Form Follows Fashion
Wolfgang Weingart participated in the revolt against the strict minimalist approach of his Swiss predecessors. While his work is considered within the Modernist idiom, his experimentation with form and structure rejected the “neutral envelope” approach of ostensibly objective form-making in favor of intuitive choice and personal expression. When visiting CalArts in 1991, Weingart commented with disdain that he was no longer in fashion, as though whatever had replaced him as current design-of-choice was merely a trend somehow not as worthy as the trend he once embodied. Did he mean that the visual expression of his ideas had lost its power to communicate as time had altered its context? Or were the ideas themselves no longer popular? Or was it just that designers had seen the style of his work for too long and now looked to something new, out of boredom alone? I asked Weingart if he could elaborate on what appears to be a preoccupation with formal fashion (style) within the graphic design profession. What is this affliction that makes graphic designers crave perpetual stylistic (r)evolution? Weingart evaded the question inhibiting inquiry into a realm that makes most designers uneasy.
Weingart’s reaction is not uncommon. I, myself, am reluctant to scratch the surface of most graphic design for fear of what I won’t find underneath. In the world of so-called legitimate style, “trendy” is a death sentence. When stylistic change in graphic design is tied to the rapid turnover and imitative nature of fashion, we begin to suspect that our work is merely shallow trend-following and empty form-pushing.
I make solutions that nobody wants to problems that don’t exist.”
Alvin Lustig, Nine Pioneers
In the fall of 1991, Nancy Skolos and Tom Wedell presented their work to the students at CalArts with a reserve common throughout the profession: the design conglomerates of the 1980’s have diminished, out of necessity, to the small offices of the 1990’s. With refreshing honesty, Nancy Skolos presented a gorgeous brochure that she admitted had unfortunately led to a decrease in sales for the client. That it was presented to an audience of designers for its formal qualities says that Skolos Wedell considered it one of their better (looking) pieces, in spite of the fact that it did not “function” in a way that was meaningful for the client who had commissioned it. When asked what was the purpose of graphic design, if not to aid marketing, Nancy replied, “I don’t know... to make the world a better place?”