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Magazine Research Document Elissa Boswell (BA) Hons Graphic Design
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Modernism Modernism was a revolutionary art and design movement which arose at the end of the 19th and early 20th century. It was thought to have been centred around using art and design in order to improve the lives of postwar citizens. One major turning point in the increasing popularity of modernism was the opening of the first Bauhaus art and design school in Weimer, Germany. After the first world war Germany was plunged into depression and people were forced to rethink the ways in which they lived. The Bauhaus school was all about creating new products under strict principles including ‘form follows function.’ Household products and appliances created under Bauhaus practice were more cost effective and simply designs for their purpose and the needs of the user and due to technological advances were
created in mass production for the first time. Within graphic design and typography modernist designers shunned serif fonts under the belief that sans serif was much more legible and comprehensible by consumers. Straying away from the overly decorated style of the early 19th century designers of the era of Modernism abided to strict, structured grid system with emphasis on negative space. The idea was to create strong graphics that were against commercialism and greed. Typical typefaces used in the Modernism era include Franklin Gothic, Mono-type Grotesque, Futura, and Helvetica Neue. Modernism truly did spark a different way of thinking among artists and designers and many movements and art forms evolved due to its presence.
bauhaus The Bauhaus movement began with the opening of the Bauhaus revolutionary art school in Germany. This combined arts, craft and a range of methodologies and was famous for teaching in a completely different fashion which focused on kinaesthetic learning. The first Bauhaus school was opened by Walter Gropius in Weimar. This caused controversy within Wiemar and the surrounding areas as many Bauhaus students were alternative in appearance and cultural values. The products created in the Bauhaus focused on simplistic design which was cost effective for the German public. They often centred around primary colours and geometric shapes as their main mantra was that form follows function. The first public exhibitions of Weimar Bauhaus art and crafts
was in 1923 during the rise of Nazi reign. Although the Nazis utilised products for their own benefit they had issues with the beliefs of students and teachers as many were thought to be communist. To this day the Bauhaus is seen as the start of the modernism movement as to this day many modernist designers use the easily recognisable Bauhaus principles. I personally find this movement fascinating as it sparked a revolutionary change in the course of art and design showing that is was acceptable to stand up against adversity and the conventional norms. As many of its followers believed in the importance of easy comprehension and legibility the Bauhaus is known for the use of sans serif font and simplistic shapes within typography.
surrealism Surrealism was first used to describe the alternative 1903 play, ‘Les Mamelles des Tiresias.’ It was around this time when artists began to look for an escape from the harshness of current events including war and general discourse in society. Surrealisms were known as being highly against the middle
class values which were seen to bring on the war effort and fought against them by displaying alternative views from people such as Sigmund Freud and Walter Benjamin, within their pieces. Common themes within Surrealist art included dreams, intoxication, sex and madness.
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Joseph Muller Brockman
Joseph Muller Brockman Josef M端ller-Brockmann, was a Swiss graphic designer and teacher. He studied architecture, design and history of art at both the University and Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. Brockman is most famous for his use and information published on grid systems and for his simple designs and clean use of typography (notably Akzidenz-Grotesk). Some of the iconic shapes and colours used within his pieces inspire many graphic designers in the 21st century. I chose to use Brockman as inspiration within my artist-based typographic project as the iconic circular segments within his Beethoven posters etc. are easily recognisable as Brockman pieces and are known by many as typical modernist works of design.
Wim Crouwel
Willem Hendrik “Wim” Crouwel was a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts and design and became a key artist to represent the modernist art movement. From 1964 onwards, Crouwel was responsible for the design of the posters, catalogues and exhibitions of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In 1967 he designed the type-
face New Alphabet, a design that embraces the limitations of the cathode ray tube technology used by early data display screens and phototypesetting equipment, thus only containing horizontal and vertical strokes. This makes his work easily recognisable as his own. Other typefaces from his hand are Fodor and Gridnik. In 1970 he designed the Dutch pavilion for Expo ‘70.
El Lissitzky
El Lissitzky was a Russian painter, typographer, architect and designer and played a key role within the modernist art movement. Most famous for his use of 2 and 3 dimensional shapes within random composition he was one of the main names attributed into introducing the Avante Garde art movement aiding its revolution from modernism. He was an important figure of the Russian Avant Gar-
de, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works for the Soviet Union. His work greatly influenced the Bauhaus and constructivist movements, and he experimented with production techniques and stylistic devices that would go on to dominate 20th-century graphic design.
