Corita Kent, also known as “The Pop Art Nun,” was a revolutionary artist known for her bold, colorful designs.
You read that right, a nun. But Corita Kent wasn’t an average sister; she was an artist-activist who used her art to deliver poignant messages and advocate for social change.
Join us as we examine Corita’s life and legacy and consider how modern designers can incorporate her philosophy into their logo designs and other marketing materials.
Who is Corita Kent?
Source: corita.org
Corita was born in 1918 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. At age 18, she entered the religious order Sisters of the Immaculate Heart, taking the name Sister Mary Corita. She received her bachelor’s degree at Immaculate Heart College and eventually headed its art department.
Corita’s art typically features abstract designs, saturated colors, and bold typography combined with figurative and religious imagery. Due to her interest in Andy Warhol’s works and the rising Pop Art movement during the 1960s, her art eventually evolved to reflect a more Pop Art style.
Corita’s main medium is screen printing or “Serigraphy.” She deliberately chose this medium to make her art more affordable and accessible to people, as silk printing allows you to create multiple prints of the same image.
Corita was also a champion for social justice. Her works incorporate relevant literary quotes, song lyrics, biblical verses, or advertising slogans to comment on racism, politics, and war during the tumultuous 1960 era of the US.
Her bold and boisterous art starkly contrasts her reserved and quiet personality. This is also in contrast to what people typically expect from a nun, especially in the past when things were less progressive.
Unfortunately, her political works and social advocacies were seen as controversial and blasphemous, particularly by Cardinal James McIntyre. This led to her leaving the religious order and moving to Boston. From then on, she continued to make art for social causes, creating over 800 serigraphs until she died in 1986.
Corita’s Signature Design Techniques
Corita’s art contains the following design elements:
Graphic and expressive typography
Daisy, 1966
Corita mainly uses typography as a visual element to express movement, energy, and emotion. She artfully arranges her text across the canvas to direct the viewers’ eyes or to form an image.
Aside from the typography style, the text she uses is also meaningful. It is usually lyrics, quotes, or verses related to her art’s subject matter.
She also handwrote her texts to give her art a more natural and expressive feel.
Bold, saturated colors
Shades of Wonder, 1963
Corita favors bold colors like red, blue, and yellow in her works. She doesn’t focus on one color; instead, she pairs multiple bold colors together in one work, making her pieces visually striking.
Color psychology is also evident in her work. For instance, she uses red in her anti-war pieces, as red signifies urgency.
Unique layering and composition
Yellow Submarine, 1967
Corita loves layering colors, text, or illustrations on top of each other. This gives her art a “3D” depth, which makes it stand out from the 2D art of her time.
Corita also experiments with her composition. She uses misaligned images, fragmented text, or mismatched colors. This gives her art a more chaotic yet eye-catching appeal.
Strong social message
Stop The Bombing, 1967
As Corita herself said, “Art can be a form of pleading, it can caution, it can recall us to the humanity within us.”
She uses her art to address topics such as politics, racism, and war. It shows that art is not just a decoration or a creative piece but also a way to fight for what you believe in.
Religious imagery
Pieta 1969, 1969
Some of Corita’s art reflects her religious beliefs. However, unlike traditional Christian art, which mainly uses muted colors or somber moods, Corita stays true to her vibrant style.
Modern Applications of Corita’s Design Principles
Corita may have passed away in 1989, but her work, message, and art remain relevant.
Her art style is also rooted in design principles that are followed by artists and designers of today, which is why her art is so timeless and powerful no matter how many years have passed.
Want to emulate Corita’s style in your branding or marketing materials? Try the following:
Bold typography
Bold and eye-catching fonts are still popular today. This is even more popularized with the Y2K trend, where chunky fonts, exaggerated sizes, or distorted arrangements reigned supreme.
Try writing your text backward, overlapping your text, adding huge spaces between letters, or using mismatched text sizes.
Hand-lettering revival
Handwritten logos and typography add a touch of humanness and uniqueness to your brand. This is even more relevant today with the rise of AI art and the recent trend of brands following the safe “Corporate Memphis” style.
Handwritten text is perfect for brands that want to convey friendliness and approachability. It is perfect for a mommy blogger, a makeup brand aimed at teens, a seller of homemade goods, or the like.
Pop Art influence
Design.com Facebook Post Maker
Vibrant, colorful, and graphic–that is the core of Pop Art. Works that burst with energy are incredibly eye-catching and can attract your customers’ eyes no matter where they see your brand or marketing materials.
Consider using neon colors, bold graphic shapes, intricate illustrations, and a more creative composition to emulate a Pop Art look in your designs.
Message-focused design
Source: Patagonia
Brands that stand for a social cause are seen as more credible in customers’ eyes. Nowadays, people don’t want to just mindlessly buy things. Instead, they want to support brands that fight for a cause or where their purchases can actually make a difference.
A way to incorporate this is by running social media or marketing campaigns that talk about societal issues you care about. Of course, make sure you can talk the talk. Don’t just create campaigns to stay trendy or to say that you stand with an issue.
An example is the green brand Patagonia. They are not limited to one campaign or one product. Instead, their whole brand’s system and internal processes are rooted in fighting climate change. This is why their products, packaging, manufacturing, and even their Facebook posts all have the same core idea of creating a more eco-friendly future.
Building a recognizable style
Source: Starbucks
Corita’s art is uniquely hers. You can easily spot her work since each piece is stamped with her design principles.
The same thought can be applied to brands. Brands and businesses with a unique brand identity are more recognizable to customers. Notice how we associate the specific shade of blue and yellow with IKEA? Or how a Starbucks ad is easily recognizable due to its consistent layout?
Consistency is key to building familiarity and recognition. Always use your logo, color scheme, typography, imagery style, and set layout in all your materials.
Struggling to remain consistent with your marketing materials? Try creating a brand bible to serve as a guidebook for your design choices.
Balancing commercial work and personal beliefs
Brands and businesses are not the only ones who can benefit from following Corita’s philosophy. Designers and artists can, too! One principle that may resonate more with them is balancing creating art for commercial purposes vs. creating works that you believe in.
Corita actively supported the anti-Vietnam War, Civil Rights, and Women’s Rights movements, which is why her work often reflects that. This makes her art more meaningful and is why she garnered a lot of support. However, this also caused discord with some higher-ups in her Church, which is why she left.
After moving to Boston, Corita also had to earn more business commissions. She designed materials for realtors and local businesses and even did national ads. But she still worked on projects alongside organizations that she believed in, like Hands Across America and the American Civil Liberties Union.
While the times have changed and we are definitely in a more progressive era, there might still be a time when a designer’s beliefs may not align with their client or project.
And just like in Corita’s case, not every work that comes to you will have a deep social movement to stand for. You may be asked just to make a simple shirt design or a sticker.
It is up to the designer to choose whether they want to stay true to their beliefs, only select projects that are meaningful to them, or just simply make art for a livelihood (no judgments here!).
How To Get Started With Corita-Inspired Design
Corita Kent is a powerful figure who spoke about important issues during a time when speaking out could be a crime. She made waves of what women and artists can do and showed that one can make an impact in one’s own way.
We hope you enjoyed our walk down history lane today. If you are interested in creating your own Corita-style art, feel free to look at our vibrant logos, graphic logos, or social media templates under the keyword “pop art.”
You can also tap into our community of graphic designers here in DesignCrowd if you prefer to have a designer create your material instead. Who knows, you just might meet the next revolutionary graphic artist here!
Written by DesignCrowd on Wednesday, November 20, 2024
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