Hi class: Plenty to talk about, Futurist poster, Die Neue Topographie, Herbert Matter, Ladislav Sutnar, Germany and Austria's Neue Sachlichkeit, l'ecriture automatique, Moholy-Nagy, Constructivism, Rodchenko, Stankowski's metadesign, Symbol signage, graphic design in jazz LP covers during 40s and 50s, Vargas, and THE LOGO.
Go ahead.
19 comments:
When we discussed the concept of “the logo” in our last class, it made me think of the logos that I see in my everyday life. Furthermore, it made me consider what I think are good logos and bad logos. While in class we were able to outline certain key characteristics of an effective logo (veracity, worth, management, novelty, permanence), I realized that my personal ideas regarding what a quality logo consists of is slightly different. I value (and expect) veracity and worth, but rather than a logo being novel, I value minimalism and modernity even more. Personally, a minimal design is also something that is easy to manage and break down. For example, the “G” in Google can stand alone and most would be able to tell what the simple and singular letter stands for. The minimization of the logo, to me, serves an aesthetic and functional purpose, emphasizing the need for logos to be highly versatile in use. Additionally, the discussion of the CBS logo and how it changed over time, either due to an attempt to be more modern or to make the logo itself more durable, I realized that many of my favorite brands have undergone similar changes in the visual representation of the company. Starbucks, for example, has gone through changes in its logo. When considering the well-known Starbucks mermaid, over time, there have been alterations to minimize the graphics and represent it with less detail. This practice has been something that I have noticed occurring in recent years, making me question the relationship between modernity and minimalist design. It also leads me to ask the question: is minimalist design really more functional?
Divya Srinivasan
Aleksandr Rodchenko was a prominent Russian artist who made significant contributions to the development of modern art in the 20th century. He was an important part of the Russian Constructivist movement, which rejected traditional art forms in favor of abstract and industrial designs.Aleksandr Rodchenko is not just a visual artist, but also a supporter of sports. He was a fan of soccer and also coached a team for a short while. Rodchenko's love for sports was reflected in his art as well. He often incorporated sports themes and imagery into his works, such as in his famous photomontage poster for the 1925 Dynamo sports club, which featured an action shot of a soccer player overlaid with bold typography. Rodchenko's interest in sports also led him to experiment with new ways of capturing movement and action in his photography. He was one of the first photographers to use a handheld camera and wide-angle lens to capture fast-moving subjects, which allowed him to create dynamic and energetic images. He used his passion for photography in his designs and created photomontages that were dynamic with type and image.
- Emily Collins
Rodchenko (1891-1956) was a Russian and Soviet artist. He was also known for being a sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer. Upon researching Rodchenko, it seems interesting that he was one of the founders who founded constructivism and Russian design. The key areas in which he studied were drawing, painting, and art history. Throughout the time, he was influenced by key figures during the Russian movement called avant-garde who were Vladimir Tatlin, and Kazimir Malevich. Throughout his work, he influenced and contributed to many art movements such as Cubism and Futurism. What really stood out to me was that he was one of the few artists that I have researched who became involved with photomontages. This allowed him to publish books and posters which he created. He eventually wrote a poem that caused him not to find enough photographs which led him to pursue photography instead. He believed that when it comes to taking photographs, they can be taken from any angle, position, and perspective. He also considered that photography corresponds well with someone’s dynamic eye. Overall, I learned that he has made many contributions other than photography in his other areas of study that has led to a great impact during the Russian movement and in society as well.
-Joshua Escobedo
Class, remember to avoid REPEATING A THEME ALREADY MENTIONED IN THE THREAD. There's no need for that. There are plenty of topics to choose from! ☝
Please,
I enjoyed seeing the meta design works created by Anton Stankowski during class time and believe that they were very influential to the works of artists after him. Stankowski was a German artist, graphic designer, and photographer who is widely known for his contributions to art and visual communication. After doing some research I have found he worked as a graphic designer in various companies before starting his own studio in the mid 1940’s. His work was minimalist and had a focus on bright/bold colors, shapes, and clean lines. He believed that he could communicate complex ideas through his art designs. He was one of the first people to use meta design which refers to the design of systems and frameworks instead of individual objects or people. He believed that meta design uses a holistic approach to the design and is influenced by culture, and political factors. Meta design requires a deep understanding of the systems and the processes that are involved with the creation of the work. The meta design ideas from Stankowski still influence the art and design world today and allows for designers to create works that easily communicate with the viewer and allow them to share their complex ideas. He was a living testament to the power that art and design have and how they can improve our lives in numerous ways.