Armin Hofmann Swiss graphic designer Armin Hofmann is well known for his enormously varied body of work which includes; books, exhibitions, stage-sets, sign systems, posters, environmental graphics and typography. His work is universally recognised for it’s reliance on the fundamental elements of graphic design; form/ point, line and shape. There is a feeling of simplicity to his work which allows it to be easily recognisable and comprehended by observers. I particularly appreciated Hofmann’s typographic
style and the way in which is contrasts both angular and curved structures within his work. He also explores negative space within typography and experiments with composition. In the majority of his pieces type is seen to flow in a range of alternative ways such as around corners of buildings etc. I found it beneficial to explore the work of Armin Hofmann within my previous projects as he often contrasts modern type with nostalgic imagery which convey connotations of technological change.
Walter Dexel Walter Dexel was a German painter, commercial graphic designer, and transportation planner. He also functioned as an art historian and directed a museum in Braunschweig during the Second World War. His early pictures were influenced by Cézanne’s landscapes, with his later work being influenced by Cubism and Expressionism. Dexel was not restricted to panel paintings but also worked as a typographer, an advertising
designer and designed interiors and stage settings. In 1928 he wrote a book entitled “Das Wohnhaus von Hevute” together with his wife Grete Dexel, which reflects the artist’s interest in the issues of modern living, which the artist showed from an early age. Some of Dexel’s pieces really resonated with me when it came to the creation of my magazine as he often uses large overlapping shapes and typography which is composed well upon a page.
Otto Neurath Otto Neurath was an Austrian philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist. He is most commonly known for creating the earliest form of info-graphic/ isotype (International System Of Typographic Picture Education). This technique meant that complex statistics could be conveyed in the form of visual
imagery and therefore it can be comprehended more effectively without the need for language. Neurath’s use of isotopes to define different cultural background now cause a degree of controversy as it has proved difficult to create isotypes that do not conform to racial stereotypes.
Post Modernism Postmodernism is a late 20th-century movement in the arts, architecture, and criticism that was a departure from modernism. While many postmodern artists did not completely reject the tendencies of modernism they opposed many ideas about purity of form, eroding the divisions between pop culture and high art. There was also seen to be a lack of grand narrative or meaning
behind many postmodern art and design pieces and this lack of order and telling of history was as a way of questioning ideas set by governing institutions. First of all, postmodern art departs from modern art in its abandonment of political advocacy for a singular ideology. The modernist avant-garde viewed art as an agent of social change and even helped to shape many of the political movements of the twentieth century.
pop art Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. The postmodern art movement presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising, news, etc. In pop art, material is sometimes visually removed from its known context, isolated, and/or combined with unrelated material. The concept of pop art refers not as much to the art itself as to the attitudes that led to it. Pop art and minimalism
are considered to be art movements that precede postmodern art, or are some of the earliest examples of Post-modern art themselves. Many pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein used shapes such as circles in order to create texture and depth within the faces of their character. I took inspiration from this when creating the cover for my magazine document as I used single triangular shapes in order to form the face of my character. This also added depth and perspective to the face.
David Carson
David Carson is an American graphic designer, art director and surfer. He is best known for his innovative magazine design, and use of experimental typography. He was the art director for the magazine Ray Gun, in which he employed much of the typographic and layout style for which he is known. In particular,
his widely imitated aesthetic defined the so-called “grunge typography� era. Many of his compositions for the magazine Ray Gun commonly recognised due to their random layouts and overlapping of text. In many cases he pushes the boundaries of legibility experimenting with negative space and rotation of text.
jamie reid Jamie Reid (born 1947 is an English artist and anarchist with connections to the Situationists. His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of ransom notes, came close to defining the image of punk rock, particularly in the UK. His best known works include the Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols and the singles “Anarchy in the UK”, “God Save The Queen”
(based on a Cecil Beaton photograph of Queen Elizabeth II, with an added safety pin through her nose and swastikas in her eyes, described by Sean O’Hagan of The Observer as “the single most iconic image of the punk era”), “Pretty Vacant” and “Holidays in the Sun.” These workings became iconic due to their controversial elements as he often juxtaposed questionable language and imagery with political photography.
