Constructivism

Constructivism was an art movement which started in Russia back in 1990. At the time Russia consisted of a communist society, and constructivism helped industrialise Russia, converting it from an agricultural society. The constructivists used art as a medium to communicate with their people for political reasons and rejected the idea of art for arts' sake. Soviet Graphic design consisted mainly of political propaganda and it was aimed at social change.

When Lenin died, constructivism died with him. The Stalinists believed that conservative neoclassical style of socialist realism was the way forward.

Graphic constructivism consisted of straight lines, geometrical shapes, flat colours and order and included billboards, logos packaging and other forms of advertisement. Inspiring artists from the time which still have an influence on today's graphic design are Jan Tschichold and Alexander Rodchenko.

Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, El Lissitzky, 1919, repurposes abstract Suprematist motifs as war propaganda

Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova's famous Books! poster (1924) employs a stark grammar of simple geometry and flat colour to promote a campaign for worker education.

The Russian Constructivists | Blog | Analogue76 | Web design, copywriting, blogging - Edinburgh, Scotland. 2013. The Russian Constructivists | Blog | Analogue76 | Web design, copywriting, blogging - Edinburgh, Scotland. [ONLINE] Available at:<http://www.analogue76.com/blog/entry/the_russian_constructivists.

>. [Accessed 01 December 2013].

The easy guide to design movements: Constructivism | Graphic design | Creative Bloq. 2013. The easy guide to design movements: Constructivism | Graphic design | Creative Bloq. [ONLINE] Available at:<http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/easy-guide-design-movements-constructivism-10134843>.[Accessed 02 December 2013].

'Everything is beautiful, Pop is everything' - Andy Warhol

POP ART

Pop Art is a mid 20th Century art movement. It is not understood well when  compared to other movements at the time. Some people take pop art to have been influenced by the excess use of drugs during that period. Pop art had an over whelming footprint on visual art all along. This movement was an intense period but short lived. Pop art was not taken seriously; for some it was a joke towards the arts because they acknowledge and recognise everyday objects such as cans, bottles, comic strips and so on as fine art. Just like in Dadaism, they mock the norm of traditional art aesthetics. It might have been short lived but it had a big impact on art and still influences artists till this present day. You still find elements of it on billboards, posters, books, cards and much more. It started off in Britain in the 1950's and moved on to America a few years on. Whereas the british focused on theme and metaphor, The Americans gave aggressiveness and symbolism most importance in their work.

Two of the most famous artists from the Pop Art Movement were Ray Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. andy Warhol was a magazine illustrator and graphic designer. He worked with Vogue, Glamour, And the New York Times, doing commercial advertising. He was a firm believer that we should be likes machines and therefore made is work seem as if it was made my actual machines. This is evident in his work of the repetition of stars' faces, such as Marilyn Monroe, Liz, Jackie, Marlon and more! Effects of his work are still seen in the present such as on the application 'Photo Booth' on Mac products. When it was first launched on Photo Booth it made a huge hit. It was used by everyone and anyone. It become so overused in fact it became a bit cliche and boring after some time.

Marilyn Monroe Repetition of stars' faces; andy Warhol 

This [below] is a piece by Eduardo Paolozzi, co-founder of The Independent Group. It is a collage consisting of things he 'found' lying around such as magazine cutouts, comic books and advertisements found in newspapers and other graphic media. In this collage you can see different cutouts including a hand holding a gun, a cloud of smoke and ''pop'' written on it. 

I was a Rich Man’s Plaything (1947) – Eduardo Paolozzi

Adriana Marinica, (January 16, 2012) speckyboy Design Magazine. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://speckyboy.com/2012/01/16/20-things-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-about-pop-art-graphic-design/>, [Accessed 24 November 2013].

Guity Novin, (may 1st 2012) A history of Graphic Design. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2010/06/chapter-33-pop-art.html> [Accessed 25 November 2013].

Propaganda and Modern art

Propaganda is biased information used to promote politics or a point of view. Italian in origin, from modern Latin congregatio de propaganda fide (congregation for propagation of the faith). The first noted use of propaganda was back in 1622, by a catholic church, when Pope Gregory XV appointed Rome the congregation for the propagation of faith.

