History of Graphic Design..................Day 12

Post Modernism
     -Used to note a break with the earlier modernist principles by placing emphasis on form over
     function, by reintroducing traditional or classical elements or by carrying modernist styles or practices
     to extremes.

     -Not just the counter to Modernism.
     -Seen in Art, Design, Literature, and Architecture
     -Emphasis on feel rather than rationale
     -Emphasis on surface, texture and materials
     -Self-consciousness or self-referencing
     -Mixes high and low
     -Historical references
     -Vernacular

Wolfgang Weingart
     -one of our pioneers
     -pushed modern/international design before computers
     -teacher in Basel School of Design
     -experimenting with letter spacing in san serif type
     -stair stepping rules
     -diagonal type
     -reversing type out of bars
     -using variations in a single word

April Grimen

     -function isn't as important as style during this time.

Malcolm Maclarin

Charles Anderson

Peter Savil
     -Design director

Vahn Oliver
     -designed for 4AD records

Emigre Magazine

Cranbrook
     -Ed Phelep
          -expressional typography
          -Raygun
          -Beach Culture
     -David Carson
     -Sagmeister
     -Chip Kid
          -the Learners
          -Cheesewhip
  

Today in class we started off with a film about Post Modernism. We see how Post Modernism really effected the architecture of buildings by making them very graphic like and colorful and fun. But it seems that because business' wanted building fast and quick they began not developing so many building that were fun. This was POMO which caused architectures and designers to settle on cliche building designs for quick execution. A film that captured Post Modernism well was Blade Runner because of it's beautiful architecture and style with the mixture of audio and film style.

What do I think about this Modern Post Modernism condition?
I feel that the Modernism era was great but I think it is something that is too serious. I feel that with any art form we should be able to do anything we please. It is something that we enjoy doing and we should be doing it for that reason. Post Modernism seems to be more free and open to the thoughts and ideas of all artists and designers. Though we all work in a field where we are trying to sell an idea to a client there is no reason why we can't create something that we like to do and please the customer at the same time.

History of Graphic Design..............Day 11

Semiotics
     -The philosophical theory of signs and symbols - what things mean in relationship to other things.

     -Syntactics - order
     -Semantics - meaning or referred to
     -Pragmatics - how it is used

Adrian Frutiger
     -creates Univers font family

Arman Hoffman
     -lives in Switzerland
     -helps found
     -goes to a philosophy with line and plane,
     -if you design the negative space everything else will work
  
Joseph Muller Brockmann
     -died in 1996
     -looking for universal graphic expression

     -used the same mathematical study for all of his grids

     -if you discover the problem the solution is there

Swiss Modernism vs. New York Modernism
     -New York
          -pragmatic
          -capitalists

     -Swiss
          -Theoretical

-Paul Rand
     -understood the ideas of modernism
     -Brooklyn kid
     -used a lot of simple imagery
     -hand done, cut paper
     -casual work
     -collage, assemblage

-Saul Bass
     -hand done
     -cut out
     -Man with the Golden Arm film title sequence 1950

-Ivan Chermayeff
     -CD covers, he did a lot of them
     -nuances of found art
     -did posters for the Guggenheim and Vagina Monologues


Today we went over a little more with the Bauhaus and then went into how it effected the U.S. I really see how the Bauhaus effected American design with designers such as Paul Rand and Saul Bass. They both really captured modernism and brought Swiss design to American in their own interpretation of how they would present design to the world. Saul Bass is really someone that I will keep in mind because of my Motion Design majoring. He did some great and simple title sequences that really showed off his sense of graphic design. Definitely a man who's work I will be looking at for reference.  
  

History of Graphic Design...........Day 10

Review on Bauhaus
     -Utopian desire to create a new spiritual society.

     -Unity of Artists & Craftsmen to build for the future.

     -Ideas from all of the Advanced Art & Design Movements were explored and applied to functional
      design.

Maholy Nagy (the Hungarian)
     -typophoto
     -photogram
     -photoplastiques

     -Universal typeface had no capitals, but was hard to read because it didn't have visual clues of where
      sentences begin.

We watched a film about the Bauhaus coming to America. It was definitely something major. Mies van du Rohe came to America and went to Chicago. He fell in love with the architecture and the way the skyscrapers were in places like New York City and Chicago. But after the Chicago fire it gave way for designers like van du Rohe and Groupius.

Jan Tschichold
     -hand lettered advertisement
     -son of a designer and painter
     -studied calligraphy as a child
     -he is only 21 years old when he sees the first Bauhaus exhibition.
     -by 1924 Tschichold writes a pamphlet about typography and printing.
     -by 1925 he writes a book about elementary typography.
     -by 1928 he publishes the book Typography.
     -he wanted to assert the new asymmetrical typography.
     -the aim of typographic work is to translate in the shortest and most efficient way.
     -there's is a mathematical grid system that he uses.
     -arrested when Nazis come into power for creating "un-German like typography."
     -he and his family moves to Switzerland when released.
     -did covers for Penguin books.

