citational grafts: reshuffling structures of a message to change its meaning or the way it is read.
Derrida introduced the idea of "grammatology" as a mode of communication. "Grammatology includes these ideas:
bahavior of words can change meaning.
a Phonic alphabet is an empty outer representation. It is a shell of the content.
"There is no innocent speech"
Derrida's work challenged the "grand narrative" of graphic design and typography.
Cranbrook explored "grammatology" and poststructualism. In a normative design, the viewer would see the image and then read the text. In a deconstructive design, the viewer would see the text and then read the image.
Ed Fella was a designer who worked with traditional media instead of computers. His style was very systematized and inspired "Grunge" typography and design.
David Carson refused to accept the impact of post structuralism. His designs bordered illegibility and chaos.
The postmodern style is known for irony, juxtaposition of styles, fragmentation, unpredictability, "perpetual presents" in series, no stable or permanent reality, knowledge for the sake of function, not for the sake of knowledge itself, parody, and surfaces without underlying meaning.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
postmodern design
Postmodernism rejected concepts of the Grand Narrative, the Enlightenment, and Modernism. The Grand Narrative was the history of white male success. A famous quote describes it as "storytelling in the interest of the powerful". Modernism encompassed individual perception, subjectivity, knowledge for the value of knowing, and art for art's sake. The Enlightenment extolled the progress of science, logic, rational objectivity, and reason. The Enlightenment also claimed that science is the basis for any and all socially useful forms of knowledge and that language is transparent.
postmodern design involved a lot of reusing of older design (appropriation). Postmodernism proclaims the end of originality because everything has been done. There is a blending of all styles from all time periods. The past was considered invented and not only used for nostalgia.
Consumers of this period outgrew the use of message in graphic design and design of the post modern period started to use humor and self-consciousness.
structuralism was the idea that there are structural rules and relationships making words into a language. structuralism claims that structure is an essential part of all forms of communication.
Post structuralism strives to challenge the hierarchy of Structuralism, especially the binary opposites that characterize both Structuralism and Western metaphysics such as the metaphysic pairs of mind/body, presence/absence, etc.
Deconstruction is a part of post structuralism. It criticized Saussure's structural linguistics, questions motives, and looks for impurities in a critical process.
Traits of Modernist design are form, purpose, design, hierarchy, art objective, happening, presence, catering, genre, and root.
Anti-form, play, chance, anarchy, process, absence, dispersal, text, and surface are all elements of postmodern design
Swiss postmodern designers initiated the "New Wave" typographic style in the 70s. Some of the important Swiss designers of this time who utilized the "New Wave" were Wolfgang Wiengart, Rosmarie Tissi, Willi Zunz, and Steff Geissbuhler.
The "New Wave" style is characterized by wide letter spacing, bold stair stepped rules, rule lines punctuating space, diagonal type, mixing typefaces and weight in different parts of the same words, and reversal of type from a series of bars.
Wolfgang Weingart designed intuitively and did not trust forms born purely out of order. He was also one of the first people to use a MAC computer for his experimental designs and he possessed broad technical knowledge. He was skilled in creating rich visual effects.
Neither Paula Scher and Charles Anderson considered the artistic producer an original genius.
Paula Scher coined the term appropriation or "to quote" to describe copying instead of merely plagiarism. The implication was that originality has come to an end and art can only be repeated.
postmodern design involved a lot of reusing of older design (appropriation). Postmodernism proclaims the end of originality because everything has been done. There is a blending of all styles from all time periods. The past was considered invented and not only used for nostalgia.
Consumers of this period outgrew the use of message in graphic design and design of the post modern period started to use humor and self-consciousness.
structuralism was the idea that there are structural rules and relationships making words into a language. structuralism claims that structure is an essential part of all forms of communication.
Post structuralism strives to challenge the hierarchy of Structuralism, especially the binary opposites that characterize both Structuralism and Western metaphysics such as the metaphysic pairs of mind/body, presence/absence, etc.
Deconstruction is a part of post structuralism. It criticized Saussure's structural linguistics, questions motives, and looks for impurities in a critical process.
Traits of Modernist design are form, purpose, design, hierarchy, art objective, happening, presence, catering, genre, and root.
Anti-form, play, chance, anarchy, process, absence, dispersal, text, and surface are all elements of postmodern design
Swiss postmodern designers initiated the "New Wave" typographic style in the 70s. Some of the important Swiss designers of this time who utilized the "New Wave" were Wolfgang Wiengart, Rosmarie Tissi, Willi Zunz, and Steff Geissbuhler.
The "New Wave" style is characterized by wide letter spacing, bold stair stepped rules, rule lines punctuating space, diagonal type, mixing typefaces and weight in different parts of the same words, and reversal of type from a series of bars.
Wolfgang Weingart designed intuitively and did not trust forms born purely out of order. He was also one of the first people to use a MAC computer for his experimental designs and he possessed broad technical knowledge. He was skilled in creating rich visual effects.
Neither Paula Scher and Charles Anderson considered the artistic producer an original genius.
Paula Scher coined the term appropriation or "to quote" to describe copying instead of merely plagiarism. The implication was that originality has come to an end and art can only be repeated.
Bibliography for Discourse 2 - "The New Typography" By Jan Tschichold
Eckstein, Helene, Color in the 21st Century. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1991. Print.
Rosen, Ben. Treasury of Alphabets and Lettering. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1992. Print.
Stiebner, Erhardt, and Dieter Urban. Initials and Decorative Alphabets. New York: F Bruckmann KG, 1983. Print.
Tschichild, Jan. The New Typography. Berlin: Publisher for the Educational Alliance of German Printers
Rosen, Ben. Treasury of Alphabets and Lettering. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1992. Print.
Stiebner, Erhardt, and Dieter Urban. Initials and Decorative Alphabets. New York: F Bruckmann KG, 1983. Print.
Tschichild, Jan. The New Typography. Berlin: Publisher for the Educational Alliance of German Printers
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Images for Discourse 2 - "The New Typography" by Jan Tschichold
(Helene)
This page demonstrates how color can be used to show the importance of different information. The red color helps distinguish the descriptive title from the rest of the page. The yellow color of the chapter titles makes them clearer and easier to quickly recognize as a chapter title.
(Rosen)
This is an example of an old typography layout. A preconceived form takes precedent over text. There is also ornamentation, very prominent margins, and a very old font is used.
(Stiebner and Urban )
This is an example of a decorative arty font from the early 20th century. It's the kind of font Jan Tschichold described in his writing as even worse for general use than fonts used in Old Typography.
Discourse 2 – on "The New Typography" by Jan Tschichold
Information from the section: “The Essence of New Typography is Clarity”
* Old typography was designed for beauty more than clarity
* It was designed differently because people of that time had different needs
* They had time to read slower, so they didn’t need to be as concerned with clarity for the sake of speedy easy communication like we do in the modern world
* In old typography, arranging all the text on a central axis had a higher priority than the arrangement of individual units
* Form of type sizes was more important than expressing logical order that is important to modern typography.
* To New Typography, it is wrong to arrange text for a preconceived idea or form, like, for example, axial arrangement of a text as if there was a focal point in the center of a line. Also, New Typography is against the preconceived ideas of pseudo constructivists.
* The objective of New Typography is to develop visible form out of the functions of the text.
* In both nature and technology, form grows out of function (purpose), materials used (organic or technical).
* Text usually reads top left to bottom right, but it can be arranged other ways.
* Willi Baumeister’s invitation card is an example of an exception to conventional text arrangement.
* Generally, it’s better not to set a following body of text higher than the preceding body of text. This will ensure the text has a logical sequence and order.
* Asymmetry can be created through unusual text placement (make sure it still reads in a logical order, though).
* Asymmetry creates a different rhythm than symmetrical typography.
* Asymmetry can be more logical depending on how it’s arranged.
* It can also be a lot more optically effective than symmetrical arrangement.
* It can create movement, but it must not create chaos and unrest
* It provides a much broader range of possible variation in New Typography
* Asymmetry expresses diversity of modern life
* New typography encouraged standardization in units but allows much more flexibility in design than old typography.
* Old typography allowed all possible construction elements but only recognized the central axis arrangement as the design of the overall form. Essentially, it is the opposite of New Typography in this way.
* Functional design requires abolition of “ornamentation” of old typography and reliance purely on design.
* Reliance on ornamentation shows fear of pure design and pure appearance and not design maturity.
* The thick/thin rule is an ornament and should be avoided
* The New Typography does emphasize contrasts and uses them to create a new unity.
* “abstract decorations” are ornaments in the same way old typography floral ornamentation was.
* New Typography has nothing to do with pictorial typesetting and it should be avoided.
