New Visual Language - Research Document by Alex Bartling

what is modernism in graphic design?

tarting in the late 19th, early 20th century, modernism was a pivotal art movement accross all art forms, particularly graphic design. Due to the increasing popularity and importance of machines in all forms of industry, artists where forced to change the way they work. While this scared painters and regular artists into become far more adventurous and abstract, to try and set themselves apart from the more and more accessable ways of creating photographic

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imamery, it worked strongly with graphic designers and allowed them to completely revolutionise the way they worked. The ability to mass produce work was a huge boon for graphic designers and subsequently, the machines themselves became a key aspect of a lot of the works of art, and their uniform and reliable nature was strongly reflected in the artworks of the time and key to the strong belief around all modernist design that ‘Form should follow function’.

Prior to the foundation of modernism, all artworks of the time where far too overly decorated and complicated, as designers where eager to fill every inch of space available with their designs. While some artists, such as Alphonse Mucha, where able to create beautiful, timeless pieces of art like this, a lot of designers where just left with an over complicated and disorganised mess on the page, which didn’t serve it’s purpose of advertisement. Introduction

It was Josef Müller-Brockmann who’s grid system was hugely pivotal and influential on the design style of the era. due to his designs, all work started adhearing to strict grids and guides and started to emphasise the value and importance of negative space and the white page, as opposed to trying to fit as much in as possible. This all tied into the modernist principles which stood strongly against commercialism, greed, and, most importantly, the cheapness of the designs at the time. Page 1

While many people played their part in the development of the modernist movement, none were more important than the founders of the Bauhaus school of design. Founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, in the german town of Weimar, Bauhaus is arguably, to this day, still the most revolutionary art school in history. Almost all modernist design and architecture, and even the first Sans Serif fonts, such as Futura (being used in this work), where invent-

ed there. Almost every one of it’s tutors could be viewed as a revolutionary in their field and it was there that modernism was truly born. Throughout this research document, I will be looking at almost every one of the key Baushaus professors and analysing their specific role in the development of the modernist era. Modernism primary goal was that the design should be derived from the fuction, and that it’s subsequent aesthetic appearance should be universally accepted. Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

ne w graphic design

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

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Joseph Muller-Brockmann was a swiss graphic designer and teacher. Influenced by numerous design styles of the time, such as Bauhaus, De Stijl and Constructivism, he was able to create his own personal style of design revolving around the principles of organisation and cleanliness. Becoming a founding member of the revolutionary graphic book New Graphic Design, he became a very successful

Introduction

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Designer, reflected by his apointment as the European design Consultant at huge American Company IBM. His work was very influential at the time and his influence can still be seen even today. His strong use of negative space and modernist fonts, such as Akzidenz-Grotesk, will strongly influence my own work, as I am a big fan of his simple, modernist style and design aesthetic.

Introduction

walter gropius founder of bauhaus 18.05.1883- 05.07.1969

Walter Gropius was a German architect most well known for founding the Bauhaus School of Art. Believing in the say-

ing that Form should follow Function, Gropius believed in a desin style that completely eradicated uneccessary frivolities and ornamentations of ccurent design and instead fo-

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Introduction

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cused on it’s purpose and ‘inner laws’. This was reflective in all his work and in the philosphis he brought to the Bauhaus. This went on to make a huge, universal impact on all design and resulted in him being one of the most influential designers of all time and pivotal to modernims.

Introduction

WASsILY KANdINSKY P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S 16.12.1866 - 13.1.1944

Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter and art theorist. Becoming a professor at the Bauhaus in 1921, he become a hugely influential, artist revolutionist, credited with creating what is viewed as one of the worlds first truly abstract paintings, which went on to play a significant role in the style of the Bauhaus.

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Introduction

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Kandinsky is famous for his Colur theories, believing that each colour and shape has a psychological connection to an emotion, knowledge which can be used when creating artwork. A long of his pieces consisted purely of simply lines and shapes in a series of carefully selected colours to evoke specific responses and emotions.

Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

johannes Itten

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

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Johannes Itten was a swiss Painter, designer and hugely influential in the foundation of the Bauhaus school and subsequently the development of Modernism. Itten was revolutionary in his teaching methods, believing against the isolation of single students for their errors, as he believed it would dampen their creativity. He instead, opted to

Introduction

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highlighted the most common errors and corrected them universally. This allowed his to get the most from every student. Itten was also very strongly involved in the teaching of colours, developing the colour sphere that is commonly used today to repsresent prime and subsiduary colours.

Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

josef albers

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

19.03.1888 - 25.03.1976

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ithicquatis ianducipit estiosquatis pore estios consed quamendior pore consed quamendior a dolupta a etur?Quiae dolupta etur?Quiae quae vid quae undis dolori vid undis adis dolori milicipsame adis milicdolorit ipsameemporem dolorit emporem perfernate nihillupis perfernate nihillupis ulla doloreriant ulla vero doloreriant mi, santiis veroidelignis mi, santiis rehentetur? idelignis rehentetur? Tur, sin nihillut Tur, et enis sin nihillut alitatum et enis ipsunt alitatum alitaep

Josef Albers was a German painter and designer. Originally a student of Johannes Ittenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glass painting workshop, Walter Gropius promoted Albers to a teaching positions in 1923. He went on to teach about the Bauhaus and Modernismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core belief that Form should follow function.

Introduction

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While he predominantly worked with Glass painting and Product design, he was also a strong believer in Kandinskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colour theory and published books regarding his belief that colours where determined by feelings and psychological beleifs, often beneath our own level of consciousness.

Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

el lissitzky

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

r u s s i a n av a n t g a r d e a r t i s t

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

23.09.1890 - 30.1.1941

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Lazar Markovich Lissitzky, more commonly known as El Lissitzky, was a Russian, prolific accross many fields. He played an important role in the development of Suprematism during the Russian Avant Garde and Modernism. Strongly influenced by the Bauhaus, and stylistically by Kandinsky in particular, Lissitzky was a strong believer that art was not just an aesthetic de-

Introduction

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vice, but provided the artist with a voice which they could use to influence the world, hence his extensive works of soviet propaganda. Stylistically, his works strongly utilised the ideas of minimalism and empty space, a concept made universal by the Bauhaus, and it was his contributions which helped such principles become far more well known around the world.

Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

walter dexel

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

g e r m a n pa in t e r / de sig ne r

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

07.02.1890 - 08.06.1973

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Walter Dexel was a ger- Serif typefaces where utiman Painter, Commerical lised accross the movement. Graphic Designer and typographer. A strong proponent of the Constructivism movement, along with El Lissiztky, he too had a stronge influence on the modernist era and many of his Sans

Introduction

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Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

wim crouwel

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

f at h e r o f t h e g r i d

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

21.09.1928 - Present

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William Hendrik Crouwel is a Dutch Graphic Designer and Typographer. Founder of ‘Total Design’ design studio, Crouwel is a prolific designer known for designing numerous posters, catalogues and exhibitions. One of his most famous creations was a font called New Alphabet, which was designed to work within the limitations of the machinary available at the time.

Introduction

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Crouwel’s largest influence on the graphic design world, however, was his development and implementation of grid systems, which became vital throughout the modernist era. This supported the fundamental beliefs of the Bauhaus and modernism that the work should betailored to practicality, cleanliness and objectivity, rather than decorations of extravagance for its own sake.

Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

max miedinger

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

c r e at o r o f h e lv e t i c a

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

24.12.1910 - 08.03.1980

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Max Miedinger was a Swiss Typeface designer. Much like Crouwel, he is not known so much for his pieces individually, but for his creations which have had immeasurable influence on graphics design over the decades. In Miedinger’s case, he created the typeface ‘Helvetica’, arguably the most commonly

Introduction

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used and influential font in design history. Created to reflect the cutting edge nature of Swiss technology and taking influence from Bauhaus’ principles of cleanliness and Sans typefaces, Helvetica became the default type for designers accross the globe.

Introduction

what is post modernism in graphic design?

y the early 1970, it was the general belief that modernism was coming to an end accross all art forms, including graphic design. While is by no means meant an end to the grid system and predominant use of negative space, a lot of designers where moving away from the style. The post industrial society at the time felt that the modernist style was becoming more and more dated and far less relevant in the environmentally conscious present day, of the time.

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Across all art forms, people started to disgard the term ‘Modernist’ and adopted the new style; ‘Post Modernist’, and ironically unimaginative title for such an audacious design style. The new style was to reflect the diversity of the time as everything was changing; women’s rights where growing and the was far more equality for minorities. These changes resulted in the design themes of the past being viewed as outdated and a part of the old way of things.

More than anything else, though, post modernism is a reaction to modernism, rather than a blatant rejection. While people felt Modernism was refelective of outdated times, it was not immeditely dismissed and rejected. A lot of designers still clung to the old ways and viewed Post Modernism as being ‘undisciplined’ and ‘self indulgent’. A garish jumble of styles with no discernable theme or consistency which was created as a sort of attention seeking ploy by modern students. Introduction

It wasn’t until around the 1980’s that the established designers of old started to acknowledge it as a legitimate step forward and it was then, with their former knowledge of Modernism in hand, that it was able to become a true development and reaction to the existing norms, rather than a blatant protest with no merit. Through post modernims, the boundries between high culture, such as fine art, and pop culture, such as advertisements, where being blurred and destroyed . Page 11

