Mr. Nasiri, you have worked as a graphic designer in various fields of industry and culture for twenty years and have taught in art schools and universities. What is your assessment of the state of the graphic?
At the beginning, I was very interested in painting, drawing and visual arts, and I have been calling and painting since I was a child. After migrating to Tehran, I entered the art and profession of graphics. I really dreamed of publishing a work and seeing it and getting it into the hands of the people. I believe that in those years, graphics had less functionality than now, that is, people were much less familiar with graphics, and instead graphics were art, that is, they covered many of the visual needs of our society. Graphics had an independent artistic behavior, graphic artists were literate. The graphics were beautiful, they also had an effective media performance. Graphics, like newspapers, radio and television, are a medium. Graphic art is more popular in these years than it was twenty years ago, and many people know this profession and art and its importance, but it has become more valuable than it was twenty years ago. Young graphic designers are very superficial and simple with graphics. Graphics have been able to gain a foothold among the people, and many small business owners have realized the importance of this issue in their business and advertising activities, and the more this attention and the better I say the demand in the graphic market has increased. Graphics has practically lost its artistic value and has become a handy medium. In addition to demand, several factors are involved in the formation of this situation.
You have been a student of Ghobad Shiva; As an artist who has a good understanding of the visual traditions of Iranian painting, calligraphy, and calligraphy, and does not neglect the teachings of modern art, how much have you been influenced by Ghobad Shiva’s ideas?
Shiva was and is my first and last excessive love and interest in art and graphics. In those years, I really wanted to see them and be with them. The period I was in their classes was the most beautiful period of my life. Everything I have now and I try to keep them was from that period. Master Shiva has a very correct view of art, especially graphics. Master Shiva can very well show the Iranian culture and look in his works. It means conveying a culture in the work it produces. In the posters he made for the Shiraz Art Festival, as well as the posters he made for concerts and music, and many other works that are all unrivaled.
Influenced by Ghobad Shiva, are you trying to use the teachings of the visual tradition of Iranian culture to perform creative, modern and effective graphic works?
Yes, that’s right. Master Shiva and Master Zarrin Kelk and other masters of the same generation have made very good posters using the rich visual culture of Iran. Because I grew up with this way of thinking and knowing graphics, I still respect it and I still fully believe in it. That is, I can not accept that graphic art is non-visual or that the image is in a higher position than other factors. Graphics is a medium that attracts, directs and conveys information to the audience through images. If elements such as writing, typography, calligraphy, or anything else that comes into play now come into play and work, they must first take on visual behavior; On the other hand, the culture of the target community should be seen and people should see their own cultural and artistic components in that work of art and posters. When we say culture, we mean a set of beliefs and experiences of the visual history of the people, miniatures and paintings of Saqakhaneh and the design of carpets and kilims, etc., everything that the eyes and tastes of the people are with. Familiar, these should be in the works with any tone, form and performance. You see the Japanese graphic school has no Western form at all. I do not disagree with the Western form, but we must keep in mind that graphic art is for the people, so it must reflect the flavor of the people of their region.
Do you believe that our graphics are devoid of creativity and aesthetic values with Iranian roots?
Graphics are losing their depth. Of course, there are figures who work seriously in this field and are very strong, such as Farzad Adibi. His works are artistic and creative, and there is always an oriental image and behavior in his works, and I like them very much. Unfortunately, this is very rare. I repeat, graphics are the art of communication. This means that communication is produced to create a connection. Communication carries a message, and the message has a specific language and form to be understood and received. I do not know how. You do not expect me to receive your message and I do not remember and in turn pass it on to the next generation. The galleries display posters that can not be said that these works were produced in Iran. No matter how successful they are in terms of messaging and execution. On the other hand, many of these posters are not graphic. Sometimes they write a word and take it in different forms and display it, and in fact, they reduce the tastes of students and enthusiasts. In addition to the information function, the poster is one of the most effective media that affects the visual taste of its audience. That is, it also has educational behavior. The graphic designer has more responsibility than other artists because with the works he produces, he actually influences the public taste. For example, a painter may not exceed the radius of the mind and his work is more than a gallery and very serious painting enthusiasts, but any graphic work is published as soon as it is produced and reaches a wide range of people. For this reason, graphic designers must work more sensitively and increase their ability to preserve and transmit Iranian cultural concepts. The purpose of producing any graphic work is certainly to influence a purposeful group or community. Nor can we sit down and produce something that is devoid of all our cultural components.
Annually, more than sixty thousand titles of first edition books are published in Iran. What is your assessment of the status of the book cover design?
