Lemon Poppy Seed
Compendiums of recent design work typically begin with carefully-written introductions that labor, often too hard, to stitch together the work that is to follow into some kind of a coherent whole. Lemon Poppy Seed: Multitasking Creativity, a recent title from the never-boring German publisher Gestalten Verlag, doesn't fall into this trap.
In fact, the book just launches right into its presentation of primarily colorful, exuberant works that for the most part fulfill the promise of the blurb on the back flap: "A new generation of talent is currently developing its own interdisciplinary and refreshingly off-key visual vocabulary. Lemon Poppy Seed is a compilation of work by young, international artists whose styles defy current trends and classifications."
There's no denying that the energy, irreverency and freedom of youth jump off most of these pages but what does it mean to claim these works "defy current trends and classifications"? A substantial amount of the work is reminiscent of designers covered some years ago by Charlotte Rivers in Maximalism: The Graphic Design of Decadence and Excess (RotoVision), the thesis for which was that, "Designers in print are trying to turn emotion into something visceral, not just through layout and composition, but also through choice of materials and processes."
Part of the fun of Lemon Poppy Seed is trying to figure out just how the various entries were made, since they employ a riotous spectrum of materials and techniques. But the unifying thread is ultimately that most have been assembled in some way; they have been built. A surprising percentage employ collage or related techniques and generate more than an echo of the work of the Dadaists of almost a century ago. Type takes a secondary role in much of these works but even here one feels the influence of the experimental typography of the Futurists and Russian Constructivists.
All of which is not to belittle what is in many cases fresh, engaging work. What makes it harder to fully appreciate is that it's presented with virtually no context, so we're left to guess how these photos and illustrations came about. One hopes they met client expectations and engaged viewers. Easily overlooked are the website addresses of many of the designers, tucked away at the back of the book, but these are a handy way in many cases to broaden the scope of what's only touched on in print.
I found Lemon Poppy Seed to be a worthy collection of peppy, fresh work. More examples are available on the Gestalten Verlag site.
Chris Dickman
Graphics.com | Also blogging on Photos.com
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