Propaganda posters date back to 1914, when governments not only used them to promote political causes but also to recruit men to obtain enough money to support military campaigns. Germany, Italy and the Uk used posters for the recruitment of soldiers, with slogans such as ''Join your country's army''.
A very popular poster, very much known to graphic design is the uncle Sam poster, pointing his finger and telling his audience of young men ''I want YOU for US army''. During the war millions were spent on advertising and it is said that many of the graphic designers believed true, the messages they were putting forward.

Uncle Sam propaganda poster for soldier recruitment

The working class used the poster as a form of rebellion against the rich. From the early 20th century, modern art started to take its toll on posters. They were using poster as a means of channeling their inspiration.



Guity Novin, (may 1st 2012) A history of Graphic Design. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2010/05/chapter-29-propaganda-posters.html.> [Accessed 25 November 2013].

Dada

Dadaists wanted to move on and away from traditional art aesthetics. Their names was chosen simply by random, by opening a German dictionary and selecting a random word. One could refer to them as an anti-art movement. Their graphic work consisted of placing photos and words by chance, and the use of absurd titles. Dadaists aimed at making fun of what they called a society gone crazy. Artists in this movement such as Marcel Duchamp, painted a moustache on a replica of the Mona Lisa as an assault to tradition. This was not a Vandalistic act however that is what most of society took it as.

Dadaist said to have created photomontage, the cutting and joining of more than once picture/photo. This technique alone had a tremendous influence on graphic design. An example of such work is this peace by Hannah Höch.

Collage and Photomontage by Hannah Höch; Da-dandy; 1919

When it came to typography, Dadaists separated text from graphic work. The visual stood independent and did not need text dependant on it. Dadaists wanted people to analyse the shape of the text in its layout. Dadaist typography followed no linear rules or textual content. They did not make words bold and stick out because of importance but purely for its characteristics. Chaos was often seen on Dada works - non linear writing different fonts, different typefaces of different weights; everything going in different directions - no order.

This work perfectly implements what I explained above. There is lack of harmony and order. There is commotion over and the whole area leaving no blank space. The lack of black space insinuates lack of quiet and peace; its almost as thought they are shouting at us. Sometimes Dadaist works were taken to the extreme and were sometimes on the verge of being illegible.

A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 45; Dadaism; The meeting point of all contradictions. 2013. A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 45; Dadaism; The meeting point of all contradictions. [ONLINE] Available at: http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2011/08/chapter-44-dadaism-meeting-point-of-all.html. [Accessed 25 November 2013].

ArtLex on Dada. 2013. ArtLex on Dada. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/d/dada.html. [Accessed 23 November 2013].

behrens

Peter Behrens, Born 14th April 1868, passing away 27th February 1940. He was the founder of Industrial design. He was the founded or Industrial Architecture and modern design and he also founded Corporate Identity. He was a known painter as well as as architect. When he was just a teenager, a big inheritance fell into his laps with the passing away of his father and therefore was able to afford a good education. He chose the arts. In 1890 he was not practicing as an architect but as a painter and graphic designer. He is also the founder of the Munich Secession, apart from the founder of industrial Architecture and modern design. 

His first works were sketches consisting of ornament drawings. 

In this piece above you can see the evident inspiration from Japanese art. 

In 1901, Behrens built his own house including all the furniture that came with it. One could refer to him as an industrial designer because he designed household appliances such as teapots and lamps. He obtained his results with a combination of ethics and an eye of an artist. 

In his book ''Feste des Lebens and der kunst'' (Celebration of Life and Art; A consideration of the theatre as the highest symbol of a Culture), Behrens makes use of Sans Serif type and later and later explored formal geometric design motifs and included sans serif characters of which he got the inspiration from a square. He took great interest in the sans serif typeface and was not alone. Ten sans serif fonts were created by the Berthold Foundry at the time. A number of other founders of different fonts at the time such as Akzidenz Grotesque were able to achieve harmony and clarity in their typeface, providing inspiration to designers designing other Sans Serif typefaces. 

Peter Behrens Schrift first typeface

Behrens combined (above) heavy and condensed feeling of black letter, the letter dimensions from the roman inscriptions and also made use of his standardised letterform construction. He makes emphasis with vertical and horizontal lines and he replaces diagonals with curved strokes in letters like 'w' and 'v'. This approach was new and made it successfully to book and job printing typography. 

