Graphic Design: But not as we know it – a bitingly satirical project from Amy West

Words by James Cartwright, Monday 09 September 2013

Though it saddens us to say it, there’s not really a whole lot of satire going on in the world of graphic design. The design community tend to take themselves reasonably seriously, which means we don’t often get to have a good old laugh due to a designer’s witty observations or humorously-minded project.

Amy West has just changed all that though with an acerbic piece of work based on the internet’s obsession with trends and style over substance. Grafik BS was a fake studio set up by Amy with the intention of catching out those with a superficial understanding of design and pointing the finger for a big old laugh. “A fake Behance page for the studio received hundreds of appreciations, positive comments on the style of the posters and even a job application for a position in the studio. The experiment proved that there is an online community practising design with the understanding that the entire process consists solely of applying style to anything,” said Amy.

Lucky for us we never posted any of Grafik BS’ work until now. Though come to think of it, I DO like the style of those posters…

Most Recent

More like this:

Work / Publication Just Lookin': Aysen Gerlach's publication explores queer aesthetics in mainstream media

Aysen Gerlach is a Brooklyn-based illustrator originally from New Jersey. She’s a libra, is currently working as a cheesemonger, is a bit of an aspiring baker and her favourite hobby is doing karaoke. Aysen is also the creator of Just Lookin’ a self-described “visual journal” she started to “explore queer aesthetics in mainstream media,” she tells us. It’s also our new favourite publication.

Lucy Bourton — 19 March 2019
Work / Publication Lost II is a collection of 20 different photo books shot by photographers in their respective cities

Sat in a meeting in late 2017, feeling lost and unsure, photographer Kris Graves decided it was time for a change. Formulating the idea of a photo book collection that consisted of work made by artists in different cities, he sent the initial emails out that very evening. “Everyone said yes and we started work immediately,” reminisces Kris.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 18 March 2019
Work / Publication Studio Lowrie's design of essays on the built environment is playful, serious and intellectual

A collection of essays on the built environment, we have to admit, is not usually our first port of call for a bit of Friday morning reading. But thanks to ING Media, an architecture, property and deigned-focussed PR agency, and Studio Lowrie, a new publication titled Essays on the Blurred Edges of the Built Environment which features words from Brian Eno, Paolo Antonelli and many more, has got us all fired up for the weekend.

Ruby Boddington — 15 March 2019
Work / Publication Patrick Fry unearths our new favourite design gem: bricks!

Patrick Fry has a design orientated fascination with bricks. Yes, bricks! Maybe this is a commonly known brick fact, but all bricks feature a makers mark stamped on top. Despite the fact that you’re probably surrounded by a stack of bricks right now, we never see them as the marks become hidden once laid on top of each other, just as bricks are supposed to.

Lucy Bourton — 13 March 2019
Work / Publication The latest issue of isthisit? seeks to answer why some news has become untrustworthy

We’re all bored to death of hearing about fake news and alternative facts and how social media is crap. So when we heard about the latest issue of isthisit? there was a small part of us that thought we knew what we were going to yet. But on closer inspection, this new publication is an engaging collection of voices and artwork that explores why terms like “fake news” and “alternative facts” have become such buzzwords that not even the most recluse hermits of society can escape.

Jyni Ong — 13 March 2019
Work / Publication Design{h}ers champions a range of female creatives all in one book

In light of International Women’s Day last Friday 8 March, our celebration of female designers continues in the form of the newly released book Design{h}ers. Published by the Hong Kong-based viction:ary, the publication sheds light on “the distinction and diversity that women bring to their respective fields.” With a cover story on design hero Jessica Walsh of Sagmeister & Walsh, the book ranges a breadth of design specification from advertising, illustration, packaging design and more.

Jyni Ong — 11 March 2019

Work / Illustration Anna Parini's bold editorial work demonstrates the "authorial power" illustration can have

Born in Milan, where she later studied illustration, Anna Parini eventually moved to New York to pursue a career in editorial artwork. “On the three-year course I attended, it was an area that was hardly considered a possible profession because, in Italy at that time, there were few who dedicated themselves exclusively to it,” she says of her time in education.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 20 March 2019
Work / Animation A tiny pink dog in jail? Victoria Vincent’s latest animation is an absurd tale

If you have a spare minute today, make sure you dedicate those 60 seconds to watching Mask Dog. Although clocking in at such a short running time, Victoria Vincent’s recent piece is a perfectly succinct story about a masked dog incarcerated for some unfathomable reason.

