Comparative Essay - Designers Essay

parative essay

Comparative Analysis of two pieces of Design work

1491 words


 

This essay will compare two pieces of design work by David Carson, for the “Portland Mercury”, 2011, and Neville Brody, for “The Face”, 1985. Both designers are noted for their use of typography and their work on music magazines, both pieces of work are publication covers, so there is a clear connection between the designs and their work.



               

(Carson, D. August 2011, Portland Mercury)         (Brody, N. March 1985, The Face)

The background orange colour used in David Carson’s “Portland Mercury” cover is bright, vibrant and almost distracts attention away from the text. He then layers the text on top, which has a collage feel to it. The main colour of the text is a simple black, much darker than the background and thus grabs the viewers’ eye. The title is spread across the top of the page and cropped so it appears to be not all there. Carson often uses cropped images such as this where it appears unclear if parts of the image were deliberately cropped or just a mistake that works.The rest of the text is in the form of different graphic images which stand out. The overall feeling is a busy mix of text and graphics which require real attention from the viewer.

  The background of Neville Brody’s cover for “The Face” is filled with an old style, but dramatic, image of a young boy, looking very stern, wearing a black top hat with the word killer on it. The boy’s expression designed to make him look a lot older than he probably is. The cover is black and white except for the bold orange title, “The Face”, which stretches across the top of the page, and the word “hard”, in pink, that takes up the whole of the bottom. The sub-titles, in the bottom left fit into the space around the edge of the boy, and across the brim of his hat, do not detract from the image itself. In the top left hand corner there is a logo.



  David Carson was...