scrim

The Potential of form

abstract

Une conversation ludique et imaginaire entre des designers ukrainiens passé et présent. À l'aide d'une série d'expériences visuelles, Aliona Solomadina, Uliana Bychenkova et Nika Kudinova de U,N,A Collective invitent le lecteur à imaginer les potentiels des formes issues de logotypes soviétiques. Chacune des designers tente de se réapproprier et de redécouvrir les logos du passé pour visualiser comment leur héritage moderniste soviétique peut être transformé à l'aide de nouvelles techniques. En manipulant ces formes existantes, le collectif invite le spectateur à découvrir ces signes graphiques sous un jour nouveau.

By understanding innovation as well as past tradition, a designer is able to contemporise, creating logical connections between graphic forms and ideas with a new approach on the basis of current understanding. The fusion of the two opposing houses (past and present design) creates a fertile ground for experimentation.

Paul Rand, Thoughts on design, 1947

Following Rand’s line of thought, in this visual essay U,N,A Collective plays with form, structure, color, environment of previously existing trademarks. Through these visual experiments, Uliana, Nika and Aliona (of U,N,A) challenge themselves and allow the audience to start imagining the broad potential of form. Each designer tries her hand at reappropriating rediscovered logos of the past to imagine how the soviet modernistic heritage can be transformed in new media. In the manipulating of these forms the viewer is invited to experience the signs in a new light. Through the documenting of this work U,N,A adds to the corpus and the documentation gathered in the Problemata line, while continuing the tradition of producing Ukrainian logotypes in Kharkiv.