* New Typography uses different type-sizes, weights, placing in relation to space, color, etc, to create logical organization that leads the eye from one word or group of words to the next
* Bigger differences in typographic weight are better than smaller differences because it is more apparent.
* It’s better to limit the number of type sizes used. Usually it’s better not to use more than three to five.
* Headlines should be bigger than the remaining text
* All contrasts should be logical
* Form should correspond with meaning, not contradict it
* White space is very important to asymmetric design
* Strong contrast between white and black and the form of type or rules emphasizes the white areas and assists the total effect
* It is wrong to decide the shape or area of the white before the text is compressed into it. White space is not more important than the words of the text.
* New Typography usually has much smaller margins than Old Typography for effectiveness and clarity of the relationship between black and white.
* Small items of text usually have margins of 12 to 24 points minimum
* Posters usually have a minimum of 48 point margins
* Borders of solid red or black can be taken almost right up to the edge of the text.
* Blocks can bleed off the page if the trim is accurate
* New Typography uses color functionally
* Old typography used color decoratively
* Physiological effects of colors can be used to increase or decrease importance and the attention drawn to text or other visual objects
* White appears like reflecting light and shines
* Red comes forward and seems closest out of any color
* Black is densest and seems farthest away
* Yellow is close to red
* Blue is close to black
* Literary definitions of color are not used (e.g.: red = love)
Section: “Type”
* Sanserif (grotesques) or block letters (skeleton letters) are the only ones suitable to New Typography
* Sanserifs aren’t perfected as all-purpose fonts. They still have too much of a humanistic style
* Jobbing sanserifs like ones from baur & co, in Stuttgart are the most suitable because they have a quiet line and functionalism
* Second best is venus and its copies
* 3rd place is malerischen block letters
* out of the roman types, bold romans like aldine and bold Egyptians are best for types used for emphasis
* old decorative fonts can occasionally find use in some cases (such as parody), but should not be used where they aren’t comfortable. They have to be excluded as a basic typeface for contemporary work
* the author claims roman type is the international typeface of the future
* artistic typefaces are even worse than old typefaces.
* Their individual nature makes them unsuitable for designing print in the modern spirit of today.
* Classic typefaces like walbaum, didot, and odoni can’t be primary all purpose types today because they have romantic association that would divert the reader’s attention to emotional and intellectual spheres that belong to a past we have no connection to
* Currently, the best types to use are sanserifs, but if a roman type has to be used, the best pre-war designed typefaces are ones like Sorbonne and nordische antiqua.
* They are good because they are legible, free from idiosyncrasies, and technically useful.
Section: “Expressiveness of type”
* Gothic type (textura) and sanserif do not express “spiritual content”
* Many people mistakenly believe gothic type is a good way to express peace, solemnity, and religion
* Many also think that italic expresses cheerfulness and joy.
* In reality, in the time period when gothic types were used, only one or two typefaces were used and they were used for everything in general, both religious and profane, both joyous and morose, not the things people associate them with.
* Gothic types express gothic, not religion.
* Rococo expresses the Rococo, not joy.
* Sanserif does not express lack of feeling, just the 20th century
* Good typefaces are never designed to express emotions. They only differ in different times because of changing conceptions of what is a good typeface
* Our age requires clarity and truth, so we must use types that reject the superfluous.
Section: “Orthography as at present or all in lower case?”
* Roman type and sanserifs in use today include different faces that were combined from two alphabets in the 15th century.
* The alphabet of capital letters (called majuscules) was created by old Romans as a form and was shaped by chisels.
* The lower case alphabet (called miniscules) comes from the time of emperor Charlemagne around 800 A.D. They were written with a pen and had ascenders and descenders
* In the Renaissance period, the lowercase and capitcal alphabets were combined to create the “Antiqua” (AKA roman) alphabet.
* The German language uses capitals much more often than most other languages, which makes type settings look less visually appealing when set in German.
* There have been efforts to abolish capital letters for nouns to make German writing conform with international style.
* In the Baroque period, nouns had to be signaled with capitals, but this practice isn’t useful anymore.
* Rules about the use of capitals increase difficulty of learning and teaching in school.
* 100 years ago, Jakob Grimm advocated following the example of Old and Middle High German literature where capitals were only used for proper names and the beginning of sentences. German scholars have followed his example.
* Some people in France have started using capitals and lowercase independently for text and headings instead of mixing them together.
* Instead of accepting either of these solutions, The New Typography would rather discontinue the use of capitals in favor of lowercase because it’s easier to read and recognize each character.
* A one-type system would greatly benefit efficiency and economy of almost everything and give an aesthetically, scientifically, and systematically better lettering system.
* It would also be beneficial to eliminate unnecessary letters like z, q, and c and have signs specifically for sch, ch, and dg.
* Old typography was designed for beauty more than clarity
* It was designed differently because people of that time had different needs
* They had time to read slower, so they didn’t need to be as concerned with clarity for the sake of speedy easy communication like we do in the modern world
* In old typography, arranging all the text on a central axis had a higher priority than the arrangement of individual units
* Form of type sizes was more important than expressing logical order that is important to modern typography.
* To New Typography, it is wrong to arrange text for a preconceived idea or form, like, for example, axial arrangement of a text as if there was a focal point in the center of a line. Also, New Typography is against the preconceived ideas of pseudo constructivists.
* The objective of New Typography is to develop visible form out of the functions of the text.
* In both nature and technology, form grows out of function (purpose), materials used (organic or technical).
* Text usually reads top left to bottom right, but it can be arranged other ways.
* Willi Baumeister’s invitation card is an example of an exception to conventional text arrangement.
* Generally, it’s better not to set a following body of text higher than the preceding body of text. This will ensure the text has a logical sequence and order.
* Asymmetry can be created through unusual text placement (make sure it still reads in a logical order, though).
* Asymmetry creates a different rhythm than symmetrical typography.
* Asymmetry can be more logical depending on how it’s arranged.
* It can also be a lot more optically effective than symmetrical arrangement.
* It can create movement, but it must not create chaos and unrest
* It provides a much broader range of possible variation in New Typography
* Asymmetry expresses diversity of modern life
* New typography encouraged standardization in units but allows much more flexibility in design than old typography.
* Old typography allowed all possible construction elements but only recognized the central axis arrangement as the design of the overall form. Essentially, it is the opposite of New Typography in this way.
* Functional design requires abolition of “ornamentation” of old typography and reliance purely on design.
* Reliance on ornamentation shows fear of pure design and pure appearance and not design maturity.
* The thick/thin rule is an ornament and should be avoided
* The New Typography does emphasize contrasts and uses them to create a new unity.
* “abstract decorations” are ornaments in the same way old typography floral ornamentation was.
* New Typography has nothing to do with pictorial typesetting and it should be avoided.
* New Typography uses different type-sizes, weights, placing in relation to space, color, etc, to create logical organization that leads the eye from one word or group of words to the next
* Bigger differences in typographic weight are better than smaller differences because it is more apparent.
* It’s better to limit the number of type sizes used. Usually it’s better not to use more than three to five.
* Headlines should be bigger than the remaining text
* All contrasts should be logical
* Form should correspond with meaning, not contradict it
* White space is very important to asymmetric design
* Strong contrast between white and black and the form of type or rules emphasizes the white areas and assists the total effect
* It is wrong to decide the shape or area of the white before the text is compressed into it. White space is not more important than the words of the text.
* New Typography usually has much smaller margins than Old Typography for effectiveness and clarity of the relationship between black and white.
* Small items of text usually have margins of 12 to 24 points minimum
* Posters usually have a minimum of 48 point margins
* Borders of solid red or black can be taken almost right up to the edge of the text.
* Blocks can bleed off the page if the trim is accurate
* New Typography uses color functionally
* Old typography used color decoratively
* Physiological effects of colors can be used to increase or decrease importance and the attention drawn to text or other visual objects
* White appears like reflecting light and shines
* Red comes forward and seems closest out of any color
* Black is densest and seems farthest away
* Yellow is close to red
* Blue is close to black
* Literary definitions of color are not used (e.g.: red = love)
Section: “Type”
* Sanserif (grotesques) or block letters (skeleton letters) are the only ones suitable to New Typography
* Sanserifs aren’t perfected as all-purpose fonts. They still have too much of a humanistic style
* Jobbing sanserifs like ones from baur & co, in Stuttgart are the most suitable because they have a quiet line and functionalism
* Second best is venus and its copies
* 3rd place is malerischen block letters
* out of the roman types, bold romans like aldine and bold Egyptians are best for types used for emphasis
* old decorative fonts can occasionally find use in some cases (such as parody), but should not be used where they aren’t comfortable. They have to be excluded as a basic typeface for contemporary work
* the author claims roman type is the international typeface of the future
* artistic typefaces are even worse than old typefaces.
