Modernism and Postmodernnism Research

MODULE4: new graphic design

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Module TFD1064.

Design for Communication Design Graphic design group Project – “modernism” Student: Lydia Czolacz Student number: U1250424

02 briefing notes So, from first glances our new brief on Modernism and Post-modernism seems really hard to understand. I believe that in a case like this it is really essential to understand the difference between them both and work my way from there. However, from the briefing I took the following notes:

1. Briefing – New Graphic Design Product can be whatever you’re getting: Manifesto, artist typeface and research on book could go into magazine.

Research A3 landscape Will be producing a masthead, cover design and inner pages New Graphic Design – Form Follows Function A3 portrait – inside pages twice A3 Experiment with single and double paged spreads.

Lots of layouts and column structures – graphic refinement 2. Body of work: Thumbnail visuals of design layouts Multiple solutions Level of design and refinement – looked objectively at own work 3. How have the moments influenced graphic design today Bauhaus, Swiss, Dutch schools Modernism Post-modernism Thegridsystem.org Type.method.ac 4. Kerning and tracking – see how that looks, tracking is whole width of the type Smearedinblackink.com DESIGN MOVEMENTS CURRENT I believe if I follow this structure given to us at the brief then I will be on the right way to succeeding.

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The book I shall be reviewing is edited by Paul Wood and is the third in a series of four books and is called “Varieties of Modernism” which was published in 2004. The book is split into twelve chapters which are separated into four parts: Part one: “The European Avant-Garde in the 1930’s,” part two: “Art in America: from Realism to Abstraction,” part three: “American Modernism in the 1960’s” and part four: “The resumption of the Avant-Garde.” The book takes us on a journey through the dramatic changes art encountered and how it evolved, however, in order to make my analysis easier I have decided to focus on three chapters which I believed were most helpful in understanding the development of this movement. in order to be able to start this project, we were given a mini side brief The first chapter I have chosen to look at is chapter two: “Surrealwhich was to pick a book and read it then review it in order to begin to ism’s Other Side.” The chapter itself looks at ethnographic surrealism and understand modernism and postmodernism as movements and their aims. the way it opposes colonialism in different parts of the world including the Caribbean and Paris. It talks about a forum which was for the views of the dissident Surrealists which was the journal “Documents” founded in 1929. The journal only lasted two years before its financial backing was retained however it explored ethnography in many ways. It talks about how the agenda of the “Documents” is self-centred and its main concern is those with the interests of a highly intelligent group behind the journal rather than taking any interest in the problems faced by black people and it attacks the conventional breakdowns of European’s order, for example, low culture and high culture.

The next chapter I have chosen to pick out in greater detail is chapter three: “Realism and Modernism.” This chapter primarily looks at realism and modernism in America between the Wall Street Crash, the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the Cold War of the 1950’s. The type of modernism produced in America from the 1940’s to the 1960’s was a retreat from social concerns and was even disapproved for its complicity in the exercise of American power during the Cold War. This part of the book looks

Book Review

04 at similarities between the practices of Realist and abstract artists and how their work was influenced by what was going on in America during that time.

The last chapter which I have chosen to analyse is chapter eight: “Vernacular Modernism.” This chapter focuses a lot on the photographic movement of modernism and how after the Second World War the avantgarde groups associated with pre-war Europe left. It explores the way in which modernist photography was the idea of blocking perspective as an on-looker/photographer, for example, the book looks at Lee Friedlander’s “Lafayette, Louisiana (1986)” and the way in which a pole obscured the line of sight, the vertical plane pushes the viewer back and prevents an easy perception of the events that are happening behind it.

Overall I believe this book was definitely worth the read and a great way to introduce myself to modernism for our next brief. The book develops and shows good understanding of recent artistic and critical developments. The book is informative and shows historical reasoning to the development of the movement and analyses relevant themes and issues.

05 Modernism was a cultural movement which was put into use and influenced many artists before the decade of 1914. The artists and designers created this movement as a sign of rebellion against the late nineteenth century academic and historicist.

