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tABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents.......................................................................... 1 .
The Reign Manifesto.....................................................................2 Plakatstil Movement................................................................. 3-4 .
Art Deco Movement...................................................................5-6 International Typographic Movement...................................7-8 Revival Movement...................................................................9-10 Eclectic Movement.................................................................11-12 Psychedelic Movement.........................................................13-14 The New York School Movement........................................15-16 New Wave Movement...........................................................17-18 Punk Movement.....................................................................19-20 Deconstruction Movement..................................................21-22 ÉmigrÊ Movement.................................................................23-24 Controlled Chaos Movement...............................................25-26 Contemporary Works............................................................27-30 Student Works........................................................................31-34 Sources....................................................................................35-38 Conclusion....................................................................................39 Dedication....................................................................................40
1
The Reign Manifesto As members of Purple Reign, we make it our top priority to express ourselves creatively, support others within our group in their artistic endeavours and to maintain a high level of intellectual integrity and honesty. The following guidelines that we have decided upon, shall govern our interactions, our working policies, and our creative processes: _________________________________________________ Creativity is not only a tool, but a way of thinking. Embracing the idea that art is not only of inspiration, but the reality that it brings to each viewer, we consider it our social responsibility to portray quality design of high ethical standards. Recognize that honesty, integrity and good values are essential elements to establish long lasting relationships with clients, peers, business and society. Institute a platform of inclusion within the association, allowing designers from different levels of education, experience and backgrounds to achieve their personal and professional goals. Breaking the rules- it’s okay to do so as long as you have a good reason for it. Don’t procrastinate on a good idea. To reach full potential each member has to carry his or her own weight. Creating an open/safe environment so everybody can feel comfortable to express their ideas and opinions. To appreciate art as an idea and an idea as art, the process is as important as the end product. As a group we shall have respect to follow the rules of each style but have a spirit of rebellion to know when to break them. We are not afraid of creativity and innovation, we embrace it with open arms. Avoid plagiarism but embrace influence from others to a reasonable extent. Always leave room for improvement and do not always get “married” to one idea.
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Purple Reign
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Plakatstil 1890’s - 1910’s
Characteristics • Flat color palette • Reductive design technique • Bold lettering • minimal, central image • Accessible message
The Plakatstil Movement, also known as the “Poster Style”, is an art movement that evolved during the twentieth century out of Germany. It is “not connected to a school or other movement, but rather just required that the poster attracted immediate attention” (Clabough, 2013). Most recognized for its flat color and reductive design technique, Plakatstil posters are also known for their “bold lettering, simple central image, accessible message and distinctive, eye catching colors” (Clabough, 2013). This time period, thanks to elemental artists, “moved graphic communications one step further in the simplification and reduction of naturalism into a visual language of shape and sign” (Meggs, 279). The Plakatstil Movement created an outlet for universal advertising and simple, to-the-point communication to the masses.
3 Martin
Rudi Erdt
Bernhard
Opel, 1911 Hans Rudi Erdt
Klinger
Hermanns & Froitzhiem 1910 Julius Klinger
Priester Poster 1906 Lucian Bernhard
Hans Rudi Erdt’s most famous piece, a poster for Opel automobiles, is pictured above. The poster shows various similarities to Bernhard’s style, with the simple image, flat color, and obvious product name. This poster, having a darker teal colored background with off-white lettering is reflected in the male character. It is the only other figure in the entire piece; his goggles are the same color as the text, and the reductive style adds the visual illusion that his jacket is teal colored as well. It is interesting that this is considered to be such a successful poster, because nowhere in the composition is an automobile or automobile part displayed or painted. The only give-away is the word “automobile” in the upper left-hand corner, as well as the notion that the audience would be aware that “Opel” is an automobile company. This piece shows asymmetry yet equal balance in image and weight throughout the composition, and the color palette is also balanced. The male figure in the poster is well groomed and dressed, however he has a solemn expression on his face, possibly depicting that driving or riding in an automobile is class-enabled and a serious manner. The male figure is also translated as being more mature in age, due to his white moustache and hair color. It is unclear as to his position regarding the automobile, but can automatically be seen as important, due to hierarchy in both position and size.
One of the most prominent artists of the Plakatstil Movement, Lucian Bernhard was inspired by the magic of color use at the Munich Glaspalast Exhibition of Interior Decoration, thusly leading him to a poster contest that won him wide recognition for his “Preister Matches” advertisement. (Meggs, 279). His career rocketed forward after that contest, earning him the opportunity to design “over three hundred packages for sixty-six products, all using the similar elementary graphics” (Meggs, 279) that were recognized as his trademark. The piece shown by Bernhard is his “Preister Matches” advertisement, as mentioned above. After a period of indecisiveness, he limited the piece to just two matches and the name of the company, using basic, flat colors and minimalistic design. The layout, color choice and font are all indicators of the Plakatstil Movement; the message of the advertisement is clear and by only painting two matches and one name, the entire image becomes a central focus in itself. The bold black background with the contrasting red and purple grab the audience’s eye, and the bold lettering allow the viewer to know exactly what company is being advertised. This advertisement is a balanced poster, designed with the viewer in mind.
The third of the many important Plakatstil artists, Julius Klinger was “born and educated in Vienna and previously associated with the Vienna Secession artists” (Meggs ,280). After some time, Klinger’s style moved towards the style of Bernhard and Erdt, which included “decorative shapes of bright, clear color and concise, simple lettering (Meggs, 280). This reductive style was a straight reflection of the movement, as seen above in the displayed advertisement poster. This advertisement is dated back to 1910 and is for the Hermanns & Froitzheim clothing company. Using a bold color palette, Klinger created contrast between the color of the bird and the colors used in the background and the ties. This poster shows balance in image and weight between the body of the bird and the neckties, as well as asymmetry due to the incapability of the viewer to find a line of symmetry. It is unsure as to why Klinger chose a toucan-like bird to represent the company, but nonetheless, the image meets the requirements of the movement by providing a design that attracts immediate attention. The bird is holding the already-tied, loosenedup neckties in its beak in a playful way, offering the idea that the client is a fun and relaxed clothing company, reaching out to a youthful and fashion-minded audience.
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aRT Deco 1920’s - 1940’s
Characteristics •colorful and reductive imagery •Heavy Art Nouveau influence •airbrushed coloring •Rectilinear •Ornate Art Deco, also known as Style Moderne, is one of the earliest forms of contemporary design where both decoration and functionality are considered by designers (Clabough, 2013). This movement lasted from the early 1920’s up until the late 1940’s. According to the class lectures, Art Deco was not stagnant during the height of it’s popularity. Much like American culture it evolved and because of that, several smaller movements were born out of it. Some of these movements include, Universal Deco, Swiss and German poster art, and American Deco (Clabough, 2013). The movement helped to define and provide visual interpretation of the machine age. Though the movement evolved as different designers became more prominent and presented new ideologies, Art Deco has been defined as one of the first movements to move towards modernism. Heller and Chwast cite Deco as ’not retrogressive but a response to contemporary wants ’ (Heller, Chwast, 127).Use of san-serif geometric typefaces had become very popular; type was colorful and reductive, but still maintained some decorative qualities mostly influenced by Art Nouveau. According to Meggs, Deco was considered a worldly style of design because it was influenced by Aztecan art and early Egyptian form and design (Meggs, 279). In the United States, the Art Deco movement became known as a more eclectic mode of design that embraced multiple influences and styles. Prominent artists from this movement include Robert Berény, A.M. Cassandre, and Jean Carlu.
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Berény
Carlu
Cassandre
War Poster, 1942 Jean Carlu
Nord Express Railway Poster,1927 A.M. Cassandre
Modiano, 1928 Robert Berény
Robert Berény’s work belonged to a subclass of Deco design known as Universal deco which became known for it’s distinctive style that did not betray nationality or political identity (Clabough, 2013). Since design in the Art Deco movement revolved around branding and selling products, Berény’s Modiano poster subscribes to the idea of design functionality, as the central figure seems to be promoting a particular kind of cigarette; which is the most illustrative part of the entire composition. Though the artist does illustrate the figure, he uses a very commanding red in the hand. He also uses tendrils of smoke to guide the viewer’s eye around the piece. These two lines of smoke in tandem with the red hand, burning red end of the cigarette, and the red mouth serve as almost instructional indicators as to what the viewer should be doing: smoking. From the style of the figure, his top hat and clothing, Berény is advertising that a certain type of upper class gentleman smokes these cigarettes. This piece is definitive of the Art Deco style, as Berény captures all of the movement’s qualities in this ad.
