Summations for Period 3

This period was the most informative out of the three, as it the period that I live in, which means that I understand and relate with this period more than others. I did a number of groups and people, and also talked about the main changes and revolutions in the last 50 years. I researched things like post-modernism, the Digital Revolution, many famous artists and designers and a type foundry.

Post Modernism was the hardest of all, as I was not able to find a solid definition of what it actually meant, and was not clear in every example. After a while of researching I found a few examples that were the same theme and eventually understood what it was. I finished this part of the period knowing a lot more than when I began.

I didn’t even need a lot of research to explain what exactly the Digital Revolution was, as I knew a lot of it from memory. I found that the things I did need to research quite easily and without a lot of hassle. I also realized that the digital revolution had quite an impact on normal day-to-day life, as something as simple as reading a newspaper was drastically changed. From what used to be a piece of paper turning into looking at a screen was an amazing transition and was revolutionary.

I researched a number of people, such as Paula Scher, Chip Kidd, Neville Brody, David Carson and Ian Swifty. As I had done for the rest of the periods, I researched their early life and examples of their work. I also researched a type foundry, Designers Republic, and talked about what work they had done and what messages it had.

I enjoyed the last period more than the rest, as it was much more recent and in a time where everything was documented, which meant there was no lack of information or examples of work. I learnt a lot about the different types of work that each artist had done and also discovered artists I had never heard about. Overall, this was the most enjoyable time period I looked at.

Summation for Period 2

This group of research was much more centered on specific art movements and was around a period of 100 years. I researched things like Bauhaus, Constructivism, Dadaism, and Swiss Graphic design. Within these I learnt and talked about certain leading figures in a movement. This led me to understand what these movements were about and where and how they originated.

I first began research into art movements with Swiss graphic design, and looked at the work of Josef Muller Brockman, Herbert Matter and Jan Tschichold. Their work was based more around simplicity and readability, and added shapes as elements in their work. I think their use of colour as quite influential too; they often used contrasting colours which were very effective and made their work much easier to read, which led to a rise in popularity of Swiss graphic design. They used bright and vivid colours to catch your eye and would stand out anywhere, which also gave them more popularity. It was certainly very interesting to learn about who they were and what they did.

I also looked a bit into Constructivism and researched El Lissitzky. I liked his work and how he used many random shapes in his designs to create great pieces of work. His work was quite complex and I liked how the 3D work of his inspired many designers in the 20^th century. The work he did was not seen by many people at that time, and was seen as very innovative and new. His work was very eye-catching and stood out from the crowd.

The Bauhaus movement was a very interesting movement and was one of the 20^th centuries shaping movements. There were many different designs of the Bauhaus movement, and each of them was as inspiring as the next.

                                                                                                                  

Dadaism was the easiest I found to research, as it was much more my style of work. Even though there were paintings in my research, I really liked the shapes they created and is a very early example of low poly style. I researched artists named Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia. This was my favourite movement from all the groups of Period 2 as most of the creations were shapes incorporated into designs and painting that looked very modern, yet they were created ages ago.

I found this period easier than the last, mainly because it was more recent and was only in the past 100 years, rather than Period 1, which was hundreds of years ago and did not relate well with me.

Summation for Period 1

My research began in the first period, when I researched hieroglyphics and cuneiform. This form of type was still very early and was a very long time ago, so to see the human race still wanting to communicate through visuals was interesting to read about. There were no letters, and a script was formed through a various mix of different complex symbols. I found it interesting that there was so much written in hieroglyphics and cuneiform and still died as a type of visual communication, and this makes me wonder if it will ever happen to the English language way into the future.  

I also talked about the Industrial Revolution and how it was a time of innovation among machinery and the economy as a whole. I found this extremely fascinating, as I was able to see the link between the tools and type we have today and the things they had back then. It was interesting to see how much has changed since then, and I also understood how type was made. I like to think that the Industrial Revolution played a part in how the world is today, as creating text and books easier meant making them faster, which meant getting books created and available for everyone meant people being educated. Technology was changing, and this didn't just mean type, but all sorts of new inventions, such as the steam engine created by Thomas Newcomen. When this was made use of, great things were accomplished.

