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As awareness of the environment has grown exponentially in today's highly mechanized and energy dependant society, so have the manifestations of this increasing awareness grown in artistic expression. Where once, landscapes and still life scenes were relegated to painters and other such visual artists, this type of theme and image has migrated into popular design and into fashion, making itself known as one of the primary design tactics: many graphics are expressly modelled from scenes and concepts from the physical, natural world. Because of this, some of the best graphics that are created for apparel are now full of flowers, birds, trees, insects, among other natural images. The question, of course, is whether or not these designs are effective as a rule, or if they have become, more often than not, boring. The fact is, it takes an exceptional natural design to break out of the rather mundane mould that this type of graphic can easily fall into.
There are some graphics in particular that blend this increased understanding and natural concept with a modern twist, making them seem surreal, delicate, and almost ethereal. They become airy, but they are grounded to the earth with their depiction of plants and animals. Often involving an odd sort of dismembered symmetry, they make a case for being some of the best, most original modern graphics - hands down. They bring together a variety of artistic and aesthetic design principles and create a visual environment worth looking at over and over again.
The particular graphic in question here, "nature", does a great job of blending the natural elements of birds in flight and at rest with mishmash of flying butterflies. As the central grounding of this graphic, a network of vines or branches curl out from a central point creating the landscape in which the animal elements can function. The vines consist of loops and whorls ornate enough to hearken back to baroque architecture. The black colour of the whole design and especially the curling, pointing branches is reminiscent of the wrought iron fences that come from the gothic period. Besides this, there are detached geometric shapes such as circles and stars that give this graphic a distinct and obvious modern flair.
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