Essay Referral

Jan Tschichold was a modernist typographer as well as a teacher and writer during the twentieth century. Jan Tschichold developed a new way to solve the daily difficulties in design. He did this by making it easier for printers, typesetters and designers to understand. Most of his new designs he created took place at the Bauhaus School and became contemporary designs. He created his book ‘Die Neue Typographie’ by incorporating “the new design concept of the Bauhaus and the Russian constructivists. (Fig 16-25)

”Die Neue Typographie”

His interest in traditional graphical concepts, calligraphy and different methods of creative design quickly lead him to practice ‘the new typographic style’. One of his designs was called “Elementaire Typographie”. The aim of his issue was to create a new approach in typography away from “Medieval textura and symmetrical layout”. Tschicholds designs aimed at sending a message towards his audience without the use of decorative conventions, grids or layouts, instead he used “flush to the left margin, with uneven lengths”. The new typography consisted of different range types such as the in the font sans serif. This wide variety of typography gave designers the ability to create modern images. Tschichold believed in the simplicity of design and wanted this new typography to be clear rather than beautiful. He aimed to create his designs by the use of text. Books, job printing and advertisements began to use this new typographic style. Jan Tschichold’s innovation allowed typography to create expression and visual communication by its clear and simple means. He also revived ‘classical typography’ and by doing so brought life to book design. His new typography innovation left a memorable impact on graphic design. 

“Elementaire Typographie” – Jan Tschichold

Another graphic designer who has a great influence in the world of graphic design is Paul Rand.

Rand began his studies in New York at Pratt Institute. He became famous after he designed his corporate logo designs including IBM, UPS, NEXT and Enron. He used his knowledge and what he learnt through modernism and mastered it in modern design. His work on corporate logos, style and creativity changed rules of graphic design. His design are kept simple and the message is easily conveyed. The main characteristic of his works was corporate design & brand identity. To Rand a logo was of more importance than a painting as it is seen and noticed by many people everywhere. Just like Jan Tschichold, Rand’s works also consisted of clarity and simplicity making use of little text, only using sans serif font and letting the minimal text be the visual. He drew attention from his audience with his use of collages, photography and original typefaces. Unlike Jan Tschichold who makes use of black and white as mentioned above, Rands book designs consist of colour aswell as shapes and images. Paul Rands logos and trademarks are still in use and seen everywhere today such as ABC, Westing House, NEXT, IBM, UPS and many more.

Paul Rand Corporate Logos

References

Paul Rand - iconofgraphics.com. 2014. Paul Rand - iconofgraphics.com. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.iconofgraphics.com/Paul-Rand/.>.

Jan Tschichold & The New Typography – inkling.com – Megg’s History of Graphic Design. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.inkling.com/read/history-of-graphic-design-philip-meggs-5th/chapter-16/jan-tschichold-and-the-new. > [Accessed 10th March 2014]

Paula Scher

Paula Scher began working as a designer and art director in the music industry. In 1984 Paula Scher and Terry Koppel her business partner started an advertising firm Koppel & Scher design. Together they wrote a typographical book called Great Beginnings which showed how type can be used in an 'emotive and energetic way'.
Swatch was on of their famous design. Paula Scher was insipired by the posters of Herbert Matter - Swiss designer. His photography portrayed originality and creativity in the 1950's. These iconic pieces of design were re-edited by Koppel & Scher and became the famous Swatch Print ad. Hoever this became a debate as to if a designer could edit someone else's work and till today people still question this contraversy. 1991 saw some hard times for Koppel & Scher and they decided to take seperate roads. Scher soon joined a legendary design studio in New York office of Pentagram. There she worked with Alan Fletcher another famous graphic designer who she became a partner with and still holds today.
Paula has designed posters for the Public theatre in New York since 1994. The use of vibrant typography is her trademark in design.
In 2001 she was awarded a prestigious AIGA medal which by most designers is believed to be the Oscar of the design world.