The printing press and movable type was a big part of the history of type, and sped up the process of individually writing out an entire book a lot. However, in Gutenberg’s time, he created a much more efficient and mechanical printing press, which was able to print 42 entire lines of text simultaneously, which drastically reduced the amount of labour needed to work and function of these machines, which ultimately led to faster creation of type and books. When the Gutenberg Bible had been created it was available for everyone, and not just the churches or the rich people. I was now learning and was seeing the development of type in history and how it changed as the course of time went on.

When the Linotype was created in 1884, it completely changed the world and how type and text is created. It has been said that it is one of the most notable inventions in US printing history. It was created by a man named Ottmar Mergenthaler and was something the world had never seen before. The name ‘Linotype’ is derived from the words ‘line of type’. The keyboard bears a great resemblance of a typewriter, a later invention, and sticks out of the machine. Mergenthaler was not the only one who created a mechanical printing press, and there were many competitors. One other rival that was more well-known than some of the others was called the Compositor, which promised a faster and a more practical machine. In the end the Linotype was the one that succeeded, mostly because of its simplicity and was easy to use and understand.

This is a brief summary of what I researched and learnt over Period 1. There was a huge jump of time, from hieroglyphics to Gutenberg, and was varied in terms of what I was seeing when I researched elements of old type. This was mostly the hardest and most time-consuming period to complete, mainly because of what eras I was researching and was not familiar with a lot of these particular time periods. 

Ian Swifty

Ian (Swifty) Swift is a lone wolf graphic designer and is very focused on urban art. He was very interest in art in school at an early age, but had always planned on going to work to fight for the country and work in the army. He had never planned on doing anything in the art sector, as his father had always wanted for him to be an officer in the RAF, as he was from the army himself. When he was 15, his father died, meaning he did not have any pressure to join the RAF anymore.  He went for a foundation course in a college in Warrington for two years. By the end of the first year, Martin Dutton, his graphics tutor, gave him a copy of The Face and told him this was the future. He also met Neville Brody later in life and was offered a job by him. By 1995, he had done everything on his list, and had acquired his own studio and employed a few people. He left the studio in the late 90’s and lost a big client, and realised the dynamics of graphic design was changing. Since then he has been working freelance, and has been creating his own style of work for clients. 

"Talkin' Loud" Album Cover

This is an album cover for Talkin’ Loud, and is in the style of urban street art. I like the use of the paper background and the colour scheme works well. The colours used are green, purple and an off-white colour. The purple works well with the dark green and stands out against it. The first letters of the words, such as the T and the L, are outlined and filled with purple, and are a bigger size than the rest of the letters. It is inside a circle, and outside of the circle is a square filled with the same shade of purple, which is crammed full of text in white. As it goes behind the circle you can only see it from the edges. This is a simple yet effective album cover and catches attention because of the white on green. 

Soul Tree Logo

This logo is called the Soul Tree Logo design, and is a much more modern approach to logo design. Swifty usually experiments his logos with an urban style to his work, so this is quite different to his work. It is a good combination of text and image and the style and choice of font has been picked very well. What I noticed about this image was that what I originally thought was a tree is actually a male with an afro hairstyle, and is made to look like a tree, as there are roots coming out of the bottom. The font is a modern stencil-style font and goes well with the overall image. I think if you invert the colours the image still works well. 

