Entry 9

Postmodernism

• Group of approaches motivated by some common understandings.
  
• A set of theoretical positions, which at the core are self reflexive and aware of the tentativeness, slipperiness, the ambiguity and the complex interrelations of culture and meanings.
• Opposes the ordered rationality of modernism
• Rejects totalities, universal values.
• Skeptical of truth
• Underground 60's and early 70's
• Communities of opinion and belief
• 60's pluralistic, eclectic, hedonistic, and anti-est.
• Underground comics
• Experimental alternative publishing - Village Voice
• Pushpin studios famous for their designs in the 60's

New Wave Typography

• Rejections of the International style by swiss designers began in Basel.
• Anti-functional approach.
• Wolfgang Weingart
• Rejected the right angle
• Intuitive design
• Questions the customs of typographic arrangements
• Every convention was up for interrogation
• First designer to use computer for experiments
• New wave included:
• Wide Letter Spacing
• Bold stair stepped rules
• Rule lines punctuating space
• Diagonal Type
• Mixing typefaces or weight changes within words
• Type reveresed from a series of bars
• Diagonal Type
  
• Mixing typefaces or weight changes within words
• Type reveresed from a series of bars
• April Grieman
• New wave Basel Studio in LA
• First paint boxes and later Macs
• digital graphic design
• illusion of depth
• Postmodernism: appropriation, to copying styles, was no longer naive nostlagia but calculated because the past itself was considered invented
• Paula Scher
• Appropriation or "to quote" vs. plagiarism
  
• Constructivism vocabulary was her inspiration
• Assumption that art can only be repetitious
• Pop art and Warhol
• Charles Anderson
• CSA Archieve - collection of historic line art
  
• history of art and design was a vast archieve to quote
• textural patterns of enlarged cheap comic books for clip art
• Postmodernism does not comprise a single style but a conspicuous group of trends
  
• Nevel Brody
• Urban primitive typographic configurations became iconic emblems.
• Brody plundered and plagiarized as his distinctive work was quickly assimilated around the world in part through the advent of computer scanning.
• Jacques Derrida / Deconstruction
• Showed most value-laden distinctions we attempt to establish.
• Unconventional writings
• Cranbrook - explores post-structuralism and the language games of Derrida's Grammatology
• Deconstruction is a way to read texts
  
• SEE IMAGE ------ READ TEXT
• SEE TEXT -------- READ IMAGE (deconstructive)
  
• Ed Fella
  
• distinctly unsystemized inspires "Grunge"
• David Carson
• Disruptive and disturbed type and design
• Untrained - walked the line between illegibility and chaos angering many
• Professionals unwilling to accept the impact of a post-structural world
• Un-natural cropping of print images
  
• Emigre magazine features digital typefaces
• Fontographer allows people to make fonts
• Deconsturction Structures in the mass media can be reshuffled
• Why not Associates
• Formal Characteristics of late postmodernism
• Layering
• Fracturing
• Transparency
• Disunity
  
• Deformation
• High and low juxtapositions
• Chip Kidd - book covers for Knopf stock photographs onto the covers of fiction
• Jonathan Barnbrook - demonization to market fonts

Tonight I leave somewhat inpired by the newer styles and post-modernism. I feel like having one style is such a trap. I read a quote about design that said "Having a style is like being in prison." I'm excited to be in the age where we have run out of "isms". I feel boundless possibilities because of the fact that I can use any style in my aresonal. I really enjoyed the work that was shown by Why not Associates. I really thought it was amazing. I am more curious about deconstructivism and want to look even more into it!

