Artist Arthur
Buxton is nearing the end of his collating, recording and sampling work for the
fourth and final print edition in the Vogue Covers series. Having finished the
printed versions of British, Paris and USA Vogue Buxton is currently compiling
the colour data needed to generate the last International Vogue magazine to be
‘covered’ for the edition - Italian Vogue.
After
recently speaking with Arthur Buxton about the duality of the printed colour
series (as artworks and information charts) the artist discussed the structure
and function of colour that underpins his interest in trends.
British Vogue Covers 1981 - 2011
US Vogue Covers 1981 -2011
Within each
piece the small bar charts (measuring 2.4 by 2.9 mm at 1:10 scale to the
originals) show the five most prominent colours, proportionally, in an
individual Vogue cover. Each column is a year starting with September and
working down to October at the bottom. The columns run from 1981 on the right
working across to 2011 on the left. After viewing the work one becomes
increasingly a where of the differences in overall national colour palettes.
Paris Vogue Covers 1981 -2011
The most
striking trend is the recent preference for paler colours, which is evident on
all three charts. Seasonal trends are more subtle. The Paris edition is mostly
published only ten times a year which shows up as duplicated rows in August and
January. Gaps occur where covers are unavailable.
Aside from seasonality and longer term changes in
colour trends, other, more quantitative data is evidenced. By looking at ‘Paris
Vogue Covers 1981 - 2011’ we can see a sudden change in tones which occurs in
late 1987. Colombe Pringle became the magazine's editor-in-chief in December
1987. The colours undergo a sudden change again in 1994 when Joan Juliet Buck,
an American, was named Pringle's successor.
Also see Design site Fast Company and their 'Infographic of the day' review featuring Arthur Buxton's vogue series: Seeing Fashion History, by Reading 130 Years of Vogue into Color
Also see Design site Fast Company and their 'Infographic of the day' review featuring Arthur Buxton's vogue series: Seeing Fashion History, by Reading 130 Years of Vogue into Color