New artwork – Ian Rogers
No article today, just me playing around with a collage/ digital painting idea…
Ian Rogers – The Colonel Transformed
See some of my finished work here, should you be so inclined.
I’ve had a couple of people ask me about the Hebrew character, I got the idea from reading Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler, one of my favourite writers. He’s from Montreal, I live in Montreal, you get the idea. In the story one of the main characters had gimel inscribed on his hunting spear, which struck me as quite poetic, as gimel is a transformative letter that implies both punishment and reward; choices between good and evil. I’m not Jewish but I am especially interested in anything related to symbology or cultural beliefs around design elements, and this kind of interstitial quality is a very powerful idea. The shape of the character also reminds me of the bowstring tie. Lots of reasons, in any case.
Kentucky Fried Chicken is certainly a guilty pleasure for me, so it seems fitting not only as the gimel but also as the monkey on my back; the base nature that leads us towards unhealthy but delicious choices… also, the 1970s KFC branding is a classic example of the 70s golden age of mascot design, which is another of my personal interests. The winged monkey, of course, is straight up Wizard of Oz.
Interesting set of juxtapositons. It looks rather like a contemporary gargoyle. I’ve just seen some medieval ones in Thirsk which made a big impression. I think that many of them may have been satirical at the time of their creation. I’m interested in cultural/spiritual beliefs expressed in design too, e.g. labryrinths.
I’ve always been a fan of gargoyles & grotesques. I was thinking more along the lines of a chimera, but bringing up gargoyles is a good observation.
[…] regular readers have seen me wax poetic about the Kentucky Fried Chicken logo in the past. Heck, I’ve even made art about this obsession. Today, I’m going to wax poetic on how they conquered the world. […]
May I ask if you are Ian Rogers that knew Ivan Katzen?
I am not, but there are many of us that share this name. We are legion.