Wednesday, March 31, 2010
3/31 Unit 3
ISOTYPE Movement
International System of Typographic Picture Education
Pictorial Statistics
Ladislav Sutnar-Double page spread- horizontal
Modernism and the NY School
Graphic Design term first used in 1922
Lester Beal- Self Taught
Paul Rand
Editorial Design
Triumph of the International Style
Systems for industrial and holiday
Olympics
Hand generated type
Anton Stankowski- Swiss
The use of ISOTYPES are a higher breed of an icon. The ability to inform and teach another culture what that symbol means without them having it in their culture is true design. A pure example of this is the use of the Olympics. Educating the viewer is vital in the spread of information.
The rise of industrial design changed the way designers thought about everything from the product design to the advertising design. The introduction of the horizontal spread was a very helpful design to the viewer. Reading left to right, they had the ability to go from one page to the other instead of left and right from top to bottom. It could cause a bit more confusion as well as annoyance when looking at a range of products.
The documentary Helvetica is rather inspirational and at the same time it is teaching aid to design students. Seeing yet again is not a downside nor was it boring. I think every designer should review the video at least once a year to hear the comments mad about it. It can very easily change your mind on how you think of the type face as a whole and how to use it.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Four Laws of Media
Media Laws
1. The human trait that is enhanced is hearing. The intended function of a speaker is typically to either amplify a particular sound or to be able to hear a previously recorded sound. By having speakers it improves the bodies situational awareness senses. Hearing a sound that would not be possible to hear with out a speaker such as a frequency could save lives. On emergency vehicles there are speakers that are able to make a sound louder so others can generally react in a the proper time. With out it we would have to rely on lights and maybe someone yelling "get out of the way!"
2. Although speakers are sometimes aided with an amplifier they did however replaced the metal cylinder horn of a phonograph. The main principal of the horn was to amplify the sound that came off the record. How is this an improvement? The clairty is dramatically increased compared to relying on just hearing it through a piece of metal. The scale of the speaker is a huge improvement making it portable and able to fit in small spaces. However, the old way of amplifying sound is not lost but rather have the same characteristics just improved. There are "horns". These "horns" are still used to achieve a very loud way of amplifying but the shape and build have changed to match today's technology and expectations.
3. It brought back a higher definition of entertainment. Before, the old forms of speakers did not give the best user experience. It was more of a mono, flat, unrealistic sound. Having speakers, surround sound is now possible today giving it more of a realistic sounding experience to the viewer.
4. Some pullbacks to improving speakers is that the typical user will want it to be louder therefor damaging ear drums, losing the ability to hear. Which in end will just mean you will need the speakers to be louder and louder and etc. Even to the point where you will have a hearing aid in your hear which really is a mini amplifier with a speaker. Another setback can be that everyone will rely on speakers to hear everything compared to just natural hearing and being relaxed.
In conclusion, the four laws that were expressed in the movie can really help a designer develop better for the future. Being aware of the changes and impact a simple object can have on a society can mean the difference between an angry community and a peaceful one. We are always trying to make the newest and best product out there for whatever it may be. Taking these laws into a effect and planning around them, looking at past projects that failed or succeeded meeting the criteria of each law can make a huge difference in the outcome.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Unit 2 3/3/2010
+Color Overlays
+Art of Contruction
+EL Lissitzky
+Balance between the playful and the functional
+Synthetic imagery
+Post Cubism and Art Deco
+Futura
+Experiences are packaged
+Emphasized two dimensionality and iconic symbols
+E. McKnight Kauffer
+Cinema Poster
+War Propaganda
+Tactic of persuasion
+More combination of photo and graphic elements/ Russian film innovations
+Use of montage and collage
The use of propaganda posters were always interesting to me. The way the message is shown to reach the public is quite fascinating. Some of the messages today would probably be seen as something that is racist and uncalled for such as the "Montgomery Glag" aimed to Japan. The simple use of a single object and text in these posters are always intriguing. When photos are superimposed and combined with graphic elements is defiantly a new technique that has been passed on to generation and generation setting the norm for graphic design. This lesson and past one have been my favorite so far as in poster design. Very inspiring.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Discourse #1
Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Culture – Helfand
Paul Rand: The Modern Designer
Graphic Design is everywhere: everything we do, buy, and see. From the bible to our birth certificates
Popular art, practical art, applied art, and ancient art
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Formerly known as commercial art.
Performed by printers and typesetters. It was more of a vocation then profession.
Unlike in the US at the time it was being practiced and taught in Europe
“To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit: it is to ad value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse. To design is to transform prose into poetry.”
Rhythm, contrast, balance, proportion, repetition, harmony, and scale
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A trademark is a company's signature
Simple, modern, geometric abstractions of letterforms, recognizable shapes and symbols
designed to work at any scale or at an angle
Having a strong verbal skill to express your ideas along with having a formal vocabulary is key
It is necessary to understand history
Five is better than four, three is better than two.
After reading this article and again acknowledging that graphic design is truly everywhere around us, I immediately thought of New York City. A specific part of the city would be Time Square. There is a lot of advertising with means logos, posters, billboard, and people walking around that has design all over them from graphic tees or brands, fashion, and products. That one block is filled with, and I wouldn't be surprised well over tens of thousands items that would fall under graphic design. It gave me a much more appreciation for the field. Followed by that image I decided to take one that expressed what communication was. The job of a designer is to not just design and send it off but to also educate those who do not know it. Being strong in communication is our profession. It only makes sense to be able to also verbally communicate to clients and just general public. Lastly, the history of IBM's logo is a fine example of progress and simplifying design. Just about all the design principals can be checked off with that logo making it one of the longest lasting ones to date.
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Looking Closer Critical Writings on Graphic Design I, II, III, IV - various authors
Advertising: The Mother of Graphic Design Steven Heller
Aesthetic and philosophical pursuit that communicates ideas.
Advertising tool of capitalism
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GD cultural force that incorporates parallel world views.
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William Addison Dwiggins coined the term “graphic designer” in 1922
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GD began with seventeenth-century Italian printing
1950s modern graphic design veered from mass advertising towards corporate and institutional communications and evolved into a rarefied practice
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Graphic designers have distanced themselves from advertising in the same way that children put as much space as possible between themselves and their parents.
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Graphic design has developed its own characteristic
They are equal still by having a form to communicate, selling, and entertaining
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if GD history does not expand to include advertising, “it will ultimately succumb to the dead-end thinking that will be the inevitable consequence of being arrested in a state of continual adolescence.
Living in an age where advertising and graphic design is pretty much as separated as it will be it is odd yet normal knowing they were almost the same thing. I would never of thought graphic design was really advertising back then. In the modern era of the 20th and 21st century there seems to have become a feud between graphic designer and advertising. Both do still work together in campaigns but since the separation advertising has been know to be cynical which for the most part can be true. It makes sense why then graphic designers distant themselves to not have the bad reputation which is why the shirt seems to be rather self explanatory. Both professions do share the common profit instinct of being successful and building upon that creation. After reading the closing line of this article it got me thinking of how true it is. If graphic design does not let in other medias of design it could start to hurt the field as it did with advertising. It may not be known to the common person. I included Milton Glaser to represent the last statement. A highly recognized designer, I wonder what his take would be on a topic. I would assume it would agree to not be adolescence.






