Sunday, August 10, 2008

Not the way I would have done it!

new order CONFUSION (FAC93) This is "typography cool", which we know designer Peter Saville was a pioneer of. The color combination is also a code of numbers that corresponds to the letters of the alphabet. One would need the color wheel included on New Order's 1983 release Power, Corruption, and Lies to make any sense of the confusion. It's probably some useless fact anyways.



Although this piece would be an exception, Saville was famous for his "graphical appropriations" in some designs for New Order . The cover of "Movement" for example, is a clear reference to a 1932 poster by Futurist painter Fortunato Depero. When later asked to comment on this association, Saville explained that it seemed more appropriate to "quote Futurism verbatim rather than parody it ineptly". By making such an obvious statement about the origins of the Movement design, Saville believed that no one would think he invented it. Let's be real, not everyone has a copy of No More Rules or Megg's History of Graphic Design to reference. Depero may have been a household name in 1981, but it sure as hell ain't in 2008.

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