NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE BY JENNA TURNER
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RESEARCH MODERNISM
Modernism is described as a philosophical movement which goes along with cultural trends and changes. It originated in Western society in the late 19th and early 20th century. Modernism was shaped through industrialisation, rapid growth of cities and World War I. Modernism can be seen in architecture, art, philosophy, literature, etc. Modernism often led to experiments with the techniques used in paintings, poems and buildings.
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RESEARCH POST-MODERNISM
Post-modernism is a late 20th century movement in arts and architecture that was the ending of modernism. Post-modernism includes sceptical interpretations of art, literature, culture, philosophy, etc. In 1921 and 1925 post-modernism had been used to describe newer forms of music and art. Post-modernism states that if someone believes something and tries to make someone else believe something they are just trying to have power over them. Post-modernism states that even though the world changes people only want to believe that the world was better than it was. It just changes, it doesn’t get better because ‘better’ doesn’t exist.
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ARTISTS WALTER DEXEL
Walter Dexel was one of the most outstanding and well-known artists of 1920s constructivism. He studied art history from 1910-1914 in Munich. In 1912/13 he produced his first pictures whilst he was on a study trip in Italy. His later work was mainly influenced by cubism and expressionism. In 1914 he held his first individual exhibition in Munich which was based around his cubist pictures. Walter Dexel also worked as a typographer and an advertising designer. In 1928 he wrote a book with his wife which reflects their interests and issues of modern life. From 1928-1935 he worked as a lecturer for graphic design. However, in 1935 he was dismissed from his post by the Nazis. In the same year he decided to give up painting. In 1973 he died at the age of 83. I chose to study the work of Walter Dexel as his designs are extremely eye-catching. I like his use of colour and the range of shapes that are included in his designs.
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ARTISTS MAX MIEDINGER
Max Miedinger was born on 24th December 1910 in Switzerland. He died on 8th March 1980. He was best known for being a Swiss typeface designer. He created the ‘Neue Haas Grotesk’ typeface which was later renamed ‘Helvetica.’ He created the typeface in 1957 and changed the name in 1960. Between 1926-1930 he trained to be a typewetter in Zurich. At age 26 he worked for ‘Globe’ which was an advertising studio. After 10 years at ‘Globe’ he got another job at ‘Haas Type Foundry’ which is where he designed Helvetica. He also designed other fonts, such as Pro Arte, Horizontal, Swiss 921, etc. I chose to research the work of Max Miedinger as I was interested in finding out more about the person who created Helvetica. I also watched the documentary on Helvetica to find out more about him.
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ARTISTS
JAN TSCHICHOLD Jan Tschichold was born on 2nd April 1902 in Germany and died on 11th August 1974 in Switzerland. He was best known for being a typographer, book designer, writer and teacher. He was the son of a sign-writer and had been trained in calligraphy. This made him unique from other typographers at they time as they had generally been trained in fine arts or architecture. Tchichold decided to convert to modernist design principles after visiting the Weimar Bauhaus exhibition in 1923. I decided to research this artists as I liked the way his typography looked. I also like the small range of colours he uses as it makes his work easy to identify.
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ARTISTS PAUL RENNER
Paul Renner was born on 9th August 1878 and died on 25th April 1956. He was best known for being a typeface designer and designed the ‘Futura’ typeface. This typeface went on to be the most successful and most used types in the 20th century. He was born in Wernigerode, Germany and died in Hodingen. He had a strict religious upbringing and received his education at a 19th century gymnasium. He disliked abstract art, cinema, dancing and jazz music. He attempted to combine the gothic and roman typefaces. I decided to research Paul Renner as I liked his use of type. I also like the geometry included in his designs and the range of colours he uses.
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ARTISTS MOHOLY NAGY
Moholy Nagy was Hungarian and born on July 20th 1895 and died on Novermber 24th 1946. He was best known for being a painter, a photographer and a professor in a Bauhaus school. His main influence was constructivism. Throughout his career at the Bauhaus his became proficient in sculpture, typography, photography, print making and painting. He believed that photography could create a new way of seeing. I chose to research Moholy Nagy as his designs are extremely eye-catching. I like his use of geometry and how the different shapes overlap each other. I also like the fact that he uses a small range of neutral colours with the red so that it stands out.
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ARTISTS JOOST SCHMIDT
Joost Schmidt was born on the 5th January 1893 and died on the 2nd of December 1948. He was a teacher at the Bauhaus and later was a professor at the College of Visual Arts in Berlin. He was best known for being a graphic designer and typographer. Joost was one of three children and experienced a difficult upbringing. He continued to pursue work as a graphic designer even though he received a lot of resistance from the Nazis. I decided to strudy the work of Joost Schmidt as I thought his designs were unique. I also liked the range of colours he uses.
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ARTISTS
JOSEF MULLER BROCKMANN Josef Muller Brockmann was born on May 9th 1914 and died on August 30th 1996. He was best known for being a Swiss graphic designer and a teacher. He attended the University of Zurich and studied history of art and architecture. In 1936 he opened his own studio specialising in photography and graphic design. He is mainly recognised for his simple designs and his use of typography. He has written several books on visual communication I decided to look at Josef Muller Brockmann’s work as I like the type he uses in his designs. I also like that he uses white on a range of different coloured backgrounds.
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ARTISTS MICHAEL PLACE
Michael Place was born in 1969. He was born in North Yorkshire and is best known s a graphic designer. He originally wanted to be an architect. He graduated from Newcastle College in 1990. He has worked for many large companies including Sony and Nike. He has also worked for music labels. I decided to research Michael Place as I really like the colours he uses in his designs. I also like that they look simple and clean.
