Nothing speaks more to my passion for applied art than my desire to peruse consignment and antique shops over art galleries. There is something endlessly fascinating about the methods, colors, and use and placement of text on an old tobacco can, music album cover or package of matches. Nothing awakens my sense of artistic expression more than sifting through an old stack of mid-century magazines and postcards. Some see consumerism, I choose to see a curious mind and an artist expressing their unique styles.

‘Hash Pop’ is somewhat of a confession, and an embrace of my roots as a designer. It’s an expressive exploration of applied art design principles, particularly the use of simple shapes, symmetry, whitespace and typography. Colors and textures are rooted in pop art and various propaganda art styles inspired by Andy Warhol, Robert Litchenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and various creators of propaganda and product art.

‘Hash Pop’ is an expressive exploration of these ideas. How can I as a studied designer create expressive implementations of applied art principles? How can I bridge the gap between these disciplines to create something purely for the sake of its creation rather than the confines of a specific purpose?

The structure of ‘Hash Pop’ is premised on the hash, which is printed in a 5x10 grid, with the final character (51) printed as a highlight in the background. The hash is not only the most prominent feature of the artwork, it’s also a time stamp, cementing the space and the time where the creator and consumer met, in the era of the block chain. It’s a testament to our shared experience in this time and in this space. It’s an expression of our shared experience, and a visual poem of our path to get here.

There is no defined structure to the color palette, so the outputs are purposefully random. Textures and transparencies are designed to be subtle and are structured with printing in mind. Each piece when printed allows for paper textures and inks to add their unique elements to the final printed outputs. I find a particular satisfaction in printed artwork and test the printed outputs extensively to guide design choices.

‘Hash Pop’ is part of the 'Visual Poetry' group show curated by Atelier (http://atelierart.io). It’s an honor to be part of this exhibit. A special thanks goes out to Pixel Symphony and æther for putting it all together and also for their guidance and collaboration on this project.

File Size: 5100 x 6600
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//= Tiller, 2024