* Their individual nature makes them unsuitable for designing print in the modern spirit of today.
* Classic typefaces like walbaum, didot, and odoni can’t be primary all purpose types today because they have romantic association that would divert the reader’s attention to emotional and intellectual spheres that belong to a past we have no connection to
* Currently, the best types to use are sanserifs, but if a roman type has to be used, the best pre-war designed typefaces are ones like Sorbonne and nordische antiqua.
* They are good because they are legible, free from idiosyncrasies, and technically useful.
Section: “Expressiveness of type”
* Gothic type (textura) and sanserif do not express “spiritual content”
* Many people mistakenly believe gothic type is a good way to express peace, solemnity, and religion
* Many also think that italic expresses cheerfulness and joy.
* In reality, in the time period when gothic types were used, only one or two typefaces were used and they were used for everything in general, both religious and profane, both joyous and morose, not the things people associate them with.
* Gothic types express gothic, not religion.
* Rococo expresses the Rococo, not joy.
* Sanserif does not express lack of feeling, just the 20th century
* Good typefaces are never designed to express emotions. They only differ in different times because of changing conceptions of what is a good typeface
* Our age requires clarity and truth, so we must use types that reject the superfluous.
Section: “Orthography as at present or all in lower case?”
* Roman type and sanserifs in use today include different faces that were combined from two alphabets in the 15th century.
* The alphabet of capital letters (called majuscules) was created by old Romans as a form and was shaped by chisels.
* The lower case alphabet (called miniscules) comes from the time of emperor Charlemagne around 800 A.D. They were written with a pen and had ascenders and descenders
* In the Renaissance period, the lowercase and capitcal alphabets were combined to create the “Antiqua” (AKA roman) alphabet.
* The German language uses capitals much more often than most other languages, which makes type settings look less visually appealing when set in German.
* There have been efforts to abolish capital letters for nouns to make German writing conform with international style.
* In the Baroque period, nouns had to be signaled with capitals, but this practice isn’t useful anymore.
* Rules about the use of capitals increase difficulty of learning and teaching in school.
* 100 years ago, Jakob Grimm advocated following the example of Old and Middle High German literature where capitals were only used for proper names and the beginning of sentences. German scholars have followed his example.
* Some people in France have started using capitals and lowercase independently for text and headings instead of mixing them together.
* Instead of accepting either of these solutions, The New Typography would rather discontinue the use of capitals in favor of lowercase because it’s easier to read and recognize each character.
* A one-type system would greatly benefit efficiency and economy of almost everything and give an aesthetically, scientifically, and systematically better lettering system.
* It would also be beneficial to eliminate unnecessary letters like z, q, and c and have signs specifically for sch, ch, and dg.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Graphic Design of the 1950s and 60s
Graphic design in the 1950s and 60s involved a lot of revolutionary developments in design in the process of redefining post war corporate identity and magazine layouts. Design was starting to be considered essential to business and graphics design was recognized as a profession. Colleges started teaching design in formal education.
Paul Rand was known for wit, inventive forms, and the use of symbols in communication (eg: graphic of the images of an eye, a bee, and M) The use of symbols in this way was new, innovative, and witty.
Bradbury Thompson utilized a vast well of experience, knowledge, and skill in typography and type setting to come up with new design possibilities never seen before. He is known for using type for innovative ideas such as creating a face out of letting (I mean in a much more complex way than a smiley face like this :), though.)
The Vignelli Associates created the unigrad system in 1977 used for the National subway system for Park Service. This was a new approach to maps that could be easily navigated even by people that weren't very familiar with the English language.
George Lois was one of the most influential designers of this time period. He used emptiness to emphasize nothing but pure typography to convey a message. It's radically different from Swiss design, which focused so much on the design that Lois removes in an extreme use of reduction to focus entirely on type and message without distraction. Lois is known for his work created in Esquire Magazine. He talked intelligently to the audience, used white space, focused on the product, and used simple imagery. This was very effective in his intended purpose of communicating the message without any distraction.
Herbert Lubalin was a typographic genius who focused on space and surface. He loved the "new flexibility" of Photo typography he could use to communicate a message.
Photo-Typography was invented in the 60s. It allowed people to photograph types and then use them. This resulted in the rebirth of many old outdated fonts that could be photographed and then used as a type. This invention also radically reduced the cost of creating new typefaces. The use of the outmodel was made possible by photo typography and resulted in changing views on type. Letterforms and objects became more interchangeable. Letterforms could be images. More variation and possibilities arose in the distortion of type.
The New Wave - Young swiss designers rejected the international style and created new styles of design with newer uses of typography. Wolfgang Weingart inspired the movement in Basal by quiestioning typographic arrangements and purpose.
Leo Burnett created myth and stereotypes in his designs to convey a certain attitude about a product. He is known for creating the iconography of the marlboro lone cowboy.
Paul Rand was known for wit, inventive forms, and the use of symbols in communication (eg: graphic of the images of an eye, a bee, and M) The use of symbols in this way was new, innovative, and witty.
Bradbury Thompson utilized a vast well of experience, knowledge, and skill in typography and type setting to come up with new design possibilities never seen before. He is known for using type for innovative ideas such as creating a face out of letting (I mean in a much more complex way than a smiley face like this :), though.)
The Vignelli Associates created the unigrad system in 1977 used for the National subway system for Park Service. This was a new approach to maps that could be easily navigated even by people that weren't very familiar with the English language.
George Lois was one of the most influential designers of this time period. He used emptiness to emphasize nothing but pure typography to convey a message. It's radically different from Swiss design, which focused so much on the design that Lois removes in an extreme use of reduction to focus entirely on type and message without distraction. Lois is known for his work created in Esquire Magazine. He talked intelligently to the audience, used white space, focused on the product, and used simple imagery. This was very effective in his intended purpose of communicating the message without any distraction.
Herbert Lubalin was a typographic genius who focused on space and surface. He loved the "new flexibility" of Photo typography he could use to communicate a message.
Photo-Typography was invented in the 60s. It allowed people to photograph types and then use them. This resulted in the rebirth of many old outdated fonts that could be photographed and then used as a type. This invention also radically reduced the cost of creating new typefaces. The use of the outmodel was made possible by photo typography and resulted in changing views on type. Letterforms and objects became more interchangeable. Letterforms could be images. More variation and possibilities arose in the distortion of type.
The New Wave - Young swiss designers rejected the international style and created new styles of design with newer uses of typography. Wolfgang Weingart inspired the movement in Basal by quiestioning typographic arrangements and purpose.
Leo Burnett created myth and stereotypes in his designs to convey a certain attitude about a product. He is known for creating the iconography of the marlboro lone cowboy.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Fusion of Swiss and American Design
Modern Graphics Design is based on the combination of American and Swiss graphic design. Originally, American and Swiss design were distinctly different styles. Over time, ideas and styles mixed and became indistinguishable, creating modern design commonly used in the corporate world today.
Design Innovations and Desiners from Switzerland:
Isotype emerged in Switzerland and Germany in the 1960s. It was designed to be an International Style of Typography. The purpose was to express information with graphic images instead of text. In this way, it could be read by anyone, even someone illiterate or unfamiliar with a language it would have been written in if it were written with letters. Otto Neurath was the founder of Isotype and the Isotype Institute.
The International style of typography rejects personal expression and embraces universal form.
Proportional grids were introduced by Max Bill and Theo Balmer. Grids could be used to structure designs. Swiss Design is well known for the use of modular grids.
Anton Stankowski contributed to design with the development of abstract "tectonics" used to convey kinetic motion and invisible processes.
The School at ULM utilized a comprehension of signs and symbols in multilingual formats.
The Basal School of Design was considered the "laboratory" of the international style. Design ideas and philosophy of the Basal School of Design spread through students and the publication of books on design methodology from the Basal School of Design.
Armen Hoffman used point, line, and plane to develop his philosophy on graphic design.
Muller Brockman created harmony by using mathematical spacial division and treated image as objective symbol.
American Design Innovations and Designers:
In the 940s, Modernists fled from Hitler and Fascists to other countries. This lead to the development of an American approach to modernist design with New York as a cultural center. European and American attitudes mixed and created new styles of modernism.
Some very influential individuals were Lester Beal and Alexy Brodovitch.
Lester Beal combined Reductionist and Dada methods of type with American and European design tendencies.
Alexy Brodovitch introduced the use of photography to American magazines and editorial layouts. As the art director for Harper's Bazaar, he introduced an international style of design with emphasis on photography. This has changed the course of magazine design in America.
Vignelli Associates created graphic maps of the New York Subway System. Swiss influence can be seen in the design of the New York Subway system map because of the use of isotype symbols.
