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thebrennerblog · 7 years ago

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Report- Revised + Title + Bibliography + References

Experimenting Experimental Jetset

A report on the Dutch studio, by Valentina Brenner

Experimental Jetset managed to be cited in almost every project we’ve had. I decided to see what the fuss was about, and thought it might be interesting to start at point zero.

At first, my instinct was to find answers on the studio’s website. After being bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information, I changed my mind.

I then turned to interviews and found many of them. These interviews, however, talk about a broader understanding of Experimental Jetset. The solution I came up with was to set myself questions I’d like to answer in my report. These questions were: What are their views on design? What is their way of working? Who are their Influences? What was their education? In order to answer them, I highlighted with respective colours the answers on the text. I then combined and summarised these quotes and parts of interviews to form a body of text.

Before reading, I expected to find explanations, comments, and reactions to projects; and maybe some background information. What I instead found is a broad philosophical background and ideology towards design.

The graphic design field has its share of celebrities. It’s no doubt that Experimental Jetset studio is one of them. Made of 3 Dutch people, residing in Amsterdam and established in 1997, the studio started out infamous and made their way through the field by being bold yet clean. Once described as “convicted users of Helvetica”, and on a negative tone, "an ironic version of the International Style”, you can get a sense of what “clean” means.

On that note, their biggest influences, according to them, are "Wim Crouwel, Dutch late-modernist graphic designers: Ben Bos, Benno Wissing… Total Design studio. Punk Movement […]” (Experimental Jetset, 2011).

Why is that? Growing up in 1970’s Amsterdam, designers like Crouwel shaped the graphic atmosphere of the city, late-modernism was a predominant style.

When they were teenagers, they were immersed in the punk graphic atmosphere, engaging in all respective activities, fanzines, badges, flyers, etc.

The responsive W, visual identity for the Whitney museum in New York.

The responsive W feels like it’s alive, adapting to its purpose, shape-shifting, rebelling. It is very simple, yet it takes complex forms.

It also isn’t satisfied with being a logo- it also becomes a grid for a typographic layout. It expands to fit full sentences, it condenses to lodge artist’s names.

I think this work is a clear demonstration of Experimental Jetset’s attitude towards design, a sort of Roundhead with a Cavalier’s hear. That whilst a piece can be clean, simple and functional, it has a “kick”, a personality.

On the “about” section of their website, there is this quote:

“If humans are shaped by their environment,

then this environment has to be made human”

Marx and Engels, ‘The Holy Family’ (1844)

I believe this graphic identity is almost like a synthesis of it. There is a humanisation of the shape, giving it personality, making it human. Also, it’s shaped by its environment.

As an important studio, one might wonder: how does Experimental Jetset view graphic design? What is it to them?

They say graphic design is attractive because it’s a culmination of interesting fields: "art, politics, poetry, industry, printing, philosophy, literature, et cetera.” Experimental Jetset, (2011). It’s a platform for creativity and self-expression. They chose to study graphic design to find a way to express themselves. The trio comes from a working-class background and the discipline showed itself more accessible for them. They saw it as “applied arts”, and saw an opportunity to profit, a point of view they now reject.

Perhaps this view on design derives from their education, in Gerrit Rietveld Academie. This school has a Bauhaus and De Stijl-like- approach. According to them, there is no hierarchical division between the arts; they were all equally important.

Experimental Jetset also has a different way of working. They aim to keep their studio small, only the 3 original members. For them, it’s important to stick to a visual language and explore it in different ways.

Their website is unusual, it works like a big archive. They claim this is like a reflective journal for them. They write extensive texts on their work. It is also is an inside look for enthusiasts of the studio. Experimental Jetset doesn’t regard networking as a vital activity of designers, they believe isolation can be beneficial to develop originality. Despite that, the trio value solidarity between small independent studios.

Experimental Jetset’s website- home page. (https://www.experimentaljetset.nl)

The studio’s website is almost function over form. It has almost no aesthetic care- yet it does. It’s almost like a careless care. It’s purposely simple. For me, this format is a bit selfish. If someone wants to get to know their work, it’s very unwelcoming. You don’t know where to start nor what their work looks like.

It is understandable for Experimental Jetset to use this platform as a place to reflect on their work, and as a place for other designers to know their process, but for me it seems they are using their status as an advantage, because if they were a lesser known studio, they couldn’t have the luxury of not explicitly showing their work.

I think the idea of a website as an extensive archive is different and amusing, but I feel it kind of goes against the “democratic ideology” of Experimental Jetset because the less informed are lost within so much information.

Experimental Jetset comes from an oddly mixed background, a combination of punk and International Style, which gives them a unique profile- simple with an edge. They had a non-traditional education and work in a non-traditional manner- keeping a small studio and establishing a distance from other design agencies in order to keep their originality. It is safe to say that ideology is a big part of their work and vice-versa.