Despite this, the 20th century is normally split into two parts: Modernism and Post-modernism.

A book which I rented out from the library that I thought would help me understand more about Modernism is “Modern- A Graphic Guide To - Ism” written by Chris Rodrigues and Chris Garratt.

Modernism was a cultural movement which was put into use and influenced many artists before the decade of 1914. The artists and designers created this movement as a sign of rebellion against the late nineteenth century academic and historicist.

Despite this, the 20th century is normally split into two parts: Modernism and Post-modernism.

A book which I rented out from the library that I thought would help me understand more about Modernism is “Modern- A Graphic Guide To - Ism” written by Chris Rodrigues and Chris Garratt.

What is modernism?

06 List of iconic modernists that will help me in my research:

iconic modernists

Pablo Picasso T.S Eliot ( he was a poet) Le Corbusier (an architect) Salvador DalĂ­ Arnold Schoenberg (a musician) Kasimir Malevich Virginia Woolf (Writer) Rainer Maria Rilke (Poet) Man Ray These however are only part of the list that the book provides us with.

Despite this book being very informative and helpful I realised that this book focused on more of the arts rather than what influence modernism had on graphic design therefore I researched more into this.

07 The term “graphic design� was not around when the modernist movement began and has only really been around since 1922 when a book designer, William Dwiggings, coined the phrase. It is said that graphic design itself is a product of modernism.

Looking at visual communication before and after the 1900’s there is a notable change. In a sense, Modernism was a reductive movement. Form was simplified as a way to break from pictorial representation.

The reason for this break at the beginning of the 20th centure was because it was a revolutionary time. It was filled with political, social, cultural and economic changes. The technological advances of our age was ever-expanding, the invention of flight, phones and radio. There was also a rise of radical political revolutions that spawned the rise of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Communist Russia. Many artists felt that the traditions of the past did not represent the time they were living in correctly therefore came to the conclusion they needed something new which led to the birth of modernism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, surrealism and constructivism are just a few.

modernism & graphic design

08 what is postmodernism?

As you can tell by the name of this movement, Postmodernism is the time after in which Modernism died out of fashion and evolved. This movement was created in the late 20th century and similarly to modernism effected: architecture, paintings, sculptors, writers and many others.

I looked at the book “Postmodernism Style and Subversion, 1970-1990” edited by Glenn Adamson and Jane Pavitt in order to help me with this research.

In understanding Post-Modernism, the book starts with a quote by Hal Foster in 1985, “Postmodernism does it exist at all, and if so, what does it mean? Is it a concept or a practice, a matter of local style or a whole new period or economic phase? What are its forms, effects, place?”

As soon as this statement/question was made, there was no shortage of responses to understanding postmodernism. Postmodernism had many subcultures that derived from it, for example: radical design, transavantgardism and radical electicism are just a few examples. Even at its peak in the mid 1980’s it was hard to locate. In contrast to the modernist movement, postmodernism was a collection of wry looks and ironic gestures. Modernists offered a new outlooks onto the world whereas the postmodernists offered something broken and shattered. Instead of authenticity, postmodernism celebrated hybridity.

09 here are a list of iconic postmodernists: Terry Jones Jaime Reid Jeffery Keedy David Carson Neville Brody are just a few of many artists.

Similarly to the Modernist post I am going to start to look out how postmodernism effected graphic design.

iconic postmodernists

10 postmodernism & graphic design

Unfortunately for this era, postmodernism didn’t really have an impact until the 1980’s. Many artists remained anonymous in the work they produced as they felt it was too “risky” and too offensive for other citizens to see. The first most prominent feature of postmodernist graphic design is the reaction artists make to modernist designs and their response to it. The second most predominant feature is the erasing of the boundaries between high culture and pop culture. Graphic designers love and are drawn to new things, they were caught in this postmodernism world when they realised it wasn’t just a form of self-expression but a new technique which can again, be revolutionised into something new and a new form of truthful visual communication.