Bibliography

Anon., n.d. Design History: Paula Scher. [Online]
Available at: http://be-artsy.blogspot.com/p/paula-scher.html
[Accessed 25 December 2013].

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution began in England between 1760 and 1840. This Era saw a change in the economy and society. This change was brought about by energy which converted the agricultural society to an industrial one. Before  the steam engine the first source of energy was produced by animals and human power. By the end of the 19th century the energy increased by far due to the power of steam.
In the last 30 years of the century engines that worked with electricity and gasoline increased production. Factories were developing manufacturing new materials like iron and steel. Cities began to expand quickly and hundreds of people seeked work in factories. Politicians were no longer influenced by aristocrats but drew their attention towards capitalist manufactures, merchants and labourors.

Landowners were replaced by  capitalist who invested in machines which produced mass production thus creating a change in industry. Costs were lowered, merchandise was cheaper more available and more abundant.

Graphics soon began to play a main part in the marketing of this industry. Although many workers were employed by these factories, wages were many times miserable working hours were long and living conditions were horrendous. They often suffered shutdowns and loss of jobs due to economic panics or depressions.
Though this new industry brought along hardships with it, it saw the growth of middle class. Further more the industrial age began to influence materialism amongst people and human values were losing their priority. Hoever equality among humans empowered public education and literacy amongst the working class. Graphic communications increased in its importance. Unit costs were decreased in technology and printed production increased. This availability and demand brought about the era of the mass communication.

References:

Stearns, Peter N. (1998). The Industrial Revolution in World History. Westview Press

Lazar Lissitzky

Lazar Markovich Lissitzky was a Russian artist who was an important figure of the Russian avant-garde. Besides an artist he was also a designer, photgrapher and typographer and architect. Together with his mentor Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky as he was more known helped to develop suprematism. They also designed a big number of exhibition desiplays and works regarding propoganda for the Soviet Union.

Bauhuas and constructivist movements were immensly inspired by his work.
El Lissitzky liked to experiment with technique and style. By doing this he created stylitic devices that dominated graphic design in the 20th century.

When he first started painting he developed a style where he made use of abstract geometric shapes. He called these shapes 'prouns' and they were developed in a 3-dimensional space. These frequently consisted of various perspectives which contrasted with the notion of suprematist theories which emphasized the simplicity in shapes and the use of just 2D space.

In 1920 he spent time in Germany where became a cultural representative of Russia. Although he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis Lissitzky never stopped working. He continued with his mission, producing propaganda posters, books, buildings and exhibitions. Lissitzky remained head of exhibitions however unfortunately he was overcome by his tuberculosis and died in 1941.

1919 propaganda poster "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge".

Bibliography 

Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/el-lissitzky/.

Saul Bass

Graphic designer and film maker Saul Bass was mainly well known for the film posters and title sequences he designed. Bass worked for some of the greatest film makers in Holly wood such as Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Martin Scorsese and Otto Preminger for whom he created the title sequence "the man with the golden arm " in 1955 whcih made him famous. Bass also invented a new type of kinetic typograph and some of the most iconic logosd for corporate companies in North America such as AT 4T "bell" logo in 1969 and "globe", "jetstream" for continental Airlines and "tulip" for United Airlines.

At the end of his 40 year career James L Brookes and Martin Scorsese urged Bass to return to 'main title design'

Before he became a film make Bass was an excellent graphic designer. He was in 1920 in the Bronx, New York and as a child was very creative always drawing. He studied at the Arts Students League in New York. In Brooklyn College he was tutured by Gyorgy Kepes a hungarian designer who introduced Bass to Moholy's Bauhaus style and Russian Constructivism. He then worked as an apprentice with Manhattan design films and later became a freelance graphic designer. In 1950 he opened his own studio in Los Angeles and worked mainly  in advertising until he was asked to design a  poster by Preminger for his 1954 movie Carmen Jones. The result inpressed Preminger and this led him to ask Bass to create the film's title sequence.

Bass was elicited other commisions for titles after his success of his design Carmen Jones however it was Premingers next project "The Man with the Golden Arm" that made Bass "the doyen of the film title design".

