New visual language magazine

issue #1

summer 2015

new visual language

new visual language

form follows function

an exploration of modernism and postmodernism City in Flux

Earth Artifact

Type Transcription

contents what is modernism?

4

what is postmodernism?

6

city in flux.

8

earth artifact.

12

type transcription.

16

Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.

Walter Gropius

what is

modernism?

Modernism is the movement that arose in society in the late 19th century and early 20th century in which the outlook on design, art and architecture was transformed. This coincided with the rethinking of many values in society and culture, as advances in science, technology, psychology and philosophy were made.

It comes as no surprise as this shift in thinking emerged from the aftermath of world war one and the Russian revolution.

There was a sense of hope, especially in Europe to correct the existing ‘wrongs’ in society and to mould the new world where inequality, social injustice and “There was a sense of conflict no longer hope, especially in Europe existed. Modernism quickly became to correct the existing a sensation, as ‘wrongs’ in society and the movement and ethos

to mould the new world”

became heavily promoted, with exhibitions, books and posters becoming extremely prevalent in the west.

In the sense of art and design, modernism was a reaction to what was seen by many as bad practice and inefficientness. Louis Sullivan coined the phrase ‘form follows function’ which became symbolic of the modernist philosophy and movement.

Modernism is also made up of lots of smaller movements, which make up the first half of the 20th century, such as cubism, constructivism and futurism along with designers such as Paul Rand, Joseph Muller Brockmann and Jan Tschicold and many others, all of which have still have a profound impact on design as a whole to the present day.

S I T A H W M T S O P ge a e h t o t in k o a lo rnism e mod

st o p of

I S N R E D O M

?

M S

n, esig d f o orld ne, w e n th munda . o p i w s r y m g esign a t of vie ibilit r g fi e n l a i d ; po w ed ing hav n to vie igner’s curr etics c m o s e h es ga rni ang in aest arison h ode nists be young d c m l t dica ntation l comp e heigh e, With moder m the a r a e r o ,a t m th pos cially fr sign experim a gene during t the ti s. e d l a k e phic t, with r. I thin design ociety menta esp a r g n a of of ula ds nd rta rms s impo bly pop ethos 80s an d its fu were ing. e t e i a n In m n d not cred ween th 70s an rnism a archis happe n s i a n g t w n ode the was nd a omi e be bec e mad rnism in red in m talism a design r b i n can stmode at occu nti-cap hority i ents m t e o a h ov s of p like w hment, f the au b-m e style u h s o s c i l f v u o a m ab ion riety d new w lture.

-est A react i a t v n A . n cu as de ular m w er a wi runge a opular s , i n pop m t r p s g ode d grea erni punk, ight in m d t o m os we ns ith nd p ich allo rms of gages Like ged, w ommo i h e r c h fo en tb eme ming a pec ology w , many dience gs or s a o is in nt hn au bec ead ces orta t of tec on to th ow an r p n m i i w ities h t n en i r o r i e s d a e r d i l i i d h m u e k t a Ano mbrace tion. In hic wor rpret th ad to a ain, sim le. g le e b a the riment sm grap r to inte roach more. A me visi p i e a e e c d rn ap exp . ode rk in or k. This they se sign be s m t s e nism esigner at r d po the wo e wor h e d d w d o n an h st m ch that . with from t questio e time o p a h s ity t to idea ning to iety at ion y appro legibil t i s r in c ng po beg een so , op ecessa structi e s r nn ob ou betw of c d the u design, , s e a ting clud re w The isms in mplica o ic Crit o overc t had

barnsley in flux.

a magazine which takes a contemporary look at Barnsley, the northern mining town and how it has changed in recent years and its current affairs, accompanied with a variety of artwork and photography.

Jack Barnes

Barnsley in Flux S ymbolic of being in flux, I focused my city in flux brief around my hometown of Barnsley and how it was undergoing a state of change.

Barnsley has always being something which has meant a lot to me all my life, having spent all my life there. Because of this, I wanted to base my outcome to the city in flux around it and incorporate forms of social commentary in the form of a magazine into my work as that is something which is a big part of my design philosophy.

I split my research into two stages which I felt was invaluable in my design process. I began to research into Barnsley to gave me an even greater knowledge of my home town in addition to research into page layout.

This was where I came across Swiss Typographic style which immediately inspired me and I made the decision to incorporate this style into my work as most magazines which I researched that were based around Barnsley were conventional and extremely generic.

I felt that swiss typographic style and the subject matter of Barnsley went hand in hand because of their historical undertones.

In particular, I was inspired by Josef Muller Brockmann’s grid structure which was an integral part of his design ethos and I tried to incorporate this into my work, to a degree of success.

I also made a pastiche of his famous Beethoven artwork to promote a Barnsley FC game.

I also experimented with different forms of art work to accompany the articles, such as low-poly art and was inspired from Anne Marie Wright’s type-based portraits in which I incorporated Margaret Thatcher’s infamous enemy within speech and constructed the iconic image of Billy Casper from Kes. I found this to be a great learning experience.

