An Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
A good design is always the simplest possible solution. An experienced designer sees every detail, even the things that are missing. The best designers are selfless and relentless in their pursuit to create work that is timeless. To them, good design is about quality, it’s about beauty, it’s about being human, it’s about utility.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
The idea of simplicity appears in many cultures, especially the Japanese traditional culture of Zen philosophy. Japanese manipulation of the Zen culture into aesthetic and design elements for architecture has influenced Western Society, especially in America since the mid 18th century.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
The concept of minimalist design is to strip everything down to its essential quality and achieve simplicity. The idea is not completely without ornamentation, but that all parts, details, and structural components are considered as reduced to a stage where no one can remove anything further to improve the design.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
There is now a growing realization that simplification is often the best way to filter the message from a sea of trivial “noise”, and that graphic designers are evolving into information architects, creating tools that help users navigate the currents of the digital age.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
Modernism is both a philosophical movement and an art movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
The influence of the Bauhaus on design education was significant. One of the main objectives of the Bauhaus was to unify art, craft, and technology, and this approach was incorporated into the curriculum of the Bauhaus.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
After Germany’s defeat in World War I and the establishment of the Weimar Republic, a renewed liberal spirit allowed an upsurge of radical experimentation in all the arts, which had been suppressed by the old regime.
Read MoreThe Peoria Riverfront Museum presents "From Pencil to Mouse: Forty Years of Graphic Design" featuring the work of Designer Kerry Grady on Saturday, October 1, 2022.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
The Bauhaus was founded in Weimar, Germany. It was a citadel of the new. It gave birth to sleek chairs with tubular steel legs that gave them the look of a bicycle’s handlebars.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
In 1998, a young, ambitious executive took over a ninety-year old Chicago bank. His plan was to merge his bank with another ninety-year old bank of equal size.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
Designers don’t create brands, they express them. Meaningful brands are created by people who lead organizations and who understand that every touch point with their customer is important.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
The road of design is covered with bad ideas, poorly executed and heavily financed by misdirected corporations that have money to burn.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
Everything posses form of some kind, good or bad, pleasing or not; even decoration is a kind of form that has lost its way. There is no such thing as formlessness.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
A wise man once said “Just because you’re standing in a garage, it doesn’t mean that you’re a car.” Along that line, I’d say that just because you call yourself a designer, it doesn’t make you one. And, just because you’re not a designer, it doesn’t mean you’re not creative.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
Words such as design, form, beauty, aesthetic, artistic, creative and graphic are hard to define. Each word has more than one meaning and requires interpretation. Design is both a verb and a noun. It is the beginning as well as the end, the process and product of imagination.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
There are different kinds of designers, and the type that I aspire to be is one of the creative problem solving kind. I do artistic things, but I am not an artist. I connect and communicate.I am happy to work within the constraints of time and money. I follow a disciplined approach, working modestly, confidently and diligently on behalf of my clients
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
My approach to graphic design is influenced most by the Swiss Style designers Emil Ruder, Armin Hofmann, and Josef Müller-Brockmann. The Swiss Style, also known as the International Typographic Style, was developed in Switzerland in the 1950s.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
Award-winning design isn’t always the best design. As a young designer working for Container Corporation of America, I was hired to contribute to the company’s design legacy.
Read MoreAn Excerpt from “Pencil to Mouse, Forty Years of Graphic Design” by Kerry Grady
Complicity of the design profession with big business has contributed to the expansion and globalization of commercial culture, leading many designers to question the ethics of their work. For too long design has been used to induce the devoted world to buy more products than it needs while developing countries lack the basic necessities of life.
Read MoreKerry Grady, Founding Principal
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