One of my long-term design passions and pursuits has been graffiti art. I go way back with this so I can appreciate everything from the original wildstyle pieces with aerosol up to the contemporary efforts made with CGI apps such as 3ds max and Maya.
Above is a piece by Daim.
Here is one by Stuart Fingerhut. As you can see, where original styles of graffiti as art were associated with decorating type, usually the names of artists, to find a way of self-expression in an often bleak, urban environment, evolving from simple black tags with markers, newer works embrace more abstract forms and the art becomes about the exploration of space more than about identity. The art has evolved in such a way that its inspirations, sources, goals and techniques are different. This is important because as designers and artists we need know, as much as we can, the path of evolution. It’s one thing to make something new and dazzle people by accident, but it is another to actually understand the progression in art and design.
Above is a piece by David Paradowski. I love the colors and the perspective. Below, one by Dangeruss. I really like this one because even more than others it makes me think of architectural forms, which is what attracted me to this type of art in the first place. The style and combinations of letters moved far beyond fancy typography and calligraphy into the realm of new types of structures. Imagine if you had to design a city from scratch. Would you make individual, separate buildings like you see today, or would you plan ahead and perhaps make something with a new structural approach, like interlocking buildings, for example? Sometimes looking at attributes of one thing and applying them to something completely different is a great way to explore innovation.
If you are inclined to explore producing such works then you might consider CGI. You can also make work like the above image in Adobe Illustrator, which has a 3D option for paths that enables you to extrude simple shapes. One you have your basic forms assembled you can then export your project as a PSD file, which saves your layers so they can be opened in Photoshop. From there you add textural work, shading, etc.
Eric Chamberlain 