Here’s my long overdue post about someone who has been of major influence on me, Scott Hansen. He is a San Francisco based musician by the name of Tycho and artist/designer known as ISO50 originally from Sacramento. I stumbled upon his Tycho performance in Sacramento’s Artisan in 2007 and I was blown away when I walked into the gallery to hear his music and see layered,dreamlike motion visuals behind him playing in perfect harmony with the sounds he created. Prints were displayed on the walls and a table was set up with his latest album Past is Prologue with some prints for sale as well. It was truly an unforgettable moment. From that point on I have been a huge fan of Tycho and I’ve followed him on his blog. His work as an artist/designer has been a huge source of inspiration for me and his music has helped ease my mind and get the creative juices flowing. Through the most stressful of times and through the most beautiful moments his music has been a soundtrack to my life. Hansen’s work as ISO50 has a nostalgic style particularly of Graphic Design in the 60s and 70s and is hugely inspired by Bauhaus. His blog reflects inspirations of that style along with music and culture to stimulate your brain and senses.
Design, to me, is the search for efficiency. Efficiency in conveying a message, efficiency of form. In this way I see some of my own work falling into the category of design, while some of my other work falls under the umbrella of illustration. With the more illustrative pieces my primary goal is to create something beautiful or striking in a visceral sense. These goals remain intact when I create a purely design-driven piece, but there is the added goal of minimalism and efficiency which constrains the process and limits the content. It is these constraints that force us as designers to reveal the core of the idea we are trying to express and to seek the most direct route to it. In this way, all of the periphery and excess of illustration and fine art can be shed to expose the roots of visual communication and express them in a concise and instantly understandable form. When I see something that embodies these ideals it is always very moving, these are the things that drive me to create. So these are the sorts of things I will be posting here and whether it’s examples of graphic design or industrial design, I will try to describe what makes these things appealing to me.
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If you have yet to see his work or have not heard his music just go over and check out his blog at iso50.com where you can find links to Tycho music, iso50 shop, and portfolio. The works above are just a few of my favorites but this is only a taste of what Hansen has created. You can also see more of his work at flickr.
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