David Carson

David Carson is an American graphic designer and art director. He is mostly known for his innovative magazine design and his unique take on typography. He was also the art director of Ray Gun, in which he used his typographic knowledge and exceptional layout style. He was born in 1954 in Texas, and attended San Diego State University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. He got his first taste of graphic design in 1980 at the University of Arizona during a two week graphics course. In 1982 he became a teacher and taught at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, and at the same time was a professional surfer.  He left his teaching post in 1987 and in 1989 he was ranked the 9^th best surfer in the world. He began to experiment with graphic design in 1983 and found himself heavily interested in the bohemian culture of Southern California. He attended the Oregon College of Commercial Art. The same year he went to Switzerland to attend a three week workshop in graphic design as part of his degree. His first great influence was Hans-Rudolf Lutz. In 1995 Carson was hired by Marvin Scott Jarrett, a publisher, to design Ray Gun, an alternative music and lifestyle magazine that debuted in 1992. Ray Gun is where he became well known. He used Dingbat, a font that only uses symbols, as the font for what he thought was a rather dull interview with Bryan Ferry. The interview was published in a legible font in the back of the magazine, but it was about the act that mattered so much. He left Ray Gun to create his own studio in 1995, and named it David Carson Design in New York City. He began to attract many famous worldwide companies and clients, and for the next three years he worked for Pepsi Cola, Ray Ban, Nike, Microsoft, Budweiser, Georgio Armani, American Airlines and a few more. He later worked for a range of clients, such as AT&T, British Airways, Kodak, Sony, Mercedes-Benz and many more. He is seen as one of the world’s leading graphic designers of the 20^th and 21^st century. 

Pepsi Cola advert

This is a design created for Pepsi Cola by David Carson. I think this is a very eye catching design and looks very effective as an advertisement even though the text is hard to read. The text is hard to read because this is David Carson’s style. The way he has written his name on top of the Pepsi bottle is very interesting, and is made up of thin and thick chunks of text, and is made up of different weights. This stands out very well against the white background, apart from the “o” on the bottle. It has a collage feel to it, as if he cut out and stuck the letters on. The only colour on the poster is on the Pepsi bottle and can, which draws attention. He also out his clients in the top left corner, but put all of them overlapping each other, which demonstrates his style of work. 

"Don't Mistake Legibility for Communication"

This is also a piece created by Carson and he used it as an example during a talk in 2003. He used this to explain that communication and legibility were separate elements of type. This is a very interesting and confusing piece of art, as the words are split in half and jumbled around so you cannot read it in normal order. It allows the viewer to interact with the design, as they actually have to use their brain to understand the message rather than have it easy to read. The words say, when in order, “Don’t Mistake Legibility for Communication.” This was to prove his message that “Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates.” I really like the way Carson creates art and how he tries to interact with the viewer, creating a link between himself and the viewer. 

Neville Brody

Neville Brody is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director. He was born in April of 1957 in London, and was also brought up in London. He attended the London College of Printing and the Hornsey College of Art. He is one of the most influential figures in graphic design of the era end and is most known for his work in The Face magazine and Arena magazine. He is the head of the Communication Art and Design department at the Royal College of Art. In addition to this he has worked and designed record covers for independent record companies such as Fetish, Hannibal, and Phonogram Records in the 1980’s. He created the company Research Studios in 1994. He has also created many fonts in his lifetime, such as Arcadia, Insignia and Industrial. He was one of the founding members of Fontshop in London and designed many typefaces for them.

Typography created by Neville Brody

This is a design that Neville Brody created and is one of his most famous works. This is a great example of typography and I really like the use of colour on this piece. Brody is an innovative thinker and expressed this using both design and type. The image is basically a man’s face that has been created with only text. The details of the face have been recreated using type. The type is made up of multiple fonts and is mostly serif typefaces and traditional typefaces. The separate fonts and typefaces are all made up of different sizes and weights, which I think is good considering the image would not look as good if it was the same size.  The image also ranges from colour from dark blue at the bottom to light blue to red on the right to orange on the left. I also like the light shining at the top left of the image and I think this a good addition to the image, so it wouldn’t simply be just type. There are also words like “Unravel”, or “Tumbling Dice”, or “Ashes to Ashes”.

Brody's Nike advert

This is a poster advertisement for Nike that was created by Brody and is a perfect example of how talented he was at grabbing attention from a viewer. The first element that I notice is the two separate halves of the page. The half on the left is of a man’s face with a neutral expression, and the other half is just plain white. The reason this image is so well-known is because the typography on the image looks very disorganised, yet is very organised and was made to look like that. Brody intentionally made the text look like this and made it all over the place to attract attention. There are words in this that are very commanding yet inspiring, such as “bounce”, or “slam”. Words like this are used because Nike’s tagline is “Just do it.” I also like the fact that the word “just” is inside the letter “b” of “bounce”, and the way the word “it” is inside the letter “m”, and that the colours differentiate between the two halves of the image and also when some words are in letters. Another thing I find fascinating is the way each word and even some letters are in a different angle and location than the word before it, which creates a link between Brody and the viewer. There are also three Nike trainers placed to look like they are sitting on the word underneath, which is very effective. 

Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd is an American author, editor, graphic designer and is mostly known for his creative book covers. He is the associate art director at Knopf, a New York publishing house, and first joined their design team in 1986 as a junior assistant. On top of working for Knopf, he has also worked for Amazon, Doubleday, Farrar Straus, Penguin/Putnam, Columbia University Press and many more respectable companies.

"A Kidd's Guide To Graphic Design"

This is a book cover of Chip Kidd’s book, A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design. I think it is a very simple and audience-friendly book. It has been created for people aged over 10, yet has a lot of content in there that looks very interesting. It is a very simple cover, and is intended to look simple for the purpose of getting young people interested in graphic design. I like this design a lot as it incorporates minimalism and simplicity as well as good use of colours. The colours used in this book cover are blue, red, white, yellow and black. Something I find fascinating is that the word ‘Go’ is on a stop sign, as it is red. I think this is almost like a message within the sign, as perhaps Kidd is trying to tell people to just go and to do what they want and not to be held back. I think this may be why there is a red behind the word go rather than green. I also like the clever idea of the name of the book. As his name is Kidd, he uses this this in the name, as he is trying to get young people to read this book. I think this is an eye catching cover and would definitely pick this up and read it. 

Intensity by Dean Koontz, Book Cover by Chip Kidd.

This is a book cover created by Chip Kidd and is for the book Intensity. I like the way Kidd has implemented a sort of op-art, illusion style in the background, while text is on the front. I also like the minimalism of the cover, as there is nothing on the rest of the cover other than the background that Kidd created and the text of the book and artist. I also like the font used, and how it resonates with the name of the book. He book is called Intensity, which is why the font used is a block font and is in full capitals. 

Paula Scher

Paula Scher is an American graphic designer and a painter from Washington DC. She was the first female principal at Pentagram, a well-known design studio. She is widely known for singlehandedly defining the cultural scene of New York in the 1990’s. One thing that stuck in my head about her was that when she was asked to create a new design for Windows, a brand known all over the world, she immediately said to the client and said “Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”

She studied at the Tyler School of Philadelphia and collected her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 1970. It was ultimately her travel to New York where she made her name. She was hired by CBS Records in 1972 and was in the advertising and promotions department. She left two years later because she wanted to purse a more creative lifestyle. She was picked up by Atlantis Records, a competing label. She became the art director and began designing her first album covers. After a year had passed she returned to CBS Records as the art director in the cover department and continued to work there, creating album covers. She got four Grammy nominations. She also spent five years working as a freelance graphic designer, in which time she picked up many briefs from different clients. She founded Koppel and Scher with her classmate Terry Koppel. Once they went their separate ways, Scher went on to become a partner at New York’s office of Pentagram. Over her life, she has worked for many huge brands, such as Coca Cola, Windows, the Museum of Modern Art and many more. She is an inspiration to many young designers. 

"Bring in the Noise Bring in the Funk" posters for the Public Theater

This is a piece of work by Paula Scher and was created for The Public Theater in New York. It was a musical in 1995 and a year later was moved to Broadway. It is a musical history of rhythm in an African-American lifestyle which is through dancing and tap style. There are two posters above, and were both made for the same musical. I really like the design and style of these posters, and are the complete opposite of minimalism. The poster on the left shows the tap artist in black and white slightly to the left of the centre and is in a pose, and is the first thing I saw when looking at the poster.  Around him is what really makes the poster so effective. Around the tap artist are words relating to the Public Theater and the musical and is a very good example of typography. It also has a very vibrant colour scheme, as black and yellow with a little bit of red and white works incredibly well. The background is in a bright yet easy-to-see shade of yellow, and the black typography really draws attention to itself, allowing you to read the text with ease. The type is also in all sorts of weights, such as bold, or thin, or bigger than the text underneath it. I think this is what makes the poster so powerful, because it takes a lot of knowledge about type to be able to create something so crammed and packed full of information and still be able to create a poster that is clear and easy to understand. The one on the right is also a tap artist cutout in black and white and is posing in the centre, and again, the text and typography is all around him. This time the colour scheme is different, and is white blue and red, which small hints of black and purple. I don’t think this is as powerful as the one on the left, but is still very effective in terms of advertising and promotion. I like the way the words ‘noise’ and ‘funk’ were straight and not an angle, yet still had all different sizes and weights. I also like how in this poster there are entire quotes from reviews and paragraphs in very small text. Overall I think both of these posters are great pieces of art and define Paula Scher’s art style. 

