Modernist vs. Postmodernist/ We got to watch porn in class

Alright... deciding if I am a modernist or post modernist. First off what exactly are the two of these things. So there was modernism which was about stripping everything away except for the very basic communication and function. There was nothing extra in the design that did not aid the function. The reaction to this was postmodernism which notes a break with modernist principles. It emphasizes feel more than rationale and function. But if postmodernism grabs your attention more and in the end communicates better then I guess your again being a modernist for focusing on communication. Confusing. So i guess that I am a postmodernist who is striving to communicate so well that I'm a modernist? I don't know. I think this kind of relates to what I was discussing last week in the blog about having the perfect blend of form and content. I would rather get caught up in in the quality of my work than where my work fits in but, maybe understanding how my work fits into the scheme of things will help me to improve my work. Craziness... or should it be  CrAYzeeNesS!!

Form and Content

Tonight we learned about the swiss and international design and why we should not just view them as styles. These types of designs have important ideas and tools behind them such as asymmetrical organization, mathematical grids, and being socially useful.

I think the most important thing I got out of this weeks class was form and content and how good design is successful in both of these. When I thought about all of the different things Paul Rand showed in the movie as examples of having good form and content I realized that the idea can be applied to anything, like ANYTHING... I can't stop seeing it. I also realized that while some of my designs have communicated a strong message, some of the them I focused too much on the form and not enough on the content or idea behind the piece.

So, at the end of the day, lesson of the week for me ... don't just make pretty designs, design with purpose and content just as much as form.

"Don't try to be original; just be good."

RAIN

Started off with an overview of last week. The Bauhaus was about the unity of craftsman and about ideas from all the different movements being explored and applied to functional design. Some of the teachers were Paul Klee, Moholy(?) Nagy, Johannes Itten, Herbert Bayer, Kandinsky,......and some others. Nagy eventually replaces Itten and becomes Gropius right hand man. Nagy did things like typophoto, photograms, and photo plastiq. Herbert Bayer was the one who designed the Universal typeface. It has no capitals and because of that it is difficult to read. He said it didn't make sense to have to alphabets. We watched Bauhaus in America, I thought the beginning was really interesting and I really tried to stay awake, but no sleep the night before kept me from seeing the second half. Evidently it talked about two different models of teaching. One has restraints and deadlines which usually assures success and the other is opened ended and does not assure success. Jan Tschichold did the hand lettered advertisment. He went to the first exhibition of Bauhaus in 1923 when he was only 20 years old. By 1923 only a year later he work had completely changed to look like the work of the Bauhaus and he was writing about the typographic style of the Bauhaus, in 1925 he wrote a book on elementary, and in 1928 published The New Typography. He used the golden ration and other grids in his designs. He was eventually arrested by the Nazi's for using un German typography. They found Soviet Posters in his possession and held him for six weeks. After that he returned to more traditional work and moved away. He did work for Penguin Books later in his life.


I really loved Lester Beale's posters for the Rural Electrification Administratioin

Alrighty, what I know about the Bauhaus. I think it was in Germany... just before WWII. The first head dude of it was Walter Gropius. I think Kandinsky, Itten, and maybe Paul Rand worked there... or was it klee? It was a school of arts that was teaching new ideas and ways of thinking/doing art. ummm SANS SERIFS AND GRIDS! The building had a lot of glass... thats all I got right now.

The Bauhaus existed from 1919 to 1933 in between WWI and WWII and moved twice. It started in Weimar Germany in 1919 and stayed there until 1925. In 1923 The School had its first public exhibition so the community could see what they were doing. In 1926 the school was moved to Dessau, and industrial city. It stayed there until 1932. In 1928 Walter Gopius resigned as head of the school and was replaced by Meyer. Meyer turned to be even more unpopular with the authorities than Gropius had been and was soon replaced by Van derRohe in 1930. In 1932 the school moved to Berlin and in 1933 the school was closed down. While the school was in session it had 33 different instructors. More details about Walter Gropius: He begins thinking of a new school during WWI. He thinks that the studies of architecture, sculpture, and painting should all be together. Itten: he is a crazy weird teacher into this weird religion that requires him to shave his head. He was the instructor for the core program where students tried their hand at a little of everything before moving on. His ideas for his program are still used in many art schools today. Even at Ringling! Eventually Itten is replaced by Nagy; a Hungarian constructivist. He did the pneumatic poster with the car. He used something called typo photo. He is using photography to make new art for a new age. He developed photo plastics?


Conclusion: the Bauhaus pretty much fuckin rocks.

Russian Avant Garde and De Stijl

Seeing and learning about all of these people who challenged thier current standards of art makes me feel like art and design is kind of stagnant right now. Like its time for something new to happen.