Branding and Corporate Design was used and developed a lot in America. Some influential designers of this time period were Saul Brass, Bradbury Thompson, Paul Rand, and the Chermayoff and Geison Associates.
Design Innovations and Desiners from Switzerland:
Isotype emerged in Switzerland and Germany in the 1960s. It was designed to be an International Style of Typography. The purpose was to express information with graphic images instead of text. In this way, it could be read by anyone, even someone illiterate or unfamiliar with a language it would have been written in if it were written with letters. Otto Neurath was the founder of Isotype and the Isotype Institute.
The International style of typography rejects personal expression and embraces universal form.
Proportional grids were introduced by Max Bill and Theo Balmer. Grids could be used to structure designs. Swiss Design is well known for the use of modular grids.
Anton Stankowski contributed to design with the development of abstract "tectonics" used to convey kinetic motion and invisible processes.
The School at ULM utilized a comprehension of signs and symbols in multilingual formats.
The Basal School of Design was considered the "laboratory" of the international style. Design ideas and philosophy of the Basal School of Design spread through students and the publication of books on design methodology from the Basal School of Design.
Armen Hoffman used point, line, and plane to develop his philosophy on graphic design.
Muller Brockman created harmony by using mathematical spacial division and treated image as objective symbol.
American Design Innovations and Designers:
In the 940s, Modernists fled from Hitler and Fascists to other countries. This lead to the development of an American approach to modernist design with New York as a cultural center. European and American attitudes mixed and created new styles of modernism.
Some very influential individuals were Lester Beal and Alexy Brodovitch.
Lester Beal combined Reductionist and Dada methods of type with American and European design tendencies.
Alexy Brodovitch introduced the use of photography to American magazines and editorial layouts. As the art director for Harper's Bazaar, he introduced an international style of design with emphasis on photography. This has changed the course of magazine design in America.
Vignelli Associates created graphic maps of the New York Subway System. Swiss influence can be seen in the design of the New York Subway system map because of the use of isotype symbols.
Branding and Corporate Design was used and developed a lot in America. Some influential designers of this time period were Saul Brass, Bradbury Thompson, Paul Rand, and the Chermayoff and Geison Associates.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Graphic Design of the 3rd Reich
Between the two world wars, Germany because a cultural hub. Style of graphic design was influenced by cubism. It eventually evolved into an Art Deco Moderne Style. Graphic design made a dramatic transition form older styles into a style we would recognize as modern.
Art Deco Moderne expressed the designs of a modern era and passion for geometric decoration for a machine age. It's an internationally popular style that evolved at that time that signifies a major change in aesthetic sensibility in graphic design, architectursal, and product design.
Some important designers of this time were Edward Kauffer, AM Cassandre, Jean Carlo, and Joseph Kinder. All of them incorporated cubism into their work.
Ludwig Hohlwien was a great illustrator who was commissioned by the Nazi party to create propaganda posters.
Graphic Design of this time was very propagandistic and promoted nationality, distrust of enemies, and paranoia of spies. Chagne in attitude of the propaganda also accompanied the changes in style. An example of this is the Montgomery FLag 1944 WWII poster that promoted patriotism and anti Japanese sentiment. Uncle Sam turned from just patriotic, to angry.
Maholy Nagy used photoplastic technique and showed micro and macro elements. (micro - a close up view of a face collaged with macro elements, such as a view of an entire crowd.)
Herbert Matter pioneered new graphic design techniques by integrating black and white photography with signs and areas of color. His influences affected later practioners of the International and Typographic Styles. Matter's Posters are considered masterpieces of the 20th century.
Art Deco Moderne expressed the designs of a modern era and passion for geometric decoration for a machine age. It's an internationally popular style that evolved at that time that signifies a major change in aesthetic sensibility in graphic design, architectursal, and product design.
Some important designers of this time were Edward Kauffer, AM Cassandre, Jean Carlo, and Joseph Kinder. All of them incorporated cubism into their work.
Ludwig Hohlwien was a great illustrator who was commissioned by the Nazi party to create propaganda posters.
Graphic Design of this time was very propagandistic and promoted nationality, distrust of enemies, and paranoia of spies. Chagne in attitude of the propaganda also accompanied the changes in style. An example of this is the Montgomery FLag 1944 WWII poster that promoted patriotism and anti Japanese sentiment. Uncle Sam turned from just patriotic, to angry.
Maholy Nagy used photoplastic technique and showed micro and macro elements. (micro - a close up view of a face collaged with macro elements, such as a view of an entire crowd.)
Herbert Matter pioneered new graphic design techniques by integrating black and white photography with signs and areas of color. His influences affected later practioners of the International and Typographic Styles. Matter's Posters are considered masterpieces of the 20th century.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Bauhaus
The Bauhaus was a very influential school of the early 19th century. It established design as a discipline taught and practiced using Modernism's form and functionality. It was located in Weimar from 1919-1925 and in Dessau in 1925-1933 and in Dessau from 1925-1933. the bauhaus was organized with a system that involved a master, journeyman, and apprentice. This system was similar to philosophies and lines used by builders of medieval Gothic cathedrals.
important influential individuals:
Herbert Bayer- At Dessau
His innovations:
*used an implied grid system and system for sizes and type rules and pictorial images to create an open composition.
*strong verticals and horizontals with occasional diagonals.
*he almost exclusively used san serif.
*experimented with type - designed a "visual alphabet" in 1925 that emitted capitals.
Moholy-Nagy
*Photoplasitcs - expanded role of photography in design context. he created a new visual language for photograph in enlargement, distortion, dropouts, double exposure, and montage.
Jan Tschichold
Unique in the history of design.
*fully realized bauhaus typographic theories. 20th century typographic expression is based on these theories.
*after realizing bauhaus typographic theories, he rejects dictums and reverted to a classical form of type.
*advocates freedom of modernist dogma.
*He wrote a book called "The New Typography" - described funtional design in the most straightforward means.
- the New Typography advocates design of contrasting elements, dynamic forces (type in motion), white space as interval and structural element, declared sans serif the modernist type.
* Tschichold turned back to "traditions of type" like his re-interpretation of Garamound, which he called Sabon. Returning "traditions of type" implied freedom of thought and artistic expression in typographic design.
Dutch masters of the New Typography
*Piet Zwart - self-proclaimed "typotekt" (architect + typography). He was influenced by Dada and De Stijl's functionalism.
*Paul Soetema
*Hendrick N Wekman - used small presses to produce a unique composition. his techniques were innovative and new.
*Herbert Matter - expressed type and image more fully than any other designer in the 1930s. He understood Russian film innovations, and used montage and collage.
his Significance: the role of extreme contrasts of scale in photography was expanded in the European poster style.
(Btw, sorry I missed class today. I'm sure you noticed that when I came in. Just so you know, that was the only class I missed. I don't habitiually try to skip class without being noticed. I just got thrown off a little since my class before your class got out an hour early, so then I came at 6 instead of 7 and saw no one was there, so I though class might have been canceled or something until later when I noticed what time it was and remembered I got out early. I didn't missed it on purpose.)
important influential individuals:
Herbert Bayer- At Dessau
His innovations:
*used an implied grid system and system for sizes and type rules and pictorial images to create an open composition.
*strong verticals and horizontals with occasional diagonals.
*he almost exclusively used san serif.
*experimented with type - designed a "visual alphabet" in 1925 that emitted capitals.
Moholy-Nagy
*Photoplasitcs - expanded role of photography in design context. he created a new visual language for photograph in enlargement, distortion, dropouts, double exposure, and montage.
Jan Tschichold
Unique in the history of design.
*fully realized bauhaus typographic theories. 20th century typographic expression is based on these theories.
*after realizing bauhaus typographic theories, he rejects dictums and reverted to a classical form of type.
*advocates freedom of modernist dogma.
*He wrote a book called "The New Typography" - described funtional design in the most straightforward means.
- the New Typography advocates design of contrasting elements, dynamic forces (type in motion), white space as interval and structural element, declared sans serif the modernist type.
* Tschichold turned back to "traditions of type" like his re-interpretation of Garamound, which he called Sabon. Returning "traditions of type" implied freedom of thought and artistic expression in typographic design.
Dutch masters of the New Typography
*Piet Zwart - self-proclaimed "typotekt" (architect + typography). He was influenced by Dada and De Stijl's functionalism.
*Paul Soetema
*Hendrick N Wekman - used small presses to produce a unique composition. his techniques were innovative and new.
*Herbert Matter - expressed type and image more fully than any other designer in the 1930s. He understood Russian film innovations, and used montage and collage.
his Significance: the role of extreme contrasts of scale in photography was expanded in the European poster style.