However, I feel that some of this ideology is a bit hypocritical, that they can only think this way because of their status. Let me explain: firstly, they state that one of the reasons they chose graphic design over art is because of its profitable future. They then say that they reject this point of view now and encourage young designers to think otherwise. In my opinion, they only can think like this whilst looking retrospectively, and that it is easier to say this being a very well-known and important studio than being a young person choosing their career.

Secondly, they state that they oppose the networking mentality, that it is important to isolate oneself to preserve individuality. Again, I feel that this might be true for a studio that is already a reference. It is very difficult to make yourself known without making connections. Also, in my point of view, graphic design is better when the designer is trading, sharing skills and references. I think it is alienating to preserve oneself in a bubble, in name of originality, because it is harder to grow as artists when you are sticking to your own references, skills, and ideas.

To conclude, my overall impression of Experimental Jetset is that they were able to make an impact because of their background and influences, which makes a very interesting blend. This is combined with a very clear ideology. I do believe however that this particular anti-big business and anti-mainstream philosophy can only be possible because they are immersed, rather they see it or not, in this scenery they so despise.

Even with this criticism of mine, it was a pleasure to get to know them through this report, they are a great reference and inspiration. Bibliography:

Experimental Jetset, (2010) Interviewed by Giorgio Camuffo and Maddalena Dalla Mura for Graphic Design Words, July. Available at: https://www.experimentaljetset.nl/archive/interview-graphic-design-words (Accessed: 5 of September 2018).

Experimental Jetset, (2010) Interviewed by Katie Treggiden for Confessions of a design geek, May. Available at: https://www.experimentaljetset.nl/archive/interview-confessions (Accessed: 5 of September 2018).

Experimental Jetset, (2017) Interviewed by Jerret Fuller for Scratching the Surface, 22 March. Available at: https://medium.com/scratchingthesurfacefm/an-interview-with-experimental-jetset-91b49c245a6 (Accessed: 22 of August 2018).

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thebrennerblog · 7 years ago

Text

Report- Reduced words.

Report

(TITLE?)

Experimental Jetset managed to be cited in almost every project we’ve had. I decided to see what the fuss was about, and thought it might be interesting to start at point zero.

At first, my instinct was to find answers in the studio’s website. After being bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information, I changed my mind.

I then turned to interviews, and found many of them. These interviews, however, talk about a broader understanding of Experimental Jetset. The solution I came up with was to set myself questions I’d like to answer in my report. These questions were: What are their views on design? What is their way of working? Who are their Influences? What was their education?

In order to answer them, I highlighted with respective colours the answers on the text. I then combined and summarised these quotes and parts of interviews to form a body of text.

Before reading, I expected to find explanations, comments and reactions to projects; and maybe some background information. What I instead found is a extent philosophical background and ideology towards design.

The graphic design field has it's share of celebrities. It’s no doubt that Experimental Jetset studio is one of them. Made of 3 dutch people, residing in Amsterdam and established in 1997, the studio started out infamous and made their way through the field by being bold yet clean. Once described as “convicted users of Helvetica”, and on a negative tone, "an ironic version of the International Style”,REFERENCE? you can get a sense of what “clean” means.

On that note, their biggest influences, according to them, are "Wim Crowel, Dutch late-modernist graphic designers: Ben Bos, Benno Wissing… Total Design studio. Punk Movement […]” REFERENCE? Why is that? Growing up in 1970’s Amsterdam, designers like Crowel shaped the graphic atmosphere of the city, late-modernism was a predominant style.

When they were teenagers, they were immersed in the punk graphic atmosphere, engaging in all respective activities, fanzines, badges, flyers, etc.

The responsive W, the Whitney Museum’s visual identity, feels like it’s alive, adapting to it’s purpose, shape-shifting, rebelling. It is very simple, yet it takes complex forms.

It also isn’t satisfied with being a logo- it also becomes a grid for a typographic layout. It expands to fit full sentences, it condenses to lodge artist’s names.

On the “about” section of their website, there is this quote:

“If humans are shaped by their environment,

then this environment has to be made human”

Marx and Engels, ‘The Holy Family’ (1844)

I think this graphic identity is almost like a synthesis of it. There is a humanisation of the shape, giving it personality, making it human. Also, it’s shaped by it's environment.

As an important studio, one might wonder: how does Experimental Jetset view graphic design? What is it to them?

They say graphic design is attractive because it’s a culmination of interesting fields: "art, politics, poetry, industry, printing, philosophy, literature, et cetera.” REFERENCE It’s a platform for creativity and self-expression. They chose to study graphic design to find a way to express themselves. The trio come from a working-class background and the discipline showed itself more accessible for them. They saw it as “applied arts”, and saw an opportunity to profit, a point of view they now reject.

