MTV Logo -exercise 2

Once upon a time, in a very tiny room in the back of a loft near the corner of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street in Greenwich Village was Manhattan Design. Although this design studio had a very established-sounding name (you could just imagine seeing it listed in the Yellow Pages) it was kind of a joke. They were just starting out and chose the name to fool potential clients into thinking they had been around for a while. Crammed into this tiny room were three desks and chairs, a stat machine, flat files, some telephones, art supplies and three young graphic designers; Pat Gorman, Frank Olinsky and Patti Rogoff. They didn’t have much experience or money, but they sure made up for it with spirit and creativity. This was BC – before computers – and everything they designed was done with very simple tools: markers, ink, xerox copies, and photostats. They weren’t famous and they didn’t know anyone famous, but somehow they managed to earn a living.
One day, Fred Seibert a friend of Frank’s from early childhood – when they used to hang out at the school bus stop and look at comic books, etc. – called him about a project. Fred was working for a big corporation, Warner Amex, who was planning a 24-hour music cable television station. He said they didn’t know what they would be showing but they were going to have to fill 24 hours, 7 days a week with it. In those days there weren’t any rock videos as we have come to know them, mostly short performance films. They were entering uncharted waters without a compass.
Fred said they needed a logo designed for the station. He said that some top established designers had already been hired but he had squeezed some additional money out of the corporation to give these young upstarts a shot. Pat, Frank and Patti began doing many sketches. Lots and lots of them. Their earliest ideas featured notes and other obvious music symbols. These were quickly dismissed. What happened next is a bit blurry but some specific details have survived.
They made some sketches featuring the letters “M”, “T”, and “V”. Some of these sketches included Mickey Mouse-like hands squeezing the notes. At some point an outline drawing of a bold sans serif “M” appeared on a piece of paper. One of the three designers then drew dimensional sides to the “M”. After that a variety of groupings of the letters “TV” were added. Everything seemed too normal-looking. Frank suggested that the logo needed to be less corporate somehow, de-faced or graffitied.
Frank used to watch Winky Dink when he was a child. Winky Dink was actually the first interactive TV. During the cartoon episodes of this, various parts of things were left undrawn and the main character Winky Dink, who was a cute little fellow with a star-shaped head, would run into trouble and crayon-wielding viewers were asked to help him out at key moments by filling in the missing parts on a special clear plastic film that was placed over their TV screens. Frank was oftentimes so excited about all this that he forgot to put the special film on his parents TV screen thus leaving waxy evidence.
He took an enlarged copy the fat “M” drawing and went into the narrow stairwell with a piece of acetate and a can of black spray paint. The next thing you knew the now famous “TV” lettering appeared. The three designers then played around with the scale and proportion and after some tweaking arrived at the MTV logo pretty much the way it appears today. The sketches were sent up to Fred and he presented them to the various “suits” involved in choosing the logo. (Pat, Frank and Patti never attended these meetings so they could only speculate what went on.) The story goes that the sketches actually ended up in a Warner Amex wastebasket several times and was reconsidered. Now is that rock’n’roll, or what?
Fred sent the sketches back to Manhattan Design for refinement. Things like putting MUSIC TELEVISION under the big “M”. Soon after the logo was approved. The next, and probably most revolutionary part of the story came when they were asked to come up with the “corporate colors” for the logo. The decision was made that there weren’t any, and that the logo should always change. Knowing that many animators, designers, ad agencies, etc. were going to be working with the logo made them think how, just like rock music always changes, the logo should also. This was a concept that had never been used on a logo before. The “M” and the “TV” could be made of any colors and/or materials.
The rest is history. Sometimes Frank thinks about those days and it seems like another lifetime.