Though he received his education as an architect, due to a severe accident where he lost his arm, Jean Carlu decided to rededicate himself to poster art for war torn France, during World War 1 (Meggs, 283). He vowed to create posters that would communicate messages about the war to his viewers. In Carlu’s War Poster of 1942, he sends a bold message about working to produce new materials. The highly stylized glove seems like a step into futurism because of its flat shape and almost airbrushed coloring. Regardless of the fact that the glove is the largest thing in the composition, Carlu focuses a majority of the emphasis on type. It also seems to follow his ideology of using ‘two ideas, where one will deliver the message more forcefully’ (Meggs, 283). The bold red san-serif font makes a statement that ‘production’ is not only ‘America’s answer’, but the only answer. This poster highlights the fact that Art Deco artists also paid attention to type just as much as they did decoration and illustration.
Born in Ukraine and raised in Paris, A.M. Cassandre received his formal education at the École des Beaux Arts Académie Julian, he began his career fulfilling small poster commissions (Meggs, 280). Meggs and Purvis, cite him as an artist whose work sometimes ventured into synthetic cubism (Meggs, 280). Much of his work is characterized by bold geometric style with an emphasis on typography. According to the class lectures (Clabough, 2013). Cassandre was keen on airbrushing, a technique apparent in his poster for the Gard Du Nord, which at the time was a fairly new train station in France. Somewhat akin to Berèny, he places emphasis on the object in which he is promoting, the train. Its very large structure, billowing steam trail and blue horizon in the background are indicators of movement; an idea that informs the viewer that not only is the train literally moving forward, but so are society and technology. The bold red font is very interesting because it does play with a negative effect around the slabs, but still maintains a very serious attitude of how important it is for people to use this train. Cassandre’s poster is not simply advertising the Gard Du Nord, but represents a sociological idea about innovation, progressive thinking, and lifestyles.
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International Typographic Movement 1930’s 1930’s -- 1980’s 1980’s Characteristics •Asymmetrical compositions •Mathematical grids •Universal symbols • Sans serif typography
International Typographic, also known as the Swiss Style is based on clean simplicity. Created in Switzerland in the 1950’s, this graphic design style is based on an asymmetrical type of layout organized on a grid, using sans serif lettering. (“International”) The idea of the movement is to bring information without individual expression and unconventional results. It is to be free from influence of commercialism and propaganda. (Meggs, 372) The simplified layout of this design held emphasis on text, negative space and objective imagery. (“International”) The use of sans serif typography set in a flush-left and ragged right margin was a characteristic often used. (Meggs, 372) This period was also recognized as a time when more refined sans-serif fonts were in favour. One of the most recognized typefaces, Neue Haas Grotesk, better known as Helvetica. (Meggs, 376-77) The Swiss movement became especially evident of popularity in America in the 1960s. (Meggs, 384) The clarity of communication is still as evident and popular today as it was then. (Meggs, 372) Some influential artists of the movement include Ernst Keller, Theo Ballmer and Josef Muller-Brockmann.
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Keller
Müller Brockmann
Ballmer
Rietberg Museum Poster, 1955 Ernst Keller
Public Awareness Poster, 1960 Josef Müller-Brockmann
Office Professions Exhibition,1928 Theo Ballmer
One of the most prominent figures of The New York School style was Ernst Keller (Meggs, 372). He is known as the “father of Swiss Graphic Design.” (“International”) He was a teacher at Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Arts & Crafts) in Zürich. (“International”) His teaching emphasized that the solution to the design should emerge from the content (Meggs, 372). Maintaining a standard of excellence for four decades and his experimentation with using the grid system held strong influence on many students and future artists of this period (Meggs, 372). Keller’s poster for the Rietberg Museum in 1955 exhibits particularly vibrant contrasting color and expressive edges and lettering (Meggs, 372). The simple geometric forms and symbolic imagery establish his contribution of the long-lasting standard of excellence in the Swiss graphic design (Meggs, 372). With a visual energy by creating dimension with pattern and pulling the image so close to its borders this poster creates symmetry between the bird and the snake through size, shape and color.
Josef Müller-Brockmann was a key figure in the Swiss movement who contributed to leading it to an international level. (Meggs, 381) His work with typography early in his career showed use of using a strict grid, limited to the Akidenz Grotest typeface and shows integration of typography and shapes (“International”). He was known for creating visually powerful art demonstrating an independent message without interference of his own persuasion (Meggs, 381). As an experienced instructor and owner of his own design firm, MullerBrockmann was instrumental in propagating the Swiss design aesthetic beyond Switzerland by founding and co-editing the Neue Grafik (New Graphic Design) journal, of which each issue was printed in German, English, and French (“International”). Müller-Brockmann’s poster for Zurick Town Hall has a large asymmetrical circular image which becomes a metaphor for the “b” in Beethoven as well as creating a pattern which expands in a pulsating energy. The well chosen black and white coloring are a perfect choice for surrounding the thin but prominent purple force moving through the image as incorporation of rhythm and harmony in reference to music (Meggs, 383).
Theo Ballmer had an original way of applying De Stijl principles to the International Typographic Style of graphic design. (Meggs, 373). By using an arithmetic grid of horizontal and vertical alignments he achieved a high degree of formal unity. (Meggs, 373). He specialized in attaining a level of harmony and grace in his work in a way other’s had not achieved (Meggs, 373). In 1928 Ballmer created a poster for an office professions exhibition, referred to as his “Bϋro” poster using an implied grid system (Meggs, 372-73). The balanced connection of reflected black and red words and thin white lines between the letters shows evidence of the original grid squares he used. (Meggs, 372-73). His application of De Stijl principles are also shown in his use of black, red and white coloring and simple horizontal and vertical alignments. (Meggs, 373).
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rEVIVAL 1950’s Characteristics •Painterly and drawn images married with text •mainly used for package design •Use of wood types
In the mid 1950’s an alternative to classical modernism was discovered this was called Revival. Previously considered gone and obsolete popular culture, primitive painting, Victorian, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco graphic styles were taken up again ad a fresh start and fresh inspiration (Heller, Chwast, 203). Painterly and drawn images along with typography were combined as a total design. The usually playful application of historical mannerisms were perfect for editorial and book designs, record albums, cultural posters and packaging (Heller, Chwast, 203). While looking at revival art you will notice how bright colors and geometry are used. Artists from this movement include Milton Glaser, Paul Davis, and Seymour Chwast. All of these artists were involved with the creation of Push Pin Studios (Heller, Chwast, 203).
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gLASER
DAVIS
CHWAST
Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits, 1967 Milton Glaser
Che Guevara Poster/Magazine Evergreen Review, 1967 Paul Davis
The Sensational Houdini,1961 Seymour Chwast
Milton Glaser was among the founding artists of Push Pin Studios, in 1954. Glaser consistently “reinvented himself as a creative force”. He is most known for his Bob Dylan poster, 1967. “Transcending subject and function, this image became a symbolic crystallization of its time” (Meggs, 431). The work as a whole is visually balanced in its intense use of color and negative space. The silhouette only suggests a figure, helping to capture the viewer and engaging them to imagine the missing details. Glaser’s use of vibrant colors in the hair is reminiscent of art nouveau. Intellectually it seems Glaser emphasized the hair of the silhouette, to suggest Dylan’s image (Meggs, 430).
Paul Davis made his first appearance in Push Pin Graphic with primitive figures painted on wood panels. He would soon progress his work into focusing more on detail. His work “drew inspiration from primitive colonial American art” (Meggs, 433). His work, For Colored Girls, 1976 is an example of Davis’ new direction in his style. “The solid shapes of his forms project a convincing weight and volume” (Meggs, 433). His integration of image and text is both compositionally and intellectually unified. The message, “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf” is reflected in the overall tone of the figures demeanour. Davis’ attention to detail gives the figure a sense of solidity and presence in the composition.
Seymour Chwast, remains the director of Push Pin Graphic. His signature use of line drawings is a hint to the influence of comic books in his work. Usually sticking to light subject matter, and surrealistic principles. These elements are apparent in The Sensational Houdini poster, 1973. The work is well balanced through both its typography and imagery. Its intellectually unifying with the information being provided in the poster. “Chwast’s color is frontal and intense” drawing the attention of the viewer. The surrealistic qualities are an engaging feature of the poster. His choice to use solid outlines and flat colors again relays a comic book style.
herbst-jones 10
Eclectic 1960’s
Characteristics • Inconsistent • Multiple styles in one • Still growing • Doesn’t fit into a single category
Eclecticism, beginning in the 1960s, is a Post-modern sub-group that borrows from already existing styles and is based off of individual artists’ ideas and theories. At the time, there was a huge growth in design styles, new photographic technologies, and design schools. This accessibility to a large plethora of design techniques led artists to create compositions based off of combining multiple styles into one piece of art, while not letting one technique overshadow the other. This lack of one particular style and the, “lack of any guiding spiritual, political, or aesthetic force,” define the eclectic movement and its characteristics (Heller, Chwast, 204). Some movements that did inspire eclectic artwork were Dada, Neo-Expressionism, Punk, Pacific Modern and even Art Deco (Heller, Chwast, 221). In addition, despite the fact that there was not one specific style, there were still leading artists that practiced new techniques with the recent advancement in technology that did influence other eclectic artists on how to combine multiple processes as well. James McMullan, Wille Fleckhaus, and Henry Wolf are just three of the many artists that inspired this movement and other artists (Heller, Chwast, 204).