(Btw, sorry I missed class today. I'm sure you noticed that when I came in. Just so you know, that was the only class I missed. I don't habitiually try to skip class without being noticed. I just got thrown off a little since my class before your class got out an hour early, so then I came at 6 instead of 7 and saw no one was there, so I though class might have been canceled or something until later when I noticed what time it was and remembered I got out early. I didn't missed it on purpose.)
Monday, March 2, 2009
One Minute Essay: The Influence of Graphics Design of Socialist Russia
Graphics Design in communist Russia sparked many new innovative techniques and styles that continue to influence graphics design today.
Influences of Russian Communist graphics design in the 20th century caused photos to become discussive. Constructivism also emerged in Communist Russia in the early 20th century. The graphics of the time, place, and political setting used hyperbole messages for the leninstate and also had the style of pureflat color - they had machine like spatial rhythms. Communist art and design expressed equality for all people, including women. Through advertisement, the graphic system of Communist Russia developed a standardized format closely intertwined with the economy.
Some of the important and influential designers discussed in class were Solomon Tellingster, the Steinberg Brothers, Rodchenko, and El Lissitzky. Solomon Tellingster created Exercise and Sports posters which combined text and image to serve the media.
The Steinberg Brothers merged phototgraphy with illustration. This technique was new and influenced the development of the usage of photomontage and montage. Rodchenko was an advertising constructor whose designs were like a missing link between older and modern packaging design.
El Lissitzky was a visionary designer of the 20th century. He invented Prouns Space, which is a synthesis of architectural concepts with painting. He is known for symbolic constructivist propaganda posters such as, "Beat the whites with the Red Wedge" and his childrens book "Of Two Squares", which could be understood by everyone, including illiterate peasants. El Lissiztsky's work displayed cinematic power of macro/micro, split images, repeating patterns, and dynamic crops. Lissitzky also was involved with the creation and publication with one of the most influential books on graphics design of the 20th century. It's called "The "Isms" of Art". It established typographic standar, pictorial spreads, elevation of numbers to concreate abstract forms, and asymmetrical balance. He used white space and silhouette halftones to create the illusion of 3D with 2D shapes. His influential posters were icons of the 20th century and explored montage, photomontage, and displayed socialist ideals of equality between genders.
Influences of Russian Communist graphics design in the 20th century caused photos to become discussive. Constructivism also emerged in Communist Russia in the early 20th century. The graphics of the time, place, and political setting used hyperbole messages for the leninstate and also had the style of pureflat color - they had machine like spatial rhythms. Communist art and design expressed equality for all people, including women. Through advertisement, the graphic system of Communist Russia developed a standardized format closely intertwined with the economy.
Some of the important and influential designers discussed in class were Solomon Tellingster, the Steinberg Brothers, Rodchenko, and El Lissitzky. Solomon Tellingster created Exercise and Sports posters which combined text and image to serve the media.
The Steinberg Brothers merged phototgraphy with illustration. This technique was new and influenced the development of the usage of photomontage and montage. Rodchenko was an advertising constructor whose designs were like a missing link between older and modern packaging design.
El Lissitzky was a visionary designer of the 20th century. He invented Prouns Space, which is a synthesis of architectural concepts with painting. He is known for symbolic constructivist propaganda posters such as, "Beat the whites with the Red Wedge" and his childrens book "Of Two Squares", which could be understood by everyone, including illiterate peasants. El Lissiztsky's work displayed cinematic power of macro/micro, split images, repeating patterns, and dynamic crops. Lissitzky also was involved with the creation and publication with one of the most influential books on graphics design of the 20th century. It's called "The "Isms" of Art". It established typographic standar, pictorial spreads, elevation of numbers to concreate abstract forms, and asymmetrical balance. He used white space and silhouette halftones to create the illusion of 3D with 2D shapes. His influential posters were icons of the 20th century and explored montage, photomontage, and displayed socialist ideals of equality between genders.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Discourse 1 - Isotypes - Images
The logo for Shell uses reduction to simplify the design so it's generic. Since the logo is generic, it's apparent that it doesn't only refer to one specific shell in the world. It just represents shells in general. It's iconic, easily recognized, and can be recognized by anyone from any culture. This is how Neurath's ideas have influenced the development of modern graphics design and how the logos of companies have been shaped by the influence of ideas about simplicity and universality. The image of the shell logo came from Carlo Bejec's portfolio.
These next two images represent statistical information in graphic form instead of long lists of numbers that would bore, confuse, and lose the attention of anyone intended to see them. The map of China represents the birth places of Poets. Large red dots indicate places where lots of poets were born and small dots represent places where few poets were born. It's much easier, faster, and more interesting to viewers to be able to see this information graphically than long lists of numbers. The map of China came from "Envisioning Information" by Edward R Trufte.
The same principles are used in the chart below the map, which displays statistical information about the number of cars and phones in different European countries. Each image is a unit representing a certain amount of cars, phones, or people. Since the graphics representing cars, phones, and people apply the principle of reduction, they are to simple to represent a specific object. They represent any one of that type of object on the planet. It is generalized, like the shell logo. I mentioned in the bulleted information about the Isotype article I read that the size of the graphics are not meant to be interpreted literally. The phones do not represent giant phones the size of cars and the cars do not represent anything smaller than usual. The graph came from the "Reading Isotype" article by Ellen Lupton.
Since images are universal, they can be read by anyone of any culture who speaks any language. This can be useful for information intended for the general public because not everyone in the general public is necessarily from the same culture or speaks the same language. This can be especially vital and important to traffic signs, where lives could be in danger if people didn't understand them. This is why many traffic signs use isotype to convey messages, like signs warning of pedestrians, or signs displaying graphical information about the way a road turns. Below, there are some examples of signs using isotype to explain information about directing aircrafts. The image of the airtraffic control signs came from "Envisioning Information" by Edward R. Trufte.
Discourse 1 - Isotypes - Bulleted Information From Article
Bulleted Information on Discourse 1 - Isotype
This information is from the "Reading Isotype" article by Ellen Lupton
Otto Neurath - Isotypes were developed by philosopher and social scientist Otto Neurath in the 1920s.
• Conveyed social and economic information to a general public by using simplified images. It has been applied to sociological museums, books, posters, and pedagogical materials.
• Neurath’s philosophy included the belief that language is the medium of all knowledge. Symbols are essential for the availability of empirical facts to the mind. Knowledge and its structure are disfigured b y verbal language because its vocabulary is an inconsistent not a logical mode of objects and relations in the physical world.
• Pictorial signs are the universal bride between symbolic, generic language and direct empirical evidence because vision is the link between language and nature.
• Otto Neurath and his wife directed the Isotype Institute.
o Isotype researchers gathered statistics and other information
o Symbol designers developed Isotype vocabulary
o “Transformers” converted information into Isotype graphics.
Logical Positivism – Logical Positivism is a philosophical theory formed in 1920s and 1930s by a group of philosophers called the “Vienna Circle.”
• Brought together 2 contradictory philosophies:
o Rationalism – uses logic, geometry, and mathematics to study reality instead of observation.
o Empiricism (AKA Positivism) – claims knowledge is only accessible through direct human observation.
• Rationalism and empiricism is combined in science by transforming mathematics from metaphysics to method from autonomous system reflecting divine law or the inherent order of mind to a tool for quantifying observable phenomenon
• Philosophy continued the opposition between rationalist and empiricist theories of knowledge.
Symbolic Logic – Giuseppe Peano and Gottlob Frege developed symbolic logic in the late 19th century.
• Utilizes basic relationships similar to arithmetic, such as +, -, x, =.
• Simple propositions are formed from precise definitions. Complex statements can be built from the simple propositions that are formed.
• Analytical truth makes no claim to metaphysical reality, referring to a relationship among abstract symbols.
• The Vienna Circle used symbolic language to analyze language into a minimum set of direct experiences, represented algebraically.
• The terms in every language can be reduced to a core of physical observations, such as “big, “small”, “red”, “blue.”
• Logical positivism aims o identify basic observational terns underlying all languages.
• “Mirror of Nature” – logical positivism correlated the terms of a purely abstract system with units of direct experience, attempting to analyze language into a consistent and logical mirror of nature.
Linguistic theory was developed by Ferdinand deSaussure in the late 19th century.
• Logical positivism contrasted with linguistic theory because in linguistic theory, language is fundamentally independent of any structure of nature, but in logical positivism, the meaning of any term in language is derived from structures in nature.
• Signs derive their significance from their relationship to other signs, not from correspondence with material objects (Example: I also means not you, not he, not she, etc). The sign itself is empty and meaningless.
• Some branches of the artistic avante garde were influenced by Sausserian linguistics, but positivist tradition has influenced modern design disciplines more.
