Straight lines to advertise design objects

Op Art advertisement for Danese

Enzo Mari

published 1967

 

The impact of "Op" canvases was instant and dramatic. The dazzling, eye-catching visual effects of "Op" were useful to designers of logos, advertising graphics, fabrics and seemingly any two-dimensional surface which sought high impact in a fashionable idiom. These dramatic black and white patterns became ubiquitous.

In this graphic made for Danese, Enzo Mari proposes in an optical key his umbrella stand: it is drawn through straight black lines which are manipulated to communicate not only the silhouette of the object, but also its curved shape.