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].

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].

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].

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].

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].