“The practice of graphic design has from the beginning been intertwined with pop commercialism, but that does not mean that our values and ideals, or the lack of them, have to be dictated by the commercial marketplace. Just because thinking about design isn’t a popular activity doesn’t mean it isn’t an important one.” - Mr. Keedy After researching i have decided to carry on looking at postmodernism.

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movements in postmodernism During the postmodernist era many sub-movements started during this time. In this section of my research I will list each one that derived from this postmodern era and and outline the effect they had on the industry, There were quite a few however I have decided to outline which ones I believed had an impact on graphic design itself.

New Classicism This movement was central to the postmodern era as it began to reinstate the importance of classical paintings and statues. Chief amongst this was the Art Renewal Centre with its rejection of all art that perceives to be modern.

This movement is often called Classical Realism.

Conceptual Art Conceptual Art has argues against whether it is in fact postmodern however, it involves in deconstructing of elements that make art, art. It’s main aim is to confront or even offend the people who view it - a harsh way of using shock tactics.

Installation Art Installation art is described as “creation of artifacts that are conceptual in nature.� Installation art takes up many of the museums that hold exhibitions currently as they demand space, installation art started as a small idea however became such a big phase of artists that the installments just kept growing bigger.

Digital Art Due to the advances in technology during this period, especially with computers and other internet devices, this became the media platform for many artists as the way in which people could view art became a lot easier and faster and the views reached a higher level due to ease of accessing art in the comfort of homes.

Telematic Art Telematic art challenges the traditional relationship between active viewing and passive by creating interactive, behavioural contexts for remote aesthetic encounters.

12 The Guardian Article

other research

other research contains material that i have found and sought useful however doesn’t really have a place individually in my document. I feel they work well together.

As I researched more into the postmodern era I came across this article on The Guardian’s website which takes the form of a timeline throughout the era of postmodernism and the new technological advances which effected both art and design of its time.

Postmodernism Photography I started to look more into postmodern photography as I believe graphic design has also elements of photography in contemporary design.

“Postmodern photography is characterized by atypical compositions of subjects that are unconventional or sometimes completely absent, making sympathy with the subject difficult or impossible. Like other postmodern artists, the champions of postmodern photography contend that it is possible to ignore the “rules” and still create art.”

13 Chosen 10 designers: Jamie Reid April Greiman Barbara Kruger Jay Vigon Alan Chan Barney Bubbles Neville Brody Terry Jones Peter Saville Malcolm Garrett As stated before, the following pages will look at each designers individually and what effect they had on graphic design.

chosen 10 designers

this si the list of chosen designersts i have decided to take a look at in further detail. here i will only lst them but the next following pages will look at them in mroe detail and how they have influenced postmodern graphic design.

14 Jamie Reid

Jamie Reid was born in 1947 and is a self-proclaimed British anarchist. He is probably most recognised as the artist who designed the Sex Pistols’ album cover. This work set him off really in his own style and he still uses the same techniques to date.

The way in which Reid uses cut-out newspaper text is meant to link back to the idea of ransom notes which came rather close to being the definition of design during the punk rock era, particularly in the UK. Reid’s work mainly focuses on the problems of our world and gives form to some of the key issues of our time. He responds in a way to events that some people may find offensive and some even too scared to say it themselves.

“Anarchy In The U.K” poster for the Sex Pistols created in 1976. Again this represents the punk era through the use of ripped paper, the ransom-like text and the safety pins representing the holding of it all together, possibly a metaphor saying the pins are holding up the UK. I believe that Reid’s work would be helpful in my way to looking at post-modernism as I believe this is an iconic design of the era in which many artists then followed suit. I hope to use some of Reid’s techniques in my own work.

