Jan Sawka

Mr. Sawka studied art, printmaking and architecture during a period of political ferment throughout Eastern Europe, including the widespread student protests throughout Poland in 1968 that set off a brutal government crackdown on dissidents.

His poster designs for avant-garde theater groups became well known for their wordplay and their deadpan style, in which symbols of protest were often stitched into the graphics.

By the mid-'70s, foreign art critics had begun noticing the black humor in his work and raving about his subtle style of anti-authoritarianism.

what's the Sawka's secret?

1- go against the grain (political, social),
2- use hand held typeface,
3- the image says it all,
4- humor drives the design,

Awards: 1975 Oscar de la Peinture in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France for painting and the Gold Medal at the 1978 Warsaw Poster Biennial. In 1981, when martial law was imposed in Poland, the AFL-CIO sponsored a bipartisan fundraiser that sold Sawka's Solidarity poster in the millions to provide immediate support to the besieged Solidarity movement. In 1989, Sawka designed a 10-story tall set for The Grateful Dead's 25th Anniversary tour. In 1993, he created his first full multi-media spectacle, "The Eyes" in Japan. This was the beginning of his collaboration with Japanese studios and corporations, which includes the creation of high-tech interactive sculptures and monumental installations, as well as designs for full-scale monumental architecture. Sawka designed "The Tower of Light Cultural Complex" for Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., presented to the Royal Family in 1996.

Mieczysław Szczuka

Teresa Żarnower (1895-1950) was Mieczysław Szczuka’s partner in both life and art. She belonged to the interwar period with its constructivist avant-garde environment and is considered a pioneer of this trend in Poland. She was a co-creator of the magazine Blok. 

In her posters and photomontages she combined her political engagement and picks of the avant-garde. Żarnower also designed covers for left-wing publications, including Vladimir Mayakovsky’s Poems (1927), which remains a classical example of modern cover design. She combined the author’s photograph with vertical and horizontal divisions. Żarnower’s most recognised poster is probably the parliamentary election campaign poster designed for Worker-Peasant Unity (1928), which shows the punishing fist of the workers’ society hitting the wall of a prison.

Before the era of globalized entertainment made movie posters look the same in every country, Polish artists were creating their own versions for the internal market

Jan Lenica The Deadly Invention, 1958

your turn no.9

Anton Stankowski, 1967

Hi class.

Plenty to talk about. the International Topographic Swiss School (and its masters), Fortune magazine & pre LOGO, LOGO proper, (and its masters), Giusti, Stankowski, propaganda, advertising, Bass's design for film, Alvin Lustig, Cipe Pineles, Kula Robbins, Rockwell, Vargas...

go ahead,

steve jobs talks about paul rand's design for apple corporation

logo design (40 tips)

new heaven railroad deisgn, herbet mayer, 1954

here.

each logo has a history

the history of xerox. and all the changes merely reflect the development ton the company from the late 1940s analog beginnings to the iconic 1961 chermayeff and geismar logo to the 1994 landor pixelated "X," to xeros's present incarnation. the lesson is that no logo can take care of all the possible instantiations in the development of a company -that is, unless the company purposefully intends to keep that identity.  my favorite? C&G!

if you care for logo design history? check this site. 

Neo-Surrealism: Boris Hoppek's depiction of women: objectification or liberation?

Hoppek's latex-pussy project. Is it an expression of female objectification or liberation? there's objectification no doubt, but he's playing it too obviously, which makes for a calmer critique. what i'm saying is that hoppek is debating a male POV (what else, that's what he is) of what objectification is, but objectification was never defined by men, but by women. "felt" by women not by men.     

 assemblage above, Magritte-like

 a crueler Magrittean version

your turn No. 5

Otto Dix, War Cripples, New Objectivity, 1923

Dear class. After hours of careful work over the weekend preparing interesting legends for each image in your list for the midterm, my blog page froze and I lost the whole lot (I couln't believe I had not saved it). I have to do it again and will have it ready for this afternoon (Monday). In the meantime, this is the post for this week's class.

There is so much to talk about: Futurism, Synthetic Cubism, Suprematism, Constructivism, New Objectivity, New Typography, Dada... wow.