The artist in the russian avant garde are looking for a new art. The movement is broken up into two main groups, the constructivism and suprematism. Constructivism was based on function, things like propaganda and packaging design, very practical. Suprematism focuses on art as pure expression, art for the sake of art, there is no immediate function. During this time photo montage became popular both in photography and in cinema. In the movie Potemkin, the director explored montage in a way not done before. The way he cuts the film insinuates instead of directly showing what happens. Alexander Rodchenko is a well known constructivist. He designed everyday things like packaging. He idea was that his work had moral value because it had function and because it was helping out society. and then there was De Stijl? This movement was developed in the Netherlands and had an utopian approach to aesthetics. There is no texture, only flat panels of pure hue, and it is based on mathematical structure. Piet Mondrian is the best known artist from this time but the founder of the movement was Theo Van Deosburg. Was often applied to architecture. In 1921 they began exploring asymmetrical compostion WOOT WOOT!! Theo was interested in Dadaism even though it is the complete opposite work. They are both looking for new ways to do art but what Theo is interested in is that they are tearing down the old ways of thinking about are. He believed this would make way for his new ways of art.

VALENTINES WEEK!

This was my favorite week so far. I've never studies the time period of work, but I think it may be my favorite.

Rudolph coch
-believed the alphabet was the pennacle of human achievment.
-used the font Newland
-pennacle of German typography
-looks chisled
-returning to crafts and art movement
-also used gothic faces
-remained popular in Germany for the longest
-ironic
-newland is most typically used in african and carribean enviornments
-Germany is not usually accepting
Art nuvou
-follows arts and craft movement
-arts and crafts, but ok with machinery (uses it to their advantage)
-machinery and quality
-Jules cheret
-father of the modern poster
-looks victorian
-has series called "the arts" la pantomime (1900)
-uses central female figure with movement and atmosphere around her
-type placed around the scene
-very similar to lautrec
-Eugene Grasset
-heavy black lines and flat panel of color
-looks like wood
-Histoire des quatre fils aymon
-breaking the frame
-image running through the center of the type
-very unique detailed
-Author Mackmurdo
-chair
-line variation
-hand crafted
-creates the century guild
-hobby horse (magazine)
-selmin image title page (1884)
The studio(mag)
-Shows work of Aubrey Breadsly
-bad boy of art nuavou
-famous for illustrations in Mort d'Arthur(1893)
` -INFLUENCE FROM MORRIS

-The Yellow Book
-high contrast illustration reminecent of block print
-Alfans mhcua
-christmas eve (1894)
-customer needs rush job
-for a famous actress-sarah bernhardt
-plants and flowers
-elements of folk art
-signed him for 6 year contract
-exotic stylized female figure
-whiplash tendrals (hair)
-frames( intricate)
-does cover for wiener chic
-peacock feathers
-amazing sketches
-pattern design was popular
-emanuel orazi
-flat stylized female figure
-ge logo
-classic art nuevou design
harpers magazine
-hire europeans to do cover art
-art nuevou comes to america
-lois reed
-art nuvou in america
-bright vibrant colors
-does front cover and back ads
William bradley
inspired by morris and later and author
-covers for the inland printer
-"bradley his book"
-establishes wayside press
-Edward penfield
-illustrator
-poster supporting harpers
-wierd r's
-narratives
-Henri van de Felde
-influence of japanese prints and art novoe and art and crafts
-letterform initials
lievmont
-poster for coffee
-commerce in life
-jugend (art nuvoe in german)
-youth style
-more traditional elements
-peter barons
-the kiss
-about creating new forms
-becomes increasingly reductive
-influence from asian prints
-The Glasgow school
-the four(margret and francis mc donald, herbert mcnair, charles renne macintosh)
-geometric, curvilinear elements, rectilinear structure, use of floral, symbolism,
-margret design book plate (article about glasgow school)
wisdom protecting her children under a leaf(tree of knowledge
-symbolism
-posters for fine arts show
_charles
-redesigned resturant
-rising verticles
-talwin morris
regular working guy
-introduces glasgow ideas to british common
-starts experimenting with glasgow ideas
-famous spines
The vienna succession in austria
-gustav climt, kolo moser, joseph hoffmann
-very intellectual
gustav climt- the kiss

tornado week(3)

-Events are overlapping and intertwined not separate


-This week was focused on industrialization and the effect it had on graphic design. With industrialization came better/faster printing techniques. Also, with the arrival of manufacturing huge amounts of cheap goods came the development of branding and packaging for products. Advertisements also evolved greatly during this time.