-Damien DiTaranto
Ladislav Sutnar, a Czech designer born in 1897, was one of the first to be active in the field of information design. His work is rooted in reason and the process of presenting large amounts of information in a clear and orderly manner for easy consumption by a general audience. He places great emphasis on typography, primarily using a limited color palette. While he often used punctuation to help organize information, one of his signature creations was to place parentheses around area codes in the phone book. Ladislav Sutnar is a pioneer in the field of infographic or infographic design, a practice that has become very popular in recent history. As impersonal as area code design may seem, the brackets are actually one of Sutnar's hallmarks, one of many tricks he uses to differentiate and highlight information. From 1941 to 1960, as FW Dodge Art Director, Ladislav Sutnar developed various typographic and graphic navigation systems that enabled users to efficiently traverse oceanographic data. His icons resemble computer symbols used today. In addition to the grid and tab system, Ladislav Sutnar also transformed common punctuation marks into signs of traffic language through dilation and repetition. He has received design commissions from various employers including McGraw-Hill, IBM and the United Nations. Sutnar has held many one-man shows. Ladislav Sutnar is a master in exhibition design, typography, advertising, poster, magazine and book design.
--Kai Gao
As a student of art history, I have been introduced to the importance of graphic design in shaping the visual identity of various art forms, including music. One area of graphic design that particularly fascinates me is jazz LP covers from the 1940s and 1950s.
During this era, jazz music was a popular and influential genre, and LP covers played a critical role in marketing and promoting the music. Designers like Reid Miles and David Stone Martin were pioneers in this field, creating iconic LP covers that captured the spirit and energy of jazz music in visual form. This style includes big words and bright colors.
One of the most notable designers of this era was Reid Miles, who created many of the LP covers for Blue Note Records. Miles' designs were characterized by bold typography and simple, yet striking, graphics, often featuring abstract shapes and bright, contrasting colors. His designs were both visually stunning and highly functional, helping to establish Blue Note as a leading jazz label.
David Stone Martin was another important figure in the world of jazz LP cover design. Martin's covers often featured playful and whimsical illustrations that captured the spontaneity and joy of jazz music. He was particularly adept at creating portraits of jazz musicians, using simple lines and bold contrasts to create instantly recognizable images.
What I find most fascinating about jazz LP covers from this era is the way that they capture the energy and vibrancy of the music. These LP covers were not just marketing tools, but works of art in their own right. They were an integral part of the jazz experience, helping to shape the way that listeners perceived and engaged with the music.
I am inspired by the innovative designs and visual language of these LP covers. They demonstrate the power of graphic design to shape our perception of music, and they continue to inspire and influence designers today. I believe that jazz LP covers from the 1940s and 1950s represent a critical moment in the history of graphic design, and they remain an important part of the cultural legacy of jazz music.
--Rui Zhu
Herbert Matter, born in 1907, was a Swiss-born graphic designer, photographer, and artist who made significant contributions to the field of graphic design. He was one of the most important figures in the development of modern Swiss design, which is characterized by its simplicity. When Matter began to work for advertising agencies and design firms he became well known for his innovative use of photography, typography, and color in his advertising campaigns. In addition, Matter pursued his own artistic interests and often explore themes of the impact of war on society and the relationship between nature and technology. This is seen is America Calling, Take your place in Civilian Defense (1941). Something I found interesting is that when Matter moved to the United States, he worked for a number of publications, including Vogue, Arts and Architecture, and Harper's Bazaar. Matter's contributions to the field of graphic design helped establish it as a respected craft.