Discourse 2

Typography–"The Eye Is a Creature of Habit"
By David Ogilvy

Key Concepts:

• Good Typography helps people read your copy, bad typography prevents them from reading it.
• Capitals retard reading
• Capitals are read letter by letter
• People are accustomed to reading lower case.
• Letters superimposed over illustration are hard to read.
• No periods in headlines
• Drama belongs in what you say not the typeface.
• San serif is hard to read.
• Long copy's readership can be increased by:

1. Subhead of two lines, between your headline and body copy.
   
2. Starting body copy with a drop initial.
3. Limit opening paragraph to eleven words max.
4. After two or 3 inches of copy insert a crosshead
5. Short lines / Windows increase readership
6. Key paragraphs set in bold or italic
7. Add arrowheads, arrows, bullets, asterisks, and marginal marks to help your reader into your paragraph.
8. Number unrelated facts
9. 11 point type is about right
10. Add leading between paragraphs to increase readership.

• You can't sell what is unreadable.

This image follows many of the principles that Ogilvy discusses. The type is simple, and says what it means, it is lowercase, there are no periods, there are serifs, there is an illustration but the type does not lay on top of it.

This is another good example of the concepts of this article. The headline is lower case, in a pretty simple, readable font. Dates are also listed in an organized manner in lower case. There is use of a white shape so type isn't overlaying directly on an image.



Another example of the principles discussed. No cap headline, nice sense of space between the title and the sections of copy. Also the headline is against a black and white image, allowing it to stand out well. The only thing that holds it back is that the copy is sans-serif. However the title is a serif font.

I had an observation when researching for images, that it is hard to find headlines that follow these principles. Everything seems to be ALL CAPS.

Entry 8

• Swiss Design.
• Basel School of Design - Laboratory of the international style.
• Emil Ruder, Armin Hoffmann, Josef Muller Brockman are teachers at Basel
• Valued minimalism
• Armin Hoffmann published a Graphic Design Manual to demonstrate his principles
  
• He said Type goes on Point, Line, and Plane
• Brockman at the time leading theorist of Swiss movement
• Wrote the book on Grid Systems
• Der Film poster, and Public Awareness posters
• Also created music posters
  
• Swiss design remained prominent for over two decades in America
• Paul Rand understood the value of invented forms for both symbolic and communicative ends.
  
• Corporate design begins
• Lester Beal helps define emerging corporate design movements
  
• Branding was a major way to shape reputation of a product
• Saul Bass - motion picture design, famous corporate identities
• Design firms began being bought by corporations to become in house.
• Chermayeff and Geismar Associates - "Early Design Office"
• C&G did many types of design.
• Post war corporate American Identity
• Vignelli Associates
  
• Unigrid system
• Herbert Matter - Knoll
• Advent of Televison
• Henry Wolf Brodovitch became art director of Esquire in 1953
• Cover becomes a single image conveying a visual idea
• Henry Wolf - Conceptual strategies
• George Lois - advertising genius
• Conceptual power of images
• Doyle Dane Bernbach
  
• Opened in 1949 new approach to advertising
• Text and Image
• George Lois concept was dominate and text and image became completely interdependent
• The New Advertising -
  
• Visual statements used simple images
• Talked intelligently to there audience
• Focus on the benefits of a product
• Pushed concepts to the limit
• Innovative concepts grew from his ability to understand and respond to the people of his era
• Challenged shocked and provoked the audience
  
• Photo-typography typefaces on film
• Overlapping begins
• American design - graphic form to a concept
• Word and image separation collapses. Type playing two roles.
• Word becomes image, image becomes word.
• Figurative Typography
• Lubalin - Avant Garde
  
• Ebony Magazine

The most intersting part of tonights lecture to me was the section about George Lois. His Esquire covers were originally shocking before anything else. The ideas may seem somewhat trite these days, but they are so original it seems. I feel like they can never been done again. The most inspiring one featured is probably the one about the Vietnam War that says "Oh my God-we hit a little girl." It is so simple, yet really shocking. I feel like it very simply said so much about the Vietnam War. I can only imagine the impact it had when it was realeased.

