Today we were continuing with lectures on Modernism, and the artists that were trying to change the status quo.
corporate assimilation: how radical ideas become mainstream and become part of the system
we began with a quote:
‘The radical design of the Avant-Guard which challenged and ultimately succeeded in overturning the status quo was transformed in the end to be the ultimate upholder of the status quo. Instead of threatening existing power structures, design, culminating in Swiss Design, became part of the very foundations of those structures.”
– Johanna Drucker – The visible world
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1910, 1920 – Avant garde poets- Marinetti , Rochenko – Bringing art to masses
1920, 1930, 1940 – Constructivists, Bauhaus, Dutch de stijl – Sudo scientific attitude. increasing aestheticisation, formalism
changing aesthetics of design
1950, 1960, 1970 – International style / Swiss style
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TSCHICHOLD recognised the danger of the unity of style which developed in new typography and then culminated in swiss style. He understood that all design has social and political components.
Swiss style is also referred to as International Style. It became popular through Swiss graphic designers, but also emerged in Russia, Germany and the Netherlands in 1920, it was developed in Europe, and then flourished in America. This style in art, architecture and culture became international after the 1950’s and was produced by artists all around the world.
This radical movement in Graphic Design consists of “keen attention to detail, precision, craft skills, system of education and technical training, a high standard of printing as well as a clear refined and inventive lettering and typoraphy laid out a foundation for a new movement”
“Sometimes designers have used industry as a way to make their ideas real in the world but sometimes – more often, it seems to me – industry has used designers to make its purpose look ideal”
– Natalia Llyin
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We went on to talk about Logo design. If you are a Graphic Designer, and are applying for a job, one of the first things that they will ask you is to create a logo. It is one of the more basic elements of Graphic Design and also one of the most important. Every company needs a logo, and because they are mostly used on a small scale, they need to be simple yet effective.
WILLIAM GOLDEN: CBS LOGO 1951
PAUL RAND: THOUGHTS ON DESIGN 1947
PAUL RAND: DIRECTION IN MARCH 1939
PAUL RAND: IBM LOGO 1962
“ A logo is a flag, a signiture, an escutcheon.
A logo doesn’t sell (directly), it identifies
A logo is rarely a description of a business. (FORGET THAT)
A logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolises, not the other way around.
A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it means is more important than what it looks like.”
-Paul Rand
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We then went on to speak about iconic logos of today and how they interact with their public and how the designs are related to the purpose of the company.
A few we thought of were, Apple, Coca-Cola, Windows, Play Station, XBox, Pepsi, Shell e.t.c.
MCDONALDS
yellow – sunshine
upside down – boobs – nourishing
SHELL
no oil, no smoke, no machinery,
very innocent logo.
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“good design is good business” – Thomas J Watson, IBM
“We feel that good design must primarily serve people and not the other way around.” – Thomas J Watson, IBM
designers job is to meet the needs of the organisation.
The Graphic Design industry was very client led. However now designers have means to publicise their message by passing by that relationship. With access to social media and print on demand, Graphic Designers are able to print and publish their own work through the use of the internet.
“Without play, there would be no Picasso. Without play. There is no experimentation. Experimentation is the quest for answers.”
– Paul Rand, 1991
“I use the term play, but I mean coping with problems of form and content, weighing relationships, establishing priorities. Every problem of form and content is different, which dictates that the rules of the game are different too.”
– Paul Rand, The Play Instinct, 1991
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Reference for Swiss Style: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/17/lessons-from-swiss-style-graphic-design/
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