This project centers around the life and design philosophy of Ed Fella, a Detroit-based designer and educator at Cal Arts. Known for his unconventional approach, Fella’s work blurred the line between graphic design and art. Ed Fella: Something Less Obvious, is a pocket-sized folder with three mini booklets titled “Learn,” “Bend,” and “Make”, each labeled and color-coded. The folder and booklets are printed on textured paper, encouraging interaction and wear over time.

“So far nobody’s been able to theorize the work, or categorize it, because there is no such category that encompasses art, poetry, and graphic design, or typography and lettering all as a single practice.”       -Ed Fella, 2010, Paper Magazine

Deliverables:  

1 pocket-sized folder | 3 mini-zines

Who is Ed Fella?

Evoking the essence of a designer without directly copying their work requires a careful amount of research and knowledge of the person, who they are, and why their work looks the way it does. His work encouraged independent thought, freestyle, and spontaneity while also staying true to the foundations of typography and graphic design.  The folder’s non-linear structure mirrors Fella’s own journey as a designer and educator, and each booklet can be read in any order, allowing the user to interact with the contents in a way that reflects Fella’s creative spontaneity and philosophy.

Concept + Image Gathering

Eventually, based on the feeling his work gave me, the contents were designed to be removed, handled, and reinserted, allowing the user to make the folder their own, much like Ed Fella’s zines from the 1980s Detroit graphic design scene. Fella’s work is largely split between his own personal design eras - first working as a commercial designer for automotive magazines and printwork early on in his career, then moving into more abstract zines and prints for smaller, more personal exploration, then finally going to Cal Arts and teaching Master’s students about design and building from what he learned from them into his post-teaching era. Each part of his career is documented differently and looks different, too.

Researching Ed’s Eras

It was then time to write the bulk of the publication’s material, digging deeper into the philosophy behind Ed Fella’s art and design and his origins shaping his work. The target audience includes design students, enthusiasts of Ed Fella’s work, and anyone interested in unconventional approaches to design and art.vThe folder acts as an exploration into Fella’s philosophy that design should have a purpose, while art does not; inviting the audience to physically interact with and experience the material.

Copy and Grid Layout

I found that working on this project involved not only exploring Ed Fella’s designs but also adopting his unconventional, almost cryptic approach to visual communication. The challenge was to design something that embodied his work’s layered complexity, where meaning is often hidden within folds and textures, much like his critics experienced when trying to interpret his work.

What did I Learn During This Journey?

From this project, I learned how to design something tactile and interactive while still staying true to a specific philosophy. It pushed me to think about how design can evolve through use and how a non-linear structure can still communicate a clear narrative when approached from different angles. Learning the creative process deepened my understanding of design and how it can both confuse and inspire people when it breaks away from traditional timelines and expectations.