I love it. Subtlety is pleasant when you get it, but for most people who are on the go, ya gotta hit 'em over the head.

So you're angry that it alludes to a sad, sickly truth about capitalism?

hhp

chéesh

I enjoy it. The Che symbolizing the used-to-be radical sixties folks now greying boomers with SUVs their iPods and sneakers :-) It is just plain fun, enjoy!

ChrisL

Except Che was neither a hippy nor a party-hopper.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4567474.stm

And what he fought and died for was not the right to party,
but something a little bit more important, in fact increasing
in importance every day.

hhp

The good news is that sneakers and electronic gagdets don't fool everybody:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4916270.stm

hhp

It isn't about what Che really was, it was about the perception 60s youth had of him as a rebel. The youth of the 60s also misunderstood Eastern religions and philosophies as well but knew how to chant Om as they toked up. As a member of 60s youth, I was as guilty as the rest in my misconceptions at the time.

ChrisL

Jorge Alderete draw this 3 years ago

And what he fought and died for was not the right to party,
but something a little bit more important, in fact increasing
in importance every day.

I loved Mortorcycle Diaries, I'm sure its the glamorized version of the story, but still very enlightening.

but regarding this design, i think Che Viva Banana says it better. >^p

> the perception 60s youth had of him as a rebel.

If that's true, and if Communication Arts is
limited to these people, that could make sense.

hhp

So, this is like the umpteenth 'clever' interpretation of the iconic Che Guevara picture. How utter, utter, utter unoriginal.

ƒ

Fredo, they could have used the Mona Lisa :-)

ChrisL

I recently saw a host of a show about gaming on G4, named Adam Sessler, wearing a shirt that had the Che image with a red circle slash* over it. Which made me, as a child of the '80s, think of the Ghostbusters' logo.

The only reason I don't roll my eyes completely at the CA cover is the similarity of the Che image's common appearance and the Apple iPod ad campaign. But it's hardly a sophisticated editorial image. Even they are cashing in on Che.

*Is there a name for that thing?

Che sera sera :-)

ChrisL

or else simply "Cliche sera"

ChrisL

Who wins the cliche contest for notable faces? Marylin Monroe, Che, Elvis, or Mona Lisa?

ChrisL

And what he fought and died for...

And killed for. Don't forget killed for. Including over a thousand unarmed prisoners executed by firing squad under his orders.

Power, as Mao rightly observed, comes out of the barrel of a gun, not out of a poster no matter how charismatic the model.

Wow, this is a great thread. Thank you, Eric.

Let's hope it doesn't get ugly...

My thoughts after a few seconds were, the illustration was repeating itself multiple times over, given the audience (us) the point would be made immediately w/o the swoosh or ‘pod buds. IMHO

Regarding the design's execution, the metaphor IS redundant, but it's interesting that without both Swoosh and iPod Buds it looks like a commentary on that particular company/industry/product. Maybe avoiding this was the designer's intent. Just a thought...

Anyway, I agree that this is becoming a tired visual. Expected something more inspired from CA.

"Power, [...], comes out of the barrel of a gun [...]"

No, just intimidation, coercion, terror, insurgence and revenge.

Power lies in the resonant messages that typographies convey.

I think they are be purposefully redundant. In other words I read it as a statement about how over-materialistic we are today. So much so that even something which can stand for something more than simple marketing is now being reduced to another tool to market to the masses. If this makes any sense.

great thread. i think a lot of what feel about it has already been said, particularly around the redundancy. you could slice the cover in a number of ways, depending on how optimistic you want to be about the intellectual depth of it. i liked it, i think, because it wasn't about che at all but rather a juxtaposition of mostly meaningless symbols -- though symbols that people continually adopt as an expression of their values.

that said, the symbols used were the 'obvious' ones. maybe they're trying to attract attention from the adbusters crowd.

the cool thing is that it inspired a discussion like this, which would indicate that it was a success on some level.

It looks like the illustration on the cover was commisioned from illustrator Edel Rodriguez to coincide with his write-up on pg. 82, as well as the Cuba Si! feature on page 68, which is an interesting survey of post-revolution graphic design in Cuba.

Hrant
So you’re angry that it alludes to a sad, sickly truth about capitalism?

Was that even implied in my post? I meant what I said. This isn't about my personal views/politics. It's about the 'art of communication' in a first rate (I think) industry mag. I just felt a bit insulted that I would need to be hit over the head THREE TIMES.

Chris
Fredo, they could have used the Mona Lisa :-)

Narrowly avoided...

John/Tiffany

I agree with you on your observations Miss Tiffany, but I think... it's conceptual, but in a 'freshman just out of high school ' way. It just seems like a piece that should either be subdued, or blown to the extreme . ex. Che wearing Prada/Nike/Abercrombie, sitting on pile of fashionable corpse's, eating McDonalds, drinking Pepsi whilst the valet pulls up his H3 for the opening night of the new season of American Idol.