"The Diva Is Dismissed" posters for the Public Theater

This is a post-modern poster also by Paula Scher and promotes Jenifer Lewis’ solo show, “The Diva Is Dismissed”, which was an autobiographical comedy and music show. She performed at the Public Theater. It could be said that this is one of the best posters of the end of the era and is rightfully in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. There is much less information on this poster than the last one, yet still just as effective. The same shade of yellow is being used and is a very eye catching shade of yellow. Other colours being used in this poster are black and blue, and both work very well against the yellow background. There is a cutout of the woman’s face and the cutout is bright blue. She looks shocked or surprised. There are words coming out of her mouth in Scher’s style of typography, and is in all different sizes and weights. The word ‘Diva’ is the first word I saw, as it is in a big size and is quite bold. I think this is a great example of Paula Scher’s work and captures how she can do both maximalist and minimalist types of work and still make it look very powerful. 

The Designers Republic

tDR logo

The Designers Republic, or tDR, is a graphic design studio that has a high reputation among graphic designers and is well known for its futuristic and Japanese-style approach to designs. It is based in Sheffield, England and was founded by Ian Anderson in February 1986. It is also well-known for its take on controversial irony and almost has a postmodern feel to it.

Originally, Ian Anderson created The Designers Republic for the sole purpose to design flyers for the band he managed, called Person to Person. His initial ideas were inspired by constructivism. As time went on they started to become more and more well known, until 1994, when Émigré magazine devoted an entire issue to Designer’s Republic, which is now sold out and a copy was also bought by MOMA in New York. Apart from their work in the music industry, they had also worked with some big companies, such as Sony or Rockstar Games.

Their style is usually very bright and loud, which is effective when trying to get attention.  They use colours like red and black a lot, and also use negative space to fill spaces. Like I previously said, they use controversial irony and a postmodern mind-set to create statements such as “Work Buy Consume Die”, or “Robots Build Robots”. Some of their work is very packed full of stuff and has objects overlapping other objects whereas other work of theirs is very simple and plain and only has a few elements in the page.

"Work Buy Consume Die", by The Designers Republic

This is the Work Buy Consume Die statement that I previously mentioned. I really like this piece of art because it is very simple and makes good use of negative space. The words “Work Buy Consume Die is a statement to society, as this is what they believe life is today, as this is what people have to look forward to. The background is white, which means anything they put in the centre of the image in a different colour will grab your attention instantly. The logo in the top reminds me of a Pepsi logo, but is quite different to the Pepsi logo. The words are initials in a Japanese style, which I think is a nice touch. The black on white text makes the image eye catching, as it is directly underneath the red logo.

Wipeout Poster

This is one of the posters that Designers Republic created for the Wipeout game.  I think this is a great design and looks very professional. There are only three colours used in this image even though it looked like more colours to me. Red, green and white is a colour scheme I have not seen often, and I think this works well. The red background is not just a background, and has shapes and textures on it. The font chosen for the name of the game is an excellent choice as it matches the futuristic feel of the entire poster. The text is white on red so it attracts attention instantly, as the word ‘Wipeout’ was the first thing I saw. The box surrounding the title and green and red bars is almost like a rounded rectangle, though it is jagged at some points, which also shows the futuristic approach to the poster. I think the red and green bars are a good addition to the image, as it completes the image and attracts attention. 

The Digital Revolution

Computers and digital imaging did not play a part in design until very late in the 20^th century. Everything was done by hand, from setting out layouts to making good use of a darkroom. Everything was much more practical and was a hand- on experience, but was also very time consuming for simple things that we take for granted today. When computers that were able to modify text and images together came out it was huge and completely revolutionised design and the world around type. This was around the 80’s and 90’s and was a time when the world was constantly seeing new digital technology.