The studio’s website is almost function over form. It has almost no aesthetic care- yet it does. It’s almost like a careless care. It’s purposely simple.

For me this format is a bit selfish. If someone wants to get to know their work, it’s very unwelcoming. You don’t know where to start nor what their work looks like.

I think the idea of a website as an extensive archive is different and amusing, but I feel it kind of goes against the “democratic ideology” of Experimental Jetset, because the less informed are lost within so much information.

Experimental Jetset come from a oddly mixed background, a combination of punk and International Style, which gives them an unique profile- simple with an edge. They had a non-traditional education and work in a non-traditional manner- keeping a small studio and establishing a distance from other design agencies in order to keep their originality. It is safe to say that ideology is a big part of their work and vice-versa.

However, I feel that some of this ideology is a bit hypocritical, that they can only think this way because of their status. Let me explain: firstly, they state that one of the reason they chose graphic design over art is because of its profitable future. They then say that they reject this point of view now and encourage young designers to think otherwise. However, I think they only can think like this whilst looking retrospectively, and that it is easier to say this being a very well-known and important studio than being a young person choosing their career.

Secondly, they state that they oppose to the networking mentality, that it is important to isolate oneself to preserve individuality. Again, I feel that this might be true for a studio that is already a reference. It is very difficult to make yourself known without making connections. Also, in my point of view, graphic design is better when the designer is trading, sharing skills and references. I think it is alienating to preserve oneself in a bubble, in name of originality, because it is harder to grow as artists when you are sticking to your own references, skills and ideas.

To conclude, my overall impression of Experimental Jetset is that they were able to make an impact because of their background and influences, which makes a very interesting blend.

This is combined with a very clear ideology. I do believe however that this particular anti-big business and anti-mainstream philosophy can only be possible because they are immersed, rather they see it or not, in this scenery they so despise.

Even with this criticism of mine, it was a pleasure to get to know them through this report, they are a great reference and an inspiration.

0 notes

thebrennerblog · 7 years ago

Text

Report- Raw text.

Report

(TITLE?)

Experimental Jetset managed to be cited in almost every project we’ve had. I had never heard of them. I decided then to see what the fuss was about, and thought it might be interesting to start at point zero.

At first, my instinct was to find answers in the studio’s website. After being bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information, I changed my mind. Their website is not for beginners- you must have an aim in mind and must have references of their work to go straight to the point, because it is not build to wander through. You are confronted with a big list of projects- names and nothing else.

I then turned to interviews, and found many of them. The thing about these interviews is that they generally do not focus on one subject, they talk about a broader understanding of Experimental Jetset. The solution I came up with was to set myself questions I’d like to answer in order to resolve the bigger question: Who is Experimental Jetset? These smaller questions are: What are their views on design? What is their way of working? Who are their Influences? What is their background? What was their education? What are their characteristics? What is their importance?

In order to answer them, I read a series of interviews, from different sources, and highlighting in respective colours the answers. I then combined and summarised these quotes and parts of interviews to form a body of text.

These interviews come with images and references to the studio’s work. I gathered these images to analyse and to visually explain Experimental Jetset. These are the works that form the public’s notion of the studio. When I decided to read the interviews, I expected to find explanations, comments and reactions to projects; and maybe some background information. What I instead found is a extent philosophical background and ideology towards design. I found very individual views on the practice, a lot of reflections on their trajectory. I expected to hover on the surface of what they are and alternately I found a deep inside-look on their thoughts and practice and a very concise guide on influences; and perhaps that is what makes Experimental Jetset, Experimental Jetset.

The graphic design field has it's share of celebrities. It’s no doubt that Experimental Jetset studio is one of them. It’s made of 3 dutch people, residing in Amsterdam and established in 1997, the studio started out as controversial and infamous and made their way through the field by being bold yet clean and tidy. Once described as “convicted users of Helvetica”, and on a negative tone, "an ironic version of the International Style”,REFERENCE? you can get a sense of what “clean and tidy” means.

On that note, their biggest influences, according to them, are "Wim Crowel, Dutch late-modernist graphic designers (Ben Bos, Benno Wissing… Total Design studio. Punk Movement (Two Tone, Psychobilly, New Wave, Garage Rock, Mod, Straight Edge, etc.).” REFERENCE? Growing up in 1970’s Amsterdam, designers like Crowel shaped the graphic atmosphere of the city, signs, posters, etc. The trio came to age in a place where late-modernism was a predominant style.

When they were teenagers, they were immersed in the punk graphic atmosphere, engaging in all respective activities, mix tapes, fanzines, badges, flyers, comics, etc.

This unique and contrasting set of influences give Experimental Jetset this reputation of being edgy yet sophisticated and some-what minimalistic.