Pick your theme and stick to the idea of graphic design.  

your turn #4

                   The influence of Expressionism in American cinema, Lady from Shanghai, circa 1940s, Orson Wells.

Plenty to talk about last class.

First the personalities: Cheret, Beardsley, Mucha, McDonald,  Pizarro,  Schmidt- Rottluff, Paul Klee, Adolf Loos, etc.

Stylistic influences: the difference between Arts and Crafts and Victorian and the difference between the latter and Nouveau. The Viennese Secession, van de Velde, The Beggarstaffs, Gesamtkunstwerk, Werkbund, etc.

Your comments are getting better, keep it on.

your turn #3

 The Crystal Palace, 1854, (the symbol of Victorian design)

class: take a look at this link for typeface development from 15th to 19th century.

Let me summarize a bit: We had to move fast, so there is plenty to comment about typeface development: from Gutenberg to Jenson to Manutius, Griffo, Caslon, Baskerville, Didot (influenced by Baskerville), Bodoni, and Morris, etc. it's a very interesting story of design influenced by climate, language and culture, and by "culture" I mean religion, politics, ideas, etc. In the end you could see it as a struggle between north and south, Humanism, vs. Conservatism, Protestantism vs. Catholicism, etc.     

There are graphic design highlights: 1. newspapers, 2. magazines, 3. the advent of "community of interests" (gardening, mechanics, children's books, music printing, postcards), 4. 19th century posters: fairs, circus, night life in general, etc.  

In terms of technological development we had: the advent of photography and how it changes how culture sees itself: landscape photography, portraiture, natural science, war reportage, anthropology (Talbot's Pencil of Nature), etc.  

In terms of movement we briefly talked about Romanticism, Victorian design (by the way forgot to talk about this), Arts and Crafts (Ruskin, Morris, Crane), The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood movement and (I owe you Decadence, Oscar Wilde and Art Nouveau).

I need the class to make comments (they constitute 20% of the final grade). Also, try to make your comments more relevant to what we're discussing.

your turn #1

another kind of mark in the flesh by artist Ilya Brezinski, via koikoikoi

dear class. we've covered thousands of years of history in our first class: pre-alphabet, cave marks, rock marks, alphabet, neolithic marks, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, the mark as physical (column, chair, wheel, etc), colossal marks, political, symbols from nature, from animals, various codexes... the point that anything is a mark.

either you can post your comment using a google account, open ID, or anonymously.

what is important is that after your comment you sign with your actual name as it appears on my roll.

there is really no blueprint for comments. say anything you want -as long as it relates with our first discussion. I'd advice that you write your comment in Word and then copy and paste it here, since sometimes after you click "post a comment" the comment may get lost.  

try to make your comment relevant. think about what you want to say. of course, you can go off an tangent -if you find it relevant. 

remember a minimum of 150 words. i will close this post next wednesday at 2pm.

go ahead!

class, please, don't forget your teacher evaluations!

your turn #8

(above the pitch of Saul Bass to ATT for its logo redesign -watch and learn)

there's plenty to discuss: Lubalin, symbol signage, Stankowski's metadesign, Swiss Topography Style, advertising, propaganda, Bass film title design, Alvin Lustig, pre logo, logo, the logo masters: Rand, Bass, Chermayeff & Geismar. 

go ahead,

your turn #7

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. 

betty boop's minnie the moocher (1932)

your turn #6

Magritte, The Threatened Assassin, 1926

we had to go very fast, to cover thirty years of 20th century avant-garde:

deutscher werkbund, blue rider, expressionism (woodcut, film, graphic design, architecture), neue sachlichkeit circa 1926 (grosz, dix), cubism (analytic, synthetic, collage!), dada (political, metaphysic), futurism (music, graphic design, architecture), die neue typographie (tschichold), russian futurism, malevich geometric abstraction, russian constructivism (film, theater, architecture), rodchenko, lissitsky. BAUHAUS (pottery, architecture, textiles, theater, furniture, etc), surrealism (film, graphic design, photo).

keep in mid graphic design,

go ahead.

sorry, forgot about Jan Tschichold

Tschichold's background is in calligraphy, which sets him apart from almost all other noted typographers of the time (since many of them were architects). he became a leading advocate of modernist design: first with an influential 1925 magazine supplement; then a 1927 personal exhibition; then with his most noted work Die neue Typographie. 