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Fleckhaus Willi Fleckhaus, was one of the more influential postwar graphic designers in the Germany (WillieFleckhaus). He was the designer of the layout for Twen Magazine, shortened for the word “Twenty” whose target audience would be in that age group, and used his well-trained eye for cropping images and using typography to its fullest potential (Meggs, 451). His covers for Twen Magazine ranged from strangely posed models to female nude models. Overall, his eclectic use of two major styles of art, Swiss formalism and European modernist typefaces, as well as his own innovations make him apart of the eclectic movement. His compositions tend to include the basic grid layouts and suggestive images seen in the Swiss formalism movement. As for referencing European modernist approaches, Fleckhaus used very straightforward, sans-serif typefaces that had no decoration to detract from its striking presentation. As for his own innovations, Fleckhaus used very dramatic photographs, which he cropped and manipulated into very peculiar shapes for his time, as well as using blue “shined” ink in his magazine prints. His publication was the first to use such blue “shined” ink in its prints (Nikola, 1). This combination contains such a dramatic characteristics of each style that his style could not be defined as merely one type, creating an eclectic aesthetic. One can see these examples directly in his Twen Magazine cover. On the cover features a minimal grid-like structure; the main heading is directly justified with the image below. In addition, his use of strict sans-serif typefaces directly reflects the European modernist ideals. It is apparent to the viewer that there was additional manipulation done to the design by the dramatic posing of his models in the central image. The dramatic angles of each models leg and striking colors really help emphasize his own individualistic styles.
Twen Magazine, 1966 Wili Fleckhaus
Mcmullan James McMullan is a designer that was a part of Push Pin Studios in its prime. He revived the use of watercolours that were thought to have been a dying medium (Meggs, 444). He was best known for his theatrical posters for Lincoln Center Theater, but in early 1960s, he had also done some editorial illustrations for magazines such as Time, Esquire, Rolling Stone and New York Magazine (School of Visual Arts). The Anna Christie Theater Poster is an example of how McMullan revived watercolours and demonstrated of the style. This poster would be an eclectic piece due to his combination of styles including: watercolor, photorealism, and play on spacial depth, and use of new typography. Because his watercolor mastery began to portray such a realistic figure with his sharp outlines, and was not married to one style (Meggs, 444).
Anna Christie Theater Poster,1977 James McMullan
wolf Originally born in 1925 in Vienna, Austria, Henry Wolf immigrated to the United States as a teenager (The New York Times). His best-known works shone through his cover art and layouts for magazines for Show, Harper’s Bazaar, and Esquire. He liked to experiment with his typography by scaling the type to fit on an entire spread and then he would switch to smaller headlines. By doing this he set the magazine layout standard (Meggs, 399). On top of introducing his own stylistic techniques on typography, Wolf also was inspired by Alexey Brodovitch, who was art director of Harper’s Bazaar, and American abstract painter Stuart Davis (Rourke, 1). In Wolf’s 1959 cover for Harper’s Bazaar, he features a model suspended on a ladder carrying one of the “A’s” in the heading ‘Bazaar’. This image clearly shows influence of surrealism and playful qualities. The combination of this surrealist element and his innovative use of typography shows how Wolf employs multiple styles into his work and therefore belongs to the eclectic movement.
Harper’s Bazaar Cover, December 1959’s Henry Wolf
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Psychedelic 1960’s - 1970’s Characteristics •Flowing sinuous curves •intense Color Vibration • Hand lettering • Surrealist • Swirling kaleidoscopic patterns • Heavy drug influence
Beginning in the 1960’s the psychedelic poster movement, was a form of art fuelled by the times counterculture of the hippie and the psychedelic hallucinogen LSD. Although this new movement “reused Austrian Secessionist lettering, Art Nouveau ornament, East Indian symbols, and Victorian typography, its drug-inspired palette and comic-book iconography mark it as a distinctly American graphic style” (Heller, Chwast 210). The psychedelic style focused mainly on hand lettering (that was intended to be illegible), the use of the female form, color vibration, and was intended that the work be viewed under black light. Starting in California, this new psychedelic style was used for rock and roll posters, with the intention of mimicking the dream-like, “tripping” effect caused by the hallucinate drug LSD. “Flowing, sinuous curves of Art Nouveau, the intense optical color vibration… and the recycling of images from popular culture” (Meggs’ 449) was a way for designers to connect with the younger generation of that time. Most of the designers during this period were self-taught with no formal training. “Wilson and Moscoso, along with Alton Kelly, Stanley Mouse, and Rick Griffin, became known as the “Big Five” of psychedelia” (Eskilson 326). Creating posters to engage the viewer to decipher the message of it was a big part of this movement. Posters laced with illegible letterforms, messages and symbols, were sometimes only understood through either the use of drugs such as LSD or being a part of and familiar with the hippie counterculture.
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Moscoso
Wilson
Chambers Brothers, 1967 Victor Moscoso
Grateful Dead, Junior Wells, Doors Concert Poster 1967 Wes Wilson
Born in Spain in 1936 Victor Moscoso attended Cooper Union in New York City and Yale University, he became involved in the Psychedelic poster movement in San Francisco. He is best known for being one of few artists during this period that were formerly trained, his work contained very sophisticated elements influenced by Art Nouveau which can been seen in his choice of composition, figure, and typography. Moscoso is credited with creating some of the most illegible type. His poster for the Chamber Brothers in 1967 is a great example of this. “The vibrant contrasting colors and Vienna Secession lettering inside of the sunglasses implies the drug culture of the period” (Meggs, 448). The composition is symmetrically balanced and the letterforms seem to fit specific measurements, a classic principle of the Psychedelic style. Though it’s somewhat difficult to really capture the experience of this work without the aid of a black light, the color still successfully creates balance throughout the forms. The choice to integrate words in the frames of the sunglasses is indicative of the idea of the viewer having a “trippy” LSD experience. Moscoso successfully conveys the idea of duality in Psychedelic art, as this poster serves as a source of information and an engaging piece of art.
Wes Wilson is credited as the “innovator of the Psychedelic poster style and created many of its stronger images” (Meggs, 449). The most notable elements in his work are his use of warped letterforms, vibrant colors and the female form. Wilson had a tendency to fill all available space with thick, swirly lettering that created fluid and flowing letter forms which seemed to become the standard of most Psychedelic art (Wes Wilson). Wilson’s Art Nouveau influenced work for concert posters for the Grateful Dead, Junior Wells Chicago Blues band, and the Doors in 1966 (Meggs, 449) is a strong reflection of his style. The “tripping” effect created by the poster can be seen in the warped text and figure. The entire composition has a sense of balance because he fills the entire page with text and color. This lack of negative space unifies the composition. The large figure as well as the integrated text is off set diagonally giving the work a dynamic feel. Wilson uses intense, vibrating colors, that reflects the attitude of a drug induced state of mind. In addition, his color palette and pattern were chosen specifically because they were best seen under a blacklight.
Griffin
Grateful Dead Sons of Champlin Poster,1969 Rick Griffin
Rick Griffin- Born near Palos Verdes, California, June 18th, 1944. Griffin would played an integral role in the psychedelic poster movement. (Rick Griffin Biography) In Griffin’s album cover for the Grateful Dead in 1969 he illustrates classic psychedelic style by intricately linking letterforms to create the bands name. The letterforms also seem unified with the border because of they use similar gradients that transition from bright reds to golden yellows. This illegibility of the typography seems like an intentional move on Griffin’s part, almost like he wanted to pull the viewer in to figure out what it actually means. His use of warm tones and a cool background unify the composition organically. Initially, the composition seems chaotic, however Griffin uses a lot of symmetrical forms and images that reflect exactly from one end of the poster to the other. For example, the trees, organic flower shapes, scarab beetle, and wings at the top are all. The poster could actually be folded vertically and the images would fit perfectly over one another. Though Griffin’s poster does subscribe to most psychedelic work, it also embraces other styles and cultures with the use of traditional Egyptian forms and style.
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The New York School 1940’s - 1970’s Characteristics •Dynamic •Inspiration from Avante Garde • Straightforward Graphics •Originality of Concept and Type • Integration of Form and Function
A new, daring and radical modern design was established in America during and after World War II. European immigrants conveyed the idea of originality of concept and action based on creative expression to graphic design (Meggs, 390). The receptivity of this movement was apparent in New York City as this new avant-garde helped the city become the leading cultural center of modern art, which continued and was persistent throughout the 1990’s. (Meggs, 390) Paul Rand, Otto Storch and Herbert Matter were outstanding and renowned artists of this dynamic style.
