I was told once that the key to being an excellent designer is being inspired. I have been poring over a book about Alphonse Mucha that has given me a means to finding creative energy in my work and in my daily living as well.

Alphonse Mucha was a Czech painter and decorative artist born in 1860. He moved to Paris in his late twenties and was producing magazine and advertising illustrations. Mucha got his big break in 1894 when visiting a local print shop. He heard about a need for a new poster advertising a play featuring Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress in Paris. The poster he designed was a huge hit and garnered the attention of many, including the actress herself who signed Mucha on to do work for her throughout the next 6 years.

The multitude of his paintings, posters, advertisements, illustrations and other design work led to the term The Mucha Style—and became better known as Art Nouveau (French for "new art").

This stylistic form of art and design, with its universal aesthetic and luscious colors, inspires us in our lives and in the designs we work to create everyday.

On a recent trip to Scotland I came across the paintings of several artists belonging to a group known as the Glasgow School. The collective work of this group flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. The popularity of these artists was influenced by the heightened economy at the turn of the century in Glasgow. It directly led to an influx in contributions in architecture, design and painting—especially associated with the Art Nouveau movement.

There were examples of these works in many of the museums I visited, including the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery and the Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum. I was particularly drawn to the collections of these Scottish Colourists and especially impressed by the work of husband and wife team, glass-artist Margaret MacDonald and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Color talk

Inspiration

Victorian Era Colourists

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