Designers stopped seeing themselves as simple messengers of the information they where conveying, but artisst in their own right, wih a message of their own to share with the world. Each piece of work started to become its own sort of protest against one thing or anothers. In the late 80’s, a design style started to emerge that was a blatant response to the Modernist theory of what was viewed as ‘good design’. It was a strong reaction to the very string

guidelines and rules that where laid out to determine what was or wasn’t viewed as a good piece of design. Headlined by David carson, we started seeing a design style that was reckless, garish, chaotic and inconsistent. This design style was heavily predominant throughout the 80’s and continued onto the 90’s, before settling down completely. While modern design is far less chaotic, the post modern influence is always visible in todays design. Introduction

david carson

Josef MUller-Brockmann

f at h e r o f p o s t - m o d e r n i s m

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

08.09.1954 - present

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

David Carson is an American graphic desginer and art director. Most famous for his work for the magazine ‘Ray Gun’, Carson’s work with experimental typography and development of ‘grunge typography’ was pivotal to the post modernist era. Carson rejected the rudimentary rules of modernism, such as grids, consistency, cleanliness

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and typographic patterns, opting to apply his own expressiveness to each and every page he was presented with. He often tried to make his work difficult to understand or read, which angered a lot of the traditional designers of the time, but inspired a lot of the up-and-comers, resulting in it becoming a global trend.

Introduction

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Introduction

kurt schwitters

Josef MUller-Brockmann

dada graphic designer

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

20.06.1887 - 08.01.1948

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters was a German surrealist known for his extensive work with collages. Known for working within almost all design movements, including Dadaism, Constructivism, and Surrealism as well as al-

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most all different mediums. I am not a huge fan of collages so I am very unlikely to take huge influence from him, but still find his method interesting and think he is a very talented artist.

Introduction

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Introduction

neville brody

Josef MUller-Brockmann

english graphic designer

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

23.04.1957 - present

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

Neville Brody is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director. Over his career he has worked for a number of well known publications, most famously for post modernist magazine ‘the Face’. Brody’s goal was to create a design style that, while inconsistent, would have meaning and

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ogic behind each design. Every layout was created with an underlying message or relevance to the subject of the article he was designing for. While not as radical as David Carson, Brody’s work, inspired by Dada, rebelled against the rules laid out by Modernism in order to make it his own.

Introduction

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Introduction

april greiman

Josef MUller-Brockmann

embracer of technology

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

10.09.1948 - present

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

April Greiman is an American graphic designer, famous for being one of the first to truly embrace the usefulness of technology. Using it’s abilities to manipulate colour, texture and imagery in ways that weren’t available before, Greiman was able to make an impact on the industry with her style.

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Just like Weingart, she is also credited with developing and establishing the ‘New Wave’ design style in American during teh 70’s. Her designs would often feature dozens of shapes and colours laid out randomly, without a grid, all to give her work it’s own, unique impact.

Introduction

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Introduction

paula scher

Josef MUller-Brockmann

first female principle

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

06.08.1948 - present

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

Paula Scher is an American Graphic designer and painter. Scher was key to the development of a Post Modernist style known as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Retroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, whereby modern designers would look back to older designs and apply their own spin to them. Known for her humour in her design, Scher would often parody old modern-

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ist designs and transform them into far more modern looking, post Modernism works by disgarding their grid set up and varying their type sizes. She was known for having her own unique approach to composition, colour and space and believed that design was serious, but should not be taken too seriously.

Introduction

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Introduction

wolgang weingart

Josef MUller-Brockmann

f a t h e r o f n e w w av e

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

09.05.1940 - present

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

Wolfgang Weingart is a German Graphic desginer and Typography who is labelled the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Father of New Waveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and Swiss Punk Typography. Believing that the Swiss modernist style had become so universal that it had lost all itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appeal, he set out to try and create his own style which rejects the

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core principles of Modernism. Again, like other Post Modernists, his typography was completely inconsistent in size and weight and was often overlapped and rotated, never slotting into a routine grid. He would often use combinations of shapes and colours to imply shapes and images in his work.

Introduction

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Introduction

rosmarie tissi

Josef MUller-Brockmann

swiss graphic designer

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

1937 - present

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

Rosmarie Tissi is a Swiss graphic designer. Setting up the collective studio O&T in 1968, she has become a well known figure in modernist graphic design, and one of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earliest pioneers. While she maintains some of the modernist tendancies of being clear and clean, she still rejects consistency and grid

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format, instead opting to use a far more free form setup to portray a sense of freedom and playfulness to her work. She is known for her use of overlapping typography, with each letter having their own size and weight. She also uses a multitude of contrasting colours for each letter.

