vector on life
Monday, 25 June 2007 @ 16:50Recently, I have really been enjoying artwork that is a composition of crisp vector art overlaid on a collage of disposable or old, out of style materials. Is there a name for this style, even if just slang? What would you call combining these mediums is this way? I find the intersection between rough and smooth stimulating. Consider the following two examples done on a creased, heavy brown paper and old wallpaper with floral and stripped patterns.
I love the energy that I can feel in the pieces. Perhaps they are the work of multiple artists—photographers and illustrators—but the assumed adventure of discovery and creation is exciting to me. I enjoy looking for things everyday items such as this that most people would pass by and imagining what story it is trying to tell.
I’m not sure there is a proper name for the style but perhaps “delicious vector” would be appropriate - after all delicious monster uses a similar style. I suppose it could be termed “grunge” but its nicer and cleaner then what I would consider grunge. I like the feel of “handcrafted” antique mixed with computer/machine made elements.
Josh Davis has been one of the forefathers of this particular style. One of the first times I noticed it was in his work:
http://www.joshuadavis.com
Microsoft also did a really nice job with it in branding their 2007 MIX conference:
http://www.visitmix.com
I don’t see any of Josh Davis’s work that really falls under what Wade is talking about with his post. I see a few works that mix photo realistic with vector, but what I think stands out about the pieces Wade posted is that vector works usually entail use of solid colors and shapes with smooth gradients while adding in something like a parchment adds texture to the piece. It adds a more lifelike feel to vectors. Josh Davis’s work does not have that same feeling.
Some other works that I think come close to this though:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/33807827/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15145494/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/8695516/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/10404549/
Excellent examples. Thanks for the links, Bryan. I agree about Josh’s work not being quite what I was describing. I glanced through his portfolio and the Microsoft site and didn’t see anything that really matched. Ben, his portfolio was a little difficult to navigate; are there some specific pieces that you can point us to?
Click on PRINT. Pretty much anything in there. I mention Josh because he was doing this sort of look years ago and people didn’t quite understand it. Now it’s become trendy and more widely used. Jared Tarbell is another example of the intricate, non-objective, vector type art style:
http://www.levitated.net/
I did a few of those that I thought turned out fairly well. I think you are right Wade, there is a nice contrast between the texture of the natural elements and the hard-defined edge of the vector shapes.
http://www.mjbauer.com/graphic_journal/images/10_10_03.jpg
http://www.mjbauer.com/graphic_journal/images/11_01_03.jpg
http://www.mjbauer.com/graphic_journal/images/01_24_04.jpg
Thanks for sharing. I really like 11_01_03.