First Apple Macintosh, 1984

When Steve Jobs was on the Macintosh Project, he had a dream that he wanted the Macintosh to be for anyone and everyone, from the garbage man to the grandma in a cottage. The film ‘Jobs’ explains just how simple he wanted Apple computers to be, and how he reached that goal. When the Mac came out, it gained huge popularity and the main reason was that anyone could use it. Software on the Macintosh did exactly what Jobs wanted it to do, and was simple and easy to use.

Apple Mac advert

When the Mac came out, everyone saw it as a tool for endless opportunities, as anything could be created and edited. Anything was possible. Designs could be made without even having to spend ages creating one from scratch on pen and paper. Because of this, more and more people used the Mac, which allowed many more creations to be seen and made. Since then, the Macintosh has had a high reputation for all things design, and is mostly used in the art and design field all over the world. It is because of its simplicity that makes it what it is, and is not complicated to use at all.

The software that allowed you to create layouts and designs were user-friendly and people found it much easier to create designs on the computer rather than with a paper and a pen. What the computer did that paper could not do was give typesetting and layout tools, which gave users the will to experiment with their work without completely losing it if they lost it. They could see what went well with what and did not have to pay the consequences if it did not look good.

First Photoshop

Because so many people were using and creating great things with the early software, companies became aware of this and advanced their software to push the creators and to aid them in creating newer and different layouts and designs. This meant that scaling an object was introduced, as well as things such as stretching and opacity control. Crazy and wacky creations were made due to these tools.

Interface of first Photoshop

When the Internet was released to the public and for everyone, this opened up a whole new opportunity for design. As more and more people began using the internet, people began sharing their creations on the Internet, meaning that ideas were formed and inspired others to create things based off what they saw. Because of this, design and type companies began using websites on the Internet, which meant that they too saw the opportunity in the internet and how it could be used a tool for graphic design.

As the Internet was global, this allowed users and graphic designers to communicate with people halfway across the world, meaning that they shared their ideas and saw what the current trends were in that part of the world. They may have chosen to incorporate that into their own work, adding a new element of design to their designs. People could now swap ideas and create more based on these combinations, which led to some astounding work. 

Post Modernism

Post modernism was a movement in the last 20^th century, around the years of 1970 – 1990. It heavily affected art, music and architecture. Instead of Modernism transitioning off into another movement, Post Modernism totally split off from Modernism, and went in its own direction. It was very controversial and provocative, which made sense considering it was a time of rebellion.

Post Modernism was almost like doing the complete opposite of what movements in the past had done. It was all about taking ideas and turning them upside down, which is why a lot of it was controversial. It took a very unique take on society, and was something anyone could join in on.

Something I earlier researched last year was the punk movement, which was also in the Post Modernism movement. Punk was all about expressing yourself as an individual and doing what you want, rejecting what society wants and desires you to do. It was a massive part of culture and made a huge effect on almost everything. Music was affected greatly by the Punk movement, and bands such as The Sex Pistols made a great impact on society and the news. It was a time of social upheaving and political debate.

The entire mood of Punk was a rebellious nation who wanted to freely express themselves without fear of rejection. This is why dark colours were used and black was used in many creations. The art of the Punk movement was all about criticism of the past and almost a mockery of what used to be important. A famous piece of art created in the Punk movement was the poster for God Save The Queen, by the Sex Pistols, and shows the Queen with the words ‘God Save The Queen’ and ‘Sex Pistols’ stuck along her eyes and mouth. It is a form of collage but this is the sort of art that was very popular in that time. The queen and the text in this are black and white, whereas the Union Jack in the background is in full colour. There is no specific font in this poster, as another popular aspect of art during the Punk movement was the ransom note style effect. The ransom note effect was just plastering many different letters or words together to create a collage of text which can be used as art. 

When the Punk movement died down, the design part of Post modernism went in a different direction, and the art went into a more commercial design sector. This meant that bright colours were being used constantly, and everything had become vivid and bright.