Corporate Identity & Visual Systems:

Identity of large organization can be created or redefined by design
-Design was seen as a major way to shape a reputation for quality and reliability
Design at CBS
-Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) of NYC moved to the forefront of corporate
identity design as a result of 2 vital assets: CBS president Frank Stanton & William
Golden
-Golden designed one of the most successful trademarks of the 20th century for CBS
(the CBS eye) which also represented to larger management community that a
contemporary graphic mark could compete successfully with more traditional illustrative
or alphabetic trademarks.
-CBS’ philosophy was that design was to be managed and that the corporate design be
able to shift with the company’s needs and evolving sensibilities.
Corporate Identification
-Paul Rand believed that trademark should be reduced to elementary shapes that are
universal, visually unique & stylistically timeless
-Rand created trademark for IBM & later Rand updated the logo to include stripes to
unify the letterforms and evoke scan lines on video terminals
-IBM design was flexible enough to avoid stifling of creativity of designers
-Rand was further commissioned for Westinghouse Corporation, and developed a
typeface for them & worked for ABC and created their trademark
-Chermayeff & Geismar Associates responsible for visual image program for the
Chase Manhattan Bank of New York where sans-serif type was used and where
consistency & uniformity in the application of both logo and letterform enabled
redundancy to become third element
- C&G Associates produced more than one hundred corporate design programs
-Saul Bass created trademark for Minolta & redesigned Bell trademark
-*Muriel Cooper designed more than 500 books (i.e. Bauhaus by Hans Wingler) and
worked as a print designer for MIT publications
-Cooper was able to use powerful beta site computers at MIT which made her the first
graphic designer to use new media and 3-D text
-Cooper’s ultimate goal was to move graphic design from form to content; to be able to
create clear, compelling communication for Internet & was founder of MIT Media Lab
(the most advanced new graduate research program on new media in the world)
Unigrid: unified informational folders used at national park locations and is based on
simple basic elements: ten format sizes, broadside or full-sheet presentation of the
folders, master grid, etc. and typography was limited to Helvetica & Times Roman
Olympics
-1968, 72 & 84 games started evolution of trademark
-The theme was “The young of the world united in friendship through understanding”
-The trademark five rings were created by American Lance Wyman and was based on
Mexican art but was meant to create a completely unified design system that could be
understood from anyone
-Scores of designers and design firms produced Olympic graphics & environments
conforming to the design guide developed by the principal design firms
MTV
-Logo was commissioned to Manhattan Design, a NYC studio known for independent
risk taking and was comprised of Pat Gorman, Frank Olinsky & Patti Rogoff
-All had fine arts background and each influenced by comic book art.
-Gorman wrote the TV and Olinsky created the 3D “M”
-Because the trademark was versatile, the group created 100 different versions to pitch
-Gorman believed that MTV logo “changed the face, the idea, & the speed of graphic
design”
-MTV logo was one of the first to introduce motion graphics on TV and animated graphic
messages

Mac VS PC Assignment 1 research

Currently in the 21^st century, we live in an exciting and challenging world which is dominated by means of communication and fast paced technology. Dating back to the industrial Revolution, humans have been more dependent on evolving products which made their lifestyles simpler, one of the greatest inventions was the computer. The computer dates back to the early 80’s, where the first personal computer (PC) was introduced by the International Business Machines (IBM) company, this machine was named the Acorn. The Acorn was assembled by twelve engineers, being the first computer built from outside distributors, namely Sears & Roebucks and Computerland. The Acorn was release on the 12^th of August 1981 with a retail price of $1,565, four months after the introduction of the Acorn, Time Magazine named the Acorn “Man of the year” ( Ayers, 2013)

The PC became a major trendsetter, people were purchasing these wonderful machines at a rapid rate, as technology approached the 21^st century, scientist revealed that the relationship between man and computer will be inseparable, also, the communication between the product and user will be more of a natural nature, meaning it will be more personal and physical, for example the introduction of the voice command and touch screen. Scientists are already developing software and devices that track the head and eye movement so that the computer can detect where one is looking. (Ayers, 2013)

Today we use the computer for a number of productive activities, whether it is business, leisure or communication, the Internet has played a major role in the ability to communicate in real time. With the introduction of the World Wide Web (www) in 1991 created by Tim Berners-Lee, information and file sharing was just a mouse click away. (Computerhope, 2013) during this era computers evolved form just a mere work orientated mechanical device to a more personal, communicative tool and people became  emotionally attached to their computers. (Ayers, 2013)

Apple Inc. formerly known as Apple computer Inc. ,established itself as a leader in consumer electronics with a range of  consumer products such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod and the Apple Mac.