neville brody
Neville Brody is an alumnus of the London College of Printing and Hornsey College of Art, and is known for his work on The Face magazine (1981–1986) and Arena magazine (1987–1990), as well as for designing record covers for artists such as Cabaret Voltaire and Depeche Mode. He often uses large eye-catching typography and imagery which are rarely constrained to single pages. I found this recognisable technique useful when it came to the creation of my own magazine as it encour-
aged me not to be afraid of carrying an image from one page onto another. In many cases the typography used by Brody pushes the limits of legibility due to its rotation and composition. Many words or shapes are cut off by the edges of the page on which they are situated yet their message is always clear. I took inspiration from this especially within the back page of my own magazine as the magazine logo overflows past the restrains of the page edges yet is still comprehensible by users.
paul rand Paul Rand (August 15, 1914 – November 26, 1996) was an American art director and graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, and Steve Jobs’s NeXT. He was one of the first American commercial artists to embrace and practice the
Swiss Style of graphic design. Using creative techniques within his logo designs Rand flips the idea of text anchoring imagery completely on its head. This is especially apparent within the IMB logo as he uses simple imagery to spell out the letters making it easily readable within the use of phinetic language.
memphis group
The Memphis Group was an Italian design and architecture group founded in Milan by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 that designed Postmodern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass and metal objects from 1981 to 1987. The Memphis group’s work often incorporated plastic laminate and was characterized by ephemeral design featuring colourful decoration and asymmetrical shapes, sometimes arbitrarily alluding to exotic or earlier
styles. The group’s colourful furniture has been described as “bizarre”, “misunderstood”, “loathed”, and “a shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price”. Memphis designs served as inspiration for the Fall/Winter 2011–2012 Christian Dior haute couture collection fashion show, and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld collected Memphis pieces.
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ConstantlY CHANGING, INSTANTLY RECOGNISED. Once a magazine has reached a certain status within the product market and a level of popularity and recognisability has been established it is possible for there to be fluctuations within the masthead designs. This is prominent with magazines such as Vogue and Ray Gun as their mastheads seem to change drastically between issues while the product remains equally marketable. This is highly respectable as it shows how robust the foundations of the branding are and that slight changes do not impact on the iconic publications.
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When it came to creating a design for my magazine cover I wanted to create something which was easily relatable to the modernist art movement as I thought this would be the most iconic and recognisable art movement to base a design upon. I spent some time experimenting with drawing simplistic shapes and products which were prominent in the Bauhaus period. Although the shapes and colours I used were reminiscent of those used in Bauhaus production I did not end up with a result I was happy with and for that reason I did not carry the idea forward.
The term appropriation means to borrow recycle or copy image for new creation. The term is recognised as a postmodern form of art which is used by artists in order to make a historical, cultural or commercial message. Though this allows a conversation between a range of artists there are often issues surrounding plagiarism between artists. Although almost all appropriated art is created without the consent of the original artists it is often not seen as plagiarism as the appropriator wants consumers to recognise the original image which has been utilised. During his rise to artistic fame Andy Warhol faced a series of law suits from photographers who recognised their
own work within his manipulations. This concluded with a court case which ended in some photographers receiving royalties and paintings. In the future Warhol went on to manipulate Campbells soup which was subsequently legal as soup and paintings are not competing products. There are many other postmodern pieces which use the technique of appropriation. Marcel Duchamp is known for re-contextualising Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa by adding a moustache and arranging a urinal in order to create ‘the fountain.’ The fountain piece was in turn appropriated by many other artists in order to make a statement about Duchamp’s style of art.
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Final cover design concept After researching into the postmodern technique of appropriation I decided to use a popular existing and put a modernist twist upon it. Inspired by artists such as Max Bill I chose to incorporate triangular shapes into the piece in order to give definition to the face of the artist FKA Twigs. I drew over the original image in Adobe Illustrator and used the eyedropper tool in order to grab the colour beneath the shapes. Overall I aimed to convey the combination of both modernism and postmodernism within my final piece from the cover and though I am unsure of whether this was clear I was happy with the outcome as I think it has a sense of realism while simultaneously displaying abstract connotations.
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New Visual Language 2015 New Visual Language 2015
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ARTIST BASED TYPEFACE CITY IN FLUX EARTH ARTIFACT
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Magazine Research Document Elissa Boswell (BA) Hons Graphic Design