Introduction

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Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

VOGUE MAGAZINE

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

INDUSTRY LEADER

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

1950 - PRESENT

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Introduction

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Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

VOGUE +gq MAGAZINE

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

industry leaders

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

1950 - presents

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Vogue and GQ Magazine are two globally recognised magazines from America Vogue is arguably the most recognisable magazine in the world and has achieved such success through a very distinctive aesthetic. One of the reasons it is so successful is itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always changing, yet consistent, large, serif type masthead. Maintaing the exact same size and type every publication, the colour changes each time to keep it fresh and relevant to the article; this

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is something I will have to look into experiemnting with in my own magazine. Every magazine can have a nice masthead, but the important aspect it to create one which looks nice regardless of the accompanying image and considering this is a weekly magazine, the image will change consistently. A small change, such as to the colour, can be a simple yet effective solution.

Introduction

Josef MUller-Brockmann

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

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Introduction

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Introduction

masthead designs acroynyms

The most important part of the cover of a magazine is the masthead. This is something that must stand out from the rest of the imagery and make the magazine immediately recognisable. It creates the universal image for the magazine and should reflect the the tone and nature suitably. Through my extensive research into the most popular magazines and their style, I have deducted that the masthead should be relatively simple, without being too basic or too complicated. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be too explicit in stating the name of the magazine, while still being relatively close to the original title. The masthead should also be able to look in place regardless of the cover.

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While RayGun magazine used to change its masthead drastically each magazine to meet this goal, magazines such as iD and Vogue simply change their colour to something appropriate. I have decided that New Visual Language is too long to be a recognisable masthead, and so have decided to shorted it to the simply acronym â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;NVLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Firstly I am going to draw up a series of very simple sketches of the potential masthead. After I have drawn all these up, I will pick out a few of my favourites to develop them into potential final designs, and from there will pick one in particular and see if there is any more ways to improve it, so that it can be used on my final magazine.

Introduction

This was my first developed ideas. It didn’t necessarily develop from any of my sketches, because It is simply the acronym of the magazine name in uppercase Futura, but I did at the ‘/’ to make it look more like a masthead. I think this could work as it is simple enough to fit most covers and works as a modernist design.

This was my second developed design. This one has somewhat of an Art Deco feel to it. Again, I have tried to create something with a modernist feel to it, as it was made with a strict grid and lots of straight lines, as well as utilising lots of negative space.

developed designs

This is my third developed design. With this design, I was tried to take up as little space as possible, seeing if I could merge all three letters into one simple form. I am fairly happy with this, but am unlikely to use it.

first de velopments 09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

This was continueing with the theme of trying to merge all three letters. I like how this looks, but, due to how difficult it is to read, I feel it is too ironic as it conflicts entirely with the article title of ‘Form Follows Function’.

After selecting 7 of my favourite designs from my initial sketches, I have developed them all to what I believe could be final designs for the final piece. I have also analysed each of them and highlighted their positive and negative aspects too, in order to determine which would be best suited for the final alterations.

This design was done in the style of _________’s font whereby he tried to create an entire typeset from a very small amount of shapes. I quite like this one, and think it could be used, but would need to add something more. On this design I was focusing very much on ‘negative space’, seeing if I could portray all three letters with as little shapes and forms as possible, following the Bauhaus’s philiosophy of efficiency. I like this one a lot, but do not feel it is quite clear enogh to be a masthead on its own. It would need words.

I will pick approximately 2 or 3 of these for the final developments to what will be used to masthead my final piece. I will likely return to this after I have decided on my layout and design of my magazine to make some last minute adjustments to make it fit better.

This is last developed design. This is probable my favourite of all the designs I came up with as it is very similar to a lot of Bauhaus designs, fits in a grid and takes up little space. While I will not definitely use this design, I will try and see if I can develop it any further, perhaps by adding text, to see if it becomes a useable masthead design.

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Final developments f i n a l r e s u lt s

On the left are my final potential mastheads, after their extensive development. I tried to create ones which would fit into the Modernist style bracket and would suit the intended modernist style of my magazine. The acronym logo is meant to

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be simple and recognisable, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve added text to it to make it more obvious what the magazine is, as the logo was still quite ambigous. After I have created my magazine cover, having decided on the layout, I will decided which one of these fitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best.

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Introduction

preliminary layouts

Josef MUller-Brockmann

first design drafts

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S 09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

Inspired by all the layouts I have looked at to produce my mood boards, I have drawn up a series of simple, initial layouts without the reference of a grid or any accurate measurements. I will now look, in depth, at a series of practices and cor-

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rect forms when it comes to design before taking a select few of this and develop them to a stage whereby I could use them as my final piece, applying different methods which I will hopefully discover over the coming pages.

