Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Context of Practise: Lecture 3 Notes- "Graphic Design: A Medium for the Masses"

Wednesday 24th October 2012
"Graphic Design: A Medium For The Masses" Lecture Notes
James Beighton

Origins of Graphic Design
 - Cave Paintings- Visual form that's understandable which represents day-to-day life
 - Italian Fresco's- Religious stories involve signs and symbols
                            - Comic book style of moving from one scene to another
                            -  Communicating to illiterate and uneducated
 - John Everett Millais "Bubbles" (1886)- Art becomes Advertisement due to inclusion of Typography

Terms of Graphic Design
 - William Addison Dwiggins in 1992- "duty is to make the message clear"
 - Herbert Spencer- "Mechanized Art"
 - Max Bill & Josef Muller- Brockman- "Visual Communication"
 - Richard Hollis- "Choosing marks and Arranging them on a surface to convay an idea"
 - Paul Rand- "Deals with the Spectator... The designer's problems are twofold: To anticipate the Spectator's reaction and meet his own aesthetic needs"
 - Josef Muller- Brockman- "Whatever the information transmitted, it must ethically and culturally, reflects it's responsibility to society"

Relationship between Fine Art & Graphic Design 
 - Manet "A Bar at the Folies Bergeres" (1882) - Modernity, Decadance and Affluence
 - Toulouse- Latrec posters- Modernity
                                          - Fine Line between Fine Art and Graphic Design
                                                            - Consideration of Layout? Thought out Presentation?
 - Alphonse Mucha "Job" (1898)- Could easily be Fine Art without the text on it
                                                    - Art Neauvou Style
 - Charles Rennie Machintosh & Koloman Moser posters- Common Aesthetic (Avant-garde)
                                                                                           - Developed with Thought to Layout
 - Peter Behrens "AEG" (1910)- Introduction of Abstration within Fine Art


Graphic Design During The Wars
- Saville Lumley " Daddy, What did YOU do in the Great War?" (1915)- Realistic English Style yet
                                                                                                                     accompanied by Type
                                                           - Influenced Alfred Leete and James Flagg 'I Want YOU' posters
 - Julius Gipkens "Trophies of the Air War" (1915)- German Propaganda (Use of Typography)
                                                                                - Sophisticated yet Graphic
 - Kandinsky "Composition VIII" (1923)- Abstraction yet has Geometric Shapes and Forms
 - El Lissitsky "Beat The Whites with the Red Wedge" (1919)- Symbolism and Colour Theory
                                                                                                   - Abstract Geometric Forms
 -F.H. Stingemore and Harry Beck "London Underground Map" (131-1933)- Iconic
                                                                                                                         - Simple Communication
                                                                                                                         - Graphic not Realistic
                                                 - Appropriated by Fine Art (Simon Patterson "The Great Bear" (1992))
 - Herbert Bayer "Kandinsky 60th Birthday Exhibition" (1926)- Slightly Off Center
                                                                                                   - Breaking Bounderies
                                                                                                   - Negative Space
                                                                                                   - Functional
 - Herbert Matter "Swiss Tourist Board" (1932-1934)- Logical Way of Thinking
                                                                                     - Considered and Refined
 - A.M.Cassandre posters- Communication
                                         - Minimalist Representations
 - Josep Renau posters- Propaganda
 - Pere Catala i Pic "Let's Squash Facism" (1936)- Media for the Masses
                                                                              - Coming from the Streets
 - G. Klucis posters (1930-1931)- Russian Propaganda
                                                    - Celebrating Stalin
                                                    - Mechanised Art
                                                    - New Technologies

Graphic Design and Consumerism
 - Abram Games "Festival of Britain" (1951)- Celebrate Britishness and a Sense of Well-Being
                                                                       - Sightly Restrained
 - Paul Rand-  Jacqueline Cochran Advertisement (1946)- Screenprinting
                   -  American Broadcasting Company (1962) and IBM poster (1970)- Big Business
                                                                                                                              - Corporations
                                                                                                                              - Branding 
 - Saul Bass Hitchcock Film Posters (1950's)- Rise of Popular Culture

THE FIRST THINGS FIRST MANIFESTO (1964) by Ken Garland
 - Questioning what Designers Do
 - Rally Cry to get Designers to think about what they do
 - Be more Community- based rather than try to sell products with your work

Repsonse to the First Things First Manifesto
 - F. H. K. Henrion "Stop Nuclear Suicide" (1960)- Use of Symbol for Nuclear Disarmament
 - Push Pin Studio "End Bad Breath" (1968)- Nod to Uncle Sam Poster
                                                                           - Highly Politicised
                                                                           - War leaves Bad Taste in Mouth
 - Art Workers Coalition "Q.And Babies? A. And Babies" (1970)- Shocking Imagery
                                                                                                        - Emotive Text
                                                                                                        - Politicised

Application of Graphic Design
 - LP Covers- Higpnosis "10CC, Deceptive Blends" (1977)- Over-worked and Over Indulgent
                    - Jamie Reid "Sex Pistols" (1977)- Simplistic DIY Aesthetic
                                                                         - Colour Juxtaposition
                    - Peter Saville "Factory Records"- Symbol becomes Synonymous
                                                                       - Aesthetic- Beautiful Object

Graphic Design and Post-Modernsim
 - Neville Brody- "The Face Magazine"(1980's)- Composition (Text and Image Layout)
 - David Carson- Disconnected Layout with Subject Matter

Sleeve Design
 - Public Image Ltd (1986)- Away from Product Embellishment
                                          - Exactly what you get
 - Peter Blake "St. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1960's)- Over-Indulgence
 - Designers Republic "Pop Will Eat Itself"(1994)- Graphic Representation of being an Outsider
                                                                               - Knowing play of Imagery and Symbolism
                                          - This influenced Judy Blume's Fashion Designs
 - Mark Farrow "Spiritualized CD Packaging"(1997)- Collectable Item
 - Corp & Times Magazine- Offensive Tone of Voice

Graphic Design and Social Concious
 - Johnathan Barnbrook- "Bastard Typeface" (1990)- Witty yet Self- Congratulatory
                                      - "Olympukes" - Opinionated          
                                      - Do They Serve a Purpose?
 - Oliviero Toscani "Benetton Adverts" (1990-1992)- Shock Advertising
                                                                                   - Nothing to do with Clothes
                                                                                   - Selling a Lifestyle?

"Designers... Ineffective about plying thier craft for Social or Political Betterment... Can Graphic Designers Do Anyhting To Change The World? ...Have a Commitment to a Specific Cause"
                                                            - Steven Heller (1991)

Conclusion:
 - Relatively Young Disapline- Needs time to develop and mature
 - Line Between the Disaplines- Blurred- Restricts the audience?
 - Concerned with Social Issues- Prides Itself on Moral Concerns- Self- Congratulatory?

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