INTRODUCTION "SIGNED AMERICA"

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Is graphic design an art form ?
Is commercial art… art ?
In societies where more than 75% of the population never sets foot in a museum, are graphic designers invested with the responsibility to shape popular esthetic values ?
Does our constant exposure to designers’ work alter the esthetic judgment of even the most sophisticated of art literates ?

“Signed America”does not pretend to provide definitive answers to these questions.
Its only claim is to shade a slightly different light on the work of known or anonymous designers.
It is an open invitation to take another look at our daily environment.

“As a visual artist I was always fascinated by the creative potential of letter design : an amazing freedom in a system so seemingly restrictive.
As a trained graphic designer I explored the pictorial aspects of the medium for my own work and in the work of others.
As a photographer I added light and textures to my investigations.

The first close ups of logos must have appeared in my photographic archives in the late seventies.
By 1982 they had formed the embryo of a series that I then decided to expand upon.
In 1987 ‘Signed America’ became a project for a series of exhibitions on American logo design."

"In the course of development of that project I had the privilege to meet with some of the top professionals in the field of visual communication.
Quotes from these conversations are presented here along with a selection taken from over a hundred images in this ongoing collection.”