{"id":33371,"date":"2013-02-18T10:55:06","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T08:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com\/graphic-design-en\/graphic-designer-franco-grignani"},"modified":"2022-01-29T07:56:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T06:56:39","slug":"graphic-designer-franco-grignani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com\/en\/history-of-graphic-design\/graphic-designer-franco-grignani","title":{"rendered":"Franco Grignani: “Grafica cinetica”"},"content":{"rendered":"

We launch a new section of our blog which will be dedicated to the history of graphic design and communication<\/a>. We will present the great names of graphic design and typography through excerpts from old publications which are part of our library... (and which are obviously no longer sold!).<\/p>\n

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Franco Grignani, 1908\/1999<\/h2>\n

We begin by presenting the work of the Italian graphic designer\u00a0Franco Grignani<\/a>\u00a0(1908-1999). This is a text in which he himself presents his work and his vision of the profession (initially published in the \"Graphic Designers in Europe\" collection in 1973).<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, many of his reflections remain very contemporary. Like the swiss graphic designer Rolf Rappaz<\/a>, his graphic design practice was conducted in parallel with an intense artistic practice.<\/p>\n

In the 70's he produced and collected detailed documentation of his work which had a great influence on international graphic art. At that time, many publications presented his work.<\/p>\n

His works of art and experimental works are still in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Stedelijk in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Numerous personal exhibitions have been held in Italy and other countries. The constant evolution of his graphic work, his painting, as well as the coherence of his method, have always aroused a keen interest among young graphic designers, starting with us!<\/p>\n

Here is Grignani's text:<\/p>\n

Experiment as far as possible<\/h2>\n

To assert its utilitarian role in the service of visual communication, graphic art must rely on a large number of experiences in order to achieve the ideal freedom from the routine of daily activities. The urgency conditions the quality, the limits imposed by the subject slow down the creative spirit, there is also the coherence of the style, all these obstacles hinder the individual character of the graphic designer. I have done my best to resist all these external factors and I have tried to broaden the scope of my own activity by compelling myself to experimental work that often encroaches on the scientific fields of philosophy and physics. It is only through the fusion of diverse elements as much as through decantation and contamination, that graphic art will complete its evolution through new ways and expressions.<\/p>\n

\"Les<\/a><\/p>\n

The marked tendency that I feel for experiments, or better, my penchant for the imagination sciences, probably comes from my training as an architect. I did not confine my experimental activity to a rigid mathematical framework, on the contrary, I went as far as possible beyond this limit. As an example, I can cite my experiences with optical distortions and structural stresses<\/strong>. The human eye \"sees\" through emotions and suggestions, which is why flat geometry or a balanced composition are too logical to have the necessary force to trigger the eye's reaction. Most of the time, we see advertisements next to other posters, naturally this promiscuity requires each advertising poster to have its own physical autonomy of expression, and by \"autonomy\", I mean the possession of this traumatic value that instantly captures the viewer's gaze and makes him feel a certain embarrassment of perception, an irregularity created by tensions.<\/p>\n

The power of graphic designers<\/h2>\n

Through mechanical reproduction and dissemination, graphic art has become the most important means of communication and propagation of culture. Every day, by leafing through a newspaper or magazine, or looking at a row of posters on walls, consciously or unconsciously, we receive messages. The graphic designer represents a fundamental power in the world. He pours \"culture\" into the street, distributes it to the man in the street, and allows him to assimilate communication.<\/p>\n

I would now like to classify my research experiences into various trends, under different headings.<\/p>\n

The fluid period<\/h2>\n

First, my research was limited to creating indefinite images or very vague signs, in order to awaken observation and the creative spirit. Then, this study switched to incomplete images (completed by means of photographic cut-outs) which by their \"content\" of information, were intended to stimulate the thought process.<\/p>\n

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\n(These posters or advertisements date from the period 1945\/1955... and come from the site thisisdisplay.org<\/a>.)<\/p>\n