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rAND
Matter
IBM 8-Bar Variation, 1972 Paul Rand
Storch
McCall’s Magazine, 1959 Otto Storch
Swiss Tourism Poster ,1934 Herbert Matter
Considered the American designer who most significantly initiated the American approach to modern design Paul Rand is most noted for his genius corporate logos, many of which are still easily identifiable even today (Meggs, 391). A few of the most notable creations were for IBM, ABC and UPS. Rand largely contributed the concept of identity by using signs and symbols as tools for translating ideas into visual communications in the corporate world (Meggs, 391). His unsurpassed ability to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary through the use of symbols and simple colors is shown in the 8-Bar Variation IBM logo (Meggs, 418). By using his original visually unique and universal forms he updated a previous design with a simple repeating pattern showing his facility for straightforwardness and originality using horizontal balance and square negative space between and around each letter (Meggs, 418). The straightforward blue color of the lines within the seldom used typeface called City Medium in this IBM trademark are one of many updated versions that Rand created (Meggs, 418).
Herbert Matter was best known as a photographer and graphic designer whose career began in 1929 when he was hired by the French design company Deberny and Peignot (Meggs, 348). Over the course of his career, Matter became increasingly popular for his use of photomontage in travel posters and photography (Meggs, 348). He also became known for his works in popular magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar as well as becoming a professor at Yale University (Meggs, 348). Matter pioneered extreme contrast of scale and the integration of black-and-white photography, with the occasional burst of primary color. In his Swiss Tourism poster his angular forms and linear patterns convey a sense of movement that simulate a ski hill (Meggs, 348). Using uncommon camera angles and extreme cropping upon layers of images he portrays a dimension of space to integrate his form and function (Meggs, 348).
Otto Storch was influential in taking editorial design through one of its greatest eras with his new creative way of using type (Meggs, 398). With the encouragement of his instructor from a course at New School for Social Research in New York, Alexy Brodovitch, the legendary art director of Harper’s Bazaar. He left his current position at Dell Inc. and went on to join the McCall’s Corporation and as assistant art director for Better Living magazine he astounded all with his unified visual approach to layout (Meggs, 399). As shown in his poster for McCall’s he revealed his philosophy of how idea, copy, art and typography should be inseparable in editorial design (Meggs, 400). While he created balance with the shapes of simple images and integrated type he also portrayed significant contrast with opposing colors (Meggs, 401). Typography tumbles and falls on the page with the movement from the models, creating an exciting and dynamic visual impact (Meggs, 401).
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NEW
WAVE 1970’s
Characteristics • Rejection of the right angle •Questioned legibility •Defined graphic vocabulary •Updated illustrative and typographic styles
Beginning in Switzerland in the 1970’s, practitioners and teachers schooled in the International Typographic Style sought to reinvent typographic design. The main basis was to question the typography of absolute order and cleanness, and reject the right angle as an exclusive organizing principle. (Meggs, Purvis p. 465) These new directions were quickly labelled new-wave typography. (Meggs, Purvis p. 465). Developing further with its introduction over in America, this brought forth changes in the way of rejecting the old typographic structures by having text step forward and playing a more important role in works, the integration of type and image and developing new ideas for text in the approach of design.
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Weingart
Greiman
Das Schweizer Plakat, 1983 Wolfgang Weingart
China Club Advertisement 1980 April Greiman
Credited with being the “father” of NewWave movement, Wolfgang Weingart’s revolutionary ideas surrounding type would forever change graphic design (Meggs, 465). Native to Switzerland, Weingart would go on to join the faculty of the Basel School in 1968 where New Wave typography would develop (Meggs, 465). Weingart sought to “breathe a new spirit into the typography,” (Meggs, 465). In his poster work for Das Schweizer Plakat we see unification by sticking to a layered warm pallette. The heavy yellow shape interacts with the dark text, which he chose to stagger at the bottom, creating an asymmetrical balance as your eye works down through the imagery. It could be assumed that the pallette choice for this work was consciously made with the red and white colors of the Swiss flag in mind. He takes into consideration the implied shape of the Matterhorn and the white cross as seen on the Swiss flag (Meggs, 466). In the title, which translates to “The Swiss Poster” we again see the cross symbols reoccurring, breaking the letter forms, as Weingart made many representations to capture the idea of how to properly represent Switzerland (Meggs, 465).
“April Greiman took the ideas developed at Basel in a new direction, particularly in her use of color and photography.” (Meggs’ 467). She brought a new attitude to the use of space in designs, giving her work a varied depth, which was revolutionizing at this time. Her China Club advertisement in 1980, is a perfect example of how she implements those techniques. A color palette of white, black and red is aesthetically pleasing and is balanced in its use throughout the composition. These color choices may represent the Chinese flag. As a whole the advertisement contains movement and depth which helps bring the viewer throughout the circular composition. The use of negative space helps to create a structure that the shapes, letterforms and strokes reside in. This makes the piece have a sense of uniformity. Staying true to the principles of New Wave typography Greiman maintains legibility in her work, which is important.
Friedman
Typografische Monatsblätter,1971 Daniel Friedman
Daniel Friedman Studied at the Ulm Institute of Design before going on to attend the Basel School of Design (where he would study under Weingart). After his time in Basel, Friedman would return to the United States to teach courses at both Yale University and the Philadelphia College of Art. During this time, his use of Controlled Chaos emulates post modern ideas in some of his work (Friedman didn’t care for the term post modern but rather radical modernism). Friedman’s Typografische Monatsblatter magazine cover, 1971 (Meggs, 466) is an example of what he calls, radical modernism. The relationship between the busy bottom portion and the contrasting top portion, which contains a lot of negative space, helps asymmetrically balance the piece. This work in particular relies on readability rather then legibility, the jumbling of the letters as well as the switch in scale makes the piece visually pleasing to the viewer but engages the viewer by challenging them to read the text as a whole. When read correctly the text says “Typografie”. “Letterforms become kinetic objects moving in time and urban space” (Meggs, 466).
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P UNK 1960’s
Characteristics • Raw/battered style • ‘Ransom-note’ style text • Sense of rebellion • Collage style
A twentieth century movement, The Punk Movement was an art movement born in London that is a mix of “sixties underground press and its anti-design aesthetic” (Clabough 2013). An “offshoot of the music scene, (punk) design was governed by speed and economy; characterized by raw-edged torn paper, ruling tape and a ransom-note approach to type” (Clabough 2013). Evolving from “a youth culture, it invented its own dominant design language” (Heller, Chwast 229), as well as showing “signals of rebellion through comics as the mainstays of the new style” (Heller, Chwast 229). Combined with “the basic primitivism of the collage technique, (the Punk movement) helped to express an essential rawness” (Heller, Chwast 229).
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Fishauf
Global Brief Magazine Cover , Winter 2010 Louis Fishauf
An award winning designer, Louis Fishauf is one of Canada’s most respected graphic artists and visual communicators (Fishauf). In his work, Fishauf manages to dedicate time to being an established illustrator and art director. One piece in particular that shows characteristics of the Punk movement was his layout design for Global Brief magazine that can be found in his portfolio (Louis Fishauf portfolio). The central image showcases a collage style print that displays the heads of male figures that have varying images pasted over their faces, in essence, hiding their features. Fishauf uses a complementary color palette that is vibrant yet flat; in addition to the ‘cut and paste images’, the graphic as a whole is indicative of a manipulative copy-paste style, similar to the hand made feel that can be seen throughout the Punk era. Although Fishauf is an artist that strives on new design concepts, this piece is proof that he still relates back to his Punk roots.
Chantry
panter
Zappa Buy or Die Cover,1980 Gary Panter Filthy Beasts Poster, 2007 Art Chantry
Born in 1954, the Seattle native, Art Chantry is regarded as being a self-taught designer that has become well known in the Seattle rock underground community due to his work with album covers and posters. Reflecting an era that is most commonly referred to as “Punk/Neo-Punk”, his posters offer designs that showcase an influence brought on by music and the subculture that is punk rock. A large number of Chantry’s posters are viewed as rulebreaking and edgy, due to the fact that they show such dissimilarity to the other active artists during that time period (Heller, Chwast 280-281). One of Chantry’s more well-known works, the “Filthy Beasts” poster, done for a band titled the ‘DT’s’, is a successful showcase of the Punk movement due to its flat color palette, reductive process and ‘ransomnote’ font. The poster displays a single, male figure, looking somewhat dishevelled and un-groomed, which is indicative of the spirit of rebellion that came along with the Punk movement.
