Tonight: Words about pictures and words from Frank Chimero at the Denver Art Museum

Frank Chimero's rendering of Colorado.

​Less is more, observed Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the architect widely regarded as the father of the modern steel-and-glass skyscraper, and it's likely Frank Chimero agrees; working with simple shapes and a pristine minimalist aesthetic, the illustrator and graphic designer creates compelling visuals that are easy to immediately interpret and yet capture the imagination with the suggestion of something deeper. He's also a writer, and is currently at work on his first book, fittingly titled The Shape of Design (he makes pictures about words and words about pictures, he says), and tonight, he brings his observations to the Denver Art Museum.

"When you think of illustration, you think of complicated shading and chiaroscuro and things like that," says Julie Johnston, events director of AIGA Colorado, sponsor of the lecture. "Frank is very modernist in his approach, looking for hidden meanings and juxtaposition of elements; he's a very thoughtful designer."

That thoughtfulness has garnered the 20-something Chimero a lengthy list of clients that has included Atlantic Monthly and the New York Times, and it probably contributes to how he was able to raise well over $100,000 via Kickstarter to write his book (he's actually raised quite a bit more than he even needed to). Here's an idea of what will be inside it.

In the meantime, the only way you're going to get into Chimero's head is to hear him speak, which he will do at the DAM starting at 6 p.m. this evening; tickets are $10 to $20, and increase $5 at the door.

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