1- tschichold condemned all fonts except sans-serif (called 'Grotesk' in Germany). 
2- non-centered design (e.g., on title pages.
3- standardized paper sizes for all printed matter, and
4- effective use of different sizes and weights of type in order to quickly and easily convey information.

"I will reveal to you with words that are simple" -- Mayakovsky

As they say,"the incident is closed."

The love boat wrecked by daily life.
I'm all even with life and nothing would be gained by listing
mutual hurts, troubles, and insults.. . . .
Don't think I'm a coward. Seriously, it could not be helped (Mayakovsky's suicide note).

no test tomorrow thursday due to matthew's possible trajectory. so, midterm is next thursday, october 13. stay safe!

any questions about the midterm exam?

the art of mystery: max klinger's illustrations

Max Klinger was born in Leipzig and studied in Karlsruhe. An admirer of the etchings of Menzel and Goya, he shortly became a skilled and influential engraver in his own right. Klinger traveled extensively around the art centers of Europe for years before returning to Leipzig. From 1897 he mostly concentrated on sculpture. Klinger was cited by many artists (notably de Chirico, as being a major link between the Symbolist movement of the 19th century and the start of the metaphysical and Surrealist movements of the 20th century. Believe it or not, Klinger was a strong influence for one of my favorite photographers, Francesca Woodman.

Gesamtkunstwerk!

Here, the mysterious story of the glove.

The Saturday Evening Post

Otto von Bismarck, by George Gibbs

From 1821 to 1969 The Saturday Evening Post published current events articles, editorials, human interest pieces, humor, illustrations, a letter column, poetry (including work written by readers), single-panel cartoons and stories.

It was known for commissioning lavish illustrations and original works of fiction. The illustrations were featured on the cover, and embedded in stories and advertising. Some Post illustrations became popular and continue to be reproduced, especially those by Norman Rockwell.

Jean Delville's artistic mystery

The Treasures of Satan, 1898.

If you want to understand that unique moment in the history of Nineteenth-Century art from 1884-1892 nothing better than the Les XX. One of the the group's most interesting artists is Jean Delville, who lived most of his life in Brussels, but also spent some years in Paris, Rome, Glasgow and London. 

Portrait of Madame Stuart Merril,

 Delville began his training at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts when he was twelve, continuing there until 1889, and winning a number of top prizes (among them Prix de Rome). In addition to painting, Delville also expressed his ideas in numerous written texts. He became interested in spiritual and esoteric subjects during his early twenties. In 1887 or 1888 he met Sâr Joséphin Péladan, an eccentric mystic and occultist, who defined himself as a modern Rosicrucian, descended from the Persian Magi. 

Delville's monumental Homme Dieu, 1895.

Delville was struck by a number of Péladan’s ideas, among them his vision of the ideal artist as a spontaneously developed initiate, whose mission was to send light, spirituality and mysticism into the world. He exhibited paintings in Péladan's Salons of the Rose + Croix between 1892 and 1895. Sometime during the mid to late 1890s, Delville joined the Theosophical Society, and in 1910 he became the secretary of the theosophical movement in Belgium. 

your turn #5

Brad Holland, Junkie, 1972

this is a great moment in history for the graphic arts: children's books, calendars, cards, comics, puck, chromolithography, gibson, nast, pre-raphaelites, reception, morris, the idea of gesamtkunstwerk, victorian design vs. arts and crafts, a bunch of figures: millais, gaudy, pisarro, mckmurdo, madox brown, grasset, beardsley. 

go ahead! 

Rudolph Koch (the northern influence)

Rudolph Koch was for most of his career the staff designer at the Klingspor type foundry in Offenbach. Early work by Peter Behrens and Otto Eckmann showed a clear Jugendstil culture upon which he built, designing revised blackletter faces. He combined the talents of punch cutter and calligrapher, two skills sometimes at odds with each other (above Koch various specimens).

Some of Koch well known fonts.