During the next ten years he used his talent to create an animated mini movie "Around the World in 80 days" as well as a tearful eye for Premingers 1958 Bonjour Tristesse. Bass talent in design was described by Martin Scorsese as 'an emblematic image, instantly recognisable and immediately tied to the film'. Bass and his second wife Elaine created excellent titles for other directions. After directing a series of short films in 1968, 'why man creates' which were Oscar winning he went on to dirct Phase IV but when this was a flop he returned to commercial graphic design. Saul Bass was a cinema legend whom young film directors dreamed to work with.

Bass’ poster designs for The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and Vertigo (1958)

Bibliography

Bigman, A., 2012. Saul Bass: the man who changed graphic design. [Online]
Available at: http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/06/12/saul-bass-graphic-designer-of-a-century/

Punk

Many teenagers that were part of the punk era were born during the psychedelic era when young generations were already expressing a way of life by living a "care free life". Originating during these radical changes punks became rebellious groups. They enjoyed listening to hard core music, wore fierce clothing and experimented with confrontational art.

Punk artists created collages which were bold, savage, brutal, relentless for several funtions such as music concerts or magazine covers etc. Art works showed images that were ripped off to create a torn effect. Typography was written by hand and words used were rebellious.

The aim behind these art works was to portray a shocking image of society and its culture thus showing their capability to shift traditional art. Dadaists were an influence on the punks. However Punks used Dadaists collages and used their collage techniques to change the images into a savagely manner.

A distinctive art work which depicts the Punks as rebels of their time was created by Jamie Reid for the album 'God Save the Queen' by the Sex Pistols.
Punk fans produced a fazine magazine which however was short lived. Titles and headlines were just written down and the style used was cut and paste. This deisgn gave the magazine an extra charm of punk rock. The product was done in black and white with the illustration of raw photographs from gigs, placed on a white background. Some text was added usually using a typewriter and stuck on as a note.
The Punk era brought along sarcastic humour and visual language which caused an aareness of a modern wave in culture.

Sex Pistols - Jamie Reid

Bibliography 

Poynor, R., 2012. The Art of Punk and Punk Aesthetics. [Online]
Available at: http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/the-art-of-punk-and-the-punk-aesthetic/36708/

Graphics

Graphics comes from the Greek word graphikos. This production of visual statements can be seen on surfaces or walls as well as canvas, pottery, computer screens, paper, stone or landscape.
Geometric designs, signs, logos, graphs, drawings etc and everything that presents creation is comprised in graphics. It is a profession of many artistic jobs which include combining text, pictures, advertising and website. It therefore comprises the whole history of art. It dates back to earlier than 30,000 BC when hundreds of graphic designs of animals where drawn by the primitive people in the Chauvet Cave, in the south of France, as well as designs of the primitive hunters in the Bhimbetke rock shelters in India in 7,000 BC, in Australia the Aboriginal Rock Art.
The history of graphics is very long and these rock and cave paintings in various parts of the world are a living proof. A combination of this history with the history of writing are the bed rock of Graphic Art.
Graphics has benn used broadly in religious books including Bibles that were designed in monastries in Britain.
These designs generally included minute figures as well as spiralling and interloacking patterns. These designs became part of the ancient graphic tradition. Following the 6th century they were used to decorate and illuminate gospels.

Graphic designs can also be found in the Islamic holy book, the Quran. An angled alphabet called kuffi was used by these writers using golden paper and black ink to produce these designs. It was the 8th century when these writings first appeared and in the 10th century they reached their pinnacle. Years later the book was further beutified by adding decorative margins, pages and more graphic techniques. Another alphabet was later invented in the 12th century. It was called the Naskh alphabet and was made up of curves instead of angled lines.

William Morris was a producer of several graphic designs. He formed part of a group called the Pre-Raphaelites together with artists like Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Together these artists created ideas which became a great influence on modern graphic design.

Bibliography

apherelosiazzacthomu, n.d. History of Graphic Design. [Online]
Available at: http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/53704.