We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Andorka Timea about their original and creative Exhibition poster design work. Andorka Timea is an award-winning communication designer, that makes our world a better place with their original exhibition poster works.
Andorka Timea ("AT") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Optics and Chromatics Exhibition poster. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
AT : The title of poster Optics and Chromatics refers to a place where Goethe points out that unlike Newton he is not so much interested in the science of sight (Optics) but rather in the theory of colours (Chromatics). He wants to demonstrate the way we actually experience colours, and not the way we are supposed to experience them according to the laws of mathematics.
AT : I consider Goethe’s ’Theory of Colours’ as one of the basic pieces of work when studying colour experience: it highlights the fact that the colour vision is a greatly changeful, resilient and impressionistic factor, thus not possible to give a description by some exact mathematical formulas – at least not in an adequate manner. The poster enters this several-century-long scientific debate with the resources of contemporary experimental typography.
AT : Goethe's Theory of Colours appeared in 1810. On the occasion of the bicentennial anniversary of the book the Society of Hungarian Graphic Designers and Typographers (MATT) announces an international design competition entitled Goetheorie.
AT : In 2014 this design served as the cover for Pantone Plus Series Limited-edition Artist Covers. The Pantone Formula Guide and Pantone Solid Chips feature covers showcasing works of art from my project, Optics and Chromatics. (creative manager and designer at Pantone by Timothy Heyer, director of creative marketing at Pantone by Karen Lantelme)
AT : Two new font-designs had to be invented to express the nature of the polemy on colour theory. The two types of letter consist of different materials and form: one is made of paper and shadow, the other is of coloured foil and light. The symmetrical, geometric shapes of the white paper and the sharp shadows in the hard light make the word ’optics’ legible. The word ’cromatics’ is built from coloured foil sheets that create colourful, intertangled beams in different angles of light.
AT : That the two letterforms I designed for this poster do not exist anymore in the shape and form we can see here. As the letters are partly formed by beams of light and shadows, it is not possible to interpret them by themselves. The compositions were pieced together only for moments, and at the end of the experiment the letters disappeared. The two highlighted images document the experimental process and at the same time show the difference between the two theories of color.
AT : Besides studying Newton’s and Goethe’s theories of color, I also looked for artistic approaches that accentuate the observation of the color spectrum or the light-shadow effects (e. g. Tim Noble’s and Sue Webster’s shadow sculptures, Gabriel Dave’s installations or Jen Stark’s paper sculptures).
AT : Numerous photos have been taken of the two letterform compositions for the project. Changing the perspective and the light conditions meant plenty of possibilities for the visualization. The two pictures that were finally chosen for the poster are the ones which – complementing each other – accentuate the most the difference between the two colour theories.
AT : The poster has been presented at several exhibitions worldwide, even a Pantone cover was made of it, but I have never entered any competitions with it. It was high time to give it a go!
AT : The pleasure I found in the workflow and the poster’s success convinced me to include manuality in computer-based graphic design as often as possible. I have been following my conviction since then and included hand-made elements in my designs henceforth.
