Russian Samovar
The dictionary defines samovar as “a metal urn with a spigot, used to boil water for tea and traditionally having a chimney and heated by coals.” But for a Russian person samovar it’s so much more. Because of strong tradition of tea-drinking, samovar has traditionally been a symbol of hearth, coziness, comfort and prosperity. Being a remarkable decoration of Russian homes, samovar became very fast one of the most distinctive forms of decorative art.
Samovars are made in many different ways: plain, painted, in shapes of animals and many others. You can find a lot of painting and photography(I love this photograph) of samovar by many Russian artists. There are hotels and restaurants, bakeries, even an Internet Consulting Agency, a Collection of Online Theological Books, and an Award Page(not sure for what achievements) called “Samovar”. Truly an art form!!! ))
Should a designer be able to draw? Russian point of view
Knowing me someone could say: “Obviously, you think that should. Since you can draw, you think everyone should.”
Well, not exactly. A designer doesn’t need to be able to do anything, but to be a good designer.
The only thing is that design is a very highly tailored thing and for majority of designers to be “only a designer” is not enough.
In big companies, where're many people and a lot of work, it is possible for one to design only. A designer doesn’t have to be able to draw - they have illustrators, as well as coders and programmers, and they know how to do their job faster and better.
Unfortunately, “just a designer”, if he is not doing anything else besides designing, seldom is satisfied with his job. A good designer doesn’t have to be able to draw, but he should be a creative person who studies works of others, trends, styles, different useful things about colors, fonts, and has plenty of ideas. A person like that usually grows out of “just design” and wants something more serious, interesting and many-sided.
However, even in this case a designer doesn’t have to become an illustrator. He might become an art-director; get interested in ad graphics, advertising, flash, computer languages, 3D, audio, video, etc. and be very successful.
Than why does a design major requires drawing??? Because there is a level of ability to draw that everyone on the planet sooner or later can learn. Obviously, best part of quality educational institutions think it’s never bad idea for a designer to learn elementary drawing skills. That is why majority of people that have a design degree can draw. At least, these people never ask themselves if a designer should be able to draw.
Design by Vladimir Shestopalov
Here’s a really cool Russian designer Vladimir Shestopalov. He is from Moscow, Russia.It’s an English version of the website. Check it outPS I played with his introductory page like for 10 minutes before I looked at the rest of the content.
Russian Matryoshka... Russian???
Throughout its time history that can be traced back to the times of Kievska Rus’, Russia intersected with numerous nations and cultures and lived under different regimes. While preserving its uniqueness, Russia adopted some elements that greatly enriched and shaped the culture. Some commonly accepted world-known Russian components were adopted not long ago, while others, truly Russians, remain unknown. Every now and then I will reveal such secrets. Here’s one of them…
The well known Russian nested doll, named “Matryoshka” is the number one souvenir foreign individuals try to acquire when in Russia or hosting Russian visitors. Matryoshka is considered as “Russian” as you can get. However, the history reports that Matryoshka came around only in the 90s of the XIX century, when a woodturner Vasilii Zvyozdochkin made a doll copying the concept from a Buddhist monk figure brought from Japan.
Welcome!
Hey! Let's celebrate the birth of a new blog! You will see here everything that is considered artsy: life art, graphic design, photography, ads, etc. What's the catch?? It will be straight from Russia and some other post USSR countries.
