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Community immortalizes Indonesian graphic design works
Hanny KardinataThe ubiquitous nature of visual advertising is perhaps the main reason the work of graphic designers is easily overlooked and quickly forgotten, despite its ability to capture trends and sociocultural conditions at the time of release
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Hanny Kardinata
The ubiquitous nature of visual advertising is perhaps the main reason the work of graphic designers is easily overlooked and quickly forgotten, despite its ability to capture trends and sociocultural conditions at the time of release.
The need to record the progression and dynamics of Indonesian graphic design compelled a community of its artists to collect the works and publish them in a book.
Titled Desain Grafis Indonesia dalam Pusaran Desain Grafis Dunia (Indonesian Graphic Design in the Whirl of World Graphic Design), the book gives insight about the history of graphic design, the styles, its international influences and the uniqueness of the creations.
Author Hanny Kardinata compiled the works in two books. The first, launched last week, contained works from the Dutch colonial era to 2000.
'The second book will focus on works from the year 2000 onwards, a period that is distinguished by high dynamism,' he said after the launch on Jan. 23 at dia.lo.gue art space in Kemang, South Jakarta.
Hanny, a senior graphic design artist who started to archive the works in 1980, shared credit for the book with young collaborators who created illustrations to summarize each of its chapters.
'There are several periods worth mentioning. In the era of the 1970s artists started to look for the identity of Indonesian graphic design, which became more intense in the 1980s with the establishment of Ikatan Perancang Grafis Indonesia (Indonesian Graphic Designers Union).
'The community later transformed into the Asosiasi Desain Grafis Indonesia [Association of Indonesian Graphic Design] in 1994,' he said.
He said that political conditions in the country had also affected the graphic design scene such as in 1945 in which artists created posters and flyers ahead of the Declaration of Independence.
'The economic meltdown and political upheaval in 1998 paralyzed the graphic design industry as most of the big companies shut down. However, small-scale businesses became stronger and have continued to rise until today.'
Hanny, as a cofounder of the association, established in 2007 Desain Grafis Indonesia (DGI) ' a collaborative organization of those who shared the same purpose of recording and collecting the progress of Indonesian graphic design works.
His latest book was the fourth published by DGI Press, the publication division of the organization.
DGI bureau chief Ismiaji Cahyono explained that graphic design in Indonesia started in 1659, the year Dutch missionaries brought a printing machine to print Bibles and Christian newspapers.
The Dutch colonial administration later established a printing company to distribute law and regulation books as well as business news.
'As business develops, so does advertising and other publications. At that time the profession of layout artists was already known, but it was only recognized in the 1930s,' he said.
Although the profession was relatively young in Indonesia, Ismiaji said that the artists had shown distinctive character in their works by utilizing local culture such as by adding batik ornamentation, frames or depicting local customs.
'From the archives we can see that the visual vernacular tradition of Indonesians, who love to decorate, has made it into the work of the artists, the character rarely seen nowadays.'
Ismiaji said the book was expected to further foster understanding among graphic designers about the profession and the importance of finding their own artistic character and style.
'It can be a reference book for artists, but it cannot be treated as a book about the history of graphic design. However, I hope the book can be a starting point for historians in their research about Indonesia.'
' Photos by JP/ Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