Native to the Central United States, Gary Panter is an artist that is well regarded for his work in “painting, design, comics, and commercial imagery” (Panter, 2013). He established a pattern of “creating across traditional boundaries, and in multiple media” (Panter, 2013). His style endures and is mimicked still to this day. Panter is considered to be a strong force of the Punk era, due to his paintings; they “occupy a large portion of a very prolific 1980s, during which he also designed the sets and puppets for Pee-wee’s Playhouse, completed record covers for the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and maintained an active comics output through his own mini-comics and his contributions to Raw magazine and other anthologies” (Panter 2013). Indicative of the Punk scene, Panter designed the album cover for a band known as Zappa. With a quick glance, the audience has full understanding that this is considered “grunge”. The zombie figure fills the central space, with mangled flesh and sharp teeth. A vectored image, the color palette is complementary and the details throughout the work hint at Panter’s love for comics. The text, “Buy or Die”, is written in a ‘homemade font’, and has meaning that can be traced back to the beliefs and expressions of rebellion and distaste for commercialistic authority that was prevalent throughout the entire Punk movement.
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Deconstruction 1980s
Characteristics •anti-linear exploration of the graphic form •Use of transparency •questioned the authority of traditional visual communications •merging different type styles
Deconstruction began in California in the late 1980’s, the arrival of the Macintosh computer and the focus on digital revolution were post modern influences, providing an outlet for the development of the Deconstruction style in the arts. Deconstruction began at Cranbrook Academy of art under the influence of Kathernie McCoy and her husband Michal McCoy. Teaching their students “anti-linear exploration of the graphic form and visual communication” (Clabough, 2013) the idea is to show how something is constructed in the design and still be seamless art. . One of the unique things about this movement forces the viewer to decipher how things are put together. Deconstruction revealed levels of transparency allowing the inner structure of the design to show. Also merging different type styles expressing multiple ideas on one page pushing the boundaries at all times(Meggs, 535). This movement questioned the authority of traditional communications. Merging type styles expressing two or more ideas on a single page offered the viewer open to interpretation (Clabough, 2013). Exploring The works of the early pioneers that interpreted and produced graphic communication that excelled within this style were Katherine McCoy, David Carson and Edward Fella
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Mccoy
fella
carson
Beach Culture,1991 David Carson
Cranbrook Recruiting Poster, 1989 Katherine McCoy
Announcement for A Lecture 1995 Edward Fella
Katherine McCoy is an inspiring graphic designer during the Deconstruction movement. In 1971 she found herself as co-chair of the design department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. She is one of the artists responsible for developing the Deconstruction style. Her leadership of the program evolved from a rational systematic approach to design problem solving taking influences from the international typographic style (Meggs, 534). In this particular piece, she uses her students projects for all visual elements. The design of the poster challenges originality, applies a complex arrangement while still accomplishing balance. Using a photographic collage layout, her goal was to break away from traditional poster layout and ideology. The variations of red and blue, positioning and heirarchy of elements, helps her to manipulate the viewer communicate meaning in the poster (Clabough 2013). The composition is an even split which balances the layout with typography.
Edward Fella was a Detroit graphic designer. Fella uses the typography and lettering as a method to create his work. He challenges the reader with text the same way that art work would challenge the viewer in a museum (Meggs, 535). The composition above was created in 1995 for a lecture announcement. He invented irregular imagery with letter forms, composed with “connective logic and visual whimsy” (Meggs, 535). In the design for this piece all the information for the announcement is clear and informative. He adds seamless detail into his type without it being a distraction. The details of imagery stand out, and are intellectually unified with the text because he breaks traditional rule of type, while also stating “rules are ment to be broken”. The type is positioned diagonally and vertically with imagery. The jumbled placement and size of type establishes a foreground middle and background.”Deconstruction theorists proposed that a participatory audience “constructed meaning” through individual interpretations and common messages.” (Clabough 2013).
David Carson is an American graphic designer. He is best known for his expressive magazine design, and good use of experimental typography. As a designer he chose to explore typographic imagery and its relationship to the subject. He would leave the reader to decipher the meaning or the message with use of large and wide font, using intentional spaces between letter- forms (Meggs, 537). Overlapping and layering of text and imagery create an “absurd” composition (Clabough lecture 2013) running imagery off the page. By using slicing techniques, Carson cuts off parts of the text, and applies backwards text settings (Clabough 2013). In Beach Culture he uses computer manipulated photographic imagery with intense, saturated colors with variations of blue, purples, yellows and reds. White and dark shapes create movement and rhythm in the spread. Chaotic techniques were a device for Carson’s expression of style. The understanding of this piece is challenging but he seeks harmony throughout the design based on the words and the subject and reasons for his choices.
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Emigre 1984 - 2005
Characteristics • Introduction of Dot-Matrix • First Digital typefaces •Aesthetic Diversity • Challenged modern design technique
Emigre magazine was developed and influenced by designers Rudy Vanderlans and Zuzana Licko in 1985 in San Francisco (Heller, Chwast, 490) (Clabough 2013). Emigre magazine was focused digital typography ”typo-centric” (Heller, Chwast 490), The intent behind the magazine was to present their unpublished work alongside the works of others (Meggs, 533) They used the computer as a new design tool to compose, make and correct color, texture and typography (Meggs, 533). These items could now be stretched, transparent and layered. This becomes relevant to the style and how the artist is able to combine elements that can represent the advancements taking place during this time. This style can reflect on early artists understanding the “nature” of design process, and experimental type design. This movement focuses on three key artists. April Greiman, Rudy Vanderlans and Zuzana Licko.
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Deck Berry Deck is renowned for his distorted typefaces, which began to appear in publications such as Emigré magazine in the early 1990’s. Deck has designed over 20 typefaces, Emigré proclaimed his font Template Gothic to be “the typeface of the decade” (Meggs, 501). He has spent many years pushing the boundaries of visual communication. Deck’s control over type is shown in his editorial layout for Emigre magazine. In the Arbitrary spread, he uses his font, ‘Arbitrary‘ in conjunction with heavy layering. This is indicative of many artist’s use of the Macintosh computers, with its primitive bit-mapped default typefaces in early post modern art (Heller,Chwast, 238). Arbitrary also demonstrates the use of grid, though it seems that the piece is somewhat chaotic, type is placed in a precise manor that allows for legibility. Deck uses a mix of serif and san-serif fonts, but focuses mainly on the typeface ‘Arbitrary‘. Heller and Chwast cite this work as one of many that combine youthful rebellion and aesthetic diversity with a modern approach (Heller, Chwast, 238).
Emigre #23, 1994 Berry Deck
Vanderlans Rudy Vanderlans was the co-founder of Emigre magazine. He is also an editor and designer for the magazine. The number of fonts available on the Macintosh during this time in 1987 were limited. This piece was the cover for Emigre 11th issue. In this piece Vanderlans overlaps layers of visual information with text challenging the rules legibility. He uses a typewriter type and computer manipulated photographic imagery in the piece (Meggs, 490). Images are layered and transparent to have the focus on the text and the information for the issue. The yellows and blues are washed out, and the blue may be intentional to pay less attention to imagery and more attention to the text. There is balance between letter forms and the constancy between each letter. This allows them to become part of the whole image while allowing the letters in bold to become more significant.
Emigre #11 1989 Rudy Vanderlans
LICKO Zuzana Licko is the wife and partner to Rudy Vanderlans, and together they formed Emigre Graphics. As part of the magazine, Licko used a public generation software to create many digital typefaces. As advancement in graphic technology improved, with it, the quality of work being produced by artists. Licko’s typeface designs focused on the traditional form of the lettering. She took inspiration from learning how to write with her opposite hand in a calligraphy class. Vanderlans’ first type faces were created and designed for low resolution technology and then later converted to high resolution as the technology became more advanced (Meggs, 535). Her first typefaces are constructed with clean lines and consider the relationship between positive and negative space.
Digital typefaces, late 1980’s Zuzana Licko
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Controlled Chaos 1990’s Characteristics • Exhibits chaos and clutter • Anarchaic letterforms • Balance, harmony and proportion is skewed
Controlled Chaos is an art form that breaks all of the rules on purpose. It developed in the 1990s after the clean and orderly Modernism movement turned into Post-Modernism (Heller, Chwast 244). As use of the computer became more prominent, it became easier to add effects for a lighter cost. This cost effectiveness allowed people to be more experimental with their methods (Heller, Chwast, 244). The movement had gotten its inspiration from Deconstruction, Émigré, Fuse and Grunge. It was also a rebellion against “slick professionalism” as stated in Steve Heller and Seymour Chwast’s Graphic Style: From Victorian to New Century. Some very influential people in this movement were Stefan Sagmeister, Jennifer Morla and Erik Adigard, taking graphic design to a level that has never been reached before their time.
