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4Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)
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Sci Arc: summer programmes poster and Sci Arc:
making/thinking poster – April Greiman
The origins of the Pacifi c Wave movement are usually
attributed to April Greiman, a pioneer in computer graphics
and self-acclaimed ‘Queen of Chance’ (Greiman, 1998).
Greiman trained under Wolfgang Weingart’s guidance at
the art school in Basel. As rebellious as Greiman’s work
may appear when seen at a glance, her approach to design
had little to do with punk. Weingart’s teaching had triggered
Greiman’s curiosity about design processes and visual
experimentation. Computer technologies were simply
another means for Greiman to explore the image potential
of typography.While a lot of other designers used the term ‘Pacifi c Wave’
as an excuse to reject conventions of all kinds, Greiman’s
work reveals under close examination that she understood
modernist design principles extremely well. Despite her
vibrant aesthetics, we can see column grids, well-chosen
fonts and carefully adjusted leading and kerning. Greiman
coined the term ‘hybrid imagery’ for her multi-faceted
digital compositions. Her fusion of text and image produced
colourful, collage-like layouts. Greiman’s defi ance in using
the rectangle reminds us of futurist works of the early 1920s.
But it was not the pace of life of the industrial age that was
on display here; it was and still is the variety of possibilities
provided by the digital technologies of the time.Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)
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