Isotype – popular version of logical positivism
• Positive because as a picture, it claims a base in observation
• Logical because it concentrates experience detail into a schematic repeatable sign
• Isotype aids are comparable with scientifically formulated statements. Scientists reach theories from the observational statements. Neurath’s theories correlate with observational statements, but are distinguishable from them.
• Isotype characters are similar to scientific formulas
• Isotype symbols are reduced and conventionalized schemes of direct experience.
• Neurath considered pictures a very neutral and therefore superior mode of expression. “Just through its neutrality, and its independence of separate languages, visual education is superior to word education.
• Pictorial information would dissolve cultural differences because of its universality. Pictures can be understood more easily by anyone in any culture because language is not necessary to understand a picture.
• Since the photograph is a mechanical record of optical data, it is the most neutral of all.
• Tried to combine the mechanical empiricism
• Isofarms are pictograms with generic status indicated by style, which shows that it is public information and not an advertisement or decoration.
• Constructivists (Theorists were destil and the Bauhaus) – geometry could synthesize art and technology and offer a “visual language” that could exist independently of particular cultures. Their goal was to create a visual language that could be used in many cultures.
Pictorial Statistics
• Robin Kinross noted the influence of Isotypes could be broken loosely into 2 areas.
• Only quantitative facts are socially significant.
• Since most people are afraid of banal details of large amounts quantitative information as rows of figures, simple, clean, colored, symbols (Example: simplified men, women, employees) were used to represent quantitative information instead of abstract numbers.
• Isotype semiotic terminology – Isotype figures are both icons and indexes.
• Icon – a sign whose form is analogous to the object it represents. As an icon, it’s grounded by physical resemblance.
• Index – a sign linked to its object by virtue of proximity or direct physical contact. As an index, it’s generated by numerical data.
• Statistical tabulation is an index of empirical observations. Example: a population curve is a shape produced by information it describes, not an invented image.
• Statistics promote the objectivity of numbers while pressing and interest in explanation.
Pictorial signs
• Neurath’s writing suggests 2 central rules of generating vocabulary of international pictures:
o Reduction – for determining the style of individual signs
o Consistency – for giving a group of signs the appearance of a coherent system.
• These rules have implicit (practical functions).
• They also have explicitly (rhetorical functions).
• These constructive rules project empirical scientific objectivity
• They reinforce the “language quality” of picture signs because individual signs look more like letters and groups of signs look like complete, sufficient languages.
• Reduction – to find the simplest way to express an object
• Implicit rhetorical function of reduction is to suggest that the image has a natural, scientific relationship to its object like a natural necessary relationship to its essence instead of a sign that is just culturally learned.
• Techniques of reduction:
o Silhouette (black shape of the object)
o Flatness – used to suggest factual honesty without illusions provided by perspective
• Depth – isometry is used to express depth in isotype graphics instead of linear perspective
• There is no convergence of parallel lines. There is only fixed dimunition from foreground to background.
• Neurath was impressed by children’s drawings because he believed them to express a naïve, natural, and thus universal perception. The drawings of children are free from perspective.
• Eliminating perspective and interior detail creates a heightened alphabetic quality of international pictures.
• The actual size, scale, or position of a sign are not meant to be interpreted spatially and do not represent any literal physical qualities of the objects represented by the icons. Example: phone icons the same size, as car icons do not represent giant phones or small cars.
Reduction
• Contemporaries of Neurath also used reduction principle in about all mass-produced items from household objects to alphabets.
• The Sans Serif Font Futura was designed by Paul Renner with influence from Neurath’s ideas on reduction
• Neurath adopted reduction for all Isotype graphics.
• 20th century sans serif typefaces express the machine age
o Elimating details in reduction results in a generic look that represents no object in particular.
Consistency – refers to the stylistic uniformity of a set of signs and to the standardized use of signs allowing them to become conventional in a particular community.
• Neurath knew the is Isotype wasn’t instituted as tan official international standard, other pictorial language groups would enter the environment. There are now many pictorial languages who have entered the environment all over the world.
• Neurath worried about how too many pictorial languages would negatively effect consistency and said there would be no advantage to having too many visual languages competing.
• Neurath extended the principle of consistency to architecture and graphics.
• Peter Berhens explored identity design at the AEG in Berlin in the early 20th century.
• After World War II, the identity program became a major design service. Often it centered on a pictorial or abstract log mark for corporations.
• Stylistic consistency allows context of different signs throughout a city to be recognized.
• Isotype is so consistent that it’s understood to be meaningful when there is an occasional violation of the rules and consistency.
• Consistency results in the clear representation of a set of images read as information marking signs and not just ornaments.
• Examples exemplifying consistency:
o Sign for Munich Olympics of 1972 (figures are generated with a “body alphabet” It’s visually systematic, consistent, but not an actual grammatical rule).
o Tokyo system of the 1964 Olympics
o Sign system of the U.S. Department of Transportation prepared by the American Institution of Graphic Arts.
Semantography (AKA Blissmbolics) – Charles Bliss promoted semantography from 1940s to 1970s.
• Semantography consists of 100 symbols composed of small quantity of “schematized lines, which faintly indicate the outline of things.”
• Syntactic markers allow sematographic icons to function in 3 different modes:
o Thing
o Action
o Human evolution
• Bliss compared semantography to “a microscope and telescope for thinking” because someone literate in semantography is an observer more than a reader.
• Semantography is instrumental to the examination of empirical reality.
Conclusion
• Pictorial signs are meant to be universally legible because they appeal to supposedly objective views instead of culturally bound interpretation.
• Neurath’s philosophical aim was to create a scientific logical positivist language whose symbols would mirror nature.
• The influence of Isotype has caused many more recent designers to question the division between what is “visual” and what is “verbal”.
• Roland Barthles analyzed images and objects as linguistic signs and examined their ideological functions in history.
• “Visual/verbal rhetoric for graphic design was proposed by Gui Bonieppe. This rhetoric described images in terms traditionally applied to verbal discussion.
• Hanno Ehses, now a teacher at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, teaches designers methods to generate ideas by utilizing patterns from classical rhetoric.
• The writings of Francis Butler express his ideas on a necessity for graphic designers to create more culturally specific images.
• Victor Burgin is known for combining text with photography in projects to study sexual, political, and art historical issues.
• Gregory Ulmer is a literary theorist who advocates a visual/verbal practice based on Jacques Derrida’s philosophy.
• Through his work, Jacques Derrida attempts to dissolve traditional distinctions between interpretation and perception, and between objectivity and subjectivity. He plans for his new discipline to include mixed combination of teaching, writing, and art. It could possibly turn out to be a non-positivist revision of the roles played by Neurath as an educator, scientist, and designer.
• Neurath’s legacy as a philosophical generalist has greatly impacted the course of design in the last century. So has Neurath’s influence as a language worker using design to develop and promote ideas.
• Changes in technology and philosophy open new questions and possibilities about visual and verbal writing.
This information is from the "Reading Isotype" article by Ellen Lupton
Otto Neurath - Isotypes were developed by philosopher and social scientist Otto Neurath in the 1920s.
• Conveyed social and economic information to a general public by using simplified images. It has been applied to sociological museums, books, posters, and pedagogical materials.
• Neurath’s philosophy included the belief that language is the medium of all knowledge. Symbols are essential for the availability of empirical facts to the mind. Knowledge and its structure are disfigured b y verbal language because its vocabulary is an inconsistent not a logical mode of objects and relations in the physical world.
• Pictorial signs are the universal bride between symbolic, generic language and direct empirical evidence because vision is the link between language and nature.
• Otto Neurath and his wife directed the Isotype Institute.
o Isotype researchers gathered statistics and other information
o Symbol designers developed Isotype vocabulary
o “Transformers” converted information into Isotype graphics.
Logical Positivism – Logical Positivism is a philosophical theory formed in 1920s and 1930s by a group of philosophers called the “Vienna Circle.”
• Brought together 2 contradictory philosophies:
o Rationalism – uses logic, geometry, and mathematics to study reality instead of observation.
o Empiricism (AKA Positivism) – claims knowledge is only accessible through direct human observation.
• Rationalism and empiricism is combined in science by transforming mathematics from metaphysics to method from autonomous system reflecting divine law or the inherent order of mind to a tool for quantifying observable phenomenon
• Philosophy continued the opposition between rationalist and empiricist theories of knowledge.
Symbolic Logic – Giuseppe Peano and Gottlob Frege developed symbolic logic in the late 19th century.
• Utilizes basic relationships similar to arithmetic, such as +, -, x, =.
• Simple propositions are formed from precise definitions. Complex statements can be built from the simple propositions that are formed.
