Memphis magazine final

COMMUNICATION ARTS DESIGN ANNUAL 55 APRIL 2017

A MEMPHIS STATE OF MIND

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DESIGN ANNUAL 2017

don’t you forget g eatb o u t u tm e BRINGING BACK THE JUDD NELSON OF DESIGN

A movement that once thrived during the 80s has recently been revived in contemporary design, popping up everywhere from retail clothing advertisements to the sophisticated spreads of well-respected editorials. Memphis Design, founded in December of 1980 by Ettore Sottsass of Milan, was created by a group of passionate designers inspired by the soundtrack of their discussion – Bob Marley’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blue’s Again.”

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“IT IS IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT WHATEVER WE DO OR DESIGN HAS ICONOGRAPHIC REFERENCES, IT COMES FROM SOMEWHERE; ANY FORM IS ALWAYS METAPHORICAL, NEVER TOTALLY METAPHYSICAL.” - ETTORE SOTTSASS

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DESIGN ANNUAL 2017

BREAKING THE RULES

BY EMMA MURO

The design movement aimed to take everything people considered “wrong” in design and celebrate unrestricted creative exploration. Memphis served as a rebellion against the uniform, slick, minimalist aesthetic of the 70s and stood for something radical instead. At it’s core, Memphis Design is the lovechild of several existing design movements: Art Deco, in it’s appreciation for geometric figures, Pop Art, in the use of bold color palettes, and 1950’s Kitsch, a departure from the constrained, minimalist design of the 70s.

The movement has become so influential that the Wall Street Journal recently reported a resurgence of a certain “neo-Memphis” aesthetic, claiming, “For many postmillennial designers around the globe, Memphis is a major source of

inspiration”. In this new wave, however, designers are opting for higher quality materials like metals and marble instead of plastic, putting a contemporary twist on the movement and bringing it into the 21st century.

Memphis Design has weaved itself into print design, web design, interior design, and even fashion design. In 2014, original Memphis group member Nathalie du Pasquier designed a line for American Apparel. Christian Dior also embraced Memphis in his inspired frocks, as apparent as Edeline Lee’s Spring 2016 Ready-to-Wear collection.

I love Memphis Design because it beautifully marries the stoic geometric shape to the chaos of the random. The result is a wonderful balance that creates a wild harmony, regardless of the medium. It’s a difficult

rhythmic chaos to master, and that’s exactly why I chose to feature it – to challenge myself as a designer to break out of my comfort zone and have some fun doing it.

There’s something to be said for simple design – the kind that makes you say, “hey, I could’ve done that.” But the thing is… you couldn’t, and you know you couldn’t, because there’s a clear order and hierarchy that required much thinking and many drafts. Silently simple speaks louder than the screams of the complex, despite the fact that it’s a mere whisper. That’s the kind of design that I strive to accomplish through the Memphis style: simple excellence.

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