Neshan 44

When the concepts of music and design are used together, or when various experiences of the two are at hand, this question comes to mind: How far can they go together? How can we combine design and other applied arts such as architecture — tangible, visible, and with specific functions — with music, which is an abstract, audible, intangible art? Is it possible for design to express music? Can music inspire design? How do their borders bring them close to one another? What factors contribute to their closeness? How can technology help?... > more

Design translation may be interpreted as the process of shaping dreamed-up ideas that should be concretized. Hence, a design distinguishes itself from conceptual idea and is deemed constructive or functional. Since the dawn of human evolution and civilization, life has been interwoven and characterized by its objectivity (or materials) designed with industrial, scientific, and artistic rationales. The artistic and functional dimensions of a design shall never be considered inferior to the enthusiasm and taste of the industrial and scientific a... > more

Rhythm, texture and harmony are some of the fundamental elements in design and music. Rhythm in design provokes the feeling of movement through repeated patterns whereas in music it organizes the duration of the tones and pattern of the beats. Texture is the actual or visual feeling of a surface in design but in music it is the quality of the sound and the interaction of rhythmic, melodic and harmonic elements. Harmony in design is when all the parts in a composition are aesthetically pleasing as a whole, and in music harmony is when all the t... > more

I feel no urge to write about Siamak Pourjabar’s works until I tell you about his personality. Honestly, I am more willing to write a story about him rather than an article. It is a pity to know a character like him and talk about his birth date, graduation year, or work experience instead of writing a story about him. I am not a storyteller and you probably are not holding this magazine to read a story. We are both lucky that a long time ago, someone made this job easy in a faraway land.... > more

The emergence of cassettes in 1975 had its influence on the production of vinyl records which used to be widely produced and distributed until a couple of years ago. Cassettes were cheaper, easier to use and portable; therefore, they were soon welcomed by the public. From 1975 to 1980, a number of vinyl records belonging to Institute of the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (“Chahargah-Shur”, “Mahour Segah” for instance) dated before 1975 (the Revolution) were changed to cassettes and new designs were used for their redistr... > more

Musical notation is visual representation of instructions — heard or imagined sound meant to be performed — and is generally captured through the use of written, printed, or drawn symbols. The primary elements of sound are pitch, or the location of musical sound on the scale (interval), duration, timbre, and volume. In practice however, no notation can handle all of these elements with precision. Most notation deals with a selection of them with different degrees of refinement. Some only capture a single pattern, like rhythm; others tackle sev... > more

Traditionally, design for music has been embedded in Germany, and some well-known designers like Holger Matthies, Günter Rambow, Pierre Mendell, and so forth have extensively put effort in this field. As a designer of a different generation, what are the distinctive features of your work compared to theirs? Well, first of all, we have to give credit to Heinz Edelmann for his wonderful designs in the Beatles movie ‘Yellow Submarine,’ and of course Klaus Voormann for ‘Revolver’ — not to mention all of Kraftwerk’s iconic album covers. Obviously,... > more

Today, twen is considered one of the highly influential works in the field of international editorial design. The German magazine published in a total of 129 issues between 1959 and 1971 inspired later masters of the field – from Herb Lubalin to David Hillman. When the magazine was launched in 1959 the success of the venture was far from safe. Young magazine publishers Adolf Theobald and Stephan Wolf financed the print of the first issue with a publishing house behind them, which was a most unusual thing back then. From the beginning twen was ... > more

ECM – the Edition of Contemporary Music – was founded by Manfred Eicher in 1969 in Munich. Eicher started his career as a musician with a passion for filmmaking. His role has been more than a founder — he’s ECM’s auteur. Since its initiation, ECM has created a well-balanced visual language. Perhaps this is the result of collaborations between Eicher and designer Barbara Wojirsch. In 1978, a photographer and designer named Dieter Rehm joined the team.... > more

Music in Russia and the USSR was always given a special place, both in the life of society and of each individual person. The establishment of Soviet power at the start of the last century set new tasks before all artists. Music, as the sphere most developed and accessible to the broad masses, took the lead in the multinational culture of the USSR. Most Russian musicians were actively involved in working on the musical enlightenment of the laboring masses.... > more

Industrial production of music has been developed as one of the most money making entertainment industries since the late 1950s, with the introduction of vinyl records into the market. Vinyl records were produced and consumed in Iran from 1958 to 1974, and in 1975, this industry became extinct due to the introduction of cassette tape technology. Like many other industries, the review of design history for this issue has been divided into two sections: large-scale folk graphic creations and professional graphic designing at a limited scale. ... > more

Discussing the design of visual communication entails the constant drawing of parallels with the issue of translation, regardless of the content concerned. Discussing the design of visual communication for music entails a two-phase translation, due to the need to transform content not only by giving it a different form of expression from its original, but also its very nature that, from abstract and impalpable, becomes concrete and tangible.... > more

Paul Rand believed that no designer promoted Swiss style as much as Josef Müller-Brockmann. Today we observe that Müller-Brockmann became a designer from an illustrator, with special emphasis on typographic ideas. “Through his designs, writing, and teaching, Müller-Brockmann became the era’s most influential Swiss designer as the national movement he helped create grew beyond the country’s borders.*”... > more