The Designers Republic (TDR) is the super-club of design, storytellers, strategists and visionaries. Having created some of the most definitive and widely imitated works, for clients such as Pulp, Supergrass, Cabaret Voltaire, Gatecrasher and Warp, they have a strong hold on the world of visual communication globally.
The Designers Republic is a group of graphic designers, founded by Ian Anderson, and are based in Sheffield. It is known for its anti-establishment aesthetics. An anti-establishment view or belief is one that goes against the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society.
TDR have exhibited globally featured in numerous books and magazines. Ian Anderson has lectured to over 50,000 people in Britain, Europe, USA and Asia. But, they have been misunderstood of why they got involved in education. Some people seem to think that it is to educate people about their work when really it is quite the opposite. Their aim is about creating dialogue or engaging in a conversation about design. The view is that a lot of their work is conceptional and quite complex. They prefer to give people the key and it’s up to them whether they open the door or not.
I took a look at an exhibition called Brain Aided Design Soyou by TDR.This collection is an interesting concept of consumerism and subsequently they opened up the People’s Bureau for Consumer Information in Tokyo. This was an extension of their influence in consumerism. The People Bureau for consumer information enables the public to buy their posters, books and exhibition catalogues. I feel it was a bit hypercritical of them. On one hand they are making a joke and highlighting the point of consumerism in their Brain Aided Design exhibition the next they are building a brand to be consumed by the public.
A interview from fused magazine -
Tell us a bit more about the exhibition, itself.“It’s called Brain Aided Design, and it’s like a mission statement for us. The main aim for the exhibition is to show the evolution of ideas behind our work. The majority of the work is either personal or commercial work we have remixed, to what we would have done if we hadn’t had to work with a client.
We happen to use graphic design as a means to communicate those ideas. Not designing for the sake of it. It’s important to us that people understand the thought process behind all that. What we’re not doing is just exhibiting record sleeves, packaging or the print ad campaigns that we’ve done. It’s the idea behind the record sleeve design that we want people to see. We’re taking things out of their original context and doing something new with the same idea and design.”Ian studied psychology and philosophy at university, so he is more interested in the communication of the idea. This really does show in his Brain Aided Design Soyou exhibition. I have taken a few samples of his work that I feel was the best in the exhibition.
My images, a lady with the McDonald’s logo behind her and “Work buy consume die”. To me they are very intriguing pieces. I think with these two pieces they are aiming for the impact on audience rather than the aesthetically pleasing graphic piece. But I do feel that I shouldn’t be as surprised as they are anti establishment.
These two images are trying to get you to think about consumerism and what effect it has on our daily lives. The “work, buy, consume die” image made me think well yes we all do that and it is right. We can go along with our daily busy life’s and we are always doing the first three words till the 4th one hits us. The colours that they have chosen to use in these images are mostly reds. This is because in advertising red and gold are used to draw customers/consumers in to buy.
The Designers Republic is a group of graphic designers, founded by Ian Anderson, and are based in Sheffield. It is known for its anti-establishment aesthetics. An anti-establishment view or belief is one that goes against the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society.
TDR have exhibited globally featured in numerous books and magazines. Ian Anderson has lectured to over 50,000 people in Britain, Europe, USA and Asia. But, they have been misunderstood of why they got involved in education. Some people seem to think that it is to educate people about their work when really it is quite the opposite. Their aim is about creating dialogue or engaging in a conversation about design. The view is that a lot of their work is conceptional and quite complex. They prefer to give people the key and it’s up to them whether they open the door or not.
I took a look at an exhibition called Brain Aided Design Soyou by TDR.This collection is an interesting concept of consumerism and subsequently they opened up the People’s Bureau for Consumer Information in Tokyo. This was an extension of their influence in consumerism. The People Bureau for consumer information enables the public to buy their posters, books and exhibition catalogues. I feel it was a bit hypercritical of them. On one hand they are making a joke and highlighting the point of consumerism in their Brain Aided Design exhibition the next they are building a brand to be consumed by the public.
A interview from fused magazine -
Tell us a bit more about the exhibition, itself.“It’s called Brain Aided Design, and it’s like a mission statement for us. The main aim for the exhibition is to show the evolution of ideas behind our work. The majority of the work is either personal or commercial work we have remixed, to what we would have done if we hadn’t had to work with a client.
We happen to use graphic design as a means to communicate those ideas. Not designing for the sake of it. It’s important to us that people understand the thought process behind all that. What we’re not doing is just exhibiting record sleeves, packaging or the print ad campaigns that we’ve done. It’s the idea behind the record sleeve design that we want people to see. We’re taking things out of their original context and doing something new with the same idea and design.”Ian studied psychology and philosophy at university, so he is more interested in the communication of the idea. This really does show in his Brain Aided Design Soyou exhibition. I have taken a few samples of his work that I feel was the best in the exhibition.
My images, a lady with the McDonald’s logo behind her and “Work buy consume die”. To me they are very intriguing pieces. I think with these two pieces they are aiming for the impact on audience rather than the aesthetically pleasing graphic piece. But I do feel that I shouldn’t be as surprised as they are anti establishment.
These two images are trying to get you to think about consumerism and what effect it has on our daily lives. The “work, buy, consume die” image made me think well yes we all do that and it is right. We can go along with our daily busy life’s and we are always doing the first three words till the 4th one hits us. The colours that they have chosen to use in these images are mostly reds. This is because in advertising red and gold are used to draw customers/consumers in to buy.
What I got from this exhibition is that you still have to love your design, but you need to be far more aware what effect a particular design will have on its audience. Taking this realization into the university is beneficial as it has taught me to get talking to students more and see what they are doing. Our critiques at uni are as important as TDR have their lectures and exhibitions to create dialogue or engage in a conversation about design. It is a way for us to get a response about our work and how it communicates to other people.
