Critical induction

Critical Induction 

The psychedelic era was a time of boundary breaking characterised by hallucinations and disorientation. It was an art style influenced by psychedelic drugs such as LSD which compliments the ‘psychedelic vibe’. It all began mid 1960’s having a massive effect on not just music but also many aspects of popular culture such as: style of dress, art and literature. Taking the generation by storm with raves becoming more and more popular to the young generation allowing them to take drugs and listen to music that complimented the drugs in such away that it was irresistible making it a target in the market and thus became the commodification of psychedelic rave whether it was printed on a t-shirt, album cover or a poster.

The name “psychedelic” refers to drugs that were a hit at the time of the era, companies who try and commodify escapism by visually representing tripping out when advertising. ‘Victor moscose’ names a master of psychedelic art known best for producing trippy rock posters, advertisements and underground comix. This work was used as inspiration and recreated by Harry O’Donoughue and his work with ‘vertig’, with the project beginning with inspiration from ‘Hanse van Halem’ who had produces various posters that stick out with its out of the ordinary patterns, Harry wished to recreate his work with the bright and vibrant colours he uses along with the distorted text reflect on the psychedelic era. ‘psychedelic art was characterised by freedom of form’ A quote that compliments the style that he has used in his poster art for the acid house event ‘Vertig’ you can also see signs across all his work. The fonts he uses whether they are made from shapes or just a preset text it will still follow the guidelines of conventional psychedelic design by intriguing the audience with designs that melt on the page. The project included the prime attributes of psychedelic art and surrealism was spiral patterns, bright colour, extreme detail and groovy typography. All of this can be found specifically in the movements of ‘Art Nouveau’ and ‘Vienna Secession’ this were early influences to the era.

When using colour he stuck with the theme of a gradient of yellow to red this was used throughout to have a recognisable aspect to it and for it to be identifiable when seen. This was referred to as the ‘Corporate identity theory’ when a company maintains a recognisable factor of the design so its clear for the audience. Doing the same with the typography so all aspects of the project relate whilst also expressing surrealism within the typography.

The project as a whole succeeded to portray the aspects of the psychedelic era whilst following the conventions of surrealism by bending and curving shapes into a visually appealing way and in some cases to create a typography, having incorporated ‘victor moscosse’s’ style of patterns that compliment the hallucinogenic reputation the era had. Focusing on specifically on the layout of each part of the project and how typography was used to express the theme.