addressing the highly oppressive gender conventions heavily experienced in traditional Latin American culture. The exceptional project remains unnamed, as it racks up over 83,000 Facebook likes, and counting. What was meant to be a local project has grown into an international movement, offering voices and calming support to women. An example of the project is the simple image of a woman clutching her knees with the caption “Ana was raped.” It reads “Ana, you are not alone. It’s not your fault. This experience is not what defines you as a human being. You are so much more than this.” The powerful, yet simple, statement offers support to victims without focusing on the traumatic event. This is the most popular image on her site, along with many others in the same vein of topic. When asked to describe her images, Rossetti tells CNN, “I think the point of my illustrations is to show, in a gentle and non-aggressive way, that there is still a lot of oppressive control over women’s personal choices and identities, and expose a problem of representation toward women, people of color, people with disabilities, (LGBT concerns) and so on.” Her poignant description allows any viewer to understand the concept without obviously stating the issues seen in modern society. What started as a feminist project has, with the input of viewers, inspired Rossetti to become the voice for many social stigmas. Rossetti hopes to address racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and the like. Rossetti has expressed her frustration with “the world attempts to control women’s bodies, behavior and identities” and hopes that these images will inspire not just women, but all humans to reconsider their conceptions of society, and the realities within. In many countries, women are generally accepted as the lesser gender, with restricted rights and restricted access to privileges. Rossetti’s images have spread to the far corners of the world,
inspiring
women in India, for example, to question and rebel against the role given to them. Today, women fight in every nation to receive the level of respect and acceptance given to men. Rossetti perfectly captures this internal dialogue experienced by every woman and gives them a way to portray it. Her simple designs allow the words to speak for themselves. Her message cannot be skewed by criticism if it inspires, at the very least, one viewer. [ 6 ]
REAKING DOWN STIGMAS
“...there is still a lot of
oppressive control over
women’s personal choices and identities...”
“...Rossetti hopes to address
racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and the like...”
“...the world attempts to
control women’s bodies,
behavior and
identities...”
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/ Laura Connelly This bold poster series by Ingrid Picanyol is inspired by the Mexican architect Luís Barragá. Created during the designer's stay in Mexico City, the colourful architectural shapes provide a fun and unique approach to portraying landscapes through graphic design. The Barcelona-based designer explains:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This famous sentence at the bottom aptly
"Each project is meticulously researched,
summarises the intention of this poster. It
every avenue explored, with a bespoke visual
calls attention to the right to freedom of
language being the end result. Design is a
opinion and expression according to Article
type of communication. It’s about the way an
19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
object or idea speaks to its audience."
Rights. The poster, designed in yellow and black, depicts this objective using a large
Previous projects span the fields of graphic design and art direction, and Ingrid
microphone. Inside the microphone head, which looks like a cage, sits a bird.
has lent her creative skills to all manner of client projects.
Pei-Ling Ou Freedom of Speech
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