Peter
No, just intimidation, coercion, terror, insurgence and revenge.
Power lies in the resonant messages that typographies convey.

So your saying guns don't kill people, typography does?.

Anthony
Regarding the design’s execution, the metaphor IS redundant, but it’s interesting that without both Swoosh and iPod Buds it looks like a commentary on that particular company/industry/product. Maybe avoiding this was the designer’s intent.

Could you clarify "...looks like a commentary on...intent" ? thx

And yes, the iconography is tired. If they had run it like I first suggested. Someone may have posted something about tired iconography too. *shrugs

Without having read the article, the image suggests shifting trends in the use of graphic design, exposing an ideological clash between Cuba's political past and their impending future in the global marketplace. It's not about a Cuban relationship to Apple, or Nike per se, but the effects of consumerism as a whole on the present design culture. Using multiple corporate elements helps convey this meaning (if you accept that Apple and Nike represent consumerism as a whole). I dont think I would've made that connection as swiftly had it been just an image of Che without the other symbols.

I think your point about the treatment needing to be subdued or blown to the extreme is a good one. This piece falls somewhere in the middle, which is why it feels passé.

i didn't realize that apple and nike were really together untill i saw this today: http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/

Well, I just finished the article.

Here is the title;

Cuba Si!
By Robert L. Peters, FGDC
Graphic design in post-revolution cuba.

In 13 pages of the feature, about a half a page near the end adressed post-revolution graphic design in Cuba. The rest was history of Cuba and US bashing. I was really hoping to learn something about Cuban graphic design.

Anthony, I wish the article would have addressed ANYTHING of design substance. But alas, it did not.

At least there's the Hoefler feature to look forward to. It's supposed to be about type. Let us hope for the best.

That might be a clicheed comment on misuse of icons but not nearly as patronising as Adobe's latest promotion. Guerilla marketing Pah.
http://www.adobe-live.com/

Tim

Some of you are too young for this one.

I think showing the Nike swoosh AND the earbuds hints at consumer excess as well as the perceived "need" to be trendy.

Reaganomics :-)

ChrisL

Wow Tim, that was weird....I really don't know which one is worse.
I saw a stencil graffiti of Che close to my sister's house ages ago then recently I noticed that someone had added two Mickey Mouse ears to it.

That sounds a little bit Banksy.
Tim

Extremely Banksy-esque...but it's not. In fact I don't think Banksy was even born when this stencil appeared. I went out yesterday to take a picture for you guys but the building wasn't there anymore! Typical.
Speaking of which....did you spot a Banksy on Woody Allen's Match Point?

"Who wins the cliche contest for notable faces? Marylin Monroe, Che, Elvis, or Mona Lisa?"
Did they design fonts too!?

>but the building wasn’t there anymore! Typical.
I had a similar experience with a station that I left a broken-down motorbike at :)

>Speaking of which….did you spot a Banksy on Woody Allen’s Match Point?
I don't really get Woody Allen.

>Marylin Monroe, Che, Elvis, or Mona Lisa
P22 will produce these faces eventually :)
Tim

"Did they design fonts too!?"

No, but they were often typecast :-)

ChrisL

Or this?

"There you go again"

ChrisL

"I don’t really get Woody Allen."

Perhaps you aren't screwed up enough. How someone could make me not care about watching Scarlet J. is quite an achievement, but he managed it.

PS, I wish the moderator could fix it when someone screws up the /cite.

I wish Scarlet J. wouldn't have gotten collagen injections in her lips.

I'd think the word injection would deter any right-thinking person
(Heroin addicts always baffled me).

Perhaps you aren’t screwed up enough. How someone could make me not care about watching Scarlet J. is quite an achievement, but he managed it.

I wish the moderator could fix it when someone screws up this site .

ƒ

Did someone call for a moderator? Whassup?

I'm sorry Yves, I was referring to the content of a post rather than any actual tech problem. Unless You've invented a stupidofilter, that is.

ƒ

Can't the moderators fix it when someone screws up an /em or /cite?
Everything is in italic now.

I think that might be your browser, mine (Safari) shows Fredo's post as bold and yours as roman. Fredo what happened to Rorshach?
Tim

Can’t the moderators fix it when someone screws up an /em or /cite?
Everything is in italic now.

Yes, but we don't see everything, so you may have to alert us. I don't use IE, so you may see more problems than I do, depending on what browser you're using.

If it is only me seeing it, oh well, but here is the html from Graphic Fuzz's post that starts all the italic for me.

Ah, thanks for fixing it.