Graffiti design

It is not true to say that I have never come across anyone who would be a part of a graffiti community but I have certainly managed to avoid getting involved in any way and trying it myself. Until I came to New York. Long story short, I have found myself sitting in a flat surrounded by graffiti artist and one of them, finding out that I am a student of Graphic Design, said:

'As a Graphic Designer you will have to start looking at and getting into graffiti at some point. Whether it's going to be out of curiosity and research or a proper involvement, it is inevitable.'

The passion and certainty in his voice triggered my interest and therefore I have decided to write this article about the relationship between Graphic Design and Graffiti.

 (design by Dufranne Thomas)

Graffiti artists and Graphic Designers share some similarities. You can see them doodling in their sketchbooks pretty much 24/7. They are both fans of typography (although designers more in the scientific way instead of the more instinctive one in case of graffiti tags) and bold colours. Both of them are trying to have adrenalin and dynamic nature included in their work and they all experiment with cut outs, collages, printing and spray paints. Yet at the same time they are very far from each other considering their social status.

Graffiti is still persecuted and not accepted by a wide range of society, is still considered being a crime activity. If a graffiti artist would put their work on a poster that he would then stick on a wall, would he become a graphic designer? Quite frankly, I believe so. But that is the beauty, the danger of graffiti that it is out there, whether it is appropriate or not.

For my research (because there is not many actual studies on this topic) I have looked up websites of several Graphic Designers who used to be / are Graffiti artists as well. From what I have seen so far, in most cases, we can see the influence of patterns and perspective in most of them. One of the best websites that clearly showed me the progress of the artist was http://www.neckcns.com which is a website of a German based artist who says: 

'I found that graffiti had become my main interest, so I studied communicational design as a consequence and ended up being a fulltime designer. The result? My graffiti art looks like done by a designer, and my designs definitely still have that graffiti feeling to them. '

Below, there is an example of his work that clearly shows that he there is truth in his words:

Or if you prefer to watch videos, there is a short document called 'From Graffiti Artist to a Graphic Designer' that is definitely worth watching as well. It is aboutMexico City based artist called SEHER who cooperated with companies like BOOM or FUNKO and show his life journey and progress.

I also mentioned the passion for typography in the beginning and while learning about that I have stumbled across an article that has used graffiti influence to push the boundaries of letter design. It claims that something as common as letter forms which we perceive pretty much since we are born can still be done in a different, more intruding way. Here is an example and a link to the whole website.

All in all, I am glad my friend introduced me to the world of graffiti and I will try to go as deep as I can to this culture. Cause by any means, creating tags of your names is in the end.. just a massive fun, right?