Overall, I was satisfied with the outcome of the Barnsley magazine. I think it’s well designer and written, fulfilling its purpose and I think it was helpful in improving my understanding of typography.

Barnsley is more than just a town off the M1

type transcription.

This was my first experience at designing a typeface. This is what I thought of the experience.

Since coming to university, I must admit I have developed into a type maniac. I never really paid much attention into typographic theory, but after watching documentaries such as Helvetica, and delving into the depths of the instrumental figures behind typography such as Erik Spiekermann and Max Miedinger, I have found an appreciation for typography.

As part of one of the physical studio briefs, we were given the task of designing our own typeface. Naturally, without any constraints this freedom was initially a hinderance as it was hard to come to the decision on the function, and subsequently, the identity and aesthetic the typeface will represent.

Initially, one of my first concepts was with the idea of constructing letterforms with triangles, which was a fun concept of playing around with the theme of the illuminati which is popular in contemporary culture.

Eventually, though my final idea came through experimenting with curving corners of shapes on illustrator. I then designed the core foundations behind a typeface, such as the o and the n and then developed these to cover the entire alphabet.

Overall I was satisfied with the outcome of the typeface. I felt like I overcame the main obstacle of maintaining a consistent visual identity across each letterforms and I think the typeface would be primarily suited as a display typeface rather than being used as body text.

type transcription.

Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn’t have to be like this.

Stephen Hawking

earth artifact This is my homage to the Golden Record - A collection of images and sounds to show future lifeforms the diversity of life on earth.

I

n 1977 the voyager spacecrafts left earth, embarking on their journey across the galaxy.

Aboard, were a form of ‘time capsules’ intended for extra terrestrial life forms as a means of informing them of life here on Earth.

My second studio brief was intended to be a ‘new version’ of this concept, which would prove to be a challenging process of creative problem solving.

My initial response to the brief was, I was excited by how open-ended and ambition this project was, but also daunted at complexity of the problem I had to overcome.

Being entirely fascinated by space and time, I found the research part of this project to be incredibly interesting. I dived into research about space itself,

and the original golden record and how the figures behind the project approached the design.

This process posed some interesting and engaging questions. As a life form, who actually are we? And what do we represent? And as well as this, how do we present this concept to an client who may not exist, or have no understanding of communication?

My initial concept for a response to this brief was a branding of Earth. I wanted to create a form of identity for Earth to be remembered by because it will most likely be gone by the time somebody finds the Earth Artifact.

The main difficulties of branding the Earth was how can you represent an entire planet?

What kind of aesthetic would you portray? And how could you present this identity to a client?

Brand Guidelines Pacifico The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Nexa Rust Handmade The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Nexa Rust sans The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

C=13 M=0

Y = 83 K=0

C=60 M = 28

Y = 89 K=9

In terms of an outcome to the brief, I made the decision to design a quirky identity for Earth, whilst also referencing common branding practice in terms of representation in a form of pastiche of contemporary design practice. I am happy I made this decision because it made the project extremely fun.

The final identity, I thought, looks extremely well done. I feel the colours are representative in nature, which links well to Earth and the typefaces which form part of the identity work really well in satisfying the 2 goals I set myself before undertaking the branding project - they look extremely conventional of contemporary branding work / identities but I also feel that they capture this positive, welcoming identity that Earth would want to be portrayed as.

I then applied this identity to conventional branding materials such as business cards and a brochure; not only as a means of showing how I would apply the brand, but also referencing typical ways that designers present their work to clients in the form of mock-ups. I felt that the business cards were extremely well done, looking

incredibly clean and professional. The card also contained fake links to social networking sites, although I think this provided a huge opportunity to really expand and develop the brand which could have potentially became some form of viral project. For example, if time was not an issue, I could have used sites such as instagram as a platform to showcase images which symbolises Earth and what we stand for as a planet to a ‘client’. Likewise, twitter could have also acted as a contemporary platform to show what earth is like, much like the original golden record intended.

In conclusion, I was satisfied with the outcome of my branding of Earth, although I would have liked to have developed on this concept by firstly creating more branding materials, such as a website and then actually developing some form of viral campaign for the project. I feel I could expend this into a personal project of mine. In terms of the quality of the brand, I feel it is successful in portraying Earth as being welcoming and capturing its naturalness. In regards to the design, I think it is professional and looks well done.

from the editor...

That concludes the look at my responses to my first year at university. I have really enjoyed partaking in creative visual responses to the briefs set.

Altogether, I am happy with my progress upon my first year at university. I think my understanding of theory has greatly improved because I did not cover it in extensive amounts of detail at college.

This greatly influenced by own practice as a designer and I feel enriched due to my research into modernism and postmodernism.

My skills have also improved due to the process and production workshops. I feel much more versatile as a designer. During college I was reliant on Photoshop and InDesign, whereas now I am much more comfortable using illustrator and I can also use Adobe After Effects in addition to this. My sights now look to next year, where I aim to use these in a more involved way next year.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my work and find my responses to the briefs to be interesting.