Lucy Bourton — 20 March 2019
Work / Digital Bingo Type: Datagif animates typefaces in the style of French TV shows

For the sake of our collective sanity, work needs to occasionally be fun. Too much seriousness isn’t good for anyone. Apart from surgeons and EU negotiators, obviously. Parisian information agency Datagif values fun projects as a way of staying explorative and innovative while working on more commercial activity.

Jyni Ong — 20 March 2019
Work / Photography Davina Joggi's The Portrait examines Zimbabwe after Mugabe

The figure of Robert Mugabe looms large over late-20th and early-21st-century African history. The former president of Zimbabwe was ousted in what amounted to a de facto coup in November 2017, but his legacy – and his image – lingers in the memory.

Josh Baines — 20 March 2019
Work / Photography Nikita Teryoshin's Ahoi from Zhuhai mirrors the confusion and joy of visiting a new country

Since 2014, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has reported that Zuhhai is the “most liveable city” in China. Located in the south of the country, it’s a surprisingly lush and green environment in comparison with the smog-filled streets of the more famous Beijing or Shanghai. Documentary photographer Nikita Teryoshin’s series Ahoi from Zhuhai, however, focusses its lens away from scenery and, instead, on the people who inhabit the city, capturing myriad strange and fortuitous moments from a week-long trip.

Ruby Boddington — 20 March 2019
Work / Graphic Design For Gianluca Alla, typography is “literally the A, B, C of visual communication”

“I don’t want to be the kind of designer who designs just posters,” says Italian graphic designer Gianluca Alla, now living in London. Nor does he want to be the kind of graphic designer “who just animates letters”, cheekily commenting on some of the throwaway forms of graphic design increasingly seen nowadays.

Jyni Ong — 20 March 2019

Work / Graphic Design Bath School of Art alumni collaborate on a 90 metre-long mural delving into the university’s archive

While most building site hoardings are covered with ugly adverts, or at a stretch, a fun-coloured lick of paint, Bath School of Art and Design had other ideas in mind. The university is relocating its main campus to a former Herman Miller factory, and while the grade II listed building undergoes renovations to transform it into a new studio space flush with creative facilities, the art school put out an open call to students and alumni to creatively cover the building site’s hoardings. The project resulted in a collaborative public art project titled Locksbrook, led by Carl Godfrey, calling on the art school’s alumni and students to delve through the university’s archives to plaster the 90 metre-long hoardings.

Jyni Ong — 19 March 2019
Work / Art Debora Cheyenne Cruchon's digital paintings explore childhood, ancestry and spirituality

At once dark and bold, multi-disciplinary artist Debora Cheyenne Cruchon’s new series, Soft Strobe , explores her childhood environment and her ancestry, as well as traditions and spirituality. “I wanted to focus on the suburbs of Paris where my family currently lives and my Reunionese background,” she tells It’s Nice That. “Being so far from home, I have often felt disconnected with those very elementary things that gives someone stability and grounding.”

Daniel Milroy Maher — 19 March 2019
Work / Publication Just Lookin': Aysen Gerlach's publication explores queer aesthetics in mainstream media

Aysen Gerlach is a Brooklyn-based illustrator originally from New Jersey. She’s a libra, is currently working as a cheesemonger, is a bit of an aspiring baker and her favourite hobby is doing karaoke. Aysen is also the creator of Just Lookin’ a self-described “visual journal” she started to “explore queer aesthetics in mainstream media,” she tells us. It’s also our new favourite publication.

Lucy Bourton — 19 March 2019
Work / Animation Alexis Jamet's animations are warm, nostalgic and beautiful in their simplicity

Growing up shooting skateboard videos with his friends, Paris-based designer Alexis Jamet was tasked with making the titles and illustrations for these early creations. Eventually branching into producing zines about the Paris skate scene, he coupled this creative pursuit with clothing and board design for his local skate shop. “I then wanted to study filmmaking, but I wasn’t academic enough, so I found a hand lettering school which was a better option me,” he tells It’s Nice That. “After that, I naturally drifted into graphic design and, more recently, animation.”

Daniel Milroy Maher — 19 March 2019
Work / Animation Virtual Gap Year explores the post-technological futures of the internet

Virtual Gap Year is a short film by Pitch Studios and IAM Present exploring the post-technological futures of the internet. Entirely computer generated, the short is the first collaboration between the Melbourne-based creative studio and IAM, an alternative think-tank, consultancy and community, investigating the evolution of digital culture and its impact on our populations.

