Inspirational Designers

Name of 1 or 2 of the most inspirational designers to you and explain in detail why.

I will be back to add mine I must leave now before the girlfriend gets pissed!

Name of 1 or 2 of the most inspirational designers to you and explain in detail why.

I will be back to add mine I must leave now before the girlfriend gets pissed!

They really aren't designers but I was inspired by my parents..
I'd watch my dad creat things out of wood, whatever it was a house, toy car, furniture anything... They never sat down and drew anything that I remember till I was about 6yrs old and I watched my dad draw house plans every detail and watched him paint a jet on my brothers football helmet, then a cardinal on mine.. as I was older and he had more time I asked him to sit and draw with me, to say the least I was amazed.

Same thing with my mother. She always encouraged me to draw and color or whatever. She was always to busy making our home a home and one day I was having a hard time drawing a dog. she sat with me and showed me how the line flowed on the animal, showed me the different shades there were with in the photo as she drew I watched her feminin hands just flow. And to see the christmas presents she'd create just wow.. when we were older and more self relient, she wanted to do more things she took skulpting classes after a week the teacher asked her to take the advanced class..

So it wasn't till I was about 17 that I relized I got my creativity from my parents.. All you see is them working and correcting what you do wrong to see who they really are.

another insparation to me was George Trosley - GEORGE TROSLEY AUTOMOTIVE CARTOONIST

Mine are definitely (1) Wally Olins and (2) Stefan Sagmeister

Wally Olins because he is the master of branding and has come up with some of the most brilliant branding work I've ever seen. He brought Sony Ericsson from a nothing cell phone maker to what it is today... Just look at his work and you'll know what I mean. Meeting him in '07 and attending his talk was one of the greatest experiences of my life in design.

Stefan Sagmeister because all of his work is so out of the box, unique, intelligent, awe-inspiring. Check out his talks on TED.com... He first made an impression on me during one of his lectures in Goa, and I've been following his work ever since. A funny man and a serious designer, he has the ability to inspire anyone, even non-designers, through his talks.


@FMD: Who are yours?

Mine are definitely (1) Wally Olins and (2) Stefan Sagmeister

Wally Olins because he is the master of branding and has come up with some of the most brilliant branding work I've ever seen. He brought Sony Ericsson from a nothing cell phone maker to what it is today... Just look at his work and you'll know what I mean. Meeting him in '07 and attending his talk was one of the greatest experiences of my life in design.

Stefan Sagmeister because all of his work is so out of the box, unique, intelligent, awe-inspiring. Check out his talks on TED.com... He first made an impression on me during one of his lectures in Goa, and I've been following his work ever since. A funny man and a serious designer, he has the ability to inspire anyone, even non-designers, through his talks.


@FMD: Who are yours?

I would have to say Josef Müller Brockmann. What he did with the Swiss International style is phenomenal. The way he utilized the grid in all of his work is incredible. I would say he had some of the most intricate grid systems if you ever get a chance to look at his work and then disect it in photoshop or illustrator with guides you will see what I am talking about. Not to mention you are talking about a guy who was denied entry to one of the most prestigious design academies he had to beg Ernst Keller to allow him to audit classes for him then becoming a teacher there. A very inspirational story if you ever read about him.

The other would be David Carson. His recent stuff has been kinda weak as if he was starting to lose it, but what he did with typography for surfer mags and skateboard mags back in the 80's is revolutionary not to mention broke tons of typographic rules, but he did it right. Since I have been a pre teen I have seen tons of work by him, not knowing who did it, but used to be in awe of it. I used to read thrasher all the time and the use of type in those magazines as well as the advertisements made me want to become a designer.

It's funny because Brockmann was very precise and Carson is the complete opposite and I think that is why I consider them inspirational designers. I tend to use Akzidens Grotesque and the grid quite frequently just as Brockmann. If you notice the grid is still utilized quite frequently as well as Carsons organic and radical typographic styles today.

I know people have mixed feelings about Carson, but look what carson has done to the industry. You could pretty much say the punk rock ransom type styles as well as some of the more erratic designs are most likely derived from some of Carsons stuff.

Would it be tacky to say Milton Glaser and Paul Rand? Both seminal graphic designers, maybe I can forgo any detailed explanation!

(Well, I think I have others that are nearer and dearer to my heart, I'll have to think about this one. Hmm...)

1: Si Scott => The fact that he draws that amazing typography by hand is just so inspiring.