Introduction

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Introduction

grid layouts - modular

Josef MUller-Brockmann

a nd t he ir i m p orta nc e

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S 09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

While it is a well known fact that grids are one of the most important part of design, a certain type of grid is often overlooked as they are not a default option on InDesign: Modular Grids. These are grids which feature consistent horizontal divisions, as well as vertical, and adhering to them gives your page far more visual balance and consistency. Even i you cannot see the

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lines and they do not fit within each square, aligning your text to the various horizontal guides as well as the vertical will hugely improve a design and I will look to apply this method to my final publication

Introduction

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Introduction

the golden section

Josef MUller-Brockmann

using the fibonacci sequence in design

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S 09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

The Fibonacci Sequence is an integer sequence that goes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 which is directly related to the Golden Ratio, 1:1.61. This is a ratio which is very commonly seen in nature in shape and sizes of natural objects. Because of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strong connection to nature, it has been used in art and design for centuries, with some believing that it dates all the way back the ancient egyptians and was used to design the pyramids. More commonly seen in historical architecture and classical art, it is rarely naturally associated with modern graphic design,

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but is often used in the layout of modern publications and web design in world famous web designs, such as twitter. When overlaid onto a page, the golden ratioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spiral can be used as a reference point on where to locate specific items and sidebars in order to give the best possible result. If I can try and incorporate this into my final design, I will be left with a far more aesthetically pleasing layout, regardless of whether the viewer realises why.

Introduction

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Introduction

TITLE - IMPORTANT

s u b t i t l e - L E S S I M P ORTA N T

Least important - Sequidel lorrum recumendio. Iqui odia vent asperferum rerferu ptiunt, num ius in endaerro con niendendis pa delibus, sunt restotatust vel ma ernatatur? Endempe riorro et laborru mquodipsa dolorero et dolenia ditia conempe lenihic ianducip Sequidel lorrum recumendio. Iqui odia vent asperferum rerferu ptiunt, num ius in endaerro con niendendis pa delibus, sunt restotatust vel ma ernatatur? Endempe riorro et laborru mquodipsa dolorero et dolenia ditia conempe lenihic ianducip Sequidel lorrum recumendio.

visual focal points/ visual hierarchy

Sequidel lorrum recumendio. Iqui odia vent asperferum rerferu ptiunt, num ius in endaerro con niendendis pa delibus, sunt restotatust vel ma ernatatur? Endempe riorro et laborru mquodipsa dolorero et dolenia ditia conempe lenihic ianducip Sequidel lorrum recumendio. Iqui odia vent asperferum rerferu ptiunt, num ius in endaerro con niendendis pa delibus, sunt restotatust vel ma ernatatur? Endempe riorro et laborru mquodipsa dolorero et dolenia ditia conempe lenihic ianducip Sequidel lorrum recumendio. Iqui odia vent

e s ta bl i shing a t e xts i m p orta nc e

Every page in a design should always have a focal point: the first place the reader looks when they open up a page. In traditional western culture, where the reader looks from left to right, this is typically situated in the top left hand corner of the page, hence the positioning of titles and headlines in most articles. If I wish to use a different focal point, such as on this document where it is located in the upper middle of the page, I will, like in this document, need to use a far stronger font, or a larger,

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bold version of the normal font, to help drag the viewers eye to where I want it to be. As well as being formatted in a way so as to draw attention to specific areas, fonts should be selected a formatted in a way so as to reflect a visual hierarchy of importance within the text. This means that the most important text is the most prominent, the less so, but still important text is slightly more prominent than the body and the least important is more passive.

title - IMPORTANT s u b t i t l e - L E S S I M P ORTA N T

Introduction

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lenihic ianducipit quatis estios pore consed quamendior a dolupta etur?Quiae quae vid undis dolori adis milicipsame dolorit emporem perfernate nihillupis ulla doloreriant vero mi, santiis idelignis rehentetur? Tur, sin nihillut et enis alitatum ip-

Introduction

folio's si m pl e y e t i m p orta n t

A very simple but important part of most professional publications is the folio, or the small reminder in the bottom/ top corner of a page which reminds the reader where about in the book/ magazine we are.

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This is often simply the title of the chapter/ section of the book, in a small font, next to the page number in the bottom corner. While these are not mandatory on every page, they are still important on the majority and I will definitely have them.

Introduction

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Introduction

LAYOUT 1 DEVELOPMENT PROS

CONS

• • • • • •

• • • •

Created within Modular Grid boundries 2 column layout different font headline for emphasis subheading smaller font size small page numbers small, 50% opacity info box above title, replacing subheading of previous layout • Small area for image crediting

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This is my second, developed potential layout. This is similar to a layout I used on a previous research document, which I was very fond of. While I feel that, with imagery, the layout looks very clean and nice, I do not think it works particularly well as a magazine and the number of images required for each page does not lend itself to my specific magazine and so I will likley not use it.