Jyni Ong — 19 March 2019
Work / Photography Queens at Home by photographer Jan Klos blurs the realities and fantasies of drag

“I think most of my inspiration comes from my day to day surroundings, the people I meet and the stories I’m told,” says London-based photographer Jan Klos. Originally from Krakow, Jan adeptly blends documentary photography with slick portraiture and fashion in a portfolio that records and comments on “the ever-changing canvas of culture”.

Ruby Boddington — 19 March 2019

Work / Publication Lost II is a collection of 20 different photo books shot by photographers in their respective cities

Sat in a meeting in late 2017, feeling lost and unsure, photographer Kris Graves decided it was time for a change. Formulating the idea of a photo book collection that consisted of work made by artists in different cities, he sent the initial emails out that very evening. “Everyone said yes and we started work immediately,” reminisces Kris.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 18 March 2019
Work / Art Farshad Farzankia's striking paintings are steeped in symbolism

Born in Iran in 1980, nearly ten years later artist Farshad Farzankia would leave his hometown of Tehran to seek refuge in Denmark. Building a new life in Copenhagen with his family, he soon found himself drawn to various mediums of art and eventually settled on one as his own discipline – painting.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 18 March 2019
Work / Exhibition Iconic imagery is brilliantly reimagined by Ghana’s film industry in these posters from the 1980s

When it comes to mainstream film poster design, we often think of the same old design tropes that see big cutouts of the protagonists’ head in the foreground, surrounded by bold text, and a collage of some other characters’ heads photoshopped against an atmospheric backdrop. It’s a formula that works for any genre and style, and one we’ve seen again and again, plastered on billboards or on the sides of buses so often that they all kind of merge into one amalgamation of “Hollywood”.

Jyni Ong — 18 March 2019
Work / Graphic Design Adam Ridgeway showcases restraint in his considered graphic design portfolio

Although now based in New York City, graphic designer and art director Adam Ridgeway grew up in “one of the most isolated cities of the world: Perth, Western Australia”. It’s an upbringing that now imbues his work with the same feeling of isolation and seclusion he experienced in his younger years.

Ruby Boddington — 18 March 2019
Work / Animation Cheng-Hsu Chung's animations “break the border of reality and surreality”

“Animation for me, is so powerful that it could break the border of reality and surreality,” says Berlin-based animator Cheng-Hsu Chung. “It transforms normality into abnormality, deconstructs people’s concepts about how things should perform, and allows them to construct their own perspectives of the world.” Prior to making this assessment, Cheng began experimenting with the medium during his studies at Taipei National University of the Arts, only to find his style of work “didn’t fit in with the traditional animation methods” being taught at the time.

Jyni Ong — 18 March 2019
Work / Graphic Design Graphic designer Jiri Mocek continues to produce inventive and expressive posters

Prague’s graphic design scene, while ever-expanding, is also distinguished. It has a long history with the medium with schools like UMPRUM educating generation after generation of designers since its inception in 1885. But in recent years, the area’s style, which includes experimental letterings, bold uses of colour and elements like 3D rendering is ever prevalent. One designer with a firm stake in this scene is Jiri Mocek.

Ruby Boddington — 18 March 2019

Opinion / Graphic Design How and when do you shut down your studio? Carly Ayres on the decision to close HAWRAF

Carly Ayres is a writer and creative director. Until recently, she was the partner of HAWRAF, an interactive design and development studio based in New York that has since closed. Below, Carly details the formation of the studio, its growth and the reasons it decided to close.

Carly Ayres — 18 March 2019
Work / Photography Elizabeth Bick photographs the drama of The Pantheon every year on 21 June

“Rhythm persistently makes itself known to me throughout the day. The cyclical sound of my semi-broken refrigerator, or the beat of my boots hitting the ground when I’m walking fast down the stairs to the subway. The rhythm of a conversation. I try to adopt the repetitive, inane, aspects of everyday life, in my work,” says New York City-based photographer Elizabeth Bick. A trained dancer, Elizabeth now imbues her work with influences from this world to create dramatic, recurring and captivating works.

Ruby Boddington — 15 March 2019
Work / Illustration SeokMee Noh’s latest paintings express “the beauty and simplicity of snow”

SeokMee Noh crafts thick, dynamic brushstrokes to resemble the landscapes of the Korean countryside. Her paintings are powerful and emotive; the result of over 20 years of experience working as an artist and illustrator. And with over 20 solo shows under her belt across Seoul, the US and Sweden, this prolific artist is finally gracing It’s Nice That’s with her new series of landscapes titled After the Snow.

