You Can't Miss: Art for IBM

This week Eye Blog discussed a non-format group of designs that were done from IBM. The theme of thee designs was "Smarter Planet Outcome." Check out a couple of my favorite pieces from the collection below and what they symbolize:

The above design, by Kjell Eckhorn and Jon Forss of Non-Format, is an illustration that represents a supply chain that's " 'smart and flexible enough to adapt to even the most rapid changes in the market,' says Forss." The photo represents a river that can be linked back to a single, small stream, which can be seem through the wavelike movement of the shapes. The large black shapes represent pebbles, rocks and boulders that are in the stream and flowing river. I like this design because the simple geometric shapes hint at a larger picture, but you might not get what the picture represents without the designers explanation. This is truly art to me because although the designer had a certain idea and meaning behind the piece, others may interpret it differently.

 

This piece was created by Carl DeTorres. The color pattern (or lack there of) is very appealing and aesthetically pleasing for this photo. The colors have been placed in a specific arrangement that obviously means something to the creator, but we as viewers must figure it our for ourselves. There is something simple and intriguing about the pulling away of panels and I'd personally like to know more about the thought process behind the piece.

One interesting thing about the designers, and DeTorres in specific, is that they were nervous about the art limitations that would be placed on them by IBM, but were pleasantly surprised by the freedom that they were given to create their works. " 'The art and design needs coming from IBM were refined by Ogilvy into smart and very open briefs … It was very liberating … This kind of thing doesn’t happen in advertising very often,'" says DeTorres.

This thought process brought me back to our magazine prototypes, in which we were encouraged to push past the norms that we so often see in magazines. Although we may have entered the assignment thinking that the magazines wanted something much like what they already had, it was interesting to hear that they really wanted to present something different. I think that this speaks a great deal for the design world.