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Sagmeister
Poster for designer’s lecture, 1999 Stefan Sagmeister (designer), Martin Woodtli (cut lettering)
Austrian-born, Stefan Sagmeister is a Grammy award-winning, American graphic designer whose extreme style has given him a lot of attention over the years. These wild ideas have connected him to the Controlled Chaos movement very well. Sagmeister’s out-of-the-box style consists of disorienting images and adding aphorisms (AIGA). An example of his work would be the advertisement for the AIGA lecture in 1999, where he physically carved the ad’s words into his skin (AIGA). In addition to the idea of chaos, rules of typography are broken by his use of upper and lowercase letterforms. For example, in his name across his chest he switches from uppercase letters to lowercase letters, completely going against the rules of traditional typography. In addition to this defiance, the words are not in a straight line but are tilted at an angle. Despite the asymmetry seen in his letterforms, the ad itself is well balanced. The heavy use of type displayed on the left side of his body are balanced out by the blocks of type on hips and right arm. Overall, this advertisement is strong because his methods give the ad a deeper meaning. This scratching into his skin was a completely shocking technique and goes against typical advertisement techniques, supporting the idea of Controlled Chaos.
Morla
United Airlines Hemispheres Magazine Cover ,2002 Jennifer Morla
Jennifer Morla is an American designer who owns a firm established in 1984, called Morla Design, that offers a wide range of expertise in the field (Meggs, 562). According to Glen Halfand, author of her biography posted on AIGA, she does not have a style that she restricts herself to. In that same interview, she stated; “I’m not sure there’s a specific stylistic approach. I look for the soul of the brand and let that determine the look and feel,” (AIGA). She is best known for her packaging, typography and motion graphics. Over the years, these designs have won her over 300 awards along with much recognition (Meggs, 562). One example of her pieces of art, is the cover she designed for United Airlines Hemispheres, in 2002. This cover proves to be very chaotic from the shapes down to the typography. The shapes combine both filled and outlined forms, where the outlined forms provide constant rhythmic flow for the viewer’s eyes to bounce around the composition, creating a chaotic atmosphere. On the other hand, the typography is not chaotic due to its placement but by its random font-weight change in the middle of the main heading. In addition, balance is seen as asymmetrical by having a majority of the imagery weighing on the right side of the composition. The only design element on the cover that maintains any sense of a controlled quality is the red-filled circle towards the top of the page. This red circle provides extreme contrast over the light yellow background and lighter-shaded circles, creating a resting place for the eye. This circle provides the control in all of the chaotic shapes that surround it.
Adigard
Money is Just a Type of Information, WIRED, 1994 Erik Adigard
Erik Adigard began his career with a series of visual essays for Wired magazine in 1990. He now runs a studio with Patricia McShane called M.A.D. Design (PrintMag). Both have used the computer to its fullest potential to find new ways to portray their messages (Meggs, 553). This studio centers on web design and print for nonprofit organizations (SFMoma). Adigard’s work has helped him become known for a wide range in multimedia in the field of graphic design. This multimedia variety helps connect Adigard directly to the Controlled Chaos movement in that all of his works are asymmetrical when it comes to color use and composition. For example, the image of his design, “Money is Just a Type of Information”, from Wired magazine, has two contrasting sides; one portraying mostly warm colors and the other portraying mostly cool colors. In addition to the colors contrasting, the layering of imagery on the left and right sides is also contrasting. The right side has more of a grid-like, controlled aesthetic in comparison to the left side, which showcases more chaos with its multi-layering and conflicting imagery.
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Contemporary works International Style
the New York School
Natural American Spirits, July 2013 Rolling Stones, Advertisement
HTML5 Design Essentials, September 2012 .Net, Print Magazine
HTML Design Essentials is a design magazine, that displays an influence of the Typographic Movement, particularly in certain introductory pages, such as pages 6, 37, and 45. The magazine does not create the same type of dynamic angles and techniques that were done in the International Style, however, this is a magazine layout design which is meant for legibility and communication. The strong use of grid, form, hierarchy, type choices, and flush right and left aligned type, show the elements of the International Style (Meggs, 372).
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Art Deco
The Kraken Black Spiced Rum, 2013 Proximo Spirits, Label Design
The Kraken’s label design, shows elements of design which relate to the New York School, focusing on the advertising area of the design. Paul Rand, who was one of the leaders of the New York School Movement, had a focus of creating a visual relation or metaphor with his designs (Meggs, 403). The Kraken Black Spiced Rum, has the same type of visual metaphor, with the Kraken ‘monster’ illustration surrounding a part of the label design. By focusing on one main visual element and an area for the header type, The Kraken demonstrates the intentions of the advertising designers of the New York School.
This Natural American Spirits cigarette package design from the July 2013 Rolling Stone ad is very reflective of Art Deco style for several reasons. First, the box doesn’t use more then 4 or 5 colors, which is true to most Deco artists choice to limit their color palettes in poster design. In addition, the artist uses very geometric shapes that imply human form. In terms of color, the large red circle behind the central figure is indicative of where the artist would like for the viewer to focus their attention. This packaging is very reminiscent of Berény’s Modiano poster because of its use of a slightly decorative and geometric san-serif font.
Revival
Psychedelic
Plakatstil
Bloomberg Businessweek, 2012 Magazine
21st-Century Drug Bazaar Magazine Article, Brian Stauffer, November 10 2011, Rolling Stones, Magazine
Heineken, August 2013 Rolling Stones, Advertisement
This contemporary piece is a direct reflection of Milton Glaser’s 1966 Bob Dylan poster. Created for Michael Bloomberg’s Businessweek magazine, it’s use of color and swirly shape harken back to a hand drawn style that works in tandem with the strong black silhouette. This style was a product of the 1960’s and 1970’s and supplied culture with a descriptive mark, something this designer was clearly referencing with this.
Brian Stauffer exhibits strong psychedelic movement qualities in his illustration for a drug article in Rolling Stones. First, the illustration implies drug usage and their effect as its main subject, just as in the Psychedelic movement when they focused on LSD and its hallucinogenic qualities as its main subject. In addition, the analogous reds and purples along with the line work in this image were commonly used by psychedelic artists. They seem to produce a vibrational aesthetic to imitate the ‘trippy‘ experience. The prominent use of the figure to make up the line work was also very common. Although, two techniques that Stauffer did to make this psychedelic-inspired illustration are more modern was the use of angular lines, as opposed to the curvilinear, swirly lines, as well as the use of the digital background and pixelated imagery of the drug. This pixilation harmonizes with the psychedelic line work by providing a strong contrast to the analogous color scheme as well as portraying the message of the article.
Although this ad is not hand drawn, some of its qualities fall within the Plakastil style. “Bold lettering, a simple central image, and distinctive, eye-catching colors” (Clabough 2013) can be seen all through out this piece. The vibrant warm colors against the cool, green background really helps the glass stand out as the central image. The name “Heineken” on along the left-hand side, is bolded again another characteristic that can be found in Plakastil. The bright, yellowish tones of the central image grab the attention of the viewer, another principle of the movement.
taitt/stachnick/jones 28
Contemporary works Emigre
Tic Tac Ad, August 2013 Advertisement Design, Print
In this Tic Tacs ad from the August 2013 edition of Rolling Stone, there is a strong connection to the Émigré movement due its integration of multiple computer based fonts. This piece shows many computer generated fonts with a large variety of text within each line taking up most of the page, focusing in on the text with colors that vary from orange to yellow, which draws from the colors of the product itself; while the text itself can be rather chaotic with the many different font types. This move, between the ‘some for you’ and ‘some more for you’ is actually very clever, the chaos draws the eye to the two parts, making the viewer believe that the product was specifically made for them and not those mentioned within the chaotic part of the text due to the emphasis made upon the ‘some for you’ and ‘some more for you’ lines with their easily legible typeface and emphasis in size. The san-serif at bottom of the piece provides juxtaposition in the piece that gives the reader a focused area to actually read amidst the chaos of the other fonts. Making the text out of the product itself creates a visual unity which then draws the eye to the tic tacs spread out in front of the containers. Andrew Blauvelt, an artist from the Émigré movement is quoted as saying “on-lookers of Emigre are “reading” it, but as one would a painting or a photograph - trying to get enough out of it to have it make sense to them (Emigre).” Such holding true for this entire piece’s text, it is read as an image and not merely text, beautiful work.
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Deconstruction
Eclectic
The Art Department at Oswego, 2013 Poster Design
Juxtaposition, 2013 Magazine Cover Design
This piece of art, developed by a professional graphic designer for the Art Department at Oswego, portrays a very deconstructionist approach to design. Fragmentation and the inability to decipher the image right away is what deconstructionist compositions mainly consisted of. The fragmentation of the pictures and white letters in the middle of the page emphasize this breaking of structure and conformity. A contrasting characteristic about this poster is that has a grid system deconstructionists didn’t utilize. The grid helps keep the separated images more equally aligned and more legible. In addition, hierarchy of the heading is kept large so that observers can decipher what exactly they should be looking for in the image, deconstructionist ideas left more interpretation in it’s images.
