Semiotics and form by Homade Design

PROLOGUE

Paul Rand said: “Design is so simple, that is why it is so complicated.” Semiotics and Form is about a systemic method of communication that breaks a message down to it’s clearest form. The strength in iconography is in its simplicity and to cross language barriers. For this reason, it will always be met with broad appeal. Through Spring of 2016 I learned to better leverage those strengths and now I present them to you!

P6 LOGOTYPES study of logo typologies

P10

THE NOUN PROJECT on-line resource for iconography

P16 GENRE POSTERS exhibition of iconography across genres

P24 GENRE TIMELINE overview of genres in typography

P26

GENRE SAMPLES exemplary samples of genre in posters

P35

TECHNICAL SKILLS examination of technical skills used

P44

50 FONTS excerpt of classic fonts and their context

P46

CLASS SUMMARIES overview of my class summaries

P48

COLOPHON exit statement and miscellaneous

LOGO TYPES

Logos is a Greek word meaning logic. Logos is a literary device that can be defined as a statement, sentence or argument used to convince or persuade the targeted audience by employing reason or logic. Based on that ancient root we use the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Logoâ&#x20AC;? to appeal to and persuade the onlooker to participate in a brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ethos and commit it to memory.

F IV E L O G O T Y P OL OG I ES

Logo designers employ a broad range of philosophies and techniques to develop a unique identity for a business which also becomes a brand ambassador. It is important that both designer and client have an understanding of their goals when starting a logo development exercise. To achieve this, one must know about the types of logo designs that can be used independently.

Wordmark: these are uniquely styled text logos that spell out the company or brand name. Symbol or Icon: this type of logo is simple and bold. Combination Mark: combines a wordmark and a symbol or icon into one cohesive design. Lettermark: these are a brands exclusive typographic symbols Emblem: an emblem encases the company name within the design.

Wordmark

Emblem

Combination Mark

Pictoral

Abstract

THE NOUN PROJECT The noun project is a user-based repository for icons, symbols and glyphs. This online resource provides a library of such digital objects and serves as a great overview of the broad range of iconography. From mobile phone graphics to modern clip art, this is user-generated content with a creative edge that keeps the library of icons fresh and deep. In this course, we applied the noun projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rules to create a symbol system of our own.

MIX UP My symbol system is based on popular dating apps and their respective iconography. â&#x20AC;&#x153;MixUpâ&#x20AC;? is a quirky dating app that would attract members equally interested is meeting odd individuals as avoiding them. My symbol system supports that humor.

23 M 2.6mi this could be us... meow! No//// :)

GENRE POSTERS Logos is a Greek word meaning logic. Logos is a literary device that can be defined as a statement, sentence or argument used to convince or persuade the targeted audience by employing reason or logic. Based on that ancient root we use the “Logo” to appeal to and persuade the onlooker to participate in a brand’s ethos and commit it to memory.

Logo type

P O S TM O D ERNI SM

In rebellion against the standard type and design of its day, Postmodernist burst onto the scene with noise and clamor. The busy designs break the bounds set by sans serif powerhouses and rigid grids. The postmodern designer seeks to use type to evoke a mood and move your eye around the page. This is my homage.

Logo type

I NTE R N ATI ONA L STYL E

The International Style emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity. Hallmarks of the style are asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces like Akzidenz Grotesk, and flush left, ragged right text. The style is also associated with a preference for photography in place of illustrations or drawings. This is my homage.

C O N STR U CTI VI SM

As part of the Russian typographic revolution, constructionist design is often committed to complete abstraction and modernity. Themes are often geometric, experimental and rarely emotional. Simple flat color and expansive white space are hallmarks of constructivism as are photography rather than illustration. This is my homage.