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ARTISTS MAX BILL
Max Bill was born in Switzerland on the 22nd of December 1908. He died on the 9th of December 1994. He was best known for being an architect, painter, artist, typeface designer and graphic designer. The first building he ever built was his own house. He was considered a massive influence on Swiss graphic design in the 1950s. He tried to create forms which visually represented physics so that it could be understood by the senses. In 1982 he was awarded the Sir Misha Black award. I chose to research Max Bill as I like the range of colours he uses in his designs. I also like how he uses geometry in his designs and makes them look unique.
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ARTISTS NEVILLE BRODY
Neville Brody was born on April 23rd in London. He is best known for being a typographer, art director and a graphic designer. He is known for his work on ‘The Face’ magazine and ‘Arena’ magazine. He is the head of Communication, Art and Design department at the Royal College of Art. He attended Minchenden Grammar school and studied A level Art. In 1976 he started a three year B.A course at the London College of Printing. I decided to research Neville Brody as I think his designs are very unique. I also like the range of colours he uses in his work.
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FONTS Andale Mono Arial Arial Narrow Avenir Bell MT Calibri Candara Century Gothic Corbel Adobe Devanagari Eurostile Franklin Gothic Book Gill Sans Helvetica Inai Mathi Kannada MN News Gothic MT Seravek Skia Source Sans Pro Time New Roman
I looked at a range of fonts to see which I thought was the best to use on my magazine design. My favourite font out of the ones I looked at are Arial, Century Gothic and Helvetica.
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POINT SIZES New Visual Language - 12pt
New Visual Language - 14pt
New Visual Language - 18pt
New Visual Language - 24pt
New Visual Language - 30pt
New Visual Language - 36pt
New Visual Language - 48pt
New Visual Language - 60pt
New Visual Language - 72pt
After experimenting with different point sizes I decided that 72pt or larger would be the best size for my magazine cover. I came to this conclusion as it would look strange if I used a small font size on the cover of the magazine. Also you need the title to stand out so that it will catch people’s eye. Page 15
POINT SIZES Form Follows Function - 12pt
Form Follows Function - 14pt
Form Follows Function - 18pt
Form Follows Function - 24pt
Form Follows Function - 30pt
Form Follows Function - 36pt
Form Follows Function - 48pt
Form Follows Function - 60pt
Form Follows Function - 72pt
After experimenting with different point sizes I decided that 48pt would be the best size for the sub-heading. I came to this decision as I still want the sub-heading to been seen clearly, but I don’t want it to overpower the title. Page 16
MAGAZINE DESIGNS
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MAGAZINE DESIGNS
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MOCK UPS I created a range of mock-ups. Firstly I created page layout mock-ups so I had plans on how the pictures and text could be arranged on each page. After this I made some front cover mock-ups of ideas of what design I could put on my front cover.
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RESEARCH CUBISM
Cubism was an avant-garde art movement which started in 1910 to 1914 in France. It is called Cubism because the items represented in the artworks look like they are made out of cubes and other geometrical shapes. Cubism was first started by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
SUPREMATISM
FUTURISM
Futurism was a modern art and social movement, which originated in Italy from 1909-1916. The Futurists practiced in every medium of art, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, music, literature, architecture, etc.
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Suprematism is an abstract art movement started in Russia around 1915/1916. It focused on basic geometric forms such as the square and circle. It is an example of geometric abstraction. This development in artistic expression came about when Russia was in a revolutionary state.
RESEARCH DADAISM
Dadaism is an artistic movement in modern art that started around the time of World War I. Its purpose was to mock the supposed meaninglessness of the modern world. Its peak was 1916 to 1922, and it influenced surrealism, pop art, and punk rock. It favoured going against normal social actions.
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural movement that originated in Russia from 1919 onward, which rejected the idea of ‘art for art’s sake’ in favour of art for social purposes. Constructivism as an active force lasted until around 1934.
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SURREALISM
Surrealism was an art and cultural movement which around 1920. The movement grew out of Dadaism. This was a protest at the meaningless of civilised life. Surrealist works have an element of surprise where unexpected items are placed next to each other for no clear reason.
RESEARCH
KERNING
LEADING
TRACKING
Kerning is the amount of space that is between each letter. If there is too much space or not enough space between each letter it is not aesthetically pleasing. To improve kerning all you have to do is make sure that the space between each letter is equal.
Leading is the amount of space between each line of text. Leading is important as line that are too close together might not be legible. It would also be difficult to read if the lines were too far apart. Usually the leading should be 20% larger than the font size, but this may vary between fonts.
Tracking is the spacing throughout the entire word, this sometimes gets confused with kerning. You should be careful when changing the tracking of a word as it can make the word difficult to read if it is done wrong.
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COVER DESIGNS FRONT
BACK
FRONT
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BACK
COVER DESIGNS FRONT
BACK
FRONT
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BACK
COVER DESIGNS FRONT
BACK
FRONT
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BACK
FINAL COVER DESIGNS
NVL NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE
NVL
Originally I decided that the cover on the left would be my final design. However, after placing it into my magazine I then decided that the text was too bold and took the attention away from the colour scheme which was meant to be the main focus of my design. I then made the font regular instead of bold to fix this. I decided on this design as it matches the designs I created for my train tickets for the City In Flux brief and I thought it was a good idea to have a theme through my magazine.
NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE
MAY 2015
FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION
22469852370159
MAY 2015
FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION
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22469852370159
DESIGNED BY JENNA TURNER