Post Modern VS Modern Design - excercise 5

POSTMODERN DESIGN

By the 70’s the modern era of art was seen to be drawing to a close. With that a new idea
of postmodernism was born to express a climate of cultural change.

Precursors to Postmodern Design
Supermannerism and supergraphics were terms coined to discuss anything that broke
away from the modern style. These styles featured bold geographic shapes and colors.
And could be seen in design not only for print but in architecture as well.
Robert Venturi was the most controversial and the original architect behind the
supermannerist label. He proposed a radical design for the American Football Hall of
fame in 1967. It featured a electronic light display that could be seen form the interstate.
Early Swiss Postmodern Design
A lot of the postmodern push came out of Switzerland. They aimed for playful,
unexpected, neutral and disorganized layouts. Rosemarie Tissi, and Siegfried Odermatt
opened a firm together and along side of Steff Geissbuhler produced work that was like
nothing else seen before. (page 468). They used space and angles in new ways and
experimented with color.
Bruno Monguzzi was another artist interested in bending the traditions of design. He was
a designer, typographer and teacher.
A revolt and students in the International Typographic Style sought to re-invent
typographic design. New-wave typography was born.

New-Wave

Wolfgang Weingart taught at Basel school of design, he essentially pioneered the new
wave movement. He traveled to America and lectured and American design schools
where he was praised. He did work with photography and experimented with half tones
and work that broke away form typical grid systems. Weingart and his students…Dan
Friedman, April Greiman, and Willi Kunz…introduced such ideas as letter spaced sansseriff
type, stair-step fonts, ruled lines that punctuated space, diagonal type, italic type,
and reversed type.
Dan Friedman was perhaps one of them ore successful of Weingarts studies. His work
were paradigms of the emerging postmodern currents and he explored texture, surface,
layering, spacing, and geometric forms.
April Greiman helped establish this new wave in LA, and Willi Kunz brought it to New
York where his work was hailed as “quintessential examples” of postmodern design. He
did not use grids and could be called an information architecht who uses visual hierarchy
and syntax to bring order and clarity to messages.
The Memphis and San Francisco Schools
When the 70’s went out..the 80’s brought about more change. Function in design became
secondary to pattern, texture, and color.

These groups used pastel colors, exaggerated geometric forms, and laminates to convey
their messages. Form no longer followed function- it became the reason for design to
exist. The work was minimalist and predominant designers were Michael Graves,
Christopher Radl, Valentina Grego, Michael Vanderbyl, and Michael Cronin.
San Francisco postmodern design emerged quickly in the 80’s earning it a reputation as a
major center for creative design. In bay area design, elements are given symbolic roles
and become part of the content. (Remember the Beethoven work by Michael Cronin with
all the crazy colors and lines? Page 480)


Retro and Vernacular Design
The retro obsession was based off a history of graphic design now being taught at design
schools. Designers were learning respect for work from the 20’s and 30’s and wanted to
emulate it in their own work.
Vernacular work refers to artistic and technical expression broadly characteristic of a
local or historical period. This work paid homage to earlier commonplace designs such as
baseball cards and matchbook covers.
These styles thrived in book jacket designs and posters and were reminiscence of earlier
art deco work. This style even influenced corporate identity.
Charles Anderson developed the Classico pasta sauce bottles that were reminiscent of old
style mason jars with elegant typography.
Joe Duffy also helped developed key identity programs including work for Ralph Lauren.
Neville Brody emerged in London producing graphics and album covers. His works
developed from a vision to reveal not conceal, yet provide a logical approach to design.
He has stated that he never learned the correct rules of typography, leaving him free to
invent his own working methods. He did much of his work for “the Face” publication
inclusing work focusing on Andy Warhol.
Finally Paula Scher used a handmade style that went against what everyone was heading
towards with the use of computers in graphic design to create book covers and posters.
Her work was simple, and could be seen in the free your mind campaign for MTV.

Benetton Campaign - exercise 4

Food for life
This photo is the symbol of the Food for life campaign, that tells the true story of individual human beings; women, children and men whose only chance of escaping from violence, ostracism or poverty depends on their possibility of finding food. Food aid thus becomes "Food for peace", "Food for education", "Food for work", "Food to go home", "Food for protection" and "Food for stability".

Ponzano, 13th February, 2003 - The global communication campaign for 2003, co-developed by United Colors of Benetton and the World Food Programme, the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against global hunger, re-establishes hunger as the world’s most fundamental problem, since it is largely overlooked by both media and public opinion.

The images, taken by James Mollison, Fabrica’s young photographer, in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, show crisis and poverty. They demonstrate how food becomes a catalyst for reconciliation and development, a tool capable of revolutionising the lives of hungry individuals.

“The problem of hunger can be solved because the world produces enough food to feed everyone,” says James T. Morris, WFP Executive Director. “Yet a person dies of hunger or its related causes every five seconds. As we see a surge in the numbers of people on the brink of starvation, we need to draw attention in every way we can to prevent this terrible tragedy from continuing. We hope this initiative will form the basis of a substantive public discussion about hunger and put it back at the top of the international agenda where it belongs,” Morris added.