Apple has inspired people to think and live differently since their launch of their famous 1.5 million dollar, 1984 advert that promoted the Mac. Apple lovers have all seen or heard about the famous 1984 Apple commercial which aired only once during Super Bowl XVIII. The ‘1984’ commercial changed the way the advertising industry created and view adverts, with just one television run the commercial took the Apple name and imprinted it into people’s hearts. The mini-movie shows an athletic woman, chased by troopers wearing helmets, burst into an auditorium in which rows upon rows of workers watched an image of Big Brother huge screen. The heroine, wearing red jogging shorts and a white Macintosh vest, smashes the screen with a baseball bat which was later changed to a sledgehammer for a more dramatic effect and a burst of air passes over the masses as they literally "saw the light." In the closing shot, a solemn voice narrates  "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984." Apple spent a sum of $400, 000 on the production of the advert and $500 000 to air it at the superbowl, Lee Clow, executive creative director of Chiat/Day said “We had to make a last-minute switch to the Super Bowl because Apple wanted to air the ad closer to the date when the product would actually be available for sale,’ he goes on to say ‘’Funny how something that simple could have changed a big piece of advertising history.” (MacDailyNews, 2007)

We live in a world where people have to be convinced to purchase a certain product without realizing that they don’t really need it. Apple is the best when it comes to advertising and drawing attention, with its stylish design and user friendly software one wonders how the PC is able to keep up. One of the key secrets to Mac being successful is the advertising and branding. 

The rivalry between the Mac and PC dates back to the 80s the question still remains which is the best to buy, however people don’t realize that they are comparing the Operating System rather than the actual product itself, Microsoft created windows to run a computer which is an assembly of components, it equips companies Like Lenovo, HP and Dell to name a few, with Apple, they have their own operating software that was developed for their in-house product . (diffen, 2013)

 

ITS the international Typographic Style

Initiated American approach to modern design
-Started design career as promotional & editorial designer for magazines Apparel Arts,
Esquire, Ken, Coronet & Glass Packer where his magazine covers broke traditions of
American design
-Rand was influenced by modern movement, particularly works of Klee, Kandinsky and
the cubists
-Influences led Rand to believe that freely invented shapes could have a self contained
life, both symbolic and expressive and as a visual-communications tool
(translating ideas into visual communications)
-Thus, Rand was known for ability to manipulate visual form (shape, color, space, line,
value) & also used contrasting symbolic and visual elements in designs (i.e. Red vs.
green, photos vs. flat color, text vs. white background, etc. )
-After leaving agency, Rand became an independent designer w/increasing emphasis on
trademark & corporate design.
-Was featured in book Thoughts on Design and had over eighty works that influenced
other artists
-Rand believed that cultural role of designer was to upgrade rather than serve least
common denominator of public taste (therefore to keep improving & challenging oneself)
Alvin Lustig
-Designer who incorporated subjective vision and private symbols into graphic design.
-Designer who alternated between architecture, graphic design & interior design
-Design methodology was to search for symbols to capture essence of the contents and
treating form and content as one
-Lustig believed that artist’s pure research into private symbols as the wellspring for the
public symbols created by the designer
-Asked by Joseph Albers to develop a graduate graphic design program at Yale
University
-Unfortunately, Lustig’s eyesight had begun to fail and in a short matter of time he was
completely blind but continued to teach and design until his death more than a year later
after losing eyesight.
*Bradbury Thompson
-One of the most influential graphic designers in postwar America
-Has thorough knowledge of printing & typesetting and used studios for 2 techniques as
his “canvas, easel & studio” & discovered and explored potential of eighteenth- and
nineteenth- century engravings as design resources.
-Used letter-forms and patterns such as half-tone reproductions as design elements or to
create visual patterns and movements.
-Thompson used technique of taking apart four-color process plates and overprinted
them to create new colors.
-Therefore, typography gained expression through scale and color
-Readability, formal harmony & sensitive use of Old Style typefaces marked his work for
periodicals such as Smithsonian & ARTnews, US postage stamps & steady flow of
books
Saul Bass
-Designer who was inspired by Paul Rand’s use of shape & asymmetrical balance but
reduced his designs to a single dominant image
-Bass reduced messages to simple pictographic images and combined freely drawn and
decorative letter-forms with typography and handwriting.
-Bass was responsible for logos, theatre posters, advertising & animated film titles for
films such as The Man with the Golden Arm (kinetic sequence of animated bars and
typography synchronized with jazz music) & for film Exodus (side-note: also did
sequence for Monsters Inc. And other Disney animated films)
The New York Firm of Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar
- A design office instead of an art studio where Robert Brownjohn had studied painting,
design and architecture under architect/teacher Serge Chermayeff
-The three designers (Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar) combined images and
symbols with surreal sense of dislocation to convey essence of subject onto book
jackets & posters
-In 1960, Brownjohn left to England and made sig. Contributions to British graphic
design, especially in dept. Of film titles
-Brownjohn did title design for Goldfinger where 35mm color slides projected upon a
moving human body filmed in real time.
-Meanwhile, Chermayeff & Geismar Associates (renamed) played major role in
development of postwar corporate identity.
Graphic Design Education at Yale University School of Art
-Many leading graphic designers, photographers, print makers
taught in Yale graphic design program
-Faculty has included, Lustig, Norman Ives, Paul Rand, Herbert Matter, Bradbury
Thompson and many others.
Editorial Design Revolution
-During 1940s, only few American magazines were well designed (Fortune-art directors
Burtin & Leo Lionni, Vogue- Alexander Liberman & Harper’s Bazaar- Brodovitch)
-Major art director Cipe Pineles was first female admitted to membership in New York Art
professionals society because of contribution to editorials such as work at Glamour,
Seventeen, Charm & Mademoiselle
-Another major editor was Otto Storch who was influenced by Brodovitch
-Storch was art director for McCalls magazine, Better Living magazine where Storch
unified typography with photography
-Storch ranks among the major innovators of the period b/c of philosophy that idea,
copy, art & typography should be inseparable in editorial design.
-Henry Wolf a Vienna born art director at Esquire and then moved to Harpers Bazaar
and experimented with typography making it large enough to fill up page on one spread
and using smaller text to fill the other
Doyle Dane Bernbach
-Ad agency that took important advantages, superiority, or distinguishing characteristics
of product and created a relationship between those components with visual i.e.
Volkswagon Beetle ad: Think Small
-The new advertising age (inspired by Bernbach agency) was still persuasive but more
honest.
Technique: Phototypography: the setting of type by exposing negatives of alphabet
characters to photographic paper
Herb Lubalin
-Hailed as typographic genius at the time
-Would manually take apart type proofs and experimented with typography while paying
close attention to detail
-Lubalin as well as phototypography pioneer Rondthaler and typographer Aaron Burns,
est. The ITC (International Typeface Corporation) where ITC fonts had large x-heights
and short ascenders and descenders
George Lois
-Art director for Esquire magazine and revitalized magazine’s profits
-believed that design was to be a harmony of elements and had no place on a magazine
cover, but instead cover was to be a statement capable of capturing reader with a
spirited comment on a major article
-Created covers that shocked and provoked audiences b/c of unexpected combinations
of images and photographic montage techniques
-Convinced Muhammad Ali to pose as a famous religious martyr and designed Richard
Nixon cover where make-up is being applied to face

in the visual arts have