Entry 7 - The Laws of Media

The Telephone

1. The telephone acts to extend and enhance the human experience of listening, and talking. Verbal communication. The function of this technology is to connect people verbally even from long distances when they cannot speak face to face. It extends the function of the ears and mouth, and along with that the sense of hearing. It augments the human action of communication, and extends the individual and connects society.

2. The telephone mostly made telegraphs obsolete. In some senses it also made writing letters obsolete or more unnecessary as well. It bypasses the need to travel to talk to someone. The telegraph mostly becomes an object of nostalgia.

3. Mostly the archaic method of sending letters is used formally, or for fun.

4. The medium of the telephone when fully realized will in turn make people communicate less because they depend on a device in order to communicate. Texting gets integrated and calling becomes a hassle. Vocal communication starts to become an extreme, and overall it begins to become obsolete all together. Canceling out the main function of the device.

In conclusion the telephone was meant to bring people who are distant together verbally. However the telephone today has changed to the point where communicating verbally with it is many times not considered necessary.

Discourse

The New Typography
by Laszlo Moholy Nogy

Key Concepts:

• Typography must be clear in order to commuinicate
  
• Legibility is important
• Use all typefaces, type sizes, geometric forms , colors
• The New Language of Typography must be elastic, and have variables
• Most important aspect of contemporary typography is the use of zincographic techniques
  
• Inclusion of photography in typographic method
• The Objectivity of photo liberates the receptive reader from the crutches of the authors personal idiosyncrasies.
  
• New Typography is the simultaneous experience of vision and communication.

This image of a movie poster for the film Brick exemplifies key principles of Nagy's theory of The New Typography. It not only shows clear legibility with its typeface, but it has a bold creativity. It uses tone of color and variance of texture in order to give the viewer a sense of "experience and communication". Photography is implemented in marriage with the type and other graphic shape, as well as collage elements. The elements come together to give an overall cohesive feel and theme. Each part working to complement the other.

This is another example of a movie poster using very clear legible type in conjunction with photography and collage elements in order to portray a clear message. The type "I'm Fine Without You" grabs you right away and flows well into the photograph and other graphic elements.

Entry 6 - Unit 2 - Lecture 4

• Paul Shoctema - Use of overprinting typography
  
• Dutch objective photography integrated into total composition. Assembled on press bed.
• Werkman created abstract compositions called Druksels using small presses.
• Under Hitler - Blackletter is prevelant - No Sans-Serif
• Piet Zwarf - used collage technique with parts from the typecase
• DADA inspired
• Structured
• Found balance between the playful and the functional.
• Did not loose a concern for the readers needs.
• Quick grasp of subject
• Brief slogans large letters
• Bold type
• Diagonal lines helped attract readers.
• Post Cubism and Art Deco mechanized war devastated central Europe.
• Art Deco Moderne
• Expressed the designs of a modern era and a passion for geometric decoration for a machine age.
• A popular international geometric style.
• E. McKnight Kaufter - applied synthetic cubist ideas
• Known for London Underground posters
• WWII Propaganda:
• Nazi Party commissions steady stream of posters covering the rise of the party.
• Hitler rejects artistic Plakastil
• Ludwig Hohlwlen - Olympic games propaganda art
• Stylized realism with grotesque depictions of the enemy.
  
• Allies use mythical realism promoted patriotism at all levels of society through national symbols.
  
• Americans use stereotypical demeaning terms in propaganda
• Destruction of national symbols or flags was a common device in propaganda
• Demoralizing the enemy
• Herbert Matter - Swiss fullest expression of type and image during the 30's
• Integrates B&W photo with signs and color areas. Which became a model for later practitioners of the international typographic style.

The most interesting aspect of tonight's lecture for me was section on WWII propaganda. The posters from WWII have always been extremely fascinating to me. Not only fascinating but I think very well designed. I looked at them tonight and noticed how many techniques were being used that seem to be so ahead of their time. Things like type being used in perspective. My favorite of the posters is probably the one that says Talk Kills. I really enjoy the overlay style used and the realistic artwork.