“We chose to work with WFP because we share their commitment and their tangible initiatives. We are supporting them – just as we have supported other humanitarian organisations in the past – with a campaign in which we believe absolutely because it encompasses a number of social issues – war, disease, marginalisation – which we have already addressed in our previous communication projects,” said Luciano Benetton.

Setting the scene is the symbol of the Food for Life campaign: a man with a mutilated arm, whose metal prosthesis is a spoon. Other images (on billboards and in newspapers all over the world) tell true, individual stories - of women, children and men - whose only chances of escaping violence, marginalisation and poverty depend on them finding food.

In Sierra Leone, for example, former soldiers from the various factions receive food if they renounce their weapons; they are trained in jobs so they no longer have to fight. In Afghanistan, women are paid in food rations for work which sustains them; they are encouraged to become involved and to rebuild their lives. Of major importance is the school feeding programme, under which WFP provides hot meals and nourishing snacks as an incentive to children to go to school and receive an education. Food aid thus becomes “Food for peace”, “Food for work”, “Food to go home”, “Food for education” and Food for protection”. Far from creating dependence, it helps create new possibilities for building self reliance in the lives of those who receive it.

All the stories and themes of the WFP-United Colors of Benetton 2003 Campaign are gathered together and developed in a special supplement to Colors 54 Food entitled “Hunger”.

Benetton is investing more than 15 million euro in over 30 countries for its 2003 campaign. This is part of a wider communication project on food, conceived and produced by Fabrica, including two other initiatives. Colors 54 Food presents the dietary habits, the rites and time devoted to eating, drinking and preparing food in various parts of the world (with a supplement developing the 2003 United Colors of Benetton campaign). Food - as a means of communication, artistic expression and design - is the subject of a book entitled 2398 g (the actual weight of the book itself) produced by Fabrica and published by Electa. Young artists from the Benetton centre, together with others of international acclaim, were invited to represent food, each in their own personal way – as a fetish, ritual, excess, dependence, celebration, emotion, reflection, contradiction, oppression and obsession.

For more information:
Benetton
www.benetton.com/press
Tel +39-0422-519036
World Food Programme
www.wfp.org
Tel: +39-06-65132602

Conceptual Design - excercise 3

Conceptual design is a type of art which gives precedence to hypothetical function, it is the creation and exploration of new ideas. It is distinguished from conceptual art by closely relating to function; it is distinguished from design in general by not necessarily being actually functional but as illustrating a design that may show an idea that may potentially be functional. Conceptual design is a subset of concept art, wherein a novel idea or product is created instead of a visual representation—which would directly be used in a final product, e.g. a film, animation or video game.

in the examples above one can identify conceptual design, these examples are modern design trends

