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April Greiman

Writer's picture: xueh jingxueh jing

Updated: Jun 15, 2020

I decided to study more about April Greiman. April Greiman is an American designer that's from New York City. She is one of the first designers to see computer in a different light, who realised its potential as a design tool. April's multidimensional designs are usually brightly coloured, use of primary colours, collage, and innovative uses of typography. She creates depth and 3D space in her work with the use of shadows, overlapping elements, and diagonal lines. She wanted to break away from the Modernist approach to typography and embrace a new typographical methodology named the ‘New Wave Movement’ (Celebrating women in design: April Greiman - Opus Design, n.d.)


“The digital landscape fascinates me

in the same way as the desert”


Philosophy/Beliefs

-pioneer of digital communications design

-be curious and explore

-graphic design field should evolve with society


Values/Manifesto

-advocates for woman designers

-integrity and immersion are critical elements in art

- appreciates the aesthetic value of technological accidents


Her works


Does It Make Sense

Does It Make Sense, 1986

One of the most famous and groundbreaking designs by April was "Does It Make Sense" that was made to be put in Design Quarterly #133, a magazine aimed at an international design audience. Rather than the standard thirty-two-page sequence, she reformatted the piece as a poster that unfolded into almost three by six feet. It's a poster of her body with overlay of texts and images. It caused a lot of controversy. This design was a jab at the design community’s idea of what design is. This piece had inspired many designers to consider to design using computers (Heller S,1 September 1998).



Iris Light

Iris Light, 1984

"Iris Light" is a poster made from a combination of video imagery and New Wave typography. It was one of April's turning points. A shot of a traditional monitor photograph using a 35mm camera was combined with a couple of other elements. She explained that the video image “instead of looking like a bad photograph, it was gestural. It looked like a painting; it captured the spirit if light.” She used different light sources, such as video screen light and a lamp to create this artwork.


some of her other works:


 

April Greiman: Biography, Designs and Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/april-greiman


Celebrating women in design: April Greiman - Opus Design. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://opusdesign.us/wordcount/celebrating-women-in-design-april-greiman/


Heller S (1 September 1998) April Greiman. Retrieved from https://www.aiga.org/medalist-aprilgreiman


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