“It is this dialectic between gnosticism and dissent that lies at the heart of Reid’s practice and makes him one of the great English iconoclastic artists.” - unknown author, reid’s website bio

15 During the 70’s there was a belief among many contemporary designers that computers would ruin the International Style of the world however, Greiman rejected this and rightly so. Her ability to adapt her work by using new technology meant that she could broaden her horizons as a designer and was one of the first to do so. She exploited pixelation and and digital “errors” and used them in her art, she became iconic for this technique.

“CalArts” - 1978. This poster was in a series called “Made In Space” which she joined with Jayme Odgers to create. The reason I like her work so much is the use of the combination of photography, text and design all in one publication. I feel that this was a landmark in the evolution of design as she began to break rules set by early designers, she wasn’t scared to try out new techniques or experiments which I believe is the reason why she was so iconic and successful.

april greiman

April Greiman was born in 1948 and is studied in Kansas. She was recognised as one of the first designers to embrace new technology which made her work iconic, she was so open to using a completely new thing. She established the “New Wave” style in the US during the late 70’s and 80’s.

16 Barbara Kruger

Her technique is simple yet effective. She uses source found photographs and layers text over them which is for one reason only: to offend the viewer. She does this in order to show the viewers that she is in control as once the posters are made there is nothing they can do about it except read it and accept it it’s been said. She uses red as a prominent colour in her work as it is red and she knows it will be read.

“I Shop Therefore I Am” - 1987. This is work that I personally associate KruBarbara Kruger is by far one of the most famous designers that I personger with. I have seen it so much throughout my time at high school and in ally have learnt about and heard of. She was born in New Jersey in 1945 and college. I really like this specific piece of work because the message is so studied at a school of visual arts. She worked at Mademoiselle Magazine clear and direct that it shows design has no need to be something extravand was quickly given the position of head designer. agant all the time - as long as it portrays the message then it can still stand out in other ways. Again, I like the way she intertwines text and image together and hope this is a technique I can use in order to create my own work. This certain piece explores commercialism and the way in which the viewer is so consumed in materialistic objects.

“Much of her text questions the viewer about feminism, classicism, consumerism, and individual autonomy and desire, although her black-and-white images are culled from the mainstream magazines that sell the very ideas she is disputing.” - quote found on http:// www.barbarakruger.com

17 Jay Vigon is described as one of the most influential designers of this time and graduated from a design school in Southern California. He got this title by experimenting with bold publications, ranging from logo design to advertising.

His designer style has been acknowledged by high end brands such as AT&T, Diet Coke and even Toyota. He is also known for being a director and has produced many documentaries.

I really like this piece of work as it is simplistic yet very effective.

His work is very minimal but by using the red colour it makes it bold much like another one of my artists Barbara Kruger.

jay vigon

jay vigon is an designer whose work has inspitred the nation . his simplistic minimalist designs fit right into the postmodern era and influenced many other designers. he likes to use symbols in his work, many of them tribal.

18 alan chan

alan chan was very hard to source information about. as there are many alan chan’s it is very hard to be able to figure out which is the right one, despite this i have been able to write about what i think of his work as a designer and shall spend time trying to dource more information.

This is a logo designed for a company by Chan. I really like the way in which the typography shows design that can relate to both the postmodern and bauhaus style movement. I chose this as one of my designers because I believe I can interpret shapes used by Chan in my design in order to create something postmodern. despite the fact that i really like chan’s work the only way in which i believe i can use this to my advantage in my work is through the use of his line movements within the logo that i have pasted onto this document. the way in which the lines interract with one an other again suggest elements of bauhaus and of modernism itself.

19 His work was both graphic design and music related. He had a very distinctive contribution to the independent music scene of the 70’s and 80’s. his work was filled with riddles and symbols which made his work so iconic.

Here is a selection of some of Bubbles’ work. I really like his style as it is more complicated and eccentric than other designers of his time and i believe that he really did have a huge influence on many designers to follow, especially the designers who specialise in music. I hope to be able to bring some of this eccentricness into my own work.

