Ruth Kedar: Google, Playing Cards, and Digital Art http://adlover.net/diseno/ruth-kedar/
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Ruth Kedar:Google, Playing Cards, and Digital Art
http://adlover.net/diseno/ruth-kedar/
Most commonly celebrated as the designer behind the Google logo, Ruth Kedar is also the founder of Art on the Net--a website that allows artists from all over the world to share their work online. Born in Brazil, but raised in Israel, she holds a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's degree in design. She worked as a Stanford University professor from 1988 to 1999, and is the current principal designer and owner of Kedar Designs, a graphic design company whose clients include Google, Adobe Systems, OpenSource, and the University of California at San Francisco. She works in a variety of mediums, including digital art, mixed media, and monotypes.
Ruth Kedar
Artist Statement
" More than making single images, I develop logical structures that create new visual progressions.
I work in many layers. My philosophy and aesthetics are the fibers that run through them, connecting, expanding.
The creative process, this dialog between self and medium, evolves into visual languages-- their grammar ever changing to encompass new avenues of thought.
Therefore, my medium of choice is always a vehicle of variation and exploration.
These days, most of my time is taken with design projects, however...
... as always, I am developing new art series, gestating a book on patterns, and developing a new deck of transformation cards.”
Ruth Kedar, May 2001
The Google Logo
In her last year of teaching at Stanford, Ruth Kedar was commissioned by Google to design their logo and their website. The logo went through a series of phases, starting with the first version:
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/1_logo_predesign.jpg
On this version, Kedar notes that when Google asked her to design the logo, she was sure that a logotype rather than a logo would be appropriate. This image utilizes both pattern and symbol.
The Evolution of the Google Logo
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/2_logo_predesign.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/1_logo_predesign.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/3_logo_predesign.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/7_logo_predesign.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/6_logo_predesign.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/5_logo_predesign.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/google_logo/4_logo_predesign.jpg
The Google Logo Today
Of the final product, Kedar notes, “"There were a lot of different color iterations. We ended up with the primary colors, but instead of having the pattern go in order, we put a secondary color on the L, which brought back the idea that Google doesn't follow the rules." http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/multimedia/2008/02/gallery_google_logos
The availability of Kedar's work on the Google logo is fascinating because it allows for examination of her artistic process, and also the transformations that many digital images, which are well-known throughout the world, undergo during their creation.
Playing Cards
Some of Kedar's ongoing work involves the design of playing cards. On her Art.net profile, she states that she has always been fascinated by playing cards because “they are surrounded by mystique and for centuries people have lived and died by them.” In support of this observation she points to gambling halls and fortune tellers. Her master's thesis involved playing card design, and she has created three well-received decks of playing cards.
Adobe Deck
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Adobe_Cards_Joker.jpg
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Adobe_Cards3.jpg
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Adobe_Cards2.jpg
“The Adobe deck was commissioned as a marketing piece for the Adobe Illustrator software. Various designers were asked to design a suit, each lending his/her design style to what became an eclectic and very collectible deck.”
Issued as a limited edition deck, the “Adobe” deck is no longer available for purchase.
Duolog Deck
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Duolog_Back.jpg
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Duolog_Cards1.jpg
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Duolog_Cards3.jpg
“Duolog is a continuing effort, which began with "Analog" and "Adobe" decks, to create new visual languages that enhance the experience of 'playing' with playing cards.”
Analog Deck
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Analog_Package3.jpg
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Analog_Package1.jpg
http://www.art.net/~kedar/images/Analog_Stacks.jpg
“This deck of playing cards evokes the iconography of the past but at the same time looks toward a more elegantly cyberpunk visual future.”
As demonstrated in this image, when the analog deck cards are stacked, they create a variety of visual images.
Playing Cards
These images, along with the quotations directly from Kedar's Art.net portfolio demonstrate Kedar's fascination with the history of playing cards juxtaposed with anticipation for the future. As seen in the images of the “Analog” deck, Kedar transforms even the packaging of the playing cards. While maintaining some aspects of traditional playing cards, her designs also provide an innovative depiction of a classic image. The “Analog” and “Duolog” playing cards are still available for purchase via internet.
Digital Art
While both Kedar's playing cards and her work as a graphic designer reside within the realm of digital art, she also creates a variety of purely digital art. She notes that, “The digital medium (and my computer in particular) has proven a great collaborator, and many of these variations are a direct result of this (at times very boisterous) dialog.” Her digital art as can be viewed on the internet involves four primary themes. Within these themes Kedar creates a series of images focused on a central idea or object.
“One Thousand and One Nights”
“From Desert Winds to Mirages”
These images contain images of sand, and grain-like textures.
“Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”
Similar to the above images, these suggest sand-like images, but emphasize darkness through shadow and color manipulation.To see more images from this theme click here.
“Masquerades”
“State of Mind”
In her description of these images, Kedar notes that they revolve around frozen moments in time.
“Masks”
Kedar distorts and reorganizes the traditional face, providing a new perspective on what it means to wear a “mask.”To view more images from this theme, click here.
“Of Mystics and Warriors”“Warriors”
Kedar notes that in these images she added, multiplied and manipulated shapes and colors. Each image clearly has a head (or head-like area), creating human-like figures that are squared forward and appear to be in motion.
To view more (and larger) images, click here.
“Patterns”“Kaleidoscopical
Tapestries”
As the kaleidoscope is representative of repetitive and symmetric imagery, so are the images found here.
“Seasons”
Kedar maintains the same line-like structure throughout these images, but executes a distortion in their position and color.
Kedar's Digital Art
All of Kedar's digital works maintain some aspect of repetition and manipulation. Whether she repeats and manipulates patterns, shapes, or colors, she creates works that include precise lines, an obvious contrast between light and dark imagery, and bold color palettes. Her work is inspiring in that upon first glance, I found it to be simplistic and straight-forward, but when focusing in, I began to understand the layers that each individual image was comprised of. The “One Thousand and One Nights” and “Masquerades” collections focus on a central object which is easily apparent in every image, while “Of Mystics and Warriors” and “Patterns” demonstrate Kedar's fascination with lines, color, and, especially, repetition.
Summary
Overall, the scope and depth of Kedar's work both impresses and awes. Her ability to work with a variety of mediums, even within the digital realm, demonstrates her fascination with and commitment to her art. Both thematic and technical variety within her digital art alone suggests that she embraces the possibilities offered within the digital world. Of course, she says it best herself:
“From the whimsical to the pragmatic, from chaos to order, from the individual to the collective, thematic variations allow ideas to develop and evolve.
New directions are discovered, and the fourth dimension is evoked.” (Art on the Net)
Sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Kedar
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-01-14-n16.html
http://www.art.net/
http://adlover.net/diseno/ruth-kedar/
http://www.art.net/~kedar/
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/multimedia/2008/02/gallery_google_logos
Notes:
While all other images contain links crediting the source, all of Kedar's digital art images were provided by her Art on the Net profile. All quotes of Kedar's were also provided by this website unless otherwise noted.(http://www.art.net/~kedar/).
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