In his book ''Feste des Lebens and der kunst'' he describes typography as:
“watching a bird’s flight or the gallop of a horse. Both seem graceful and pleasing, but the viewer does not observe details of their form or movement. Only the rhythm of the lines is seen by the viewer, and the same is true of a typeface”. 

The Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft Logo designed by Peter Behrens.

(major Electric Appliance company)

Household appliances designed by Peter Behrens.

Peter Behrens Biography - Infos - Art Market. 2013. Peter Behrens Biography - Infos - Art Market. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.behrens-peter.com/. [Accessed 20 November 2013].

Peter Behrens | Design History Research. 2013. Peter Behrens | Design History Research. [ONLINE] Available at:http://designhistoryresearch.wordpress.com/category/peter-behrens/. [Accessed 20 November 2013].

AEG | - History . 2013. AEG | - History . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.aeg.com/en/About-AEG/History/. [Accessed 20 November 2013].

Jan Tschichold

In the first years of his life Jan Tschichold set out to be a illustration teacher, something his parents approved of because of its good income at the time. He was more interested in calligraphy himself and realise teaching wasn't his thing, moving on to studying typography. Lecturers noticed that his grasp on the subject was of a natural. He started script writing lecturers in 1921, when lecturers realised his ability and natural understanding. His works were influenced by the Bauhaus and he became known for his new typography. He changed his style completely making use of white space, simplified layouts, straight lines and Bauhaus typography (Sans Serif typeface). All his work was set in Sans, anything else to him was considered 'hurtful'. He saw it as a crime to ones work if done otherwise. He experimented with shape and size. He became very well known; some took a great liking to him whereas others hated him, to put it bluntly. After a while he started teaching typography in Frankfurt.  in 1928 he got a book published which left a great impact on graphic design; "The New Typography". When the war hit, the Nazi's did not like his work and held him captive for a period of time. They did not like this change, therefore holding all his works and books seized. He luckily managed to get out of Germany and back to Switzerland with his family and later on London. In 1949 he joined Penguin Books who were very unsuccessful at the time due to their lack of design. The rest all happened over 3 years. He needed to design brilliant covers for Penguin and was given a set of fixed rules and guidelines to follow. He broke through after a years work, and his work was later revised over 3 years adding few slight changed here and there. This included change of the Penguin Logo, fonts made smaller and even the size of the book was made more compact. This then became standard customs for Penguin books.

Die neue Typographie 1928                                        

This is one of his books which the Nazi's seized during the War.  

This is one of the Penguin layouts thats Jan Tschichold designed. It isn't overwhelming with different colours. He makes use of a lot of blank space to make it more neat. When it comes to Typography you can see that he makes use of serifless typeface and different angles when placing text.

Penguin book, poster, and boos designs by Jan Tschichold himself. 

He left great influence and long lasting impressions on typography an this influence will be passed on to designers for many years to come.

Jan Tschichold « MyFonts. 2013. Jan Tschichold « MyFonts. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.myfonts.com/person/Jan_Tschichold/.> [Accessed 18 November 2013].

Richard Hollis: the brilliance of typographer Jan Tschichold | Art and design | theguardian.com . 2013. Richard Hollis: the brilliance of typographer Jan Tschichold | Art and design | theguardian.com . [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/dec/05/jan-tschichold-typography >[Accessed 18 November 2013].

Jan Tschichold: Master Typographer | Book Review | Typographica . 2013.Jan Tschichold: Master Typographer | Book Review | Typographica . [ONLINE] Available at: <http://typographica.org/typography-books/jan-tschichold-master-typographer/.>[Accessed 18 November 2013].

Jan Tschichold Biography - Infos - Art Market. 2013. Jan Tschichold Biography - Infos - Art Market. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.jan-tschichold.com/.> [Accessed 18 November 2013].

Bauhaus. 'Building House'

The Bauhaus wanted the world to be seen and reflected through all the arts. One could almost describe it as a combination of both architecture, sculptures and paintings merged into one.

Lecturers within the Bauhaus were given by visual artists such as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Apart from crafts, the Bauhaus' theory was that students would learn better if work was hands on, therefore students had to enter specialised workshops. Metal, weaving, pottery, typography, and wall painting all made up parts of these workshops. The Bauhaus aimed at combining ''art into industry''.