Entry 4 - Unit 2 - Lecture 2

• Modernism relates to itself, rejects utilitary function
• Suprematism - creates a theoretical model for abstract usual language
• Kandinsky makes abstract art
• Cubo-Futurism - Combination of Cubism and Futurism - Russian coined term
• Futurism - DaDa - Supremists - influence graphic design
• Modernism - Montage
• Malevich and Kandensky split ideologically
• Rodchenko - Photographic collage used for socialism
• Photography takes the lead
• Machine Aesthetic
  
• Constructivism 3 principles:
• Tectonics - Unification of Communist ideology with visual form
  
• Texture - Nature of materials and how they are used
• Construction - Creative process and search for laws of visual organization
• Techniques To Change Photography:
• Simultaneous Action
• Superimposing Images
• Extreme Closeups
• Rhythmic Repetition
  
• Rodchinko - Soviet Poster
• He tries to make book very similar to film
• Miss Mend books - serial painting of Graphic Design
• Prouns Space - synthesis of architectural concepts with painting
  
• Geometric Abstraction - adopted as a sign of functionality. Visual forms represent a set of abstract forms.
• El Lissitzky "Beat Whites with Red Wedge"
• Universal Language of form
• Of 2 Squares milestone of design
• Isms of Art - 1st visually programmed total object. Aggressive not passive.
• Sans-Serif - Very German
• Many revolutionary Artists refocus their art into commercial work

I thought the Constructivist aesthetic was really interesting. In particular I really liked Rodchinko's works very much. He seemed to really understand what he was doing, but not only that it seemed as though he commanded the movement. I enjoyed his use of the photograph in conjunction with geometric forms. I didn't care for the work that was based soley on forms. Like "Beat Whites with Red Wedge" I don't find as exciting as Rodchinko's work. The photos add a relateable element, they seem more dynamic. I think I am really inspired by work that uses photo montage. I tend to use similar techniques quite often.

Entry 3 - Unit 2 Lecture 1

• Posters are the main form of advertising.
• Cubism relationship between relationship and respresentation
• Synthetic Cubism - pure shape and graphic essence
• Plakastil - Synthetic cubist poster
• Futurism - pure form and color. Destroys traditional forms.
  
• WWI - Poster period over
• War Posters used to market war.
• War Posters - Realism vs Abstraction
• Structural linguistics
  
• Stephane Mallarme - Symbolist Poet
• Futurism puts type design on the battlefiled of avant garde
• Filippo Marienetti breaks sentence into pieces
  
• DADA - develops spontaneously because of WWI
• Berlin DADA - More political
• Propaganda
• Kurt Schwitters - Develops one man art movement. MERZ
• Surrealism
• Max Urnst - Photo montage similar to DADA
• Man Ray - Photographic Surrealist.

I felt many of the images I saw tonight were very inspiring. In particular the ones created within the realm of the DADA movement and Surrealist movement. I feel design is heading in many directions at once these days. But I see a lot of revival of these old ideas and the DADA aesthetic. I am curious about looking into this aesthetic further, for my own purposes. I really like the collages done by Max Ernst and I would like to try something similar sometime.

Entry 2 - Unit 3 & 4

Victorian Age:

• No design philosophy. Mostly Pluralistic
• Rapid transportation leads to rapid need to sell goods.
• Type begins to become mostly illustrative.
• Driven by commerce and commodity culture.
• Birth of editorial design.
• Mass Communication is born.
• Late English Gothic style.
• Scrap - collectible cards start
• Chromolithography is used to print component colors.
• Becomes the method of mass output for graphics
  
