Sagmeister & Walsh, and Olivier Kugler - 'Visual Communication'

Sagmeister & Walsh

http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/
(New York-based design firm primarily made up of designer Stefan Sagmeister, and designer and art director Jessica Walsh)

Advertising campaign for luxury Middle Eastern department store Aizone, featured in editorially, and on billboards all over Lebanon
(http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/work/project/aizone/)

The Happy Show​:  Filling the Institute of Contemporary Art's (ICA) entire second-floor galleries and ramp, and activating the in-between spaces of the museum, The Happy Show offers visitors the experience of walking into Stefan Sagmeister's mind as he attempts to increase his happiness via mediation, cognitive therapy, and mood-altering pharmaceuticals. (Description taken from http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/work/project/the-happy-show/)

Seigmeister & Walsh have a professional and slick aesthetic that nicely compliments their often playful content, resulting in work that looks very professional, but doesn't take itself too seriously - a nice balance. Moreover, pieces such as those in their Happy Show almost venture into fine art territory due to the incorporated conceptual elements, which is again effective in balancing their precise and polished aesthetic. Some pieces do lack this balance a little bit for me, and can seem a bit overly slick, but overall they achieve what they intend very well: 
"Beauty = price"/"Beauty is part of the function"/"We will do anything for design".

                         Olivier Kugler

http://www.olivierkugler.com/overview.html

(London-based illustrator)

In comparison to Sagmeister & Walsh, this work is a lot less slick, and I suppose is in a definite 'illustrative' style. The above cans are simple in a way that gives them lots of personality. Like much of Kugler's pieces, it's not overworked - simplicity is present in a less decisively minimal, designed way. 




However, work such as this map on the right really doesn't appeal to me. Maybe its almost childish appearance means it's not meant to appeal to me (target audience-wise), but I still find it somewhat grating with regards to his colour and typography choices. It lacks in the personality department, as it seems more 'designed', but in a manner that means it loses the quirkiness and sense of spontaneity that is so good about many of his other illustrations.  






Investigating and focusing on artists working within the area of 'Visual Communication' has made me realise how much I'm (as are many areas within art in general) influenced by this kind of work, as it all has the act of conveying character in common, and this is something relevant to most art practices. I can't identify a particular discipline within visual communication that appeals to me most; yes I love beautiful glossy magazines, but I also love little wonky illustrations. Maybe more to the point, these disciplines are often inseparable, which means work can be cooperatively created to the best of each ability.