My interest in the elemental effects of shape, colour, texture on each other has held a fascination for me as long as I can remember. In UK art schools of the pre Thatcher era basic design as it was called, was a core subject of most fine art and design courses. Basic design had its roots in the solid fundamental disciplines of the Bauhaus, combined with drawing and elective craft skills it formed a two year platform on which to start an art and or design education. In most instances the student then specialized into one or two subject areas for a further three years development of knowledge and skills.
I never forgot the simple joy and satisfaction of collage and photo montage, with bits of coloured cellophane, paper, card and magazine cuttings. These exercises were in many ways small works of art in themselves but more than that they helped to train the eye as did drawing, they allowed value and meaning to evolve. They assisted the participant in defining his or her own visual language. Such exercises developed the selectiveness that is required to create a personal interpretation for his or her own creative output. For the longest time I was in search of the original, it became an obsession so very little got done. My output was often created and then scrapped as I thought it too much like this or that, it was a very frustrating time. It was probably a collection of the collages of Kurt Schwitters that convinced me that even a spent bus ticket can offer visual value, satisfaction and provocation for the viewer. Its the selection and arrangement of the elements that can provide delight. To me it really does not matter how this is achieved be it through collage, paint or a camera. Many of my photographs come straight out of the camera, some are manipulated in photoshop or painter, some are shot on film and scanned they are all the things that I see and excite me visually, its basic design!
Favorite books on the subject:
Basic design the dynamics of visual form. Maurice de Sausmarez
Principles of Two Dimensional Design. Wucius Wong
The nature of design. David Pye