• Lithographic Naturalism - images with a romantic bend. Sweet pious to cover up kids dying in coal mines.
• Louis Prang most prolific innovator of the medium
• Master of Ephemera - Invented seasonal cards for Christmas, Easter, and Birthdays. Santa Claus is invented
• Type and images come together in a panorama
• Ephemera large and small is created.
• Billboard and poster wars start.
• Ottmar Mergenthier invents first type setting machine. The monotype is created.
• First newspaper.
• Birth of dailey/weekly news.
• Harper Brothers open first magazine.
• Thomas Nast father of political cartoons
• Invented Donkey and Elephant symbols for political parties.
• Birth of Advertising to sell mass of goods.
• Production Art becomes the first Graphic Design
• Volney Palmer is the first ad agency 1841.
• Branding is born
• Arts and Crafts movement redirects role of artists and designers
• Total Design could states that art needs no reason to exist rather than to be beautiful.
• Kelmscott Press revitalizes the book.
• Art Noveau works with a new language of forms, ornaments become structure, symbolic and philosophic concerns.
• Modern Poster is born as an immediate form of communication
• Cheret is the father of the modern Poster
• Mucha caries Art Noveau style. Simplifies unimportant forms. Integration of illustration and lettering.
• Klimt designs a break through poster for the Secessionist Exhibition. Unseen before amounts of whitespace.
• Modernism cleans up design.
  
• Peter Behrens transforms every aspect of the AEG company. First corporate identity.
• Henry Beck redisigns London Undergound.

The most intriguing part about this lecture to me was the victorian style. The fact that it masked the tragedies of overworked children with an illusion of happiness and a perfect world fascinated me. I feel that victorian style images have come back in a huge way into design. Refrencing them seems to be a very contemporary thing to do. Its an interesting juxtoposition contemporary design and Victorian imagery. You can see it in works by artists like Eduardo Recife. I also really liked the aspects about illustrated type because this is also something that seems to becoming very trendy to do. I'd actually like to do more of it myself. The desirability of design aesthetics will seem to always fluctuate throughout time. Machincal versus hand made style fall in and out of favor. Now it seems both are acceptable, but I see a push for hand done aesthetic in a lot of current culture.

Lecture Unit 1 Part 1 & 2

Important Points:

• All civilizations show a cognitive need to structure their communication with figure ground, repetition of forms, and hierarchy.
• Early markings show that human beings were capable of abstract thought even early on.
• Early pictographs were similar to letter forms, in all ancient civilizations.
• Cuneiform established a shorter quicker system of writing.
• Early on writing became a way of controlling the populous.
• The Chinese contributed the first book, paper, the first relief prints, and movable type which further advanced written communication.
• Phoneticians create a 22 letter alphabet that is used by the Greeks
• The Greeks determined the direction of writing. Left to Right.
• Serifs first appear in the Trajan Column.
• The Codex is the first early Christian book
• Illuminated manuscripts set the pace for all modern books.
• Ascenders and Descenders come from Uncials
• Illuminated manuscripts in conjunction with the mystical nature of writing amazed early Christians who were illiterate.
• Textura is the first international style of type. It is used by Gutenberg in the first type printed.
• Gutenbergs first printed book starts the Incunabula
• 290 Character styles were invented and became the first font family.
• Collectives of type designers, and printers start to produce the first scholarly books.
• Griffo is the first printed italic.
• Garamond is the first type setter to break away and start making typefaces for others.
• In the 18th century type begins to be based off of science and math. No longer is it based off calligraphy.
• Fournier Le Jeune creates the first type measuring system
• 6 Families of type:
• Old Style Roman
• Cursive / Italic/ Griffo
• Modern - Bodoni
• Egyptian / Slab Serif
• Sans Serif

An aspect of this lecture that fascinated me was the religious power of written word. The fact that writing, something we take very much for granted these days was a special, heavenly skill. The illuminated manuscripts were seen as divine. The beauty of text and graphical elements amazed people in a way that was thought to be spiritual. It is interesting to think that it was once not so taken for granted. It'd be nice to see images like this take on their old mystical status again. Not to the full extent of the past. I think that's impossible. But to be appreciated more absolutely again. How can I do that?