“Four designs for three bands, all by the same designer, the versatile and brilliant Barney Bubbles. A recent reference over at Ace Jet 170 to the sleeve for In Search of Space by Hawkwind made me realise that Barney Bubbles receives little posthumous attention outside the histories of his former employers. Since he was a major influence on my career I thought it time to give him at least part of the appraisal he deserves.” - quote found on http://www.johncoulthart.com

barney bubbles

Barney Bubbles was born in 1942 and died on 1983. he was one of the most influential designers of this era and even had designers from the likes of Peter Saville paying homage to his work.

20 neville brody

Brody was born in 1957 and is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director.He is mostly known for his magazine designs also album cover designs for bands such as Depeche Mode.

From an early age Brody could tell his own graphic language, he started to break the rules of graphic design and almost got thrown out of college because he put the Queen’s head on a stamp sideways. He enjoyed the punk movement a lot and his work reflects that, despite this, he is also interested in the comparison between Dada and Pop Art. This is a “work wall” (sourced from the link) of a lot of Brody;s work. Immediately you can see how his style has progressed into clean graphic design. I particularly likes the way in which shapes are used to create layers but I also like how simple some of the designs are. You can tell a lot of work and planning went into each of these and I really think Brody could be a big influence in my work.

“Design is more than just a few tricks to the eye. It’s a few tricks to the brain.” - neville brody

21 Jones likes to extend the boundaries of graphic design and much like some of the designers that I have researched he combines photo with text, something which at that era was new and different. He wasn’t scared to be different or individual which has obviously effected his style. I personally believe that his graphic style has definitely influenced a lot of people.

Jones was born in 1945 and works for i-D magazine. He is known for the cover he designed for his own magazine.

You can really see the punk influence in this which I believe is also influential to me. The bold colours against eachother shouldn’t match or go together but in this case they do and it still works. The stick-on eyes and mouth is very much my graphic style too, collage like, which again, I feel I can use in my own work.

terry jones

“Terry has established himself as one of the most experimental creative directors of his generation, from the covers of Vanity Fair and Vogue, where he was art director from 1972-77, to the innovative designs of i-D magazine, which he founded in 1980” - quote sourced on http://i-donline.com/authors/terry-jones/

22 peter saville

Saville was born in 1955 and again, is an English art director and graphic designer. He is most famous for the designs he created for Factory Records most notably for Joy Division and New Order.

He also was influenced by punk and also by fellow designer “Malcolm Garrett” who is also part of my research into postmodernism. After his work with Factory Records he began to take his work for a client but be able to refine his take on modernism.

This is an album cover that Saville produced for New Order. I like his graphic style of using bold text yest simple lines and circles in order to create an effect, I also like the way the blues blend together but just use different shapes. The design is bold yet really effective and this is something which I hope to recreate in my own work.

There was also a lecture held at a university by fellow graphic designer, Eric Mathias who actually explored the way in which Peter Saville influenced the postmodern era. It’s a shame i couldn’t get hold of any notes as I believe that would have really been useful.

“Design has become the cover for unnecessary consumption” - Peter Saville.

23 He has worked with music artists ranging from Duran Duran to Simple Minds. He liked to experiment with design and new technology which I think was also part of his success and has influenced artists such as Peter Saville.

I would say that Garrett’s design, although postmodern, has also had a huge effect on the take on contemporary graphic design.

This is what Garrett designed for buzzcocks. Again, I really like the combination of bold colours with text and image. I also like the elements of collage and again think that these are iconic features of postmodernism and would be essential for me to use in my work. I also think i could create a piece that reflects on all of this effectively.

“Think twice, act once”. —Malcolm Garrett

malcolm garrett

Garrett was born in 1956 and has had an influential career from the very beginning.

24 looking at bauhaus

It was the uniting of art and commercial graphic design which influenced many other artists around the world to approach design in a different way. There are many famous artists which attended that school, a few of them are: Wassily Kandinsky (one of my chosen artists), Josef Albers and Paul Klee.