Milla Nader
I particularly enjoyed our discussion of standardized symbol signage and logographic writing. It was incredible to see how the history of graphic design and the development of visual language was cyclical from the time of ancient Egypt to the present. I think of the ubiquity of symbols in our day-to-day and I am amazed at the universality of their linguistic power. To be able to look at an image and convey a specific thought, action, or rule is a powerful indicator of a pressing need for quick and effective communication. I believe we take for granted that prior to the concerted effort of the Department of Transportation in the 1970’s, there was no standardized set of symbols to guide the goings on of life. However, after their advent, universal signage proved invaluable as it enforced a mutually agreed upon set of behaviors that we are now so accustomed to believe is intrinsically “the way things are”.
-Ricky Durga
The New Objectivity (in German it is called Neue Sachlichkeit) was a cultural movement that emerged in Germany in the 1920s, and it was all about keeping things real. The artists and writers involved in this movement wanted to show the world as it really was, without all the emotion and drama of the Expressionist movement that came before it. The New Objectivity was all about realism, and it was reflected in the works of artists like Otto Dix and George Grosz. Their paintings depicted the gritty and sometimes ugly aspects of city life, like poverty, violence, and social inequality. They didn't shy away from the difficult subjects, and their works were often highly detailed and very realistic. The Neue Sachlichkeit poets were also a big part of the New Objectivity movement, and they rejected the ornate language and symbolism of earlier writers in favor of a more direct and clear style. They used irony and satire to critique the political and cultural changes of the Weimar Republic. The impact of the New Objectivity on German culture was significant, and it can be seen in the works of filmmakers like Rainer Werner Fassbinder and photographers like August Sander, who continued to document the complexities of German society with an unflinching eye. Overall, the New Objectivity was a movement that valued honesty and realism above all else.
-Sydney Essex
Constructivism is the art movement relative to industrial architecture. Founded by Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko, Constructivism is an abstract art form that aims to emulate the industrial society of the time and the evolving urban space. Rather than follow typical art stylization, artists of this movement reflected the functional beauty of assemblage. Similar to Modernism and Art Deco, Constructivism was utilized for propaganda, particularly advertising for Soviet socialism, the Bolsheviks, and Russian avant-garde. The ripple effect influence is seen in architecture, sculpture, graphic design, film, and fashion. My affinity for Constructivism stems from its simple attractiveness. The art is clean lines and shapes, following function and form without excessive ornamentation. The typical color palette of neutrals and reds catches the eye, managing to only emphasize the important details. It reminds me of BauHaus architecture, and the way those structures opted for primary colors to highlight only the accents of the structure, rather than overload you with color.
-Mary Gorski
Nice thread!
Don’t mind me.
I was first introduced to Sun Ra and his Arkestra by his 1974 film "Space is the Place". The film was a revolutionary work of Afrofuturism. Afrofuturism is defines as the aesthetic vision of the African Diaspora and its relationship to science, technology and the future. While I became familiar with a few of his psychedelic Jazz arrangements, it wasn't until our class did I learn that his album cover designs were as trailblazing for the Afrofuturism movement as his film and music. Sun Ra's record label: Saturn Records released primarily his own Arkestra's albums but also featured other upcoming Jazz artists. His albums were recognized for their handmade yet futuristic aesthetic. Sun Ra's visual design pulls from sci-fi, egyptological, and indigenous afro-spiritual inspiration. His unique sound and visual identity has inspired countless well known successor acts ranhing everywhere from Madlib, to Outkast, to Janelle Monae.
Sarah Stehling
Stankowski’s metadesign was essentially design about design. It is about designing the design process itself, rather than focusing on the resulting image. Stankowski is seen as a pioneer of graphic design as his metadesign has influenced graphic design as well as product design and architecture. Stankowski’s use of geometry was prominent in many of his designs, as it was a universal language that could be used to create order, clarity, and harmony in design. His work also crossed into the realm of abstraction to create a graphic language that was specific enough to communicate powerful relationships. The design was a way to communicate universal ideas and messages, as it can be interpreted in a variety of ways by the viewer, depending on their own perception and experience. One example of his abstraction is the arrow, which represents direction and movement as the arrow appears to be walking into the opposite direction that it is pointing.