The Conceptual Image

After WW2 conceptual image in graphic design was introduced
-mental content joined perceived content as design
-new breed of image-maker that was concerned with the totally design of the space and
the integration of the word with the image
-graphic designers had greater opportunity for self-expression (personal images,
individual styles and techniques)
-conceptual image became a significant design approach in Poland, the US, Germany and
even Cuba
-Italian designer Armando Testa, was an abstract painter who conveyed elemental truths
about the subject
-did campaigns for Pirelli tires (elephant with tire coming out of face, brand name
underneath, surrealist technique), this ad became an easily recognizable symbol
-he reduced the verbal content to a few words or just the product name, subtle
contradictions, images made of artificial materials
The Polish Poster
-graphic designers joined filmmakers, writers and fine artists in the polish union of artists
(establishing standards and set fees)
-the 1st polish poster artist after the war was Tadeusz Trepkowski, expressed tragic
memories and aspirations for the future that were deeply fixed in the national psyche
-his approach involved reducing the imagery and words until the content was distilled
into its simplest statement (ie. his famous antiwar poster, used few shapes to symbolize a
devastated city and superimposed silhouette of a falling bomb)
-Henryk Tomaszewski became the spiritual head of polish design after Trepkowski’s
death
-the poster became a source of great national pride in Poland
-posters served as communication (Muzeum Plakatu- a museum devoted to posters)
- Tomaszewski led the trend toward developing remembrance in wks (with light,
decorative world of colour and shape)
-designs were created from torn and cut pieces of coloured paper, and then printed by the
silkscreen process
-typical of this style is the film poster for Rzeczpospolita Babska (also circus posters)
-the next design trend: surrealism (darker, more somber side)
-Jan Lenica-began using flowing, stylized contour lines that weave through the space and
divide into coloured zones that form and image
-Waldewmar Swierzy is best known for his poster of American rock musician Jimmi
Hendrix (seen in lecture).. Animated large portrait, washed in blue
-polish poster artist Roman Cieslewicz would take a poster and transform it using
techniques like enlarging collage, halftone images, dots into texture
-Jerzy Janiszewski’s Solidarity labour union logo (*talked about& viewed in lecture)
became an international symbol of the struggle against oppression. Poster addressed a #
of issues for country (banning of Solidarity). Graffiti style, crowded letters (metaphor for
people standing solidly together in street)
American conceptual image
-New York graphic designers: Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, Reynolds Ruffins and
Edward Sorel
-freelance assignments were request ed through the joint publication, the Push Pin
Almanack (published bimonthly, featured editorial material from old almanacs illustrated
by the group
-once Glaser returned from Europe, Push Pin Studio was formed
-Push Pin Almanack became the Push Pin Graphic (a magazine forum for presenting new
ideas, imagery and techniques)
-push pin artiusts freely paraphrased and incorporated a multiplicity of ideas into their
work
-Glaser was able to re-invent himself over and over again
-during the 60’s he created images using flat shapes formed by thin-black-ink contour
lines, adding colour by applying adhesive colour films (ie. his Sound of Harlem album
cover) ..(drawing style was echoed in comic books)
-Glaser began to making gestured silhouette drawings (ie. like his Bob Dylan record
cover, blk silhouette with coloured hair patterns)
-also created ‘Uncle Sam’ as a graphic icon and created the I heart (symbol) NY
-‘Dada and Surrealism’ poster (viewed in lect.) dada text pressed into smaller table..
smaller table isolates the word real within the longer word surrealism
-Chwast uses line drawings overlaid with adhesive colour films, flatness in work. (ie.
Elektra Productions piece, each letter in title is a form of transportation)
-Push Pin style was referred to as being open about trying new forms, reinterpreting work
from earlier periods, and integrating word and image into a conceptual whole
-Barry Zaid (a Canadian) joined the Push Pin studios, his work was prominently a
revival of art deco, he also created a cover for Australian Vogue (seen in lect.)
-James McMullan revived watercolour, began making fluid lettering an important part of
his images (ie. Anna Christie play poster, girl sitting at table by ocean is in the backdrop,
viewed in lecture)
-Paul Davis (like McMullen became involved in integration of word and image).. ie. as
viewed in lecture the poster For Colored Girls, graffiti-like title, subway mosaic (blk girl
in forefront of poster)
-push pin school of graphic illustration presented an alternative to the narrative of the past
-projected vitality with lush colour and unashamed allusions to other art
-Arnold Varga reinvented the retail newspaper ad. (made the connection between
memorable images and building communication) fusing images together
-connection between art and music (expression and experience)
-CBS records was at the forefront of graphic design in the music industry
-Woody Pirtle, logo for Mr.& Mrs. Aubrey Hair (comb, with text ‘hair’ in comb’s teeth),
Knoll ‘hot seat’ poster, hot pepper posed in a way to make it look like it is a chair
-1980’s saw graphic design get recognized as being a true profession in US
The poster mania
-contrast to postwar polish posters, the US’s poster craze was more about grassroots
affairs fostered by social activism
-posters made statement about social viewpoints rather than spreading commercial
messages (ie, hippie subculture, Haight-Ashbury area in San Fran)
-psychedelic posters
-artists were self-taught
-Robert Wesley (Wes Wilson), was the innovator for psychedelic poster-style, used
swirling lines and letter forms (ie. concert poster for the Association, viewed in lecture,
green background, red flame like font)
-movement included Kelly/Mouse Studios and Victor Moscoso
-Moscoso was the only major artist in this period who has formal art training
-Peter Max, combined art nouv. Aspects of psychedelic art with more accessible
images/softer colours , ie. ‘Love’ poster
European visual poets
-poetic approach to graphic design based on imagery through collage, montage and both
photographic and photomechanical techn.
-German master of this movement: Gunther Kieser.. brought images together with new
arrangement
-began to construct fictitious objects that are convincingly real
-Gunter Rambow, manipulated photography (black and white documentary styled
images)
-uses collages and montages as a means of creating a new graphic reality
-designer Robert Massin.. Learnt graphic design under typographic designer Faucheux
-Massin’s work has affinities with futurist and Dadaist typography (but his intensification
of both narrative literary content and visual form into a cohesive unity expressing
uniqueness (ie. La cantatrice chauve)
-Pieree Bernard, Francois Miehe and Gerard Paris-Clavel came together to create Grapus
studio (1970). Grapus favoured universal symbols with readily understood meanings, ie.
sun, mood.
-motivated by the dual goals of achieving social and political change while striving to
realize creative artistic impulses
The third-world poster
-poster served as a major vehicle for spreading social and political stuggles (ideas were
known as weapons)
-poster medium was very effective, posters became vehicles for challenging authority
-Cuba became a major center for poster design after the revolutionary force led by Castro
-Myth and reality have been unified in a powerful and graphic symbol based on the
image and Che Guevara (leader of Cuban revolution).. Elena Serrano’s ‘Day of the
Heroic Guerrilla’ (viewed in lecture) Che’s image transforming into a map of South
America
-the important conceptual images in the 2nd half of the 20th C. developed in response to
many factors, and ideas and forms from modern art have filtered into pop culture