GENRES TIME-LINE

Oldstyle 1500s-mid 1800s

DeStijl 1917-1930

Art Neovou 1880-1910 Constructivist 1917-1935

Urban 2000s Art Deco 1920-1939

Bauhaus 1919-1933

Postmodern 2000s

Swiss 1965-current

Art Deco typestyles range from uncomplicated, low-waisted monostroke designs, such as ITC Anna, Bernhard Fashion, Busorama and Coquette, to more intricate, decorative typestyles, such as Beverly Hills, Chic, Broadway Engraved, Gallia, ITC Mona Lisa Recut and Philco Deco The most ornate Deco designs feature double, triple or multi-lineal stroke details. Art Deco typestyles can be angular or curvy, elegant or playful, but all have the attitude of swank sophistication we associate with that period. Many Art Deco type styles are all cap fonts and display designs due to their decorative nature.

Typically, Art Nouveau typefaces are stylized, elegant display designs, and are frequently inspired by the posters of Aubrey Beardsley, Alphonse Mucha and Joseph Kaspar Sattler, three renowned artists of the period. Art Nouveau type designs are usually extremely decorative, and can include embellished stroke endings, very high and low â&#x20AC;&#x153;waistlines,â&#x20AC;? diagonal and triangular character shapes, top- or bottom-weighted stresses, angled crossbars, and in some cases, filigreed initials. Some typefaces have more than one of these distinctive traits.

Constructivist art was in part a progression from Russian Futurism, with stylistic signs of the earlier movement being evident in some of the angular industrial sculptures and reliefs of artists like Vladimir Tatlin and Naum Gabo. Vladimir Tatlin saw the work of Picasso and Braque in Paris in 1913 and this influenced his own constructions when he returned to Russia. These works marked the first beginnings of Constructivist art. The movement wanted to sweep away all that had gone before, all that had led to the catastrophic war. The new art for the new order would have to lead to greater understanding, peace and unity, which would impact on the social and economic problems of the day.

One of the most essential components of the Bauhaus was the effective use of rational and geometric letterforms. Laszlo Moholy- Nagy and fellow typographer Josef Albers believed that to allow for effective communication, sans-serif typefaces, or those that do not have the small features called â&#x20AC;&#x153;serifsâ&#x20AC;? at the end of strokes, were essential to the Bauhaus. These types of fonts are the only ones capable of expressing the spirit of the machine age that was flourishing at the time. They also were extremely different from the blackletter type that was associated with the nationalist movement, serving to unify after the post war era.

Sans serifs epitomized the â&#x20AC;&#x153;form follows functionâ&#x20AC;? approach that characterized modernism. Clean, crisp and to the point, they let the information do all the talking. But by the mid-1960s, a small group of typographers, who felt more stifled than liberated by the entrenched modernist ideology, started a new movement in which the designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand figured prominently in each and every letter.

Swiss style emphasizes on neatness, eye-friendliness, readability and objectivity. Its foundations go back to its strong reliance on elements of typography and universality. This basic knowledge of universal understanding made Swiss style earn its moniker dubbing it as the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;International Typographic Styleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

The Old Style (or Garalde) types start to demonstrate a greater refinementâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to a large extent augmented by the steadily improving skills of punchcutters. As a consequence the Old Style types are characterized by greater contrast between thick and thin strokes, and are generally speaking, sharper in appearance, more refined. You can see this, perhaps most notably in the serifs: in Old Style types the serifs on the ascenders are more wedge shaped .

De Stijl is considered one of the most effective avantgarde movements that left a deep impact on graphic design for decades, that effect included posters, book design and typography. The abstraction principles of the movement were also imposed on typography, generating a new geometrical experience of the letter. The alphabets of Theo Van Doesburg underwent a rough distortions process in order to make the letters fill out the shape of the square. De Stijl rejected overt ornamentation that was at a climax during the early 1920â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Urban type design sprang up with the world around it. Encompassing graffiti and signage, its outward facing to the public eye and remains loud, large and colorful. Urban design can be seen on the side of buildings, train, on road signs and all over the cityscape shouting messages and ideas is a variety of known typefaces and hand drawn designs alike.

TECHNICAL SKILLS The complexity of something so simple calls for tools of the trade. Within the adobe creative suite there is a myriad of methods available to todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s designer allowing for creative and meticulous design across all sorts of media. Here is a sampling of such technical work.

HUMMER AD In this example we are tasked with typesetting over rasterized type. This is common practice for graphic designers today as so much content pulled form the web is muddied and pixelated.