-Robert Bolton
The history of the logo is one I find incredibly fascinating, and something that is a clear example of the changes in design over history. The history of logos dates back to ancient times when people would use symbols and marks to represent their identity or ownership of property. The use of logos became more widespread in the Middle Ages when guilds and trade associations began to use symbols and marks to identify their products and services. In the modern era, logos have become an essential part of branding and marketing. Companies and organizations use logos to create a visual identity that is easily recognizable and memorable to consumers. A logo can include elements such as typography, colors, symbols, and graphics, all of which work together to convey a message and represent the values and identity of the company or organization. In recent years, there has been a trend towards more minimalist and simple logo designs, with companies such as Google and Airbnb adopting clean and minimalistic logos that are easily recognizable and versatile across various mediums and platforms. However, there are still many companies that use more complex and detailed logos to convey their brand message and identity. Furthermore, logos of a company often morph into something simpler over time as the brand gets more well known. I think this idea that the more a company is known, the less it needs to show itself is an interesting aspect in the evolution of logos.
Gigi Moynihan
Rodchenko was a revolutionary artist in so many aspects. He was amazing across a variety of fields, paintings, woodcuts, posters, and photographs. Alexander is also considered to have declared the death of painting. Even though he was a painter himself, he created solid colored paintings that broke the art of painting down to the very foundation of it, he declared himself that it is over now that he got to the very heart of such complicated way of creating. He was considered to also be the co-founder of design in Russia and constructivism. He began his journey into photography with creating montages out of existing photographs. When he started doing photography himself, his style and approach was strikingly different from others at the time. He used new perspectives to “liberate the practice of photography from the conventional standards”. His signature use of stairs, grids and wires for the purposes of composition became revolutionary.
-Eva Klovatskiy
Something I love about art is the challenge of expression. How to capture the essence of a situation, time period, person is the beauty of art because the opportunities are endless. To this point the art of Jazz albums is so profound because of the simple yet elegant and bold way they represented the artists and their music. The incorporation of photography and typography led to the creation of beautiful timeless pieces that accompany the music itself. I appreciate the movement to make the album cover more than a simple packaging but instead a piece of the art as a whole. It provides more for the consumer experience and helps portray the creativity and vision of the artist. Blue note records is widely recognized for their contribution to the evolution of graphic design in album covers, using bold color combined with the photography and typography to make recognizable but individualized art.
- Kailyn Hayes
Constructivist posters were a big part of Soviet design during the 20’s. Their ideals were highly influenced by Futurism as well as by Cubism, since shapes and forms were abstracted while modernity and innovation in design techniques were showcased on the pieces. Picasso was a big influence for Vladmir Tatlin, known as a pioneer in the constructivist design movement. The popularization of those posters came with the film industry, which became present in the graphic design community after the first state film school was opened in Moscow, it was called the First State School of Cinematography. Predominant colors in those designs were Red and Black. Rationality, logical thinking, production, not much ornamentation as well as functionality were core ideals in constructivist pieces. An example of a graphic designer that is remembered for his work during that movement is Aleksandr Rodchenko. He went against painting and was aligned with the constructivist ideal that goes against design being something spiritual, but a profession. He also did a lot of work in the photography field.
Roberta Macedo.
L'écriture automatique is an art term that refers to the supposed psychic ability that allows an individual to produce written words without consciously writing anything. Automatic writing, also called psychography, is an age-old technique rediscovered by the surrealist writer André Breton in 1919. It became one of the methods that other surrealist artists would turn to while trying to gain access to their subconscious mind, exploring the nature of the real versus the marvelous from within the individual. This concept is linked with surrealist automatism, a method of creating art in which the artist is able to suppress their conscious control over the art-making process while also allowing their unconscious mind to have a greater influence among the craft that is taking place. Joan Miro is also associated with this concept of automatic writing, discovering it alongside André Breton. Painter, poet, sculptor, and ceramist, he departed for Paris from his beloved homeland around 1920 where he became beyond fascinated with this process that allowed him to discover a new way of conceiving the unconscious mind as well as freeing it. It was this subconscious realization that attracted him to the strange, the offbeat humour, and the dreamlike/imaginary characteristics that make up surrealism and forged his art.
- Rose Bannon
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