I’m influenced and inspired by so many artists, past and present, but here are a few major ones from the past who have really opened my eyes and got me excited about making work. All of these artists worked throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, a period I find very inspiring to look back on.
Hervé Morvan was a fabulous French poster and commercial artist who I have recently discovered through this book:
He created poster adverts throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s. His ideas are incredibly clever but yet he managed to retain a playful/child-like aspect throughout his work. He called his advertising posters “optics of the street”.
Tom Eckersley was an English poster designer and lecturer born in Lancashire. He designed posters, magazine covers and original artworks from 1934 though to 1995. His style is, again, wonderfully playful but also very graphic, with a bold simple style, using shapes and flat colour.
Saul Bass whose movie posters are legendary and include Hichcoks’s Verigo and Otto Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm, amongst many others.
I recently discovered that he also illustrated a children’s book called “Henri’s Walk to Paris” – (Thanks to Brain Pickings Weekly), that I need to get my hands on at some point.
Olle Eksell was an artist and designer born in Sweden who later moved to the USA. I love his use of colour and shape. His work is a bit more detailed and subtle than the other artists listed here but I think that you can really see that Scandinavian influence on his work. His character design is also exciting and playful, slightly reminiscent of Dr. Seuss at times.
Alvin Lusitg was an American artist and designer. His graphic shapes are incredible. I bought this book recently, I confess, just for the cover:
Here are a few more examples of his incredible work:
