alexander liberman, vogue, 1950
we took a sweep at graphic design in between the wars: the liberatyed woman of the roaring 20's, the suffragist backlash. the stars of european graphic design: a.m. cassandre, lester beal, joseph binder, agha, liberman, mcnight kauffer, piet zmart, herbert matter, alex brodovith, the design force of neoplasticism, surrealism in cinema, poster goes to war, normal rockwell, margaret bourke white's photos, public health design, informational analysis design, design reportage...
a lot to process. pick your favorite.
17 comments:
What I found the most interesting from last class was the way in which different artists were able to depict the same time period in almost competing fashions. For example, the works of Norman Rockwell and Margaret Bourke White both represent the time around the 1930s. They could each be regarded of anthropologists in their own right, documenting the world around them and making that social commentary. Each, however, adopted a different lens through which they viewed this society. Rockwell took a more idealized approach, portraying the more quaint images of life. I don’t think that it should go without saying that all of the people in his cartoons are of the same race. White was better able, through her photography, to truly capture the disconnect between media portrayal and actual life. She showed the depression, destitution, and poverty instead of the rose-tinted idea of what America was. Her image that best represents this is that of the line of unemployed blacks in front of a poster exulting the good of capitalism.
The artists seemed to have chosen different class levels to represent, and in doing so created works representing drastically different worlds within the same time period.
-Tami Lake
The topics that I found most interesting during last weeks lecture were the World War II propaganda posters and the Margaret Bourke White’s social touch. For starters, I felt that the fear mongering and use of symbols in the propaganda posters are parallel to today’s politics. These posters insight feelings of patriotism, anger, fear; and they demand for citizens to act. Perhaps it’s political tactic, but I found it interesting because it’s the same way certain political parties ran their campaign for this years presidential election. Victor Keppler’s, “her careless talk cost lives”, is like the modern “Lock Her Up”. I also really enjoy White’s portrait of Dorothea with her children. To this point, most portraits we have examined are not candid in nature. Although it is a sensitive subject (poverty) that is being captured in this photo, the candidness and truthful nature of the photo encompasses a new dynamic to the self portrait.
-Bryan Vargas
As I am typing this I still think my favorite thing about last class was the Holy Mountain clip. I actually went back home and rewatched it, planning to watch the whole film in my free time. I found the film so fascinating and so weird! It was out of this world and it amazes me the artist could even think of that. The movie props and actors must have been a dream to work with.
Another favorite is Norman Rockwell. I tried to paint like him in highschool and I don’t know how the man did it. His style is so unique and so hard to recreate. The people he illustrates look like actual people but they also have a stylized look to them. I did not know he was not taken that serious during his time. I wonder if Jenny on the job was taken seriously since she is a woman and not going by gender norms of her era.
-Ana Gonzalez
One of the most interesting parts of last week’s class was the explicit connection that was made between graphic design and propaganda. I think that graphic design and art have always been important in getting a message across. The examples of propaganda that were discussed in class all have the same goal: to get the attention of the public and to effectively and succinctly get their point across and encourage the audience to think about the topic in the way the people putting it on want it to be seen. This is something that we use today, and seeing the anti-suffragette propaganda was very impactful because of the parallels that were seen during this campaign. The reason why graphic design is so effective in getting the point across is that it allows the artist to critically think about the audience and the message which helps them create the image that marries both and creates enough of an impact to have the audience think about it.
I made a mistake and forgot to write my name, so reposting:
One of the most interesting parts of last week’s class was the explicit connection that was made between graphic design and propaganda. I think that graphic design and art have always been important in getting a message across. The examples of propaganda that were discussed in class all have the same goal: to get the attention of the public and to effectively and succinctly get their point across and encourage the audience to think about the topic in the way the people putting it on want it to be seen. This is something that we use today, and seeing the anti-suffragette propaganda was very impactful because of the parallels that were seen during this campaign. The reason why graphic design is so effective in getting the point across is that it allows the artist to critically think about the audience and the message which helps them create the image that marries both and creates enough of an impact to have the audience think about it.
-Martina Sandoval
Marget Bourke and Dorothea Lange seems to have been influenced by the beggarstaffs and other similar graphic designers. The contrast between the colors in beggarstaffs work seems to have bled into the works of both artists. Her most famous picture, the mother and two children has such a lasting impact by creating stark contrast. They take the color contrast beggerstaff perfected, took the principle and used emotions instead of color. their message conveyed through her work is powerful but if she did not frame it to highlight the emotional contrast, then the photographs would lack gravitas.
Dante Petersen Stanley
The things that stood out for me the most about last class were The Holy mountain clip by Alejandro Jodorowsky and the depiction of women by Boris Hoppek. The Holy Mountain trailer to me was so weird. I don’t understand how someone come up with these weird scenes and images and then why make a movie out of it. The caption of the video said: that film is supposed to bring forth unforgettable images. Because these images were so weird, those images stayed in my mind. I think he was successful in making unforgettable images.
Also, the caption said: What he is trying to do is explore the endless twists of the subconscious mind. I think Boris Hoppek did the same for the depiction of women. I think these images/ depictions of these women were in his subconscious mind and he tried to create an image of it. These pictures had the same impact on me like the Holy Mountain, the images are stuck in your mind.
One of the most iconic photography pieces is that of Dorothea Lange, the black and white contrast and the powerful portrayal of issues was interesting to see introduced in a graphic design course. Overall the messages that stuck with me was that of the beginning of the pre-feminist movement with the movement of women leaving household chore duties, Betty Boop's Minnie the Moocher with its idea of the liberation of women in ideology and finally, the roaring 20's and women taking on flapper roles. After, Kula Robbins simple yet powerful designs all see how this tool of graphic design became messages to persuade public with communication tools. It was a social task to make them appealing to be able to reach the population. By starting to prioritize the aesthetics of graphics such as statistics and informative posters, we are moving towards a visually connected mass rather then word-based, which is very common with the younger generations.
-Adrianna Rivera
As a magazine fanatic and someone who wants to pursue a career in the magazine industry, I found the Vogue covers and the Saturday Evening Post covers to be the most intriguing aspects of last class. In contrast to today's Vogue, I find the covers by Mehemed Fahmy Agha to be quite striking and artistic, which contrasts with the smiling photos of celebrities seen on today's Vogue. I prefer a more artistic cover, and I think that Agha did a good job of portraying the vibe of the magazine of that time, which was more of an art publication than the mainly fashion publication that it is today. In addition, I am a fan of the Art Deco look, and I think the covers are very good timepieces, since Art Deco was "the" movement of the '30s.
I am fascinated with how Norman Rockwell is now almost synonymous with the Saturday Evening Post, which truly shows the impact he had on not only the art world, but the publishing world. I think his work represents American life perfectly, and even though critics deemed it as "overly sweet," I think it is still a legitimate portrayal, even though it doesn't portray the more dark aspects of American life during that time. Art is meant to evoke feeling, and the feeling I get from viewing Rockwell's covers of the Saturday Evening Post are happy feelings, so I think he succeeded in that regard. People don't want to pick up publications that make them feel sad or depressed.
One of the most interesting artists to me was Norman Rockwell and his Saturday Evening Post Covers. His Modern stylistic painting in depicting idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life, are both iconic and attractive to the eye. His use of vibrate color and clean lines also contribute to its success shown especially in his September 4, 1943 cover. Besides his incredible visual art skills, his whimsical depiction of social topics of his time give his work a humorous yet non-offensive view of everyday ideals and social pressures. Some covers that expressed this the most to me was the April 29, 1922 cover with the boy trying to be a strong man and the cover with the young girl with the magazine. These two covers poked fun at American culture without offending it’s watching masses.
Liliette Ferro
The most interesting thing I found from last week’s class was the discussion of Norman Rockwell. I thought it was fascinating that he wasn’t taken seriously during his lifetime as a serious artist, and yet today we view him with such admiration. I think part of this could be because Norman Rockwell’s style, idealistic and sentimentalized, is nostalgic to modern viewers today whereas at the time of its painting it was current. Because we look back on Rockwell’s paintings 70 years later, the sentimental quality appeals to us because of our sense of nostalgia, but at the time it would have looked less impressive because it was current.
--Will Uelk
The most interesting posters from last class were Ladislav Sutnar’s posters. Ladislav Sutnar was a pioneer of information design and information architecture. His use of geometric forms and open composition in his posters helps to create a sense of dynamic movement. Those forms are quite eye catching and they help to guide the viewer’s eyes throughout the whole image. The colors he used were simple and clean, which help to emphasize the motif of the posters. I appreciate the empty space he left in his posters. Besides, by overlapping elements, Ladislav Sutnar created the sense of depth in his posters. He developed typographic grids and framing sans-serif modern typefaces with white space. This method makes his magazine design looks quite artistic and creative. As a graphic design major, I really appreciate Ladislav Sutnar’s style. I appreciate the way that he used only less than ten elements to make his posters and magazines look such creative.
--Yiming Zhou
In my opinion the most interesting topic from last class was the WWII posters. I find it very interesting how important the propaganda was during the war and how graphic design played a huge roll. The posters are very powerful in that they convey feelings to the viewer. They can make you feel needed, scared, proud, powerful. I found the German posters very different from the posters of our side. They were both very persuasive but I feel that the posters from our side were less intense. This is a very clear example that shows how impactful graphic design is and how it can be so different depending on the circumstances. It can have an effect on people in many different situations, even when the situation is a serious as a war.
-Anat Sterental
The most interesting part of the last week's lecture was how graphic design was used to create the most efficient propaganda. It made me think about graphic design of today. We live in a world bombarded with countless images. I wondered if those images contained direct/indirect socio-political messages. I also thought about if later generations would discuss the propaganda within graphic design of our era. Another topic that caught my attention was The Holy mountain clip by Alejandro Jodorowsky. His exploration with endless subconscious reminded me of surrealism. It was fascinating to see how the evolution in technology enabled artists to recreate their dreams in different media.
-MinA Jang
Due to his very unique posters, Herbert Matter was able to boost tourism in the Swiss Alps. Matter’s posters had a strong visual focus, which stemmed from his occupation as a photographer. Although one might think that the best way to promote a place is via a poster of an image of that place, Matter thought differently. He thought outside of the box, which is why his posters were so successful. They really captured the eye, because they were different from other posters. Matter created the face up poster. The face up poster is a poster which focuses primarily on an image of a face. This was a novel idea when it was created by Matter. However, today the concept is quite mainstream as evidenced by selfies.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/selfie
-Emily Griffith
Ugly is beautiful. I can't wait for that to become a hashtag one of these days. Start a social media revolution of people taking back their right to not have to look perfect. I was intrigued by this topic in class. It is something that I feel can be very empowering. One of my new favorite artists is a rapper from New York that goes by the name Princess Nokia. In one of her songs, she celebrates being a "tomboy". She wears glasses and baggy clothes in the music video and plays on a basketball court with her equally tomboy friends. After that, I started embracing my own tomboy side, and it was great. The impact that the rise of social media is having on our psyches remains to be seen in the following decades, but I think everyone has faced an increased pressure to look perfect. I think this philosophy from the 20th century can still hold a lot of meaning today. It's refreshing to be able to simply be yourself, raw, unedited. #nofilter
Agnes Archibong
My favorite art work in the last class is “Migrant Mother”. It is a classic black & white photograph which Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California. On the photo, I see a sad and desperate mother and two children who don’t watch the camera. From their clothes, I know they are a poor family who living in fear and desperation. The emotion is strong and infective. Children are helpless and they relying on their mother’s shoulders. I think this work is really successfully to show the status of the society at that time. The photograph is not only to represent the beauty, but should endued with meanings.
Yaoli Wang
Post a Comment