Remember when everything was done by hand? Yeah, me neither. However there's something very nice... very... "human" about those old images. Sure they had faults - maybe a slight smudge or a letter that was a bit off - but even though the message might not have been, at least they were honest, right?
Nowdays it's very easy for an illustrator to correct the imperfections which create that human quality via the use of a computer. On the other hand, it's just as easy to fake that quality with the same programs which correct them. However, is either a horrible thing? Is it sometimes okay to fake or sacrifice that warm, nostalgic feeling if it makes things easier for us?
As a illustrator I create a lot of my pieces with ink, nibs and brushes. Often flaws would come up while doing these pieces, such as blobs of ink or lines that aren't as straight or non-flawed as they need to be. But that being said the term wabi-sabi, comes to mind. It is a Japanese term in which beauty is seen in the flaws of a piece. And it just shows that we are all human, and humanizes the work.
ReplyDeleteI really love hand drawn illustrations and lettering, and I think computer programs can be a great time-saving tool for cleaning up and re-arranging different elements of an image. However, I can't stand downloadable fonts and brushes that are made to look distressed/pencil drawn, because they are so obviously not handmade.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is a kind of strange phenomenon that instead of embracing current technology and web-friendly typefaces, many web designers are going for a hand drawn look to their websites. Smashing magazine has a list (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/03/hand-drawing-style-in-modern-web-design/) of a bunch of different websites that use hand-drawn type and imagery. In some cases I think it can be successful, for example when it is the blog and portfolio of an illustrator, but if it's not done right it can look confusing/contrived/overdone.
This is an interesting debate for artists - the topic of authenticity. We now seemingly rely a great deal on the context of things and the acts of creation. Where is it made, how is it made, who made it, and with what was it made. Do those things really make something more authentic or is authenticity something we have to get passed to progress?
ReplyDeleteI think that like the art nouveau and art deco revivals, the dominant use of computers in graphic design and illustration today has caused a longing for a "simpler" time, and a renewed interest and respect for handdrawn work.
ReplyDeleteas far as authenticity is concerned, for me the key issue is how tradition is seen as a marker of something being authentic. upholding tradition can quite obviously get in the way of progress.
I wish you could meet my Grandmother... She was a calligraphist in London during the 20s. She would have a lot to say about this. I would have to say that I feel that more often than not technology has a way of de-humanizing things... The hand written letter vs email, hand drawn vs computer... the human element adds so much and it cannot be accurately synthesized. I don't know that I'd say it's about authenticity. But I think handwork feels more real.
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