Design Unleashed Sam Jones, Jurevicius
Contents 06 Communication Design Helvetica 06 Digital Media Howl’s Moving Castle 06 Branded Fashion Punk 06 Environment Design The Kodåly Centre
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“Everywhere you look you see typefaces. But there’s one you probably see more than any other one, and that’s Helvetica.” This quote by Michael Bierut in the documentary ‘Helvetica’ says a lot about the importance and influence of the typeface Helvetica, and how it has shaped the world of graphic design, branding and visual communication. Whether you are online, reading a magazine or in the street you
are guaranteed to see Helvetica at some point. This is because it was designed to simplify the communication in design, and as Jonathan Hoefler states in the film, “says everything”, thus becoming a typeface that was accessible in every way, and used by countless businesses and brands around the world to communicate to their audience in the most simple, bold and relatable way possible.
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When Helvetica was first designed and started to be used in pop culture religiously around the sixties, it was as if you were “scraping the crud off filthy old things and restoring them to shining beauty� as Michael Bierut describes. Corporate identity in the sixties compiled of goofy and old designs that were wearing thin and as soon as Helvetica came along it was the most refreshing thing to have happened to type and design in a very long time.
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In the film Helvetica, Leslie Savan points out how corporations love Helvetica because “it makes them seem neutral and efficient, but also the smoothness of the letters makes them seem almost human”. This is a characteristic that all companies and corporations strive to achieve, “and by using Helvetica they are able to seem more accessible, transparent, and accountable” says Savan.
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Since its release, Helvetica has boomed and been licensed so many times, and has influenced countless designs and even design movements. The cleanliness and simplicity of Helvetica has inspired companies and designers to adopt these characteristics for themselves, with companies such as Apple using their very minimalistic designs and adopting a lot of white space with very simple and plain typography for their advertisements, and quite soon after followed the majority of tech companies, including Samsung, Sony, LG and Nokia.
Helvetica’s influence on design is extremely important as if it weren’t for it’s use we could definitely still be living in a world of cluttered, and as Michael Bierut describes it, “goofy” design. Nowadays we relate to the typeface and the institutions that use it, leaving us feeling comfortable, certain and reassured. Neville Brody quotes in the film, “Helvetica is a club, its a mark of membership, its a badge that says we’re a part of modern society, we share the same ideals” and that is exactly what corporations try to communicate when using Helvetica.
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Since 1957 when it was first released, Helvetica has helped shape a modern world that is able to say so much with so little, and has been an influential and integral part of design today. As Massimo Vignelli says, “You can say ‘I love you’ in Helvetica… You can also say I hate you.”
References Helvetica (2007) directed by Gary Hustwit. (US) Bubblelicious Ad © 2012 American Apparel Inc. (http://www.americanapparel.net/presscenter/adarchive/Ad.html?i=2747) NYC Subway Lost Property Sign © 2009 Julia Berk Photography (http://juliajoyberk.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/helvetica-final-project/) American Airlines Image © 2012 American Airlines (http://thisdell.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/737re.jpg) NYC Subway No Exit Sign © 2012 Airicsson (http://www.flickr.com/photos/camillelacroix/4837573121/) North Face Sign © 2009 InspirationDC (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80535871@N00/3842459517/) Metcard Sold Here Sign © 2007 Jonas Peterson (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80102167@N00/1557509737)
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Howl’s Moving Castle is a 2004 animated film by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. Throughout the film, there is a strong presence of metamorphosis which is experienced by almost every main character in the film. It is used to help in the characters development, to help the audience understand the true qualities of the characters, and to aid in the visual engagement of the film. Here I will focus on the metamorphosis of three main characters in the film; Sophie, Howl and the Wicked Witch of the Waste.