Doesn’t fit Golden ratio boundries doesn’t look much like magazine better suited to research doc requires too many images

Introduction

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Introduction

BORN 1987 LOCATION Lisbon, POR MEDIUM Graffiti STYLE Archeological Graffiti THEMES Destruction INFLUENCES Muralism

title subheading

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2 4

1. http://allcitystreetart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Vhils_Norway_21.jpg 2. http://greenthorne.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/vhils.jpg 3. http://www.woostercollective.com/assets/img/content/posts/ Vhils_in_Shanghai_-_2012_-_courtesy_18_Gallery_Magda_Danysz_%2825%29.jpg 4. http://o.homedsgn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Vhils-17.jpg

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LAYOUT 2 DEVELOPMENT PROS • • • • • • • • • •

Fits within the golden section boundries Aligned to the modular grid 3 column layout Large, Futura headline to reallocate foal point Subheading to add more meaning to headline - 50% opacity Central page numbers - 50% opacity Folio with section title - 50% opacity Lines to indicate border edge - 50% Entire facing page dedicated to image. 0.5% Black box behind text, within border.

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This is effectively a more developed version of the layout used on this document, but modified so as to better fit a magazine and to meet the requirements of the modular grid and golden ratio in order to improve it’s aesthetic appeal. I am very happy with this layout and this is the one I am most likely to use in my final magazine.

CONS • Does not lend itself to much alteration i.e. pages where you need to analyse imagery •

Introduction

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Introduction

chapter name

TITLE OF PA G E artist DOB if applicable subsidiary information about the artist/page Tas et moluptaepuda sit, quam reheniatetur acil is eosaper estiis estrum inum corestota sunt facerna temped quatur re intendant optates evelenistrum utem harchil explit autem dolupta di oditio. Berum, sit is debist, tem as de dolluptas sunt miliquiatem. Ita denis net doluptat. Vitibus utempe nem quos illaut volupta tessim nus aut faccabo ratinulla ium dercide bitasi que susapita qui doloresecum volut quam dolupta turitate sitas ex et faccus etur? Um aut quatio. Aquiate ndisimolorro etur re volessectem aliquam autet mos di verfera que porum fugiatque quos del magnatius quatibus sent, sinturit reprovidem non ped ut facessum esequam in res qui sint est, quam diorest, omnimolumet laborum quos ut modicae nusaped magnati odis as apit venis dolupta siminto eos esciis mos qui blabor amentis inti occulpa eat aut quaectis vere vollaboriate volupta tiuntiam, quiscia ditat que natur soluptaes sincident. Ur sus, is es ut volendi nostrum quias cus, omnissus qui volupti ostrum nese pedit, at et aligent vendam adis essitatiae omnihic ationseque reperrume lat. Agnamusaped maion plit maximp Tas

et moluptaepuda sit, quam reheniatetur acil is eosaper estiis estrum inum corestota sunt facerna temped quatur re intendant optates evelenistrum utem harchil explit autem dolupta di oditio. Berum, sit is debist, tem as de dolluptas sunt miliquiatem. Ita denis net doluptat. Vitibus utempe nem quos illaut volupta tessim nus aut faccabo ratinulla ium dercide bitasi que susapita qui doloresecum volut quam dolupta turitate sitas ex et faccus etur? Um aut quatio. Aquiate ndisimolorro etur re volessectem aliquam autet mos di verfera que porum fugiatque quos del magnatius quatibus sent, sinturit reprovidem non ped ut facessum esequam in res qui sint est, quam diorest, omnimolumet laborum quos ut modicae nusaped magnati odis as apit venis dolupta siminto eos esciis mos qui blabor amentis inti occulpa eat aut quaectis vere vollaboriate volupta tiuntiam, quiscia ditat que natur soluptaes sincident. Ur sus, is es ut volendi nostrum quias cus, omnissus qui volupti ostrum nese pedit, at et aligent vendam adis essitatiae omnihic ationseque reperrume lat. Agnamusaped maion plit maximp Tas

LAYOUT 2 DEVELOPMENT PROS • • • • •

Perfectly fits Golden Section Perfectly fits Grid Large, prominent headline 3 colum set up 50% Opacity page number+ Folio

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CONS • Headline is far too heavy and garish • a lot of empty space on the page • little room for folio’s without them looking redundant and pointless • No Subheading

Introduction

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Introduction

HEADLINE

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PAGE 1

final layout decision l ayo u t f or f in a l m a g a z ine

I have decided that I am going to use my second developed layout idea for my final magazine. I feel it meets all the criteria of what makes a good layout as it was made within the boundries of a modular grid as well as the golden section, has 3 columns, the industry standard, has a strong focal point, nicely contrasting folioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and page numbers and has sol-

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id visual grouping within the middle of the page. Accompanied with the right image, I believe it is the best possible outcome and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s large amount of negative space and clean aesthetic ties it into itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s modernist requirements.