Herbert Matter
     -Swiss born and later moved to America
     -Pioneered photomontage
     -very clear and efficient typography
     -he developed a basic vocabulary to make a collection of directional books
     -did a lot of work for Knoll and Herman Miller

Adison Dewiggins
     -used san serifs
     -negative space
     -generous realty

Lester Biehl
     -Pioneers in Peoria
     -san serif typography and old wood typography as a contrasting element.
     -likes arrows
     -Rural Electrification Administration
     -limited palette
     -slab serif type faces
     -montages

-works created by the WPA are public domain.
-corporations begin playing a big role in design.

Iadislav Sutner
     -abstraction
     -figure and ground plays
     -positive and negative space

International Style
     -modern ideas start to take form
     -fine art, product design, architecture, graphic design, typographic design.
     -international style is ruined by corporation
     -from the 60's to the 80's you didn't see Helvetica

In today's class we reviewed a lot about the Bauhaus and how after it's downfall how it effected the rest of the world. The Bauhaus soon came over to the U.S. with Groupius and van du Rohe. I still feel the the Bauhaus has made a really special place in my heart because it is such an inspirational time and group. Groupius and van du Rohe made such an impact in America as soon as they came here so it shows how innovative they were and how their ideas were spread to the U.S. Another day of fun and inspiration all rapped up into some lecture, movies, and laughter. Until next week.

History of Graphic Design........Day 9

What I think I know about The Bauhaus

     -The Bauhaus is a group of designers in Germany that are very skilled in graphic arts. They used very
      rectilinear forms and curvilinear figures. They also used asymmetry in a lot of their works based on  
      squares and circles.


Bauhaus
     1919-1925 Weimar
          1923 First Public Exhibition
          1924 Letter of resignation
     1925-1932 Dessau
          1928 Groupius replaced by Meyer
          1930 Meyer replaced by van der Rohe
     1932-1933 Berlin

Bauhaus: Broken Wings
     -this film is based on the final days of the Bauhaus

Walter Groupius
     -first director of the Bauhaus
     -from 1919-1928
     -he thought that the Bauhaus showed go back to the old days
     -it was an institution people really learned from and were inspired by
     -going on during De Stejl

Council of Masters
     -Gerhard Marks: Sculpture / Pottery Shop
     -Lyonel Feringer: Painting
     -Johannes Itten: Foundation / CORE Studies
    
Thoughts for Bauhaus
     -Itten wanted to bring out each students individual talent and creative skill
     -physical understanding of materials
     -underlined all of the visual arts
     -Bauhaus is a growing entity
     -1923 is first public exhibition of Bauhaus

Lazlo Moholy-Nayj
     -scientologist
     -does a lot of
     -Hungarian Constructivist
     -uses photography for design

Typophoto
     -letterform mixed with photography and graphic design

Photoplastic

Back to Bauhaus Timeline
     -due to issues with the city the Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau
     -in Dessau students were designing for industry
     -they did away with serifs
     -experimented with contrast and hierarchy
     -used bars, lines, and type for exploration
     -experimented with flushing to the left and raging to the right

Today in class we really got into the Bauhaus. We saw the development how the Bauhaus rose and fell. I find it really disappointing that the Bauhaus only lasted for 14 years because it is really one of my favorite periods. In a way, we are learning the Bauhaus way because we are learning the fundamentals of art before we go into our majors just like the Bauhaus. We also watched a movie that shows the end of the Bauhaus and a movie on the Bauhaus' brief  history. Definitely a great class day!!!!!

History of Graphic Design............Day 8

Today seems like a pretty short day. We are going to be finishing up learning about Russian designers and the Avant Garde then next week we have our second quiz.

-Lazzitski
     -USSR Poster
          -more constructivist
          -it has functionality
          -it has a purpose for being made

-Eisenstein
     -Battleship Potemkin
     -this film shows a development in montages in cinema
     -experimentation of scene cutting

-Alexander Rodchanko
     -born in 1891
     -goes to art school 1910-1914
     -shows paintings in 5x5 show in Moscow
          -pure red painting
          -pure yellow painting
          -pure blue painting
     -1932 Stalin was in power and abolished the art world in Russia during his rule as Zhar

-De Stijl (The Style)
     -movement that was developed in the Netherlands
     -it established a utopian version of esthetic
     -based around functionality
     -Characteristics
          -rectilinear planes
          -no surface textures/pure hue
          -universal history in art

-Piet Mondrian
     -most famous De Stijl member

-Theo Van Doesburg
     -leader, founder, and developer of De Stijl
     -asymmetrical compositions were coming into play with some of Doesburg's work
     -brings modernism into modernist work

So today was a pretty short day. I can definitely see how graphic design is developing through our learning. We saw some of Lazzitski's and other designers student work which was very similar to some of the work we have been doing in school now. This is definitely proof that we also have the potential to become just as great and innovative designers as they were. We went into understanding De Stijl which I feel is a lot of what I have been into doing lately, asymmetrical design. The more and we talk and learn in this class I see that we are definitely seeing a connection from then to now.  