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Sophie, the main character in the film, undergoes a dramatic metamorphic change in the beginning of the story. A curse is set on her by the Wicked Witch of the Waste, makes the transition from being a beautiful young woman, into an elderly woman with grey hair, plenty of wrinkles, and a hunch in her back. This change
reflects Sophie’s view of herself, as she believes that she is in no way beautiful or of any importance. Throughout the film Sophie’s appearance continues to change in many ways, particularly when she becomes emotional and stands up for herself. This is when her true beauty shines through and she is seen as her younger self.
Howl is a character that is hard to understand at times. He too is selfconscious of his appearance and uses his magic to enhance the way he looks. When Sophie is cleaning Howl’s castle, she rearranges his potions in the bath, which results in Howl’s hair changing from a golden yellow, to orange. Howl is distraught and and depressed, which leads him to morph into a gooey time bomb, dripping black slime all over the house and literally melting away. Though Howl’s biggest transformation is that of the black bird. This form is, as Nykki Montano describes, “terrifying, intimidating but also somewhat beautiful and mysterious” and is a serious plight for Howl. The bird is released when he enters the black door. Each time he morphs into this form, he gets weaker and loses a part of his true identity which is a dangerous reality for Howl.
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The Witch of the Waste undergoes a serious metamorphic change in the film. As a tall, large and middle aged woman, everything she has is reliant on her powers. When the Witch is tricked into Madame Suliman’s Castle, she is stripped of her powers thus turning into her true form, an old and small frail lady with dementia-like tendencies. The Witch’s wicked personality also banished with her powers, as she no longer has motives of domination with her evil. This example of metamorphosis in the film is one with great impact, as it changes the Witch completely, both physically and mentally.
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The role metamorphosis plays in Howl’s Moving Castle is imperative to the way the story develops and lets us relate to the characters and their personal journey, while also enhancing the visual communication and making the animation an engaging and interesting piece of work that tells an amazing story.
References Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Japan) Title Image created by Sam Jones (2012) Howl and Sophie in the Sky Image © 2012 Studio Ghibli Studio (The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle Artbook) All other images taken from the film Howl’s Moving Castle
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1976 London was a time of confusion and social upheaval. The labour party had promised radical changes after the war but had done so little, which left the working class disoriented and clueless of who they were anymore. Unemployment, social chaos, riots, strikes, and piles of garbage invaded the city. John Lydon of the Sex Pistols said “people were fed up with the old way, it was clearly not working�, and from this came the Punk subculture.
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Punk was a raw statement, it was a message from the youth who came from this social uproar saying that they want change, and they are going to stand out like a peacock to get it. Two major influences of this evolution were the band Sex Pistols, who were greatly responsible for the augmentation of the punk lifestyle through their explosive and controversial music, and the partnership of performer Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood who led and inspired the youth with their London based store ‘Let It Rock’, which began in 1971 selling new and used ‘Teddy Boy’ clothing which was designed by Westwood. The members of Sex Pistols spent a lot of time at the store, as it was the only place they felt they could be understood. In 1974, Westwood and McLaren renamed their store to ‘SEX’, which specialised in selling rubber and leather fetish-wear.
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As the punk statement progressed, so did the music. With Sex Pistols making their statement of total outrage and chaos through their music in the mid seventies, many started to do the same, and soon after came a lifestyle of youths that centred around aggressive and insurrectionist music, and fashion that turned heads. Vivienne Westwood was a major influence on the styles worn by the youth, and did so with an approach that emphasised the state of chaos they were living in. The idea behind the punk fashion was to shock and outrage, and was done so by wearing torn and battered clothing, piercings, tattoos and crazy hairstyles.
With London being in the state it was in at the time, with no employment and a broken working class, people began to strike. Due to this was pileups of garbage on every street. They were literally living in filth. Lydon saw this as an opportunity to make a statement, which he did so by wearing trash. The clothing of punk was torn, stretched, and damaged, but if it started to fall apart, they would be easily fixed with safety pins.