Introduction

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Introduction

initial layout sketches

contents page design

pr e l i m in a ry l ayo u t sk e tc he s

l ayo u t f or t he f irs t pa g e

On the right are my initial layout sketches. These where made by drawing out a template shape for each page and simply sketching on an initial design in a way which I believe looked aesthetically pleasing. I will now take a few of these

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which I believe look the best and develop them further to become what could be used as final pieces, then pick my favourite to make final adjustments to. I will try and use the same golden ratio and grid methods I used on the layout.

A key part of any publication is the contents page as it

Introduction

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Introduction

CITY IN FLUX FACES OF LIVERPOOL P.12

NVL FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

001

EARTH ARTIFACT GOLDEN RECORD P.20

Vol. 1 Issue #1 £1.99

Issue No.1 Eng - £1.99 US - $2.50

CITY IN FLUX

EARTH ARTIFACT

ARTIST TYPEFACE

NVL/ New Visual Language

Josef potential MUller-Brockmann cover #1 P R OPFREO SF SE OSRS O AT R B AA T UBH AA UU HSA U S 09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

City in Flux

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Introduction

Earth Artifact

Artist Typeface

#1 ISSUE 1 ENG - ÂŁ1.99 US - $ 1.99

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

FORM Josef MUller-Brockmann FOL LOWS FUNCTION

Josef MUller-Brockmann P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S

P R O F E S S O R AT B A U H A U S 09.05.1914- 30.07.1996

09.05.1914 - 30.07.1996

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CITY IN FLUX EARTH ARTIFACT ARTIST TYPEFACE

Introduction

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Introduction

#1 ISSUE 1 ENG - £1.99 US - $ 1.99

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

FORM FOL LOWS FUNCTION

Final cover design final cover for use on m agazine

CITY IN FLUX EARTH ARTIFACT ARTIST TYPEFACE

On the left is my final, finished design for the cover of my magazine. It was designed using the golden ratio to ensure that it all sits nicely and was aligned with a modular grid. I opted to use a masthead I didn’t expect to simply because I felt it would actually suit this design, and any subsequent issues, more than any of the others. The issue number is isolated on the far right, on top of the image, but is still aligned within the modular

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grid to ensure continuity. I quite like this design, but could be happier with it, however I feel that it fulfils it’s criteria of being Modernist as it was inspired by numerous swiss, modernist magazines. I would liked to have used a lighter font for the text on it, as I feel they are too heavy for subheadings, but could not find a suitable font to do so with.

Introduction

earth artifact

GUIDE COVERS To get an idea of which of the two projects I would proceed with to completion, I started the preliminary stages of each of them to see how I felt about them once I could see them in front of me, rather than just dismissing either one of their concepts. For the guide to rebuild the Earth, I decided I would create a series of potential covers/ layouts so that I would be able to see how I felt about each of their design. On the right handside are the four potential designs I ended with. I feel that the minimalism poster is, graphically speaking, a nice piece of work and I would usually be happy to use it for my work, however, I am not sure it is particularly appropriate for this piece of work. I am not sure what I would be able to change about it which would make it seem more suitable. It is probably my least favourite of the 4 ideas, but that is not to say I dislike it. I feel the simple idea (top right) is a

good design as it is very clean and efficient, but I am concerned it is a bit too simple for the project and would not be eye catching enough. Printed onto high quality paper, I believe this design could look very good, but just on a screen, it is missing something to make it stand out from any other designs . I feel the more decorative design, idea 3, is definitely my favourite of the 4 and is the one I would most likely proceed with if I continue with this idea. I think it serves its purpose in explaining what it is as well as giving a good impression of earth and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beauty. I am very fond of the fourth, final design I created for this idea; the Ikea replica. While it was initially created as a bit of a joke and a satirical look at the concept, I decided I actually really liked the idea and believe that if it was carried out to completion, It would be a very aesthetically appealing design, as well as being by far and away the most

pracitcal and informative. However, as stated on the idea page itself, I do not think that copyright laws would allow me to create a guide in that style. Overall I was fairly happy with the experimentation I have carried out into this idea. I was fairly sceptical about the idea as a whole before hand but seeing all the potential designs laid out has made me realise that with some effort it could be a very solid project with a pleasing outcome, however I am not yet sure whether I am going to continue it any further at this stage. I am going to start conducting some experimentation into my other potential ideas and see how I feel about them, as they may win me over, but so far I am very happy with this one and may well use it as my final. After deciding that I was actually fairly pleased with these results, I decided I would try creating the first of my propaganda posters and see how I felt about that.