Gropius believed that design was a service to the world and this was carried through as one of his main prospects of starting Bauhaus. He also iniThe Bauhaus started in Germany in 1919, founded by Walter Gropius, and was tiated the idea of perfection within design and also professionalism. They the most influential modernist art school of that century put a modern twist onto everything that could be designed - furniture, architecture and typography.

Western Europe, The United States, Canada and Israel took a lot of inspiration from Bauhaus and their art and architecture trends. There is even a city in Tel Aviv which has over 4,000 Bauhaus inspired houses by two German Jewish architects who fled there after World War 2 broke out. It is the only city in the world to have this many style of houses.

“Archiects, painters, and sculptors must recognize anew the composite character of a building as an entity… Art is not a ‘profession.’ There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsman. The artist is an exalted craftsman… Together let us conceive and create the new building of the future, which will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting in one unity and which will rise one day toward heaven from the hands of a million workers like the crystal symbol of a new faith.” the first proclamaition of Bauhaus.

Their aim was to experiment with type and photo montage. These designers seeked more of an objective visual communication to combining unjustified type with a clean structured layout.

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There were three main reasons for using the grid and they were: 1. To ensure that the work was mathematically constructed to create visual unity in a composition.

2. Present text in a simple yet clean way, ensuring it filters any propaganda and exaggerates the claims of commercial advertising.

3. The movement believed that sans-serif fonts expressed the spirit of a progressive age.

The purpose of this movement was to create a visual language whereby the text can be easily read and understood which makes the information more likely to remain in a person’s brain as they are only holding necessary information.

The power of the grid is to lift the designer outside of the protective capriciousness of the “self” by providing an existing set of possibilities, a set of rules.

ELLEN LUPTON

the grid system

The Grid System was founded by a bunch of Swiss designers and the technique became very influential in the mid twentieth century.

26 The Swiss Style

The Swiss Style was founded in Switzerland by skilled designers in the 1920’s.

despite this, the style didn’t become international until the 1950’s but the movement spread like wildfire. Key elements of this movement was the use of the grid, sans-serif fonts and also asymmetric layouts.The style also uses objective photography and illustration in order to create a visual language.

The main fact about this movement is that much of this was not published digitally, it was more on print-based things such as: posters, stamps and street signs etc. This meant that the Swiss designers cleverly were creating user-friendly interfaces and used things that they know people would use everyday.

The use of whitespace is equally important in this movement as it counts for both, visual compact and legibility. The styles main aim is to be able to communicate effective and efficiently by only using text that needs to be there, in this case, less is certainly more.

“Universal design systems can no longer be dismissed as the irrelevant musings of a small, localized design community. A second modernism has emerged, reinvigorating the utopian search for universal forms that marked the birth of design as a discourse and a discipline nearly a century earlier.”

- Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type: A Primer for Designers: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students

helvetica is a feature long film that explores the meaning of new contemporary graphic design using the font helvetica. it also looks at arguments in design looking at different techniques.

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It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which recently celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. the film looks at urban spaces and the way in which this effects the type of graphics created in different areas of the world. it features many interviews with renowned designers about the creative process when they are commissioned to design something for a at the beginning of the project we watched the “helvetica” documentary as it was in order to help us understand more about layout and graphic vision. company.

helvetica

Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day. The film was shot in high-definition on location in the United States, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium.

Interviewees in Helvetica include some of the most illustrious and innovative names in the design world, including Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Hermann Zapf, Neville Brody, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, David Carson, Paula Scher, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, Experimental Jetset, Michael C. Place, Norm, Alfred Hoffmann, Mike Parker, Bruno Steinert, Otmar Hoefer, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, and Lars Müller.

28 el lissitzky

as stated in the introduction to el lissitzky i do understand that his work is of modernist values and i have chosen to focus on postmodernism.

However, I do believe that lissitzky’s work has had a huge impact on design and at the end of the day, the postmodern era would not have existed if the modernist era didn’t happen which is why i have chosen to include this section about him.

