[design] Famously Graphic

967. A couple of postings locally caught my eye–but then, that's what effective graphic design is supposed to do.

A lot of us who love music love it partially because of album cover art (Gerry Rafferty's City to City is still amongst my most personal favorites). When the act is particularly iconic, sometimes genre-shifting work manages to wrap one of the act's discs. Here, at mental_floss's online presence, is 23 album covers that represented paradigm shifts, according to the author (Chris Smith). We all have our opinions; Record Store Geek (whose posting here recommended the list) has his ideas of what should have made the cut. Art is subjective that way.

And why 23? Always the rule of fives with these people fnord. Anyway.

In another posting, re:PDX reveals how graphic parody can bring light to a dark subject. The morphing of Nestlé Crunch into "Nastilie Credit Crunch" (A new forclosure in every bite) is a darkly humorous take on the particularly harrowing evolution our domestic economy seems to be going though right now. It works particularly because it touches all the stylistic bases: color, type, general style; if the reference wasn't so clear, it would be a pastiche.

Graphic Design that clicks is just like that. Instantly unforgettable, powerfully communicative, and eloquent of the unseen but realized grammar of visual communication.

Spa Fon?

Technorati Tags: Graphic Design, Parody, Album Covers