Jyni Ong — 15 March 2019
Work / Publication Studio Lowrie's design of essays on the built environment is playful, serious and intellectual

A collection of essays on the built environment, we have to admit, is not usually our first port of call for a bit of Friday morning reading. But thanks to ING Media, an architecture, property and deigned-focussed PR agency, and Studio Lowrie, a new publication titled Essays on the Blurred Edges of the Built Environment which features words from Brian Eno, Paolo Antonelli and many more, has got us all fired up for the weekend.

Ruby Boddington — 15 March 2019
Work / Illustration Haam Juhae is attracted to watercolours as “complete control is impossible”

“A drawing is evidence of everyday life,” says the Seoul-based illustrator Haam Juhae. “It is a metaphor for the air that you feel but cannot touch,” he poetically describes. Known for his beautiful watercolours that convey the sky at any time of day, Haam captures the intensity of the horizon and the subtlety of the clouds in his atmospheric illustrations.

Jyni Ong — 15 March 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Craig Oldham talks through his latest book based on John Carpenter's They Live

Our final speaker at February’s Nicer Tuesdays was renowned British designer, Craig Oldham. With a portfolio that spans film, television, art and retail, Craig has experience in a wide range of fields. But it was his most recent project, They Live: A Visual and Cultural Awakening that Craig chose to speak through.

It's Nice That — 15 March 2019

Work / Art Painter Julie Curtiss explores the representation of women in art history

“If the Chicago imagists and the surrealists had a baby, I think it would look a little like my work,” says Brookyln-based painter Julie Curtiss of her style. Working with a vivid colour palette between oils, acrylics, vinyl and gouache on paper, she explores themes of culture, nature and female-focused art narratives.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 15 March 2019
Work / Art Painter Ania Hobson combines contemporary and traditional styles in her portraits

Having recently won the National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious BP Young Artist Award, Ania Hobson is at an all-time high in her work. “It was a very surreal moment, and something I had always dreamt of,” she says. “I still pinch myself about it today.” Taking first place with her piece A Portrait of Two Female Painters, the 29-year old artist has come on in leaps and bounds since her days of sketching animals in the stables of the smallholding where she grew up.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 14 March 2019
Work / Film Dr Nelly Ben Hayoun’s latest film explores the importance of pluralist thinking

Known as the “Willy Wonka” of design studios, Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios, founded by the new-age Willy Wonka herself, is getting ready to launch her new feature-length documentary I Am (not) A Monster. The film advocates some of Nelly’s core beliefs around the right to education and pluralist thinking. She tells It’s Nice That how, “for me, education should be free and it should make our own economic system to maintain it. Education should exist beyond nation states as a transnational entity, independent from governmental politics. And thirdly, schools have to maintain plurality both in their approach but also in leadership.”

Jyni Ong — 14 March 2019
Work / Illustration Stefhany Lozano's latest series of paintings capture the feelings before a panic attack

Having suffered from panic attacks four years ago, Leipzig-based Colombian illustrator, Stefhany Lozano, took inspiration from this personal experience and translated it into a new series. Titled Kurz Davor, meaning “the moment before” in German, these paintings depict characters stuck in the claustrophobic confines of bright boxes.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 14 March 2019
Work / Illustration Keith Rankin mixes realism with “otherworldly fantasy or horror” in his illustrations

“At a certain point, as an artist, your ability starts to match your imagination and I think a sense of freedom comes with that,” remarks illustrator Keith Rankin. “I’m not at that point but the idea of total freedom is exciting and keeps me moving ahead.” Having fallen in love with drawing at a young age (“[it] was my first interest in life”), Keith’s illustrations are strange worlds, full of colour and surreality.

Ruby Boddington — 14 March 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Anna Malin Mantzaris talks through the six-month process of her film Enough

Joining us at February’s Nicer Tuesdays was Swedish animator, Anna Malin Mantzaris. Based between London and Stockholm and represented by Passion Animation Studios, Anna works mainly in stop-motion animation. One recent project in this medium that massively caught our attention is a short titled Enough, which sees her characters do all the things we wish we could do in our daily lives – from slapping the phone out the hand of someone talking too loudly on the bus, to screaming and running out of the office workplace we’re sick of.

It's Nice That — 14 March 2019