This magazine cover resembles the eclectic movement. The eclectic movement has to do with borrowing different styles from different sources and combining them. This magazine cover has a strong influence from Art Deco with the photo montage stencil like imagery and it can also be seen as having some elements from the Revival movement in the use of contrasting colors utilized with geometry. By combining these elements the cover is a very well balanced and unified piece. There also seems to be a strong link to the New Wave movement, as the title font for ‘Juxtapoz‘ seems very angular and almost hand made. It provides a stark contrast between the foreground and background.
Punk One of the design elements that stands out the most in this contemporary piece, from a professional graphic designer for the art department at Oswego, is the use of collage. Collage played a major role in the punk movement, and especially in the Neo Punk movement because it gave off a do-it-yourself aesthetic to represent the individualism and rebellion of a younger generation. This artwork features a collage appearance by combining aspects of photography, splashes of paint, as well as the stencilled appearance of typography placed on cut out squares. Despite the physical resemblance, this contemporary piece of art does not share the punk movement’s emotional characteristics. Punk was more about rebellion and portraying the discontent and angst of the younger generation. This piece of art is more about being positive and more about enticing the viewer to join a cool club on the SUNY Oswego campus rather than portray rebellion. The smiles on the figures faces, as well as the light, bright colors help to emphasize this positive outlook. In addition, this piece is also very similar to the other modern pieces in this notebook because of it’s use of typography. A lot of contemporary pieces tend to play in typography by placing them at different angles, such as in New Wave.
Oswego Art Department, Tyler Hall, Fall 2013 Poster Design
New Wave Created by director and professor, Wallace Wilson, from the University of South Florida, this nationally distributed layout contains many aspects of new wave characteristics. New wave really experimented with the use of three-dimensional text, angles, leading, and layering. The title acronym not only plays on the use of three-dimensionality but each one of the letters rotates at a different angle as well. This three-dimensional effect and unique angle creates movement. The acronym for the University of South Florida emphasizes new wave aesthetic by it’s extreme leading in between each letter. The letters are spaced far apart and on different levels, the only aspect linking these letters is how they are the same color red and have the same motion blur so they will read as one. The typography is also layered on top of one another with bright yellow lines, a circular form, and shine effects. This piece is very simple compared in comparison to New Wave, because typically, New Wave are can be a lot more chaotic with it’s layering and bright, textured color palette.
Ryan Berg University of South Florida MFA, 2011 Langian Hall, Brochure Design
Controlled Chaos The contemporary piece chosen for the controlled chaos movement was the advertisement for Bacardi in Rolling Stones magazine. This piece reflects the movement because it breaks rules of balance, harmony, and proportion. The balance in the piece is skewed because of the it is very text heavy on the left, there is only imagery in the middle and on the right the text is to small and does not fit the page. The proportion is varied throughout the piece because of the variance in type size. The use of texture is very strong in the piece, which reflects the controlled chaos movement, and the color choice of the background is not a typical harmonious color choice but by the use of opacity and color overlay it creates a strong piece. The balance, proportion and harmony used in this piece make it a strong piece in the controlled chaos movement. Vivamos Bacardi Ad Campaign, August 2013, Advertisement Design
stachnick/putillo 30
Student Works International style
Art Deco
Mock Exhibition Poster Taylor Clock SUNY Oswego Art 307 Spring 2013
Take Back The Night 2013 Poster, Samantha Fuller Women’s Center Spring 2013
Taylor Clock’s work relates to the International Typographic Movement or Swiss Style, in several different ways. His use of typography is the immediate connection, with a clear sans-serif typeface and a sense of hierarchy that allows for direct communication and understanding, which was a part of some of the International Movement’s intentions (Heller, Chwast, p. 199). The minimal color palette, photographic elements, and grid structure also show Clock’s influence of Swiss Style.
This poster designed by Sam Fuller for SUNY Oswego’s 2013 ‘Take Back The Night’ campaign is very indicative of Art Deco style, not so much because of its type or layout, but more for its illustrative and decorative style. Color, line work, and layering are all apparent here. The artist harkens back to poster styles from artists like A.M. Cassandre and Jean Carlu because of its paint brushed coloring style. Her use of layering also creates hierarchy, like in Berény’s Modiano poster, and calls attention to the central figure, almost like it is advertising a certain area of the poster. It is unclear if the artist intended for the viewer to look all over the page, or if they intended for the focus to be on one particular area. Either way this is true to the movement because Deco artists did both. The swirly line work and color compliment each other as they vary in thickness in certain areas of the hair and face of the central figure. The artist also frames the poster in the same way that Modiano posters are framed.
The New York School Mark Taitt’s work for the Alzheimer’s project, has a composition that shows similarities to the New York School’s editorial designs. Otto Storch, who was one of the main editorial designers in this movement used typography and art cohesively in order to create unity, instead of treating them as sections (Meggs, 399). In Storch’s page layout in McCall’s, 1961 (Megg’s, Fig.19-33) Storch uses the body copy and photography together, as a part of each other, instead of defining specific sections for each. There is also one main visual element in Storch’s work (Meggs, 399). Taitt’s work shows a unity between the body copy and one focal illustration, by having body copy wrap around the illustrated figure. Taitt’s creative way of using visual elements and typography, shows similarities to the experimentation and innovative layouts that were happening during the New York School Movement (Meggs, 399)
Alzheimer’s Project Mark Taitt Fall 2013
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revival
Plakatstil
Matt Kostreba Lanigan Hall SUNY Oswego Fall 2013
Something About Oswego Project SUNY Oswego Art 207 Fall 2013
The student work chose was a typography project by Matt Kostreba. This piece fits in the Revival movement because of its use of bright colors and geometry. It also incorporates typography by using type to create imagery. The imagery is hand drawn digitally and this hand drawn geometry is an element of the revival movement. The combination of bright colors geometry and hand drawn imagery works well in the piece and this piece fits in the Revival movement.
In this student work we see the use of a flat color palette, which is reminiscent to Plakastil style. Hand illustration, which was a big part during the movement, can be seen in this work. It provides a very direct form of communication in its design, which during the Plakastil movement was seen lot through out the posters. Although we don’t see bold lettering and eye-catching colors, the elements of a “simple central image” and an “accessible message” (Clabough 2013) are present in the work.
Psychedelic This student work features qualities of the psychedelic movement through it’s hallucinogenic characteristics. Common in the 1960’s was the use of LSD, which caused curvilinear elements of art to portray the effects of such drug. In this piece of art the blurred effect on the hand, combined with the rich layering of curvy lines really resemble the swirly, dizzy aesthetic common in psychedelic art.
Metaphoric Portrait Tianna Powers SUNY Oswego Art 313 Fall 2013
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student works Emigre
Deconstruction
Eclectic
Hockey Poster Matt Kostreba Lanigan Hall SUNY Oswego Fall 2013 Heirloom Tianna Powers SUNY Oswego Art 313 Fall 2013
Taitt Exhibit Poster Mark Taitt SUNY Oswego Art 308 Fall 2012
The Taitt Exhibit poster, was created by Mark Taitt of the Graphic design program. The artist, uses a complimentary color scheme that successfully integrates color and shape throughout the composition. The poster draws the eye quickly to the top of the piece, which holds the name of the Exhibit within the complimentary scheme then slowly allows the viewer to move down towards the bottom where the analogous color lies. Combining the bold colors with a basic black background allows these colors to pop out at you, the white which was used for text, being that black’s opposite, also pop out and meet the eye easily. The combination of shape and the splatter of colors going out into the black background create movement within the piece, marrying color/tint and shades. Where the piece may begin to falter in with the four shapes that may or may not be letter forms around each corner of the piece; although visually interesting within themselves, the disconnect from the rest of the piece is evident and almost takes away from the value of the main point, which is the blocks of colors in the center of the composition. Another point that could be better resolved would be the text upon the black background. It is a good choice in font type that are reflective of the emigre movement, but it appears far too thin within the piece and where it is placed. The title of the piece ‘The Taitt Exhibit’ is saved merely by size and where it stands within the color; this is not to be true for the rest fighting to stand out against the black. This work is influenced by the Emigre movement because of it’s use of different fonts, though not as many as in traditional Emigre art, it does use the same ‘messy’ quality found in that style.
