Graffiti is seen as a form of communication, it expresses attitudes, feelings and conveys messages to viewers…sounds just like typography, doesn’t it? Graffiti is words, it is a very public form of typography, and yes, it is sometimes considered vandalism and it can be offensive, but other times it may be commissioned and today we even see elements of graffiti that show up in design. I find this photo pretty cool because it shows the graffiti in context- a person is walking past it on a city street where you might find graffiti painted on the side of a building, I’m not too sure what it says…but nevertheless it’s colorful, very public and screams 'look at me!'--(which, you could say, isn't necessarily a bad trait in typography)...
Typefaces have been inspired by the unique letterforms of graffiti. While it can be considered typography because of its use of letters & words in several different aspects, there is an ongoing battle about whether or not graffiti should be considered art. it would definitely be fun to hear alternate opinions on graffiti in public as typography/art etc., feel free to comment!!
Typeface: Uomo DSk Chiseled Photograph:Graeme Robertson/Getty
I love the color in the photo. For me, graffiti is definitely an art form, or it can be. It takes a lot of practice to master, and there are clearly discernible styles and levels of creativity among artists. Having said that, I consider the lame, green spray paint ramblings left on garage doors in my alley to be vandalism. It's not easy to say exactly where the line is, but I think that's a good thing; I don't necessarily want my art to fit neatly into little boxes.
ReplyDeleteI consider graffiti to be an art form. When I was in college (back in the last century ;P ) Keith Haring was gaining notoriety as an artist. Quite a bit of his work was graffiti. I love the symbols he created. I went to a gallery showing of his work in Alphabet City. The whole gallery was painted black and he painted his graffiti in white on the walls. So Cool! His work was accessible to all. He did however go head to head with the NYC mayor. I think they finally worked out some legal opportunities for the graffiti artists to paint. The city of New York could not ignore how famous of an artist he had become. They should be so lucky to have him paint on their walls! http://www.haring.com/
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