Analysis of the works of Seymour Chivast

Throughout Chevast’s design works, we can see that he pays attention to the expression of personal concepts in graphic design works and pursues the freedom of artistic design works. His focus is on how to combine his unique style with visually communicating designs. His works are easy to understand and often expressed in humorous and lively ways. Line drawing and color flat painting are very common creative techniques in his graphic design works. He is also good at using a color style with American humor. At the same time, he is also keen on using a variety of different media to mix and express the theme of his works. , to achieve special visual effects.

3.1 Integration of concepts and images

After the second station, political needs and economic development promoted the development of posters and other graphic design works with political propaganda purposes. This is a very The development of commercial graphic design was a very prominent and special phenomenon after the war. The graphic design of this period was not only intended to convey certain specific political contents, but also contained certain ideals and concepts. This kind of design often uses the content of the manuscript to determine the tendency of the creative design, and condenses the manuscript into a concise slogan, using images to highlight the ideological content and concepts, making it more artistic. In his creation, Chevast is not limited to introducing artistic formal expression into graphic design, but cleverly combines art and design to express concepts through the embodiment of different images.

As shown in Figure 2, "End Bad Breath" is an anti-war poster designed by Chevast in 1968 (37 years old) to oppose the US's response to the Vietnam War (1959-1975). Hanoi was bombed. This poster uses rich colors, concise slogans, and cartoons to express the anti-war theme. As long as we look closely, we will find that the man in the poster is describing the war scene of aircraft bombing, and the slogan "End Bad Breath" "Bad Breath" means "bad breath" in English. It uses "eliminating bad breath" to insinuate "opposition to war" and convey the desire to love peace. The poster uses the "Stars and Stripes" that symbolizes the United States as the background to satirize the United States' unreasonable intervention in Vietnam and inspire the American people to consider the feelings of the Vietnamese people affected by the war. It can be seen from this that Chevast's love as an artist Humanistic sentiments of democracy and peace.

As shown in Figure 3, "The Three Penny Opera" is an album cover work by Chevast. He uses different styles in graphic design, such as German Expressionist woodcuts. , surreal spatial layout and bold color expression [1] (P.274) echo the promotional function of the album and the musical tonality of the opera. This realistic look that breaks the traditional stereotypes in the past and embodies personal opera concepts through images is the charm of the integration of concepts and images. 3.2 Cartoonized comic style

There is a prominent uniqueness in Chevast’s design works—the cartoonish comic style. In terms of design expression, he uses simplified cartoon comic shapes to express his thinking, making his graphic design works humorous, witty, and with good decorative effects. In his design, he draws a lot of references from illustrations of children's books, comics, etc., and strives to make his works easy to understand and full of vitality. He is good at grasping some accumulated culture and symbols in American society and life, capturing popular culture with an artist's keen perspective, and expressing cultural symbols familiar to the public in the form of cartoons and geometric comics. Figure 4 is a poster created by Chevast for a design conference held in Aspen (ASE ASPEN), Colorado, USA. He skillfully integrated form and theme. The meeting was originally a formal occasion, but he used cartoon-like comic shapes to express it. He cleverly combined the theme of the meeting with the design expression, and realized the function of form serving the theme. As shown in Figure 5, "Pushpin and Beyond" is an exhibition poster designed by Chevast for the "Pushpin" Design Group in 1997 at the Suntory Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan. The poster uses a cartoon and geometric robot to express the theme. It uses bright colors and simple lines to outline the cartoon character appearance. What is interesting is that the robot is also holding a pipe. The cartoon shape is lively and humorous, reflecting the designer's unconstrained imagination. artistic expression ability.

Chevast’s cartoonish comic style has been simplified. The technique is not simply to delete or piece together, but to grasp the theme and rigorously simplify the theme elements in form. Abstract, expressing the theme through cartoon-like comic shapes.

3.3 Application of heterogeneity and isomorphism

“Heterogeneity and isomorphism is an expression language in graphic creativity. It uses the shape of one element to destroy or graft another. These elements create conflicts and connections between the two, thus creating new visual forms, weakening the role of form and emphasizing the existence of meaning.”[3] Isomorphism is an abnormal combination in which a certain part of an object is replaced or added by other similar or dissimilar shapes. It is not a simple addition or replacement, but is formed by using the connection between elements. Isomorphism, a complete new image produced after mutual coordination, makes the work trigger aftertaste and thinking.

In Chevast’s design works, heterogeneity and isomorphism are very common expression techniques. He seems to be very keen on ignoring the appearance of the object, and using the changes or influences of the internal materials in the combined elements to create unexpected visual effects and psychological shocks. Figure 6 is a typical representative work of Chevast's heterogeneous and isomorphic applications. He made the pen and the house the same structure, and connected the two elements into one to form a new and unique image, describing the New York City under the writer's pen as the source of story material. Figure 7 is a promotional poster made by Chevast for the Thumbtack Group. He used a rooster head to replace the head of a gentleman in a suit, emphasizing the theme elements and indicating that the Thuttack Group is a group that dares to fight. The rooster pursues the spirit of being unconventional, daring to innovate, and persevering.

Conclusion:

Chevast’s design works are humorous, witty, relaxed and enjoyable, with diverse creative techniques. But his works all have one unique characteristic, which is to express personal ideas in cartoon-like comic shapes and integrate ideas and images. In terms of subject matter, Chevast makes extensive use of symbols in daily life and embodies the values ????in life into his creative ideas, which has a strong flavor of life. In terms of formal language, he uses his rich experience and cartoon form to express profound connotations. His unique creative techniques update people's visual environment and constantly refine his unique design style. He carefully integrated art and design, concept and image, breaking the rigid and mechanical design look of the time. Chevast not only pays attention to the design function of the work, but also focuses on the shaping of the artistic style of the work, combining the design of artistic form and visual communication function to realize the connotative value of the work.

Chevast makes extensive use of line drawing and color flat painting and pays attention to the use of new media. His design works are obviously influenced by the Pop Art and hippie culture of his time. Hippy Culture), filled with a romantic and humorous atmosphere. He used rough and heroic American humor to express the consumption concepts, life tastes and aesthetic fashions that emerged in Western society under the background of the industrialization era at that time. At the same time, he combined his own concepts with various expression methods. This eclectic design method made It's refreshing. He laid a solid foundation for the development of Pushpin Design Group and influenced his contemporaries with his excellent artistic quality. At the same time, Pushpin also influenced his design creation. No matter which of his creative techniques, Chevast pursues visual effects that break through traditional planes and form a unique artistic personality. It can be said that in the development and exploration of the art field, Chevast has made great contributions to the diversity and innovation of art, influencing the design development of the second and third generations of "Pushpins", and also providing a The field of visual arts has been injected with new blood and strength.