2: Marko djurdjevic => He didn't have any education in drawing or other art. He practiced till he was 17 and then he went to a publicher and said "I'm better than any artist you have got here". They laught at him but wen he showwed them his portfolio he was hired that same day. Now he works for marvel and draws the most amazing things.

One of my personal favourites is Peter Jaworowski, his work is incredible in my opinion; he has mastered a multitude of different styles, while managing to keep all of his work at the cutting edge. Definitely worth a look for anyone.

My all time favorite designer goes by one name: Supon

He is my true friend and I will always consider him one of my greatest mentors and I still find inspiration in his incredible works today. I learned so much working for him and this opportunity helped my design career take shape in so many ways. He is definitely a great role model for success to any designer worldwide.

Supon rocks!

PS--I also like to study the works of Oglivy!

what a great question, after a lengthy self discussion I realized that I don't know one designers name except Bruce Mau. But I only learned about him recently. So now I am unsure about where I get my inspiration from, but I would have to say it is from every design I have ever seen, ones I have loved and ones I have not liked so much. My inspiration comes from every designer out there. So if you were inspired by people like Milton Glaser, Paul Rand or Wally Olins and I have seen that design I have now been inspired by one of them.

Anyway, just keep designing and keep being artists, DO NOT lose that artist in you, do not let money or fame destroy the beauty of the art.

We all know that creative individuals will sooner or later stumble upon a create-block, and the best remedy for this is to look for something which will inspire that spark of creativeness with in us all. So with out any further delays, here are the top 50 inspirational websites for your viewing pleasure. Truly bookmark worthy for any aspiring designer.

CSS Remix WebsiteCSS Remix - A listing of user submitted websites created with css and valid xhtml. You’ll find a great collection of superb website designs here, and while you’re at it, you can also rate each of the designs that have been submitted. The site is also pretty well designed in my opinion.

FWA - Favorite Website Awards FWA (Favorite Website Award) - This site provides an amazing listing of websites created in Flash, some of the best jaw-dropping flash sites to ever be created are on FWA. In addition, the sites layout is very nice and user-friendly to navigate throughout. And remember, this is a user submitted listing so feel free to send in your Flash sites.

deviantART Official WebsitedeviantART - This site has it all, amateur and professional creatives such as photos, drawings, paintings, icons, wallpaper, logos, and even doodles. If you love art then this is the place to go to, a user driven content oriented site with the works. Use it at your own risk, time will fly by while on this website.

Edited by brandyarnold, 20 February 2010 - 05:17 AM.

hmmmmm .........

I would have to say, my interest for drawing/sketching started with my GrandFather (mom's side) - i still remember -- we were both sitting infront of our big "drawing wall" (where i used to learn/write my ABC's - LOL!) ... he first drew an open curly bracket " { " -- then he put a dot which server to be the eye! and then a line that served to be the mouth!

Since then - i played with that technique and started improving! until i started to draw not only faces but continuing down to the body etc. etc. ! hehehehe !!! my GrandDad rocks!

BUT also, it was Resident Evil by CAPCOM that ignited my strong fondness about the idea to make my drawings/sketches come to life -- thru -- Animation! yeahhhh!!!! rockn' Animation!!! be it 2d or 3d man!!! -- rwaaarrrr!!!

I would say, Oliviero Toscani ... wow! I grew up amazed by those stunning benetton ads! who didn't?

... (thinking of a second one)

Edited by jjyepez, 20 February 2010 - 07:59 PM.

^ his stuff is great! i spent some time going through his pics.. he has a distinct style.

nice nice .... someone really profi .... ?!?

I realy love what John Stevens make. Why? Because its beautiful=)

Stefan Sagmeister because all of his work is so out of the box, unique, intelligent, awe-inspiring. Check out his talks on TED.com... He first made an impression on me during one of his lectures in Goa, and I've been following his work ever since. A funny man and a serious designer, he has the ability to inspire anyone, even non-designers, through his talks.


@FMD: Who are yours?

You made me curious about Stefan Sagmeister. I'm going to watch him on TED.

crhisvector
his works makes me learn a lot about vector.

Robinson Brand Builders

Maurits Cornelis Escher.
Alfons Maria Mucha.
And my father.
I have had a huge book collection of art, because my dad had art supply store in Tokyo, Japan so when I was a child I could have any kind of art supply... it was very lucky... Anyway, Escher's book was my favorite and I could look at it all day long... I still do.
Mucha was the most inspirational designer for me. (snowcha came from his name btw)
His designed for things like match boxes, or cookie boxes etc... and of course posters. I wanted people to know my designs/art, even they don't know my name. and i still think the same way as when I was child.

Alfons Maria Mucha is a big name