Elements of the deconstructionist movement can be seen in this Oswego student’s composition. The heavy distortion of shapes behind the typography, especially scene in the light gray form with the white typeface, helps to portray the distortion seen in past deconstructionist works. Although, instead of deconstructing the text, like many of the deconstructionist artists had done during their movement, such as David Carson, this student reformed the shapes behind it; this minor manipulation helps to create a more contemporary view of deconstructionist artwork. In addition, this student work also portrays deconstructionist aesthetics through it’s multilayering and chaotic imagery. The multiple layers and conglomerance of random figures make the viewer try to decipher what is going on in the piece. By deconstructing, what I assume to be a hockey add, and layering all of the information in a sporadic, randomized way, this plays off of the deconstructionist ideals of breaking down imagery.
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The student work chosen for the eclectic movement was a work displayed in Pennfield Library. This work combines many styles into one making it a great candidate for the eclectic movement. It offers bright colors mixed in with geometry of the Revival movement. The complexity of the piece takes from the Controlled Chaos movement in that all the geometric shapes are densely compacted in this piece. The technique of the illustration takes a modern approach on artwork. Overall the piece successfully combines different styles and elements into one unified composition that reflects art from the Eclectic movement.
Punk
Minimal Typographic Poster Kendi Kajogo SUNY Oswego Lanigan Hall Fall 2013
Kendi Kajogo’s stylization, color scheme, and composition show relations to the Punk Movement. The Punk style showed comic-like elements due to the way comics showed a new way of expression, a rawness of emotion and character (Heller, Chwast, 229). Kajogo’s work demonstrates a unique graphic style, not exactly a comic-style because this piece focuses on typography, however due to use of type choices, minimal color scheme, and collage aesthetic this piece gives of a powerful rawness that was demonstrated during the punk movement. This poster is able to convey emotions from the viewer, with its use of graphic style and color, which is why it relates so closely to the Punk Movement (Heller, Chwast, 229).
Controlled chaos
New wave
Graphic Flash Poster Mark Taitt Fall 2013
Graphic Flash Illustration Olivia Basile SUNY Oswego Art 313 Fall 2013
New wave tends to revolve around unique ways to display typography; it has unusual leading, font-weight, angles, and imagery included. This piece of art takes the idea of unique typography and modernizes them. In this composition, artist, Mark Taitt, makes his type seem three-dimensional by windowing the “2” behind the positive space of the “graphic flash” text. This way he is not physically making the type threedimensional but he is making it appear so by playing on the depth of field with digital layering. In addition, he plays with the spacing between letters as New Wave artists did as well. Taitt chose to separate words by putting half on one line and half on the next. This spacing adds complexity to the typography but instead of completely disrupting the legibility, as New Wave tended to do, he keeps them in a grid-like fashion and the line-height is kept very tight to provide readability for his advertisement. The crinkled background also is kept very simple and one-dimensional, compared to heavily layered, and detail-oriented imagery in New Wave compositions.
The student work chosen for the controlled chaos movement was a simple base design displayed in Penifield Library. Balance, harmony and proportion are skewed in the part of the piece that is at the top where there is a cutout and imagery is breaking the frame. The movement that is created with the combination of rectilinear and organic lines adds to the chaos and clutter of the piece. There is no evidence of type in the piece which is the only part that strays from the controlled chaos movement but it is still a good example to display this movement.
nitz/STACHNICK/putillo
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sources Work Cited Plakatstil Movement Clabough, Cynthia. “Week 6: Early Modern & Post Cubism Modern.” Art365: History of Graphic Design. 4 Oct. 2013. Lecture. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.
Art Deco Movement Clabough, Cynthia. “Week 6: Early Modern & Post Cubism Modern.” Art365: History of Graphic Design. 12 Nov. 2013. Lecture. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.
International Typographic Movement International Typographic Style.” International Typographic Style. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. <http://swisstype.wordpress.com/>. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “Chapter 18: The International Typographic Style. ”Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 372,376- 77, 384, 444, 451. Print.
Revival Movement Davis, Paul. For Colored GIrls. Digital image. Aiga.org, 2013. Web. Nov. 2013. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “Chapter 18: The International Typographic Style.”Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 430-433. Print.
Eclectic Movement Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “Chapter 18: The International Typographic Style. ”Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 339- 444,451. Print. Nikola. “Twen – The Most Influential Magazine of All Times?” Magazine Designing. Magazine Designing, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Rourke, Mary. “Henry Wolf, 80; Art Director Blended Sophisticated Humor, Surrealism.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2005. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
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Psychedelic Movement “A Brief Biography, by Michael Erlewine - Wes Wilson.” Wes Wilson. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. “A Brief Biography of Rick Griffin.” Rick Griffin Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Eskilson, Stephen. Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven: Yale UP, 2007. Print. Heller, Steven, Seymour Chwast, and Steven Heller. Graphic Style: From Victorian to New Century. New York: Abrams, 2011. Print. “Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 5th Edition.” Wiley:. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. “Search Collections.” Search Artists / American Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
The New York School Movement Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “Chapter 16: The Bauhaus and the New Typography.” Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 348. Print. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “Chapter 19: The New York School.” Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 390-92. Print. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “Chapter 19: The New York School.” Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 398-99. Print. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “Chapter 20: Corporate Identity and Visual Systems.” Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 412-419. Print.
New Wave Movement “Display.” Display. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design.Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.
Punk Movement Clabough, Cynthia. “Week 13: Post modern Design: From New Wave through Retro and Eclectic.” Art365: History of Graphic Design. 19 Nov. 2013. Lecture.
Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast. Graphic Style: From Victorian to Post- Modern. NewYork, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988. Print. Heller, Steven, Seymour Chwast, and Steven Heller. Graphic Style: From Victorian to New Century. p. 280-281.New York: Abrams, 2011. Print. Fishauf, Louis. Global Brief Magazine Cover: “What Kind of Order?” Fishauf Design. Louis Fishauf, 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Page 42 of portfolio. <http://fishauf.com/projects/>. Heller, Steven, Mr. “Henry Wolf, Graphic Designer and Photographer, Dies at 80.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2005. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E4D6123AF935A25751C0A9639C8B63>. Gary Panter Biography. Gary Panter. Gary Panter, 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.garypanter.com/site/index.php?/about/biography/>.
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soURCES Work Cited Deconstruction Movement Clabough, Cynthia. “Week 14: Post Modern Fontism to Kinetics” Art365: History of Graphic Design. 19 Nov. 2013.Lecture Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast.Graphic style: from Victorian to post-modern. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1988. 236-237. Print. Meggs, Philip B., “The Digital Revolution-and Beyond.” A History of Graphic Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983. 534-537. Print.
Émigré Movement Clabough, Cynthia. “Week 14: Post Modern Fontism to Kinetics” Art365: History of Graphic Design. Nov. 2013.Lecture Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast.Graphic style: From Victorian to Post- Modern. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1988. 237-238. Print. Meggs, Philip B., “The Digital Revolution-and Beyond.” A History of Graphic Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983. 501,533-538. Print.
Controlled Chaos Movement Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast. “Digital: Controlled Choas.” Graphic Style: From Victorian to New Century. 3rd ed. New York: Abrams, 2011. 244-47. Print. Heller, Steven. “The Fifth Dimension: Erik Adigard Explores the Spatial Possibilities of Graphic Design.” Print Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. “Jennifer Morla.” AIGA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “National Visions within a Globe Dialogue: The New Conceptual Poster.” Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. 5th ed. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 503. Print. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “The Digital Revolution and Beyond; Design for Portable Devices.” Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 552. Print. Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. “The Digital Revolution-and Beyond: New Typographic Expression.” Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. 5th ed. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. 562. Print. Stefan Sagmeister.” AIGA. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
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Contemporary Work Writing International Style Meggs, Philip B., “The Digital Revolution-and Beyond.” A History of Graphic Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983. 372. Print.
New York School Meggs, Philip B., “The Digital Revolution-and Beyond.” A History of Graphic Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983. 403. Print.
Art Deco Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast.Graphic style: From Victorian to Post- Modern. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1988. 76. Print.
Émigré “Emigre Home.” Emigre Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.. <http://emigre.com/>.
Student Work Writing International Style Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast.Graphic style: From Victorian to Post- Modern. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1988. 199. Print.
New York School Meggs, Philip B., “The Digital Revolution-and Beyond.” A History of Graphic Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983. 399. Print.
Plakatstil Clabough, Cynthia. “Week 6: Early Modern & Post Cubism Modern.” Art365: History of Graphic Design. 4 Oct. 2013. Lecture.
Punk Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast. Graphic Style: From Victorian to Post-Modern. NewYork, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988. 229.Print.
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As group leader of Purple Reign, I would like to thank my three AMAZING team leaders Devon Nitz, Megan Stachnick and Shari Platt. Without you three this book would not have been made possible. I would also like to thank all the other group members who came to every meeting, submitted work on time and did everything that they needed to do to make this project successful. We would also like to thank professor Clabough for all her help throughout the semester.
-Mark
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