History of Graphic Design............Day 7

William Morris 1834-1896
     -1860's-1920's Arts & Crafts Movement
     -Ally graphic posters are more illustrative while Axes posters were more intelligent and graphic.

Hovine
     -more figure ground play in some of his works
     -always puts stamp on his works.
     -Hitler writes Mein Compf in prison.
     -Hitler thought the posters of world war II were wrong minded and should appeal to the lowest
      common denominator.
     -very graphic style.
  
Edward Kauffer
     -Cubism is used as a design element in Kauffer's work.

A.M. Casander (Moron)
     -very linear and cubic shapes.
     -textured and very well relates between figure and typography.

Suprematists want a pure new way to express art.
Russian Avant Garde
     -cubofuturism
     -suprematism
     -constructivism
  
Cubofuturism
     -things that are cut out and made of more cut and paste style.
     -they kind of used what they can get their hands on to create design.

Suprematism
     -eliminates pictorial representation
     -painting should be on a purely spiritual level.
     -purely colors and simple shapes.
     -1918 simple things such as an asymmetrical white square on an off white background.

Constructivism
     -the only meaningful art has function and that, that has function, is art.
     -Vladamere Tatiln
     -Rodchenko
     -Lissitzky- painter, designer, photographer, etc.
     -they renounce art for arts sake.
     -art should supply for the new communist party.
     -Kandinsky is very abstract painter.
     -El Lissitzky is more suprematist.
     -PROUN
     -building and architecture become very big during the time of the Bauhaus.
     -Beat The Whites With The Red Wedge 1919.
     -constructs a world of objects and structures society with an idea.
     -page structure and grid come into play with book production.
     -usefulness of sans serif type, useful whitespace, and structure.

Today in class we discussed a lot about different -isms and how they were very different and similar to each other. Mainly I think they were all different from each other. Cubofuturism was very angular and graphic which brought something new to the table of graphic design. Suprematism was very, very different in the since that it was almost minimalist with the since of only using color and shape to create a piece of artwork. Then we come to Constructivism where all of the spiritual levels from Suprematism was pretty much erased. We begin to see massive amounts of detail and we begin to use the since of that we should only create something that as utilitarian usage in the world. I think in the this new -ism we lose the since of what is truly art. Art is what we want it to be and by making what we want as art to only be something useful makes art lose its fun and originality.

How would I do good art for the proletariat? I think I would make art that was very simple to understand. I would want my work to be a graphically correct as possible but I think I wouldn't go so overboard with my work to the point that people don't understand what I'm trying to tell them.

History of Graphic Design...........Day 6

Vienna Workshops
     -Joseph Hoffman and Calaman Mocher began the Vienna Succession.
     -They wanted to make things that are useful.
     -Their strength will rely on craft and materials.
     -Things in houses such as furniture were thought to be designed and not just made.
     -They begin to develop esthetic. Ex. Joseph Hoffman's work.

Peter Behrins
     -Clear legible. One of the first times we use Sans Serif type in running type.
     -Created the first comprehensive identity defining program.
     -Mies Vanderrohe - last director of the Bauhaus.
     -Walter Gropious - first director of the Bauhaus.
     -Title and dedication pages same structure and order.
     -Rectilinear shape and circtilinear objects.
     -becomes the director for the Dusseldorf School and became very interested in the foundation classes.
     -In 1903 he begins to think of school structure.
     -Walter begins to learn that he can make grids using circles and squares.
     -Peter Behrins in 1906 designs his exhibition hall out of grid system.
     -AEG is like the German Electric Company.
     -Behrins creates a logo for AEG and bases it on a honeycomb and creates his own typeface for the
      logo.
     -1809 is first underground railroad system in London.
     -1914 WW1 Begins, AIGA Founded
     -1917, Russian Revolution, James Flag Designs "I Want You" poster, Julius Klinger's 8th Bond
      Drive
     -1918 Czar assassinated, WW1 Ends
     -1919 Bauhaus Opens

Lucian Bernard
     -entered a poster for Priester matches.
     -Plaketstil style posters became a big movement after winning his competition.
     -Reductive style, more simplified
     -Communication becomes simplified.
     -abstract yet complex
     -propaganda posters

Movie Time!!!!

Today was a pretty easy day in History of GIC. We started off talking about Vienna work and the Vienna Succession. Vienna is referring to Austria....not Italy. I really like the fact that the men apart of the Vienna Succession used design for household items and furniture. This is a way we can kind of realize why furniture we have now looks more elegant and well designed than in the past. We then talked about Peter Behrins and his sense of design. He, like the students at GlasGow School, had a very specific style. He had rectilinear structure with circtilinear objects. He soon developed using grid systems to create his designs. I know Dorian loved this because he always tells us about using grids to create a strong structure for our designs. We then went on to talk about propaganda posters during WW1 in Germany compared to the U.S. and other ally countries. Then we went on to watch a film that was all about relating the history of the world compared to Graphic Design History. It was really interesting to see all of the relations of those time periods.