Over the years, I’ve experienced that publishers do not have to worry about a good cover. Economics plays an important role in reducing the quality of book cover designers. The publisher wants to publish the book at the lowest cost. Most publishers do not care about publishing and culture. When this is not the case then maybe you can expect to find some professional designers and graphic designers who can do just that. Many publishers do not care about the quality of the book; Constantly thinking that the book will be a bestseller, without wanting to fully cover the cost of seeing and selling a book, is one of the most important components in seeing the book and undoubtedly attracting the attention of the audience. It is. Instead of relying on the experience, art, and creativity of designers, publishers are defending their traditional ideas for book cover, preferring that the book take on a form that their own experience tells. Many times they only look at other people’s hands or copy from foreign covers. They mistakenly think that if a book must have a uniform, that work will be identified, but this is not always the case. Undoubtedly, uniform is one of the ways to organize a publisher’s book series. We have a variety of methods for making uniforms or so-called cover platforms. A book cover uniform is not inherently bad as long as it does not digest the identity of all the books.
Does a graphic designer have to read a book to design his cover?
Yes, the designer must read the book to design it, even if for some reason he can not do so, he must talk to the author or translator to find out what the story is and what the content of the book is about. But in practice this is not the case, and to reduce the cost of producing a book, publishers and even designers usually resort to a uniform and finalize the book cover with a simple and unattractive design, and we even have publishers who They print all kinds of books with a fixed uniform. These behaviors are wrong, and on the other hand, many publishers are constantly interfering in the work of the graphic designer while not having a proper understanding of the art.
In the field of publishing, the publisher is stingy; But in cinema and theater, and in music, specifically in music and cinema as another industry, which still do not have limited financial resources, we still see that many posters are weak, why ?!
Of course, it should be noted here that the account of a good publisher and producer is separate. But these are just a handful and they work well and have nothing to do with production costs and respect the audience’s intellect. But most of the work is done by producers and publishers who do not allow a designer to think at all; Of course, graphic designers are not innocent in shaping this situation of the society. In the past, designers were comprehensive and up-to-date artists, on the one hand, they knew the needs of the cinematic, literary and musical community, and they did not lower the level of public taste, even if they did not raise it. But now the poster maker gives it to someone who is listening. I have made more than twenty posters for various producers. We sat down with the director and made it, but the producer refused. And they frame the deposits of four superstars in a box and put a poster of their name. This kind of work is no longer a poster or a graphic work. Look at the book One Hundred Years of Announcements and Posters of Iranian Cinema, you will understand where we have come from and reached this situation. On the other hand, copying in the graphic profession has increased a lot. Unfortunately, a work was selected in a competition, and later it turned out that it was a copy. On the other hand, another major problem in our universities. You want the university to be established now and they accept students in all levels and they have a very high output, but who in these universities are teaching students? We now have very prestigious universities in Tehran that accept graphic students up to the master’s degree, but there is no serious and experienced graphic designer in the faculty and even their visiting professors. I mean, what do these friends teach the student in class? Well, the output of these universities is as soon as we see my minimalist poster, which has no reliance on a particular culture. It takes an uninteresting and consuming direction.
You have worked as a graphic designer and poet for many years and you have also taught students in vocational schools and universities. What is your assessment of the educational system and the motivation of students to learn?
Iran’s educational system in the field of our specialty with which we are involved, whether in vocational schools or in public and private universities, is completely wrong. That is, there are decision-makers, authors, and influencers who have no expertise in this field, or perhaps it is better to say they do not want to have it, or even it seems to be so. Now, apart from all these universities that grow like mushrooms on every alley and have branches, we even have a public university that receives very good students from all over Iran, and the output of this university is ultimately the teachers who will teach in vocational schools across the country tomorrow. It will not be interesting that the only thing that is not taught there is graphics and creativity. Because in the national team of those universities, I mean the faculty, we do not have a graphic designer at all. The visiting instructor also brings lessons that are not effective in the teaching process. Now, you can calculate for yourself what the condition of art schools is. There are titles taught in art schools that are funny, black and white graphics, color graphics. This is a really unfortunate and embarrassing place for our art education system. Now, in the same classes, the books that are taught are full of pure mistakes. Even if we see good things happening in the society, the graphics are actually due to the presence of professors who are sensitive to art, taste and culture, and the efforts that they make, not the educational system. The end result of our conservatories and universities is that now all the artists, writers and poets and all those who one day, for example, want to publish a book or produce an album or anything else, the first option and finally their last option is this Is that their photo comes on a poster or cover or anything. That means we practically do not see the graphics. That is, we do not know a language called graphics and we do not know anything about its function. That is, graphics can not convey the message and meaning and content of a book or music or movie. Well, where was this poet, singer and writer educated and raised in the same schools and universities in Iran with this educational system? So get ahead of the producer, the publisher and the rest of the customers.
