Object Design: Roles, Responsibilities, and Collaborations

Chapter 3. Finding Objects

Joseph Albers could make colors dance or retreat: “I see color as motion ... To put two colors together side by side really excites me. They breathe together. It’s like a pulse beat ... I like to take a very weak color and make it rich and beautiful by working on its neighbors. I can kill the most brilliant red by putting it with violet. I can make the dullest grey in the world dance by setting it against black.” Albers, one of the great graphics artists of the twentieth century, was a master at making visual imagery emerge from form and color. By careful juxtaposition of colors, textures, and shapes, the artist can make images leap off the page. Albers calls this the “1 + 1 = 3” effect. A good design is more than the ...