Many graphic designers attended Bauhaus, and even those who did not go got great inspiration from it; like Jan Tschichold who was truly inspired after attending the first Bauhaus exhibition in 1923. Many lecturers/teachers who thought there were quite important artists and designers of the time.

The influence of this era in art has influenced a vast part of design from billboards to infographics. The designers at Bauhaus believed that whatever they designed has to serve its purpose. Whatever your design is, it needs to make sense by itself. you cannot rely on your message to make it work. It must all interlink and not rely on just one aspect to grab attention. Wassily Kandinsky, a famous artist from the school believed that it was important to match object to colour. He believed that it was impressive as to how they compliment each other and we should never underestimate the power of combination. Typography plays a big role in the Bauhaus movement. To them it was one of the most important elements of Graphic design. In fact they believe that type is put before clever design, and that together they would work brilliantly. Designers at the Bauhaus seemed to have gotten rid of straight line text and adopted new ways of placing it, using odd angles and just being creative with it.

Without even knowing it, you might be looking at something 'bauhaus-inspired'. It took a great toll on design in the past and people still find it inspirational up until this day and use its inspiration in their work. On a more personal note, I am a big fan of the Bauhaus. The use of simple shapes and forms, the silence given off by the blank space and the use of bright simple colours, falls together so neatly. Even though there isnt much structure and in the sense of perfect lines and order, it can still fall into place, work brilliantly and portray the message you want.

Bauhaus Inspired poster upon his visit to Berlin.

A Bauhaus Ad designed back in 1928

The Bauhaus, 1919–1933 | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2013. The Bauhaus, 1919–1933 | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

Graphic Design at the Bauhaus. 2013. Graphic Design at the Bauhaus. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://designhistory.org/Bauhaus_pages/GDBauhaus.html.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

The Three Bauhaus Locations. 2013. The Three Bauhaus Locations. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://designhistory.org/Bauhaus_pages/BauhausOrigins.html.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

De Stijl

. 

De Stijl was originated in 1917 when artists were over the decorative pre-war design and wanted back order in art. All excess colour and decoration was to be removed and artists were to make use of only primary colours and black and white space. Unfortunately not many of their designs were build but nonetheless their influence on design was extreme. Van Doesburg was greatly influenced by the Dada movement and his works had a great influence on the Bauhaus. Their style was innovative, asymmetrical, disciplined and it made use of Sans Serif typeface. Rectangular blocks and straight lines were also a custom.  All modern designers embrace the grid, empty space and minimal simplicity. I personally think that creating designs with minimal aspects is wonderful in a world overwhelmed with visual language

Rietveld, Red and Blue Chair, 1918

The De Stijl elements were applied to this chair sometime after it was actually built. It shows the  use of primary colour and the interaction of vertical and horizontal aspects. 

Over the years the De stijl elements have been applied to several different objects ranging from cars to houses and architecture, paintings and even shoes. 

People also used inspiration from De Stijl in a graphical context. People used the design in Posters, not only as a cool approach to their ad but also as an advertisement for De Stijl itself. This Poster promoting an even about De Stijl is portrayed brilliantly as they used De Stijl elements throughout. We can see lots of blank space, silence so to speak. The use of primary colours and horizontal and vertical intersecting lines. The inspiration within this poster design is particularly taken from the axonometric architectural drawings of Theo Van doesburg. 

Know your design history: the utopian De Stijl movement. 2013. Know your design history: the utopian De Stijl movement. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/12/18/know-your-design-history-the-utopian-de-stijl-movement/.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

De Stijl. 2013. De Stijl. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/decart/destijl/decstijl.htm.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

HELVETICA

Designed in 1957, Max Miedinger, based it on late 19th Century Grotesque. It was previously called Neue Haas Grotesque but was changed to Helvetica in 1960. It is a font known by all; a default some would say. Typographers cannot think of ways to change it even if they wanted to. It is used by loads of different companies such as American Apparel, Lufthansa, Jeep, nestle, Toyota, BMW and other Major global companies worldwide. It is used so much because it can deliver any message and it does so almost always without fault. 

