1. art of reduction – “designers are exploring new and simplified ways of refining and simplifying visual information”
2. hand-drawn – “the raw product of the human hand”
3. Bauhaus – “Bold, playschool-style triangles, circles and hexagons suggest a cohesive and clean brand message. Block shapes replace linear patterning, suggesting clarity and authority in tone of voice. A clean, simple colour palette in which black acts as an important accent bouncing off bright, saturated primary red, turquoise and yellow, makes for a youth-inspired combination”
4. authentic – “reviving historical design cues to create on-the-spot heritage”
5. grace – “Subtle graduations of texture and a soft, soothing palette exude calm, elegance and a smooth modernity”
6. retro chaos – “unearthing the mistakes of the past and turning them into graphic motifs” like bevel no-no’s in PhotoShop and digital design nostalgia
7. monochrome – “Limited colour palettes, and bold typography with little ornamentation and patterning, offer clarity in a sea of choice”

Fauvism (“the wild beasts”) – 1904-1908: “wild brush work and strident colours, while their subject matter had a high degree of simplification and abstraction”. Kees van Dongen (1877-1968, Woman at the balcony), Henri Matisse (Le bonheur de vivre, 1905-6), Henri Rousseau (The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope, 1905). Impressionism: Paul Gauguin (1848-1903, The Red Dog), Edgar Degas (Dancers at the Bar, 1888). Modernism: Marc Chagall (The Birthday, 1915). Contemporary: Olaf Hajek (Flowerhead) “Olaf’s work captures and combines elements of folk art with techniques of still life, maps with decorative flourishes, traditional fine art with contemporary illustration”

Chrysanthemums bloom in Winter – when nights are longer. A pigment called phytochrome helps the plant know when or when not to flower. Long nights, at least 8 hours or more, allow the form predominant in the day, phytochrome red, to break down completely, forming phytochrome far red. For chrysanthemums to bloom at the end of the night, all phytochrome red must be broken down, transmuted into the other form of the pigment.

Likewise, before we can reach understanding, enough time must pass for the psyche to reconcile the issue preventing understanding. The conscious thought process is like phytochrome red, inhibiting flowering but making it possible. The unconscious or subconscious is like phytochrome far red forming in the darkness (in the back of the mind or when we’re asleep during dreams). Eventually, understanding blooms, as a result of the interaction between the conscious and subconscious mind.

Annie French

John Anster Fitzgerald