Lazar Markovich lissitzky was a russion designer, photographer, typographer and architect. he achieved high status in the russian avant despite el lissitzky being a modernist designer i thought that it might garde and he helped to develop suprematism. he designed numerous benefit me looking at his work as it is clear that the colour and style he exhibition displays and propaganda workd for the former soviet union. His uses has been reflected in modern day newspapers and magazines in what work was iconic in the fact that he influenced the bauhaus and makes the press stand out from the rest. i also really like his work and his constructavist movement as he wasn’t afraid to experiment with take on russian constructivism. production techniques that had not been tried before, little did he know that these would dominate 20th century graphic design. i really like lissitzky’s work as he uses red as a colour which stands out amongst the rest of his monochrome colour scheme. i chose to include lissitky in this section as i do believe that i will be following some of the techniques he uses, especially his colour scheme, therefore it only felt right to include him.

“The sun as the expression of old world energy is torn down from the heavens by modern man, who by virtue of his technological superiority creates his own energy source.” - el lissitzky, uknown date/time.

29 i thought graham smith would be an excellent person to look at, especially just after looking at lissitzky. this is because the way in which smith uses russian letters in his designs, especially those for spandeau ballet which reminds me of russian constructivism. this is also shown in the use of the red on such a monochrome colour scheme which shows that lissitzky’s work has been recognised by all kinds of artists. smith since then has also managed to design plenty of record sleeves especially from the 70’s onwards. looking at smith i see his fascination with london clublife in this period which also fits into my project as i was researching designers such as saville and garrett which looked at club life of a different kind - they were more now what would be classed as “indie” club scene.

graham smith despite having my final artists i came across a few more things which i found interesting and would benefit my research, for instance, graham smith.

30 Leigh Bowery & Trojan

leigh bowery and trojan were a couple are considered to be the most influential personas in the 1980’s/90’s.

leigh bowery and trojan were both a couple through meeting at a club howeever then later split due to differences. they were both models, club promoters, actors, popstars and even fashion designers and have influenced many different people today, such as: alexander mcqueen, vivienne westwood, boy george and even lady gaga. also many Nu-rave bands and nightclubs espeically in london and new york . the reason i have chose to look at these people is because i find the way theiy work faascinating. the colours and way in which they model is considered postmodern and even in the way that they paint on themselves looks even too futuristic for their time. it looks scary but at the same time we begin to step through time and see dramatic changes on social and political issues in the world.

“I don’t want to be remembered as a person with Aids, I want to be remembered as a person with ideas.” - leigh bowery “An angel with make-up and fab things, diamonds and fur coats and money and gold rings” - trojan

31 blitz magazine carrying on this theme with london nightlife of the 80’s/90’s i decided to take one last look at something from that era and this is blitz magazine. this is more fitting to the brief and did give me a new kind of direction that i could take if i wanted to with my project. it is interesting to see how styles change over time and how even covers that were used then in magazines would be deemed not suitable now, it’s amazing to see how some appear to be ahead of their time.

32 designer responses

in order for me to develop a greater understanding in the postmodernist era i believe that it is crucial i sample at least four artists in order for it to help my design for the magazine which would be the final thing created.

after looking and choosing 10 designers i decided it would be essential for the chosen 4 artists i would like to sample are: me to create visual responses breaking down their work in order to help with my own.

1. Jamie reid 2. peter saville 3. malcolm garrett 4. terry jones

the reason i have chosen these artists is because i believe they will also help me in my own design work, understanding how to visually communicating with a target audience. i also really like the music culture and era in which these artists were from and can easily see how this influenced their design.

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media experiments: jamie reid in order to create a response to jamie reid i used the traditional method of “cut and stick” - the very style in which reid’s work is based upon. i used both an original and then edited it into photoshop to see what else i could do with it. the first design is based upon a “cosmopolitan” magazine and i chose the topic of fajery/celebrity lifestyle which explains the “fake it” as the title of the magazine. in effect i have mocked cosmopolitan and shown how the magazine is mostly about makeup, fashion and learning how to fake a celebrity lifestyle. the second example is more related to the brief as i looked at new graphic design magazine layout.

