During a recent presentation I attended, Milton Glaser, one of the most celebrated American graphic designers, creator of the I [heart] NY logo, co-founder of New York magazine and winner of a National Medal of Arts, among other achievements, said, "The idea of making something that moves minds is a profound miracle." It took a second to realize how simple that statement was. Effective design should move your mind, and it is often the simplest of approaches that achieves that goal most effectively.
Everything about the graphic designer Dirk Fowler is simple. "Nothing about me is flashy," says Fowler, a professor of communication design at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. "My work, like my lifestyle, is simple and hopefully always honest." He is best known for his concert, or gig, posters for performers like Wilco and Loretta Lynn.
Fowler is letterpress to the core. Though not widely used today, the letterpress technique, relief printing that has been around since the 15th century, has seen a resurgence in recent decades as a means of producing unique designs. In addition to using wood and lead type, Fowler also frequently uses nontraditional means — hand-cutting his own images and type out of gasket rubber, for example, or rigging film slides and vinyl records into his old sign press — to create custom-made designs. He has described his process as "Hand Eye Chicken," and the poster above captures his ability to combine familiar but unconnected images in a way that seems as if he has solved a riddle for you. My favorite example is this poster for the band Hella.
Fowler, who is 42, says he never had plans to teach. "Artist was always my 'When I grow up, I'm going to be ___' standby," he says. (As it is for most design students, I imagine.) "I just wanted to get a job and make things." Some people are meant to teach, however, and having been one of his students, I believe he embraces the effort to help move minds in ways that go beyond his own design work.
In a video by Hillman Curtis, Glaser said about teaching: "There is nothing more exciting than seeing someone whose life has been affected in a positive way by something you've said. There is nothing more exciting than seeing somebody change from a sort of condition of inertness or inattentiveness to a mind that begins to inquire about meaning."
Fowler's passion is pure and contagious, his advice gracious and honest. I was fortunate to be his student around the time he came into his own as a poster artist. You could see how his work informed his teaching and vice versa. He pushed us. Forced us to think harder. To be smarter, simpler. Two of his attitudes in particular have stayed with me: "You can do good design anywhere," and "Don't ever forget where you came from."
He says being around fresh creative types keeps him on his toes. "You should never get to a point where you feel like you know everything. If you lose your curiosity, I fear you may also lose your creativity."
When asked how long he planned to keep doing what he does, his response was true to form. "I have a small broadside, printed by my friend Amos Kennedy, hanging in my studio. The print is a quote by Henry Moore that states: 'There is no retirement for an artist. It is your way of life, so there is no end to it.' I think that about sums it up."
Below are a few more examples of his work.
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