Looking for some inspiration? Reading about the titans of creative inspiration will surely spark your next great idea.
Luis Barragan
The new post in our inspiration series features Luis Barragan, a Mexican architect. His construction style appears to be graphic and simple and at the same time, full of color and emotion.
As a young graduate traveling through Europe, Luis found inspiration in Le Corbusier’s work, especially in his love for laconic lines. After his ‘Euro-trip’, he went back to Mexico, where he built his most famous constructions. He was very much influenced by Mexican paintings and Moroccan architecture.
Colors and simple shapes immediately strike the eye when examining Barragan’s building designs. In particular, the window elements deserve special attention: Barragan didn’t necessarily think of them as functional, but rather as a conceptual element. Therefore, the windows in his projects look as if they were cut and arranged chaotically. However, they always have a view of nature. In his words: “I don’t divide architecture, landscape, and gardening: to me, they are one.”
Pierre Cardin
Cardin started his career as a theater artist until he began working in Christian Dior atelier in 1947. Interestingly enough he received a rejection letter from Balenciaga the same year.
In 1950, he opened his fashion house. His style consisted of geometric shapes and abstract forms. He prefers not to accentuate women’s body lines and to create new form and shapes.
Pierre Cardin is among the first fashion designers who introduced the concept of unisex. Moreover, he was the first to create a men’s denim collection, challenging the stereotype about fashion as an art form meant just for women.
The cost of his products made them available to a wide circle of consumers. This was the main reason for his expulsion from the Chambre Syndicale, as he launched a ready-to-wear collection for the Printemps department store as the first couturier in Paris. He was soon reinstated.
In 1970, he created designs for NASA.
Check out Pierre Cardin’s work in our post; we truly think that this man created many of the things we wear and use today. 🙂
Oscar Niemeyer
Our new blog series will feature titans of creative inspiration – this week’s featured creator is Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. Many of his structures look like they’re straight out of a science fiction movie, and his designs never cease to amaze.
Let us know which big creators you’d like to see featured in future articles and we’ll keep bringing you inspiration, creator by creator 🙂
Massimo Vignelli
An innovative designer, Massimo has brought beauty to many different fields.
His most well-known work has literally helped millions of people figure out where they are, where they’re going, and how to get there. How many designers have been able to manipulate the form-follows-function paradigm as well as he did with the iconic NYC subway map?
Alexander Girard
Anyone who looks at this post may understandably think to themselves, “Yes, I saw these designs once upon a time!”
Well, the name of the creator behind these classic beauties is that of Alexander Girard. Though he studied and practiced architecture, much of his work focused primarily on textile design.
His many pieces prominently featured geometric patterns and abstract forms in various bright colors. He frequently collaborated with big firms like Vitra, Maharam, AMMO and Herman Miller.
Charles and Ray Eames
They created timeless design pieces that are so iconic you have definitely seen them over and over again adorning TV sets, featured on the big screen, and framing photoshoots. Here at the IM Creator office, we have all dreamt about having a lounge full of Eames furniture!
These talented brothers succeeded in creating a grid format that we still see across modern furniture and storage units inspired by their design. The passage of time can be marked by dates, events, times, and even design – the Eames brothers iconic work certainly left an indelible mark on history.
Kazumasa Nagai
He one of the major pioneers of graphic design in Japan. From the first time you experience one of his innovative works, you can’t forget it. Despite their individual impact and influence, there’s also a good chance that you won’t recognize all of his works, as he has a varied style.
We are really in love with his animal creations. He didn’t try to be regular or even understood, even when doing an ad for Nikon!
Peter Saville
British designer, Peter Saville, became famous due to his great work with Factory Records.
It all started with the first Factory poster, FAC 1, and from there Saville continued to influence the design of all Factory products (album covers, singles, t-shirts, and more). So a Factory design catalog was born.
His album covers are among the most famous in the world. He pioneered some major changes to the priorities of album design, for example, moving the track list from the cover to the inside. He made imagery the center of the album cover and gave us all visual cues to match with the music inside.
Saville famously refused to cooperate with deadlines. One time, when asked to design a card for a party, he spent a lot of time creating a beautiful card. People loved it when they finally saw it – one week after the party.
His style is a 2D-format – like a faithful graphic designer! So many times, people have accused him of plagiarism, but he disregards these claims as irrelevant in the postmodern era: he finds it interesting to rework things that already exist, without parodying them.
Saville has collaborated with and been contracted by many iconic clients, including Jil Sander, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto, Christian Dior, Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein and more.
Paul Rand
Our blog series feature titans of creative inspiration. This week’s featured creator is designer and art-director Paul Rand. He created an identity system for IBM, Ford and NeXT, as well as for other big companies. He liked design at a very young age, painting vitrines for his father’s store, also did decor for school events. Paul Rand was inspired by László Moholy-Nagy, Gebrauchsgrafik magazine, Le Corbusier and Pablo Picasso.
- His career in the design industry began in 1930. He did stock images for magazines and newspapers.
- 1936 Did setting-page layout for the Apparel Arts (GQ) magazine anniversary issue.
- 1956 Created a logo for IBM.
- 1961 Created logos for ABC and UPS.
- 1966 Created a new logo for Ford.
- 1972 Upgraded the IBM logo by adding strips.
- 1985 Created a new logo for Yale University Press.
- 1985 Released the book Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art.
- 1986 Steve Jobs ordered a logo for NeXT.
- 1991 Created a logo for IDEO Design.
- 1993 Created a logo for English First.
- 1992 Wrote the book Design, Form and Chaos.
- Let us know which big creators you’d like to see featured in future articles, and we’ll keep bringing you inspiration, creator by creator. 🙂