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Punk has greatly influenced contemporary mainstream fashion today, with designers such as Jayne Pierson and her collection Kingdom of Shadows, which references the styles of the seventies punk subculture, incorporating leather, polyvinyl chloride, and designs that look like garbage bags. Luella Bartley has also been greatly inspired by the punk subculture, incorporating it in to almost all of her collections. Punk has had a tremendous impact and influence on contemporary mainstream fashion today, and still resonates within pop culture and fashion around the world.
References The Filth and the Fury (2000) directed by Julien Temple (UK) Kill Your Idols by Juan Obando (2009) (http://www.juanobando.com/texts/) Cover Image © Steve Emberton Photography (http://store.rockcityart.com/items/exhibitions/) Riot Image via Il Post 2011 (http://socks-studio.com/2011/08/11/london-a-history-of-clashes/) SEX Boutique Image via Vintagegal Tumblr (http://vintagegal.tumblr.com/post/31282046142/) Sex Pistols on Stage Image © 1976 Wood (http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/) Garbage Street Image via Tony Withers Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/claritoneve/4109350595/) Jayne Pierson Fashion Image self edited
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The Kodály Centre
by Építész Stúdió
The ‘Golden Mean’ is a mathematical formula that is found in nature and ancient architectural design such as the Parthenon, and has been used as far back as to the designing of the pyramids. It is known to be the most aesthetically pleasing proportion, and has been used in countless architectural designs, artworks, musical compositions, and is found in a wide variety of living organisms including flowers, seahorses, nautilus and even us humans. The golden mean was also used in a piece of postmodern environmental design, created by four Hungarian architects from Építész Stúdió in 2010, called the Kodály Centre, which is a beautiful concert hall located in the Hungarian city Pécs.
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TamĂĄs Fialovszky, RichĂĄrd HĹ‘nich, Ferenc Keller and Benedek Salem are the men responsible for this stunning piece of architecture, and designed it in accordance with the mathematical principles of the golden mean. This was an appropriate direction for their design as they wanted to design a space that is instantaneously beautiful and has a transcending flow to it, which is the job of the golden mean. When it is used it
speaks a natural language that humans instantly respond to as it is everywhere around us, making us feel comfortable and think of the space as aesthetically pleasing.
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The Kodåly Centre has an interesting shape to it, which adopts the golden rectangle but interprets it in a very unique way, by adding extra sides and extensions but still conveying the characteristics of the golden mean. The building itself is exciting and vivid, which is brought to life by the dynamic symmetry of the golden mean. Consisting of a large concert hall, a studio, conference rooms and a truly extraordinary collection of reception halls with it’s organic structure and ingenious lighting, the reference of the golden mean in this design is truly outstanding and serves a purpose that would be missed otherwise.
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Another way the consideration of the golden mean while designing the space has complimented the Kodály Centre is through the acoustics of the room. The designers understood the presence of the golden mean in not just nature, but also music. The concert hall was designed with such precision to the ratio, with both the dimensions of the room and the placement of it’s contents, with the aim of harmoniously relating the space with the sounds that will
be produced inside. As a result, the concert hall has a phenomenal acoustic range, one that is superior to the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Hungary’s most extravagant and renowned concert hall.
The use of the golden mean throughout the design stage of this remarkable piece of architecture was quintessential to not only it’s beauty but also it’s resonating impact on it’s visitors. To create a space that is so dynamic with it’s characteristics yet remain so serene and organic is something that would not be achievable without the use of this mathematical proportion. As Plato says, “The good, of course, is always beautiful, and the beautiful never lacks proportion.”
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References Catherine Warmann, Dezeen Magazine (2011) (http://www.dezeen.com/2011/02/09/kodaly-centre-by-epitesz-studio/) Silverkris, 2011 (http://www.silverkris.com/destinations/features/theatres-fantasy Kodรกly Centre Website (http://www.kodalykozpont.hu) All images sourced from ArchDaily (http://www.archdaily.com/107400/kodaly-centre-epitesz-studio/)
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