• Analytical truth makes no claim to metaphysical reality, referring to a relationship among abstract symbols.
• The Vienna Circle used symbolic language to analyze language into a minimum set of direct experiences, represented algebraically.
• The terms in every language can be reduced to a core of physical observations, such as “big, “small”, “red”, “blue.”
• Logical positivism aims o identify basic observational terns underlying all languages.
• “Mirror of Nature” – logical positivism correlated the terms of a purely abstract system with units of direct experience, attempting to analyze language into a consistent and logical mirror of nature.
Linguistic theory was developed by Ferdinand deSaussure in the late 19th century.
• Logical positivism contrasted with linguistic theory because in linguistic theory, language is fundamentally independent of any structure of nature, but in logical positivism, the meaning of any term in language is derived from structures in nature.
• Signs derive their significance from their relationship to other signs, not from correspondence with material objects (Example: I also means not you, not he, not she, etc). The sign itself is empty and meaningless.
• Some branches of the artistic avante garde were influenced by Sausserian linguistics, but positivist tradition has influenced modern design disciplines more.
Isotype – popular version of logical positivism
• Positive because as a picture, it claims a base in observation
• Logical because it concentrates experience detail into a schematic repeatable sign
• Isotype aids are comparable with scientifically formulated statements. Scientists reach theories from the observational statements. Neurath’s theories correlate with observational statements, but are distinguishable from them.
• Isotype characters are similar to scientific formulas
• Isotype symbols are reduced and conventionalized schemes of direct experience.
• Neurath considered pictures a very neutral and therefore superior mode of expression. “Just through its neutrality, and its independence of separate languages, visual education is superior to word education.
• Pictorial information would dissolve cultural differences because of its universality. Pictures can be understood more easily by anyone in any culture because language is not necessary to understand a picture.
• Since the photograph is a mechanical record of optical data, it is the most neutral of all.
• Tried to combine the mechanical empiricism
• Isofarms are pictograms with generic status indicated by style, which shows that it is public information and not an advertisement or decoration.
• Constructivists (Theorists were destil and the Bauhaus) – geometry could synthesize art and technology and offer a “visual language” that could exist independently of particular cultures. Their goal was to create a visual language that could be used in many cultures.
Pictorial Statistics
• Robin Kinross noted the influence of Isotypes could be broken loosely into 2 areas.
• Only quantitative facts are socially significant.
• Since most people are afraid of banal details of large amounts quantitative information as rows of figures, simple, clean, colored, symbols (Example: simplified men, women, employees) were used to represent quantitative information instead of abstract numbers.
• Isotype semiotic terminology – Isotype figures are both icons and indexes.
• Icon – a sign whose form is analogous to the object it represents. As an icon, it’s grounded by physical resemblance.
• Index – a sign linked to its object by virtue of proximity or direct physical contact. As an index, it’s generated by numerical data.
• Statistical tabulation is an index of empirical observations. Example: a population curve is a shape produced by information it describes, not an invented image.
• Statistics promote the objectivity of numbers while pressing and interest in explanation.
Pictorial signs
• Neurath’s writing suggests 2 central rules of generating vocabulary of international pictures:
o Reduction – for determining the style of individual signs
o Consistency – for giving a group of signs the appearance of a coherent system.
• These rules have implicit (practical functions).
• They also have explicitly (rhetorical functions).
• These constructive rules project empirical scientific objectivity
• They reinforce the “language quality” of picture signs because individual signs look more like letters and groups of signs look like complete, sufficient languages.
• Reduction – to find the simplest way to express an object
• Implicit rhetorical function of reduction is to suggest that the image has a natural, scientific relationship to its object like a natural necessary relationship to its essence instead of a sign that is just culturally learned.
• Techniques of reduction:
o Silhouette (black shape of the object)
o Flatness – used to suggest factual honesty without illusions provided by perspective
• Depth – isometry is used to express depth in isotype graphics instead of linear perspective
• There is no convergence of parallel lines. There is only fixed dimunition from foreground to background.
• Neurath was impressed by children’s drawings because he believed them to express a naïve, natural, and thus universal perception. The drawings of children are free from perspective.
• Eliminating perspective and interior detail creates a heightened alphabetic quality of international pictures.
• The actual size, scale, or position of a sign are not meant to be interpreted spatially and do not represent any literal physical qualities of the objects represented by the icons. Example: phone icons the same size, as car icons do not represent giant phones or small cars.
Reduction
• Contemporaries of Neurath also used reduction principle in about all mass-produced items from household objects to alphabets.
• The Sans Serif Font Futura was designed by Paul Renner with influence from Neurath’s ideas on reduction
• Neurath adopted reduction for all Isotype graphics.
• 20th century sans serif typefaces express the machine age
o Elimating details in reduction results in a generic look that represents no object in particular.
Consistency – refers to the stylistic uniformity of a set of signs and to the standardized use of signs allowing them to become conventional in a particular community.
• Neurath knew the is Isotype wasn’t instituted as tan official international standard, other pictorial language groups would enter the environment. There are now many pictorial languages who have entered the environment all over the world.
• Neurath worried about how too many pictorial languages would negatively effect consistency and said there would be no advantage to having too many visual languages competing.
• Neurath extended the principle of consistency to architecture and graphics.
• Peter Berhens explored identity design at the AEG in Berlin in the early 20th century.
• After World War II, the identity program became a major design service. Often it centered on a pictorial or abstract log mark for corporations.
• Stylistic consistency allows context of different signs throughout a city to be recognized.
• Isotype is so consistent that it’s understood to be meaningful when there is an occasional violation of the rules and consistency.
• Consistency results in the clear representation of a set of images read as information marking signs and not just ornaments.
• Examples exemplifying consistency:
o Sign for Munich Olympics of 1972 (figures are generated with a “body alphabet” It’s visually systematic, consistent, but not an actual grammatical rule).
o Tokyo system of the 1964 Olympics
o Sign system of the U.S. Department of Transportation prepared by the American Institution of Graphic Arts.
Semantography (AKA Blissmbolics) – Charles Bliss promoted semantography from 1940s to 1970s.
• Semantography consists of 100 symbols composed of small quantity of “schematized lines, which faintly indicate the outline of things.”
• Syntactic markers allow sematographic icons to function in 3 different modes:
o Thing
o Action
o Human evolution
• Bliss compared semantography to “a microscope and telescope for thinking” because someone literate in semantography is an observer more than a reader.
• Semantography is instrumental to the examination of empirical reality.
Conclusion
• Pictorial signs are meant to be universally legible because they appeal to supposedly objective views instead of culturally bound interpretation.
• Neurath’s philosophical aim was to create a scientific logical positivist language whose symbols would mirror nature.
• The influence of Isotype has caused many more recent designers to question the division between what is “visual” and what is “verbal”.
• Roland Barthles analyzed images and objects as linguistic signs and examined their ideological functions in history.
• “Visual/verbal rhetoric for graphic design was proposed by Gui Bonieppe. This rhetoric described images in terms traditionally applied to verbal discussion.
• Hanno Ehses, now a teacher at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, teaches designers methods to generate ideas by utilizing patterns from classical rhetoric.
• The writings of Francis Butler express his ideas on a necessity for graphic designers to create more culturally specific images.
• Victor Burgin is known for combining text with photography in projects to study sexual, political, and art historical issues.
• Gregory Ulmer is a literary theorist who advocates a visual/verbal practice based on Jacques Derrida’s philosophy.
• Through his work, Jacques Derrida attempts to dissolve traditional distinctions between interpretation and perception, and between objectivity and subjectivity. He plans for his new discipline to include mixed combination of teaching, writing, and art. It could possibly turn out to be a non-positivist revision of the roles played by Neurath as an educator, scientist, and designer.
• Neurath’s legacy as a philosophical generalist has greatly impacted the course of design in the last century. So has Neurath’s influence as a language worker using design to develop and promote ideas.
• Changes in technology and philosophy open new questions and possibilities about visual and verbal writing.
Monday, February 23, 2009
early 20th century - DADA, Surrealism, Futurism
In the early 20th century, artists started to rebel against society and authority with movements like DADA and Futurism. Futurists embraced destruction, war, danger, and the age of machines. Their philosophy was this is what the world is becoming. there is no way to stop it or change it, so embrace it. They wanted to destroy museums and relics of the past and all social conventions. Filippo Marinetti was the one who launched Futurism. Futurism impacted typographic design by pulling i into avant garde movements.
The DADA movement rejected logical order and sought to create non-sequiter imagery to express the chaos of the world. In their art, they "replaced logical nonsense with illogical nonsense". An example of a famous DADA artist is Marcel Duchamp. He rebelled against classic ideas of art by using found objects for his art.
