A Conversation – Full Magazine Design

Rick Poynor

Rick Poynor is a British writer on graphic design, typography and visual culture. After founding ‘Eye Magazine’ in 1990, he focussed heavily on visual communication. in 1999, he was a co-ordinator of the ‘First Things First’ Manifesto. His books describe works combining of design history and cultural criticism. He has written manifestos, analysing the works of famous faces such as Brian Eno, Nigel Coates and Herbert Spencer. His other books, such as ‘Typography Now’ and ‘No More Rules’, documents general movements in graphic design and typography.

Designing Pornotopia

 

Designing Pornotopia is a collection if essays about visual culture that targets the pervasiveness in current media, showing the liaisons between commercial organisations and the pornagraphic. An example of this lies within WHSmiths, in which children’s stationary is sold with the Playboy logo; kids don’t necessarily know what this means, but within the adult community it is associated with the sex industry. Poynor likes the idea that desire drives peoples motives; pornography is everywhere in todays modern culture, and it is common knowledge that ‘sex sells’.

No More Rules

In this book, Poynor discovers the application of post-modern aesthetics which take over modernism. Post modernism is critical of international style; it is chaotic, expressive and introduces tensions, is often controversial and conflicting between views, It breaks down this confusing world of graphic design into key themes, such as the american new wave, punk and deconstruction, grunge type and new conceptual approaches to graphic design, attempting to change the way in which individuals see new design.

Typography Now

in this book Poynor attempts to visualise new trends in type and presents a survey of fresh typographical thinking made possible by new technology. It was the first book to document this new technology which made digital type possible.