-1800
-first iron printing press
-made by Earl Stanhope
-requires 1/10 the force
1814
-fredrich koeing
-400 prints per hour
-steam powered press
-double cylinder
-1000 prints per hour


The first ad guys were brokers for space


john hooper
-the first ad agency


Otmar Mergenthaller
-1886
-the linotype machine
-before you had to set each letter each line
-this machine allows you to type an entire line at a time
-Joani's father worked for Mergenthaller
-1 guy can do the work of 7 or 8


victorian era graphics
-aesthetic confusion
-very religious beliefs
-loved fussyness
-hodge podge of shit
-people have money and have the opportunity to have things
-so they gets looooots of stuff
-decline in the quality of craft
-lots of crap
chromalothography(color)
-begins in boston


ephemera
-printed things that aren't meant to be collected


scrap cards
-little pieces of art not meant to be kept.
-idealized kids
-pattern work
-exotic animals
-floral
-nationalism

week2

Dorian gave us actual led type. I didn't realize how small they were until I actually got to hold one. Hard to imagine making one of those things.

REVIEW

Lascaux

-paintings on walls

-utilitarian, not poetic

-when story telling was important.

cuneiform writing

greek lettering

-using the sound of the word

roman lettering

-adopts greek lettering and refines it

-jvw wernt added till later to make todays alphabet

Quadrana

-capital square

Capital Rustica

-thinner

Book of kells 

-800ad

-Beautiful unique symbols

-celtic style

-it quicker to draw curves than lines

Wood block printing

-playing cards available for rich and poor

-introducing a whole new way of thinking(pattern recognition,entertainment)

Printing

-letter sorting, inking the letterforms,setting up paper, casting letters

letter of indulgence

-get out of jail free card

-not very neat printing

gutenberg bible

- fundamentally altered education

-made books ready available

-ideas become global 

aesop

-no frame around the pic

neuromberg chronicle

-pre sketches

THIS WEEK

Swevyheym and pannartz

- evolution to roman letters

-built off carolyn minuscules

calendarium-

-printed sheet with sheet on top and string to make calculations

Steven 

-Daye brought printing to the colonies in 1639

-first book he prints is the book of psalms

- was like gutenberg: just a regular guy trying to make money: not a designer

Rococco

-BABY BLUE AND POWDERED WIGS vs. I NEED A POTATO

engraving

-letters drawn by scientific principles

- a square divided into 2304 units HOLY SHIT!

- Less characteristics of the hand

Romain du Roi

- the kings type face

-YOU USE IT YOU DIE!

copperplate engraving

-rises during rococo

-made on plate w/ stylus

-extreme thick and thin

-different letterforms

-used on whole books

Giambattista Bodoni

-SOUNDS LIKE PASTA.

-saggio tipogrfica

-rococo inspired

-redesign letterforms after french letterforms to look more mechanical

-no brackets with serifs

-gos through process of simplifying 

-extreme contrasts of fat and thin

next up FAT FACE

-display faces

-big bold type faces

-to catch peoples attention

-wood type because metal is to heavy

-router makes wood type easy

Industial revolution

-people want stuff

-posession/greed

-loss of human value

-growing literacy/education

Vincent Figggins

-egyptian type face(named two lines pica)

we were digging in egypt

-no thicks and thins

-they look blocky and round at the same time

-chopped off the serifs and made the first sans serif face

Tuscan letters

-ornamental serif faces

-look western (mesquite)

FIVE HISTORICAL FAMLIES

-OLD STYLE

after hand strokes

-TRANSITIONAL

-the evolution to modern face, more verticle stress, baskerville,

-MODERN

-bodoni,no brackets on serifs, extreme thick and thin

-EGYPTIAN

-extremly even, century schoolbook,

-SANS SERIF

-no serifs

leading

-the space between lines

point size

-from lowest and highest

12pts=1pica

6pica=1inch

72pts=1inch

11/1 1st class

Ideas-
          -Designers are all connected.
          -Art gets better as life gets better.
Words to Know-
          -xylography:woodblock printing
          
          -ligature-2 characters characters designed to work/fit together
           
          -incunabula-the first 50 years of printing
          -fleurons-cast decorative elements
          
Facts-
          -death books- on the art of dying
          -invent of printing
                    -growing middle class
                              -spending money
                    -students in expanding universities
                              -literature classes
                    -increased literacy
                    -demand
Johann Gutenberg-
          
          -movable type mid 1400's
                    -modifies wine press
                    -formulates ink
                    -finds a way to cast letters
                    -comes up with alloy
                    -type: blackletter: textura: gothic
           -taught secret process for making mirrors
Aesop Fables
           -negative space/no border around pic
The Nuremberg Chronicle
           
           -world history up until 1943
           -pre sketches of layout