The influence of Futurism and DADA created modern Graphics Design. Both of these movements were iconoclastic and closely related. Different factions of these movements arose and developed into more art forms, such as surrealism, which arose from DADA, cubism, and automatism.
Surrealism impacted graphics design with its visual expression of poetry, fantasy, and the subconscious.
Automatism was a psychic exercise that attempted to express "the foundations of thought "dictated" by the absence of all control exercised by reason."
synthetic cubism "signs" the graphic esse."nce of an object rather than appearance of the object
Artists in all of these art movements utilized concepts involved in structural linguistics (whether or not they were aware of seminology or the philosophy of Ferdinand Saussure) to create the unexpected, non-sequitors, or to rebel against authority.
Another very important influences to graphic design that emerged during this time is typographic materiality. Poets started to think about the way text looked and how it was arranged as much as the words themselves. this obviously was a major breakthrough in the development of modern typography.
Without the influences of the art movements that emerged in the early 20th century, pictorial modernism wouldn't have developed into the forms that exist today.
The DADA movement rejected logical order and sought to create non-sequiter imagery to express the chaos of the world. In their art, they "replaced logical nonsense with illogical nonsense". An example of a famous DADA artist is Marcel Duchamp. He rebelled against classic ideas of art by using found objects for his art.
The influence of Futurism and DADA created modern Graphics Design. Both of these movements were iconoclastic and closely related. Different factions of these movements arose and developed into more art forms, such as surrealism, which arose from DADA, cubism, and automatism.
Surrealism impacted graphics design with its visual expression of poetry, fantasy, and the subconscious.
Automatism was a psychic exercise that attempted to express "the foundations of thought "dictated" by the absence of all control exercised by reason."
synthetic cubism "signs" the graphic esse."nce of an object rather than appearance of the object
Artists in all of these art movements utilized concepts involved in structural linguistics (whether or not they were aware of seminology or the philosophy of Ferdinand Saussure) to create the unexpected, non-sequitors, or to rebel against authority.
Another very important influences to graphic design that emerged during this time is typographic materiality. Poets started to think about the way text looked and how it was arranged as much as the words themselves. this obviously was a major breakthrough in the development of modern typography.
Without the influences of the art movements that emerged in the early 20th century, pictorial modernism wouldn't have developed into the forms that exist today.
Monday, February 9, 2009
The influence of Art Noveau and the evolution to Modern Design
Art Noveau was a style that flourished from 1890 to 1910. It only lasted 20 years, but it was the initial phase of the 20th century modernist movement. It was a transitional that created new understanding and philosophies for space and form arose.
One of the important influences of Art Noveau was that it invented forms instead of recycling pre-exiting historical models. This is an important ingredient to abstract art. Another important way it influenced the development of modernism was with ornamental structures. ornament evolved with form defining it instead of just being added later. Symbolism and Philosophical concerns were also yet another important way Art Noveau influenced later art and design because symbolism and philosophical concerns became inseparable from creativity. Symbolism Philosophical concerns are inseparable from modern art.
Vienna Secession, which "fully exploded at the Bauhaus" formed as a Result of Art Noveau. he Vienna Secession sparked mathematical pattern. The Gaslow School was a counter movement of Art Noveau. The Gaslow School was a transition to 20th century aesthetic and involved strong rectangular structure opposing strong curvilinear elements.
An important concept that arose because of Art Noveau is meaningful incompleteness, which only showed minimal necessities of design and required the viewers to understand and complete the concept themselves.
One of the important influences of Art Noveau was that it invented forms instead of recycling pre-exiting historical models. This is an important ingredient to abstract art. Another important way it influenced the development of modernism was with ornamental structures. ornament evolved with form defining it instead of just being added later. Symbolism and Philosophical concerns were also yet another important way Art Noveau influenced later art and design because symbolism and philosophical concerns became inseparable from creativity. Symbolism Philosophical concerns are inseparable from modern art.
Vienna Secession, which "fully exploded at the Bauhaus" formed as a Result of Art Noveau. he Vienna Secession sparked mathematical pattern. The Gaslow School was a counter movement of Art Noveau. The Gaslow School was a transition to 20th century aesthetic and involved strong rectangular structure opposing strong curvilinear elements.
An important concept that arose because of Art Noveau is meaningful incompleteness, which only showed minimal necessities of design and required the viewers to understand and complete the concept themselves.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Typography and Design in the Post Industrial Revolution
In the Victorian Era, design was ruled by cheap commercial need to mass produce and sell as much as possible. There was little sense of design. New types emerged from the frenzy of different illustrators creating text in their images. Chromolithography was used extensively until it was replaced by lithography. Many design aspects were forgotten and sacrificed to commercial consumerism. Book Design and many other product designs were horrible.
These are some of the things that developed in the industrial revolution:
* metal parts were used for type
* machines powered by steam
* increased efficiency with plates and lyleners
* photo-mechanized processes
* color lithography
* machine based type settings
William Morris was one of the mos important people to the process of revolutionizing type and design during the arts and crafts movement. His goal was to revive importance of the design and craft in mass produced objects. He revived the art of book design and almost single-handedly revolutionized attention to typography. His influence was wide-spread and effects modern design.
His philosophy: the shoddiness of mass-produced craft and design was a "moral failure". His Guild considered the "cheap and nasty" a cultural weakness.
These are some of the things that developed in the industrial revolution:
* metal parts were used for type
* machines powered by steam
* increased efficiency with plates and lyleners
* photo-mechanized processes
* color lithography
* machine based type settings
William Morris was one of the mos important people to the process of revolutionizing type and design during the arts and crafts movement. His goal was to revive importance of the design and craft in mass produced objects. He revived the art of book design and almost single-handedly revolutionized attention to typography. His influence was wide-spread and effects modern design.
His philosophy: the shoddiness of mass-produced craft and design was a "moral failure". His Guild considered the "cheap and nasty" a cultural weakness.
Monday, January 26, 2009
additional note to 1 minute essay:
It might be too late now, but I would also like to mention that illuminated manuscripts had immense impact on development of alphabet and lettering at that time.
Relevance and Evolution of Writing and Type
Writing is extremely important to culture and society. Before writing existed, society had no way to record laws and standardizations, keep records of anything relevant to their culture, or communicate through writing without using the spoken word. Throughout the ages, various cultures have influenced the development of writing and text.
In Asian countries, alphabets were based on logograms, which are symbols representing an entire word. In Western countries, alphabets were based on phonetics. The alphabets used by western languages originated from the Phoenecians. The Greeks and Romans added 2 letters to the phonoecian alphabet when they adopted it. Greeks also standardized the way text was read (left to right, starting at the top), and designed the way letters looked so they would be more symmetrical and pleasing. In the middle ages, more letters were added to complete the modern 26 letter alphabet.
Caligraphy in the middle ages looked very different from Roman type and modern type. In the Gothic Age, Guttenberg invented the printing press (it was first invented in China, though), and it used the textura type, which mimicked hand-written caligraphy of the time. Later, during the Transitional period, text was re-designed into what is considered modern type. Modern type is was very influenced by Roman type (Letter Antica) after Roman type styles was re-discovered. Loui the 14th was instrumental in the birth of the Transitional Period when hebeurocratically decreed that everything in France must be written in Roman style because France must be the leader in science, art, and culture. During the Transitional Period, Bodnini and Didot refined the Roman style into the Modern style by creating and alphabet with interchangeable parts and with thick vertical strokes and thin diagnal strokes with the line thick and thin parts aligned symmetrically vertically and horizontally.
In Asian countries, alphabets were based on logograms, which are symbols representing an entire word. In Western countries, alphabets were based on phonetics. The alphabets used by western languages originated from the Phoenecians. The Greeks and Romans added 2 letters to the phonoecian alphabet when they adopted it. Greeks also standardized the way text was read (left to right, starting at the top), and designed the way letters looked so they would be more symmetrical and pleasing. In the middle ages, more letters were added to complete the modern 26 letter alphabet.
Caligraphy in the middle ages looked very different from Roman type and modern type. In the Gothic Age, Guttenberg invented the printing press (it was first invented in China, though), and it used the textura type, which mimicked hand-written caligraphy of the time. Later, during the Transitional period, text was re-designed into what is considered modern type. Modern type is was very influenced by Roman type (Letter Antica) after Roman type styles was re-discovered. Loui the 14th was instrumental in the birth of the Transitional Period when hebeurocratically decreed that everything in France must be written in Roman style because France must be the leader in science, art, and culture. During the Transitional Period, Bodnini and Didot refined the Roman style into the Modern style by creating and alphabet with interchangeable parts and with thick vertical strokes and thin diagnal strokes with the line thick and thin parts aligned symmetrically vertically and horizontally.
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