TRADEWELL LOGO

In this example we are tasked with re-tracing the tradewell logo from raster to vector art.

BODDINGTON LOGO

E D D R AU N O G TI

H T MI

ROM THE NORTH LD F

T H E C L A S S I C CA S K C ON D

Kevin Holland SP2016

In this example we are tasked with duplicating the Boddington logo, complete with the particular alignments below.

S T R A N G E WAY S B R E W E R Y

N IO

E D D R AU G H T MI

ROM THE NORTH LD F

T H E C L A S S I C CA S K C ON D

S T R A N G E WAY S B R E W E R Y

FIFTY FONTS There is a nearly never-ending variety of typefaces out there today but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to have a classic foundation. This set of fifty fonts provides a solid base for a typophile to build his publication without fear or overusing trendy display fonts with poor technical integrity.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

name | designer | year | vox

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

CLASS SUMMARIES //

We talked about new ways to classify genres. I’ve heard the breakdown now at least three different ways so I’m so sure I agree on the consensus. I’ll try to learn the new systems and see how it serves me. I didn’t necessarily learn more about file management b u t i t i s a l w a y s g o o d t o h a v e a r e f r e s h e r. F i l e management is an important component of a d e s i g n e r ’s j o b s o i t s h o u l d a l w a y s h a s e m p h a s i s . // 5 I n t h i s w e e k ’s c l a s s I l e a r n e d a b i t m o r e a b o u t h o w t o differentiate a pictorial mark from an abstract mark. I also learned from tips and tricks how to warp text to objects without using the mesh. That is going to be a big help when I want to experiment with type in the future. It could produce some great results. //

Learned a bit today about some long lost fundamentals I can use to fine tune how I begin my InDesign files. I often set up grids and columns m a n u a l l y r a t h e r t h a n u s i n g t h e l a y o u t p a n e l . T h a t ’s something I have been taught to do already but seem to have just drifted away from. I’m making two other books right now and I’ll certainly make a grid just to see how I can use it to improve my alignment and really get that extra bit of control that I really like. I also didn’t know that modular grids are noted as such because of their individual gutters. I tend to use prefabricated grids I have saved as InDesign templates; so overall I’d say I’m just learning that I ’ m b e i n g v e r y l a z y a b o u t g r i d s l a t e l y.

As an aside to class but related, I studied how to make a brand guide in preparation for our work down t h e r o a d . T h e r e ’s a f r e e l a n c e j o b I p a s s e d o n t o d a y because I wasn’t confident in my ability to execute. T h a t ’s a t e r r i b l e f e e l i n g , s o I ’ m p r e t t y m o t i v a t e d to learn this quickly so I never have to pass up easy money again. I also learned a bit about just how restrictive a symbol system could be thanks to J h a m i l ’s p r e s e n t a t i o n . //

To d a y ’s c o n v e r s a t i o n s s e e m e d t o c e n t e r o n t h e g r i d . I’ve added to my grid so I have a little more accuracy from left to right. I’m using lots of medium sized images that don’t fit well in the original modules. Some things were re-iterated like full bleeds and not u n d e r e s t i m a t i n g t h e g u t t e r. Yo u a l s o t a l k e d t o m e o n e o n o n e a b o u t b r a n d i n g guidelines. I’d really like to learn to produce them quickly and start to up-sell clients. //

To d a y I w a s r e m i n d e d t h a t I c o u l d u s e f l y s h e e t s t o pad out my intro and outro. I don’t often use that so I’ll definitely be implementing it this time around. My cover needs to have a bleed of around ¼ inch rather than the 1/8th I typically use. I didn’t know that all printer paper in digital print shops is coated in s o m e w a y. I r e a d d e e p e r i n t o i t a n d l e a r n e d t h a t t h e coating helps stop dirt and moisture, and it saves on ink bleeds.

C O L O P HON

The contents of this book are original works of Kevin D. Holland. It records his progression through Graphic Design II: Semiotics and Form, a course taught by Professor Ronald Kovach in Spring of 2016 at Columbia College Chicago.

ÂŠkhDesign // 2016 www.kdholland.com

Made by Kevin Holland ÂŠkhholland.com