earth artifact

P R O PA G A N D A POSTERS POTENTIAL INSPIRATION

My other idea, besides the guide cover, was to create a series of propaganda posters. To try and find inspiration for my designs, I looked a series of the most famous and iconic WW2 posters to see if they had any qualities I could utilise, or to see if any of them would be suitable for a pastiche. The images on the left are the ones I decided would be appropriate, but I did not restrict myself to these and was still open to work with a series of others. Of these, I decided the most iconic was the Uncle Sam ‘I want you for the US Army’ and so decided it would be the first of these that I should try and pastiche. I also decided I would work with the ‘You Can Do It’ poster.

alessio albi

In order to decide who would replace the key figure in each posters I asked a series of my friends (and family, the broaden the demographic) who they thought would be the best person to go onto the posters. The criteria was simply that this person had to be iconic and universally loved. Someone who nobody who you ask could possibly say they dislike. The most popular celebrities to use where as follows: -Bill Murray -Will Smith -Woody Harrelson -Marilyn Monroe -Judi Dench -Jennifer Lawrence.

From the shortlist I created, I decided I would allow myself to choose who I would use for the final pieces based off who I thought would be most appropriate. For the first piece, I decided that Bill Murray would be perfect to replace Uncle Sam in the ‘I need You’ design and that Dame Judi Dench would be perfect to replace Rosie the Riveter in the ‘You Can Do It!’ poster.

earth artifact

S TA N L E Y CHOW 02,05,1987 Italian photographer and graphic designer

Stanley Chow is a digital illustrator specialising in minimalism posters and minimalist portraiture. Born and raised in Manchester, Chow worked (and still does) as a DJ and started designing his own flyers and publicity material before starting to focus primarily on the graphics ahead of the music. Commisioned for multiple big jobs such as creating an extensive catalogue of portraits of famous footballers, for BleacherReport, creating numerous film posters and regularly creating covers for the New Yorker, Chow has well and truly mastered the art of minimalism and, despite it having so little room for individualism, has created a truly unique and identifiable style of

his own. An in addition to his use of vibrant colours and effortless portrayal of complex features through simple lines, Chowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is also notable for the simple and eery way in which he recreated peoples eyes. I am a very big fan of minimalism and have created numerous of my own pieces in the style. My pieces, however, where far less advanced and complicated than these ones, so I still have a lot to learn before I am able to confidently create pieces like these. As I am still unsure of what I am going to do for my final piece, I cannot say what specifically I will be able to take from these and apply to my own work, but I know I will almost certainly exper-

iment to some degree with minimalism as I believe it is an extremely modern and clean looking design style. In terms of the project, I believe that minimalism could actually be a sensible design style as it portrays all characters in a very pleasant light, which is useful for foreign contact.

stanley chow

earth artifact

HUMANS OF NEW YORK 1984 - PRESENT CHARACTER OF THE CITY

Humans of New York is an art project created by American Brandon Stanton, consisting of hundreds of images of citisens annd short stories. Orginating as a simple catalogue of all the residents of New York, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, wherein he would plot the location of the respective citisens locations on a map of the city and see how they link, the project took a drastic, semiotic turn. After he started taking stories from the people he spoke to, he discovered that despite the fact that despite large groups of people are reduced to sheep like drones, every person had their own

life and their own story. When he accompanied their short stories with their photographs, it become an encyclopedic look into the vast and diverse character of the millions of tiny pieces that create the dense fabric of the culture of one of the worlds most famous cities. On earth, while all animals have their own character, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually have too many discernable qualities that separate them from eachother. Large colonies of xanimals are often grouped together because they are similar. That is not the case with humans. Every single person has their own unique character, personality and history. This may not

be the same as in alien life forms as it is entirely possible that their society will follow a similar theme to that of our animals. Different but largely similar. If I was to do a piece that follwos this theme and tries to represent our diversity and differences, then HONY is something I should look very closely to mimic and take inspiration from. I could directly replicate his work, with my own twist (like my previous project), or do something very aesthetically different while maintaining his themes of stories accompanying images so as to tell as quick story about the subject.

earth artifact

ANTHONY BURRILL 2010 - PRESENT CREATIVE TYPOGRAPHY

Anthony Burrill is an English designer, graphic designer and print maker. He is famous for his style is notable for his use of vibrant colours and bold text in order to communicate a more upbeat and persuasive message clearly. Semiotics and messages are incredbily important to all of his work and he has developed a reputation for his incorporation of more subtle, clever meanings beneath the more explicitly obvious ones which subtly enforce his orignal message, i.e. using oil attained from the sea and mixing it with water to produce his ‘Oil and Water don’t mix’ piece.

If I decide to do a more infromation and less aesthetic based piece, Burrill’s style may be quite useful, as it is clear to understand, however, I am aiming to avoid using any large amounts of typography because it is unlikely to be able to be understood. I will, however, likely utilise his clever use of semiotics and hidden meanings. Any pieces I make, I would like to try and incorporate something along his lines to add more depth and meaning to them and thus improve.