Here a list of Koch's "Christian symbols."

Frederic W. Goudy

Born in Bloomington, Illinois in 1865, Frederic W. Goudy, was one of the most well known and prolific American type designers. Frederic Goudy is best known for his type-styles: Oldstyle, Kennerly, Garamond, Deepdone and Forum. 

What do we see here? 

Essentially Goudy took the notion of the private press typeface inaugurated by William Morris and extended it to the larger world of commerce. Kennerley, the typeface designed for The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells (published by Mitchell Kennerley, 1911), was the turning point in his career, the moment when type design began to overtake lettering and private press printing as his principal activity.

how do you design "shopping"?

This one is fresh from the  NY Times, a candid look at how corporations learn from human behavior:

The reason Target can snoop on our shopping habits is that, over the past two decades, the science of habit formation has become a major field of research in neurology and psychology departments at hundreds of major medical centers and universities, as well as inside extremely well financed corporate labs (...) One study from Duke University estimated that habits, rather than conscious decision-making, shape 45 percent of the choices we make every day, and recent discoveries have begun to change everything from the way we think about dieting to how doctors conceive treatments for anxiety, depression and addictions.

And how corporations get into the habit forming business? It turns by making you believe you make the choice!

“With the pregnancy products, though, we learned that some women react badly,” the executive said. “Then we started mixing in all these ads for things we knew pregnant women would never buy, so the baby ads looked random. We’d put an ad for a lawn mower next to diapers. We’d put a coupon for wineglasses next to infant clothes. That way, it looked like all the products were chosen by chance. “And we found out that as long as a pregnant woman thinks she hasn’t been spied on, she’ll use the coupons. She just assumes that everyone else on her block got the same mailer for diapers and cribs. As long as we don’t spook her, it works.”

Didn't you know this already?

I see it differently. Though they play the paternalistic game, corporations understand that we live in bad faith, (they mine on it and, by default, get us in the end).

Being a "consumer" means pretending independence.

Let's look again at this cycle of consumer's bad faith: You know you are being spied on, so you choose to play a game of "consumer independence," falling for the pretense that this time it's your choice?? (not the corporation's?). Bunk.

with the growth of the advertising industry, graphic art became an integral part of the way products reach consumers

the freedom of bicycling interpreted by georges massias as a fantasy

designing the calendar, circa 1885

amazing control of printing techniques, graphic dazzle, printers produces these kinds of calendars. every color was a separately printed and registered press run. the composition shows the printer's rich letters and motifs.

yout turn #4

take this famous illustration by g. doré entitled the neophyte. the young, next to the decrepit, there's so much here to mine!

what's on your mind?

lots to talk about: doré, romanticism again, early photography and its developments, daguerreotype, pictorialism, freaks, circus,  19th century typefaces, newspapers and its development, magazines and its development, political satire.

go ahead!

the design of the freak (popular entertainment at the fringe of normality)

a 26-month-old hairy baby was one of the attractions on show at the freak circuses around the mid-1800s in New York

four-legged myrtle corbin. presumably she had two sets of female genitalia

Eddie Masher, "the skeleton dude"

'Big-footed' Fanny Mills

Anne Leek, the armless lady, joined a freak show to earn a living

around mid-19th century, both in england and the US, "freak shows" finally reached maturity, as successful commercially run enterprises. PTBarnum in the US was a major producer of freak entertainment. in 1842, PTB introduced his first major hoax, a creature with the head of a monkey and the tail of a fish, known as the "feejee" mermaid. PTB followed that with the exhibition of charles ctratton, the dwarf. "General Tom Thumb" who was then four years of age but was stated to be 11.

charles ctratton, the dwarf "general tom thumb"

charles had stopped growing after the first six months of his life, at which point he was 25 inches (64 cm) tall and weighed 15 pounds. with heavy coaching and natural talent, the boy was taught to imitate people from hercules to napoleon. by five, he was drinking wine and by seven smoking cigars for the public's amusement.

my point is that "freak" is a "design" for the masses. part entertainment, part exotic, part wondrous, at the fringes of admissible and the society of the normal. as instrumentalized as they were, these creatures were admired, a social phenomenon which played in both directions.