Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Simon Obirek A collage I made showing off anti-design and text repetition.

So, Taylor Swift’s artwork for her new album Reputation is out. What is the most striking about the artwork is how it strives to replicate the newspaper aesthetic and how it’s seemingly a comment on Taylor Swift’s treatment in the media.

However, there is a bigger trend at play here. There’s actually two trends present in the piece and we need to talk about them.

As Philip VanDusen explains, text repitition is incredibly in right now. Just look at this “Vroom Vroom” poster by Sunda Studio, or this “Faust Bücher” poster. The typographic designs look as if the same word has been stamped several times onto the page so as to create a certain pattern. If you feel like you’ve seen this before, you probably have on Kanye West’s album The Life of Pablo. And now, you’ve seen it on Taylor Swift’s new album.

Experiments with text are fashionable this time around. VanDusen also explains the atypical letter-spacing that seems to crop up on every poster nowadays. These typographic-oriented posters are an easy way for graphic designers to communicate what’s central to the piece as it cements the event or production multiple times. It’s a nod to a certain kind of minimalism as the text is either the most prominent feature of the piece; or, it may just be the only thing on the poster.

Text repetition is an easy way to generate visual interest and it seems especially striking when there is either a beautiful contrast in colours, or a slick-looking placement of the text in an appealing pattern. In-non corporate pieces, however, it seems like text repetition functions like a higher, overarching narrative. And that narrative is, “I don’t give a fuck”.

In order to understand this, we need to look at anti-design. Taylor Swift’s artwork is a prime example of this. According to Art History Archive, anti-design rose to prominence in the sixties as a reaction to the alleged perfectionism that permeated art and design during the era of Modernism. Anti-design as a philosophy was meant as something disposable, kitsch and ironic.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s artworks reflect this notion. They look like they’ve been haphazardly put together. However, Kanye has experimented with anti-design prior to The Life of Pablo. His 2013 release, Yeezus, had no artwork whatsoever and was simply a clear jewel case with a red sticker, having neither the artist’s nor the album’s name printed anywhere. Kendrick Lamar expressed the same sentiment on his album DAMN., which just features a photograph of him with the album title displayed in a red, thin serif font.

Anti-design also shows itself in fashion. I mean, just look at this windbreaker from PYREX/Off White. Or the entire COMME des GARÇONS website.

Hell, I’ve even used anti-design in my work.

And you’ve probably seen this poster for music nights for a pub called “The Friars” in Shropshire.

So, what gives? As I mentioned earlier, I believe that text repetition and anti-design are ways of artists to express a clear message, which is “I don’t give a fuck” vibe. As Vsauce thoughtfully explained, it’s cool to not care and having an underwhelming and perhaps lacklustre artwork underlines this sentiment. Or perhaps human’s perception of aesthetics is shifting slightly and the artists in question try to get in on it before it gets too popular? Maybe there is a bigger and more interesting artistic desire in choosing anti-design and text repetition over something else, but that’s a discussion for another time.

What remains is this: is anti-design the right fit for you and your project/corporation? That depends on what you’re offering. Obviously, if you are in a conservative field, you probably don’t want to stand out too much with a visual identity that’s too challenging. However, if you’re going for a loud and bold aesthetic, that’s not afraid to break the mold, then anti-design is your recipe for attention for the next couple of years to come as it can fit any mood you’re trying to produce.

Let’s talk about anti-design. was originally published in prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Let’s talk about anti-design.

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