The responsive W, the Whitney Museum’s visual identity, feels like it’s alive, adapting to it’s purpose, shape-shifting. It is very simple, yet it takes complex forms -it’s a simple line yet its a complex figure.

It shows Experimental Jetset “clean-rebel” attitude, because it seems the form is rebelling against being one thing, one shape, all whilst staying just a line.

It also isn’t satisfied with being a logo- it also becomes a grid for a typographic layout. It expands to fit full sentences, it condenses to lodge artist’s names.

Looking at it at first glance, it almost seems like a giant, trying to fit in a small box, and having to be bent in different ways to do so.

I think this work is a clear demonstration of Experimental Jetset’s attitude towards design, a sort of Roundhead with a Cavalier’s heart mentality. That whilst a piece can be clean, simple and functional, it has a “kick”, a personality; and in their work, this shows itself more as a philosophy behind the aesthetics. While looking at this work, I was reminded of a phrase that is on the "about" page of the studio's website:

“If humans are shaped by their environment,

then this environment has to be made human”

Marx and Engels, ‘The Holy Family’ (1844)

I think this graphic identity is almost like a synthesis of this quote. There is a humanization of the shape, giving it personality, making it human. Also, this "human shape" is shaped by it's environment.

I chose this piece to analyse because for me it clearly states the answer to “who is Experimental Jetset”? A simple yet completely different solution.

As an important studio, one might wonder: how does Experimental Jetset view graphic design? What is it to them?

They say graphic design is attractive because it’s a culmination of interesting fields: "art, politics, poetry, industry, printing, philosophy, literature, et cetera.” REFERENCE Experimental Jetset said in an interview with Design Words that “turning language into objects” is a good definition of graphic design. But first and foremost, it’s a platform for creativity and self-expression. They chose to study graphic design to find a way to express themselves. The trio come from a working-class background from Amsterdam, and the discipline showed itself more accessible for them. They saw it as “applied arts”, and saw an opportunity to profit and make a good living out of it, a point of view they now reject.

Maybe their broad view of graphic design and their ideological/ philosophical bias present in their work is a product of this alternate and non-conventional art education, that doesn’t focus on one thing specifically, but does value all kinds of expression.

Besides having a unique education, view on design and reputation, Experimental Jetset also has a different way of working. They aim to keep their studio small, only the 3 original members, almost like a band. For them, it’s more important to stick to a visual language and explore it in different ways than to be jumping from a style to another incessantly. What is unusual about the studio is their website, which works like a big archive. They claim this is like a reflective journal for them. They write extensive texts on their work and describe their process with detail. It is also is an inside look for enthusiasts of the studio. Experimental Jetset doesn’t regard networking as a vital activity of designers, they believe disconnecting and isolation can be beneficial to develop originality. Despite that, the trio value solidarity between small independent studios.

The studio’s website is almost function over form. It has no posh, almost no aesthetic care- yet it does. It’s almost like a careless care. It’s purposely simple. It mimics an online archive, a dump of information.

In my opinion, this format is a bit selfish. For someone that wants to get to know their work, it’s very unwelcoming. You don’t know where to start, who they are, what their work looks like.

It is understandable that Experimental Jetset would want to use this platform as a place to look back and reflect on their work, and as a place for other designers to get deeper in their process, but for me it seems as they are using their status as an advantage, because if they were a lesser known studio, they couldn’t have the luxury of not explicitly showing their work.

However, I feel that some of this ideology is a bit hypocritical, that they can only think this way because of their status. Let me explain: firstly, they state that one of the reason they chose graphic design over art is because of its profitable future. They then say that they reject this point of view now because they know artists who make a lot more money than they do- and encourage young designers to think otherwise. However, I think they only can think like this whilst looking retrospectively, and that it is easier to say this being a very well-known and important studio than being a young person choosing their career.

Secondly, they state that they oppose to the networking mentality, saying that it is important to isolate oneself to preserve individuality. Again, I feel that this might be true for a studio that has established itself and is already a reference. This kind of advice isn’t suitable for beginners- it is very difficult to make yourself known without making connections. Also, in my point of view, graphic design is better when the designer is trading, sharing skills and references. I think it is alienating to preserve oneself in a bubble, to protect originality, because it is harder to grow as artists when you are sticking to your own references, skills and ideas.

To conclude, my overall impression of Experimental Jetset is that they were able to make an impact because of their background and influences, making a very interesting blend, resulting in sophisticated but witty work. This is combined with a very clear ideology. I do believe however that this particular anti-big business and anti-mainstream philosophy can only be possible because they are immersed, rather they see it or not, in this scenery they so despise.

Even with this criticism of mine, it was a pleasure to get to know them through this report, they are a great reference and an inspiration.

0 notes