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35 media experiments: peter saville in order to create a response to peter saville i firstly studied his work very closely. after looking at various pieces i noticed that he likes to use bold colours such as yellow and black in order to make a statement, this is particularly seen in his work for factory records. bold shapes and lines are used in some kind of pattern which makes the work very intriguing to look at.

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37 media experiments: malcolm garrett in order to create a response to malcolm garrett i decided it would be important for me to study the way in which he uses shapes and text together. a good example is that what he designed for the buzzcocks however i have decided to choose different images below to study in order to make my research more widespread.

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39 media experiments: terry jones terry jones’ works accross a range of different mediums, from photography to design. however he is most famous for the work he does for i-d magazine. he uses bold colours and shapes in order to create something that at the time was new to see but also was a trend.

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41 masthead research

in ordder to be able to design my own masthead for my own work i decided it was essential to look more into how mastheads work and are laid out.

The magazines i have chosen to look at in order for me to understand the whole practice around grids and masthead designs are: Raygun vogue architect magazine designs of paul rand for each magazine i will look at the way in which the masthead has evolved during time and how that era has changed t he way in which design has been perceived. as well as this i will also look at how the grid system has been put into use and practice and how effective it has been for the magazine. i am expecting to see a lot of postmodern stuff, especially with the way text and image can be joined together in order to make a more appealing front magazine cover.

42 raygun

raygun is a magazine founded by designer david carson. first published in 1992 , the magazine was one of its kind due to the abstract-like qualities, not always readable but it caught the attention of many designers and became revolutionary

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44 vogue

vogue is a fashion magazine first published in 1892, created by conde nast. the magazine has become revolutionary to the fashion world and has managed to stick to one simple design that can be recognised throughout the world.

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46 architect

architect is a magazine founded by a group of budding architects. they look at the way in which architecture is evolving along with the most amazing designs to date.

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48 masthead experimentation

NG D

ew raphic esign

New_graphic_design form follows function_an exploration of modernism and postmodernism_issue01

Newgraphicdesign

new new graphic graphic design design

49 further masthead experimentation

i realised that the last designs i created weren’t experimented to the fullest atherefore i did some more designs based on the designers i chose to look at. HOWEVER, I HAVE MADE THE DECISION TO STICK TO THE COLOUR SCHEME OF RED AND BLACK AS I BELIEVE THAT THESE COLOURS ARE WHAT I CAN BASE MY INITIAL DESIGNS AROUND.

new graphic design

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51 chosen 3 designs

after looking at my experimentation pieces i have decided to choose 3 designs in which i will mock-up front covers in order to see which one works the best. i will also explore multiple designs and different colours with these designs.

new new graphic graphic design design

52 1st design

these are mock-up front covers based on the first design. in order to make these i have used my own photos and images i have taken in order to make the front cover.

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54 2nd design

these are mock-up front covers based on the second design. in order to make these i have used my own photos and images i have taken in order to make the front cover.

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56 3rd design

these are mock-up front covers based on the third design. in order to make these i have used my own photos and images i have taken in order to make the front cover.

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58 chosen design

this is the design out of the above that i have chosen. i decided to pick this one as i thought it met the brief perfectly. i have created and designed something which can be used reptitively as a masthead. i also believe that out of them all this magazine cover definitely stands out the best. it was a tough decision between the last one on the 1st set of designs and this one.

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61 inner page designs

in order for my work to look like a graphic design magazine i researched into layouts of already made graphic design magazines. i found this really useful as i then saw what worked and why. especially because my magazine was looking like a more minimalist one it was important i stuck to the same kind of layout all the way through. i kept the same house style throughout.

62 inner page designs

final page designs are here, the full magazine will be uploaded to issuu just like this research document.

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