Please Make This Look Nice: The Graphic Design Process as an Act of Drawing transforms The Drawing Center’s Lab gallery into a simulated studio. Throughout the course of the show, a select group of professionals from throughout New York’s vibrant graphic design community are invited to work on unique and original design assignments and in a variety of formats and media including typography, logos, books, posters, motion, editorial, and more. All work will be printed, displayed, and projected for the exhibition audience to view, discuss, and engage with directly.

This exhibition looks to expand the general and most basic understand of graphic design by turning attention away from finished design solutions—the “what” of graphic design—to consider the “how” and “why,” focusing on the myriad techniques and methodologies involved in the graphic design process, including writing, traditional drawing, photography, prototyping, assemblage, collage, and collecting. Rather than pointing to individual pieces in a designer’s archive as specific works of “process drawing,” Please Make This Look Nice considers the whole graphic design process itself as an act of drawing. As Milton Glaser explains in an interview for the related publication: “Drawing is a feedback mechanism to adjust your thinking. It’s a way of seeing whether what you’re thinking can become manifest.”


IN THE LAB

Design professionals from throughout New York’s vibrant graphic design community work on unique and original design assignments in a variety of formats and media including typography, posters, 3D, motion, books, and more.

Design, lecture, and micro-exhibit participants include: Anthony Carhuayo, Erik Carter, Delcan & Company [Pablo Delcan + Jocelyn Tsaih], Stephen Doyle, Elliott Earls, Claudine Eriksson, Experimental Jetset [Erwin Brinkers, Danny van den Dungen + Marieke Stolk], John Gall, Carin Goldberg, Minkoo Kang, Ian Keliher, Eric Ku, Margot Laborde, Sue Lee, The Herb Lubalin Study Center for Design & Typography, AJ Mapes, Alex Merto, Joe Newton, Paul Sahre, Paula Scher, Small Stuff [Dinah Fried, Joe Marianek + Brenda Wu], Alex Stikeleather, Alexander Tochilovsky, Sally Thurer, Jan Wilker, Zipeng Zhu, and ZutAlors! [Frank DeRose + Brendan Griffiths].

MICRO-EXHIBITIONS

See work by the following designers:

Friday, February 19–Friday. February 26, 2016

Select historical and archival materials from The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography

Saturday, February 27–Thursday, March 3, 2016

John Gall, Collage materials & sketchbooks

Friday, March 4–Sunday, March 13, 2016

Experimental Jetset, Preparatory drawings, prints, models, and photography

Wednesday, March 16–Sunday, March 20, 2016

Paul Sahre, Screenprint make-readys

Image: Studio wall. Photo by AHL&CO.