Today Helvetica comes set at different weights, after Stempel Type Foundry bought it in the late 19th Century. These fonts are all used in several different media and advertisements including logos, billboards, television commercials and so on. Today we also have what people refer to as the ‘poor version’ of Helvetica; Arial. One may say that it was created to avoid buying the expensive Helvetica typeface. Helvetica may be referred to as the type benchmark for most written communication. However, as it may be, some people consider every font to be obtained on their own merit and not a copy of another; “We don’t criticise a daughter for looking like her mother”. 

Helvetica - YouTube. 2013. Helvetica - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at:<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KbQNk2w9ms.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

Arial versus Helvetica. How to tell them apart. Is Arial just a poor copy? | I love typography, the typography and fonts blog. 2013. Arial versus Helvetica. How to tell them apart. Is Arial just a poor copy? | I love typography, the typography and fonts blog. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://ilovetypography.com/2007/10/06/arial-versus-helvetica/.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

Helvetica (2007) - Quotes - IMDb. 2013. Helvetica (2007) - Quotes - IMDb. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847817/quotes.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].

Art Nouveau

During this era, people focused mostly on fine arts. During this time people believed that art should be appreciated for what it is. Art nouveau artists moved away from the classical art and were more daring, more explorative. They wanted and got better working space and worked on applying different kinds of art into one. [Ceramics Today].

 Art Nouveau fashion was distinguished by graceful lines elongated strokes ending in curlicue with flower and leaf motifs. Art nouveau also had a great influence on architecture at the time. Such art was displayed better in larger form, so the bigger your 'piece' the better it was. This era of art started of in France but quickly spread around the world. It was very popular until Art Deco and Modernism started gaining on it and finally replaced it.

I also took some points during my lesson which summed up characteristics of Art Nouveau:

• In Art Nouveau style was taken to a whole new level and everything went OTT (over the top).
• Nature imagery were heavily distorted and stylised with curves and shapes that resulted in a better understanding of the underlying geometric form. 
• Art Nouveau was all about the 'modern'. They wanted to scrap old way and come up with something new and innovative. Lots of their work had to with what nature set before them.
• Mackintosh had a way of drawing from nature. style of line precision, texture and pattern

http://www.parisperfect.com/blog/2011/03/art-nouveau-7th-arrondissement/
Art Nouveau building in Paris, France. 

What is Graphic Design?

At the end of the day, when one analysis everything that appears before them, we can see that Graphic design forms part of many things that lie before us; Be it a book cover, newspaper magazine or a simple billboard on the way to work. It is important that one does not confuse elements of graphic design with principles of design. Some of the most common elements used in Graphics are Lines, Colour, Art illustration and photography.

Colour can make an image more powerful and give of different messages to a person just by changing the colour in context. Changing a coloured picture to sepia for example is going to give off a complete different feel and interpretation to its viewer.

Type obviously having to do with typography in this case. Words and the way they are presented play a great role in Graphic Design. The type a graphic designer chooses is going to influence his work and help convey his message. One isn't going to use Comic Sans when presenting work to a client (unless the client's target audience is aged 3-9; Even that is just about acceptable), unless maybe the designer is using it intentionally in a sarcastic way.

The image you portray in your design leaves you with one question; Make it or break it? Out of one single picture, your audience can come up with a whole story. You want that story to be relevant to the message your are trying to get across to your audience so you must do it wisely. Don't just lash out your first idea and stick to it. Scrap it. Don't be afraid to be daring and try something new. At the end of the day that is what you are trying to do... catch the eye of an audience.

Graphic design started a long time ago with people drawing on the walls of caves. Many have remained in tact since they did not get into contact with much different types of weathering and sun. The paintings of Altamira are some of the first we come across. They are still found and well preserved until this date. A lot of their drawings consist of the bison, their source of food, clothing and main economic resource.

Bison in Altamira Cave, Spain. 

 Obviously, years ago one did not have the commodity of stationary but instead made use of natural resources such as ochre and zinc oxides. Wall paintings are also found in Tassili-n-Aller in Algeria - Paintings of revolution. These paintings illustrate and portray four different periods and include a ''horse'' and a ''camel''.

A rock drawing in Bhimbetka India

image of a horse in the Chauvet Cave

A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 1 - Birth of Graphic Design -- Egypt. 2013. A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 1 - Birth of Graphic Design -- Egypt. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.guity-novin.blogspot.com/2010/02/history-of-graphic-design-writing.html.> [Accessed 20 November 2013].