The Art of Politics Design Boards

My aims and imbition for my practical work intial were to create some kind of publication, animation or poster to promote poltically driven art and design. The artist Ai Weiwei talks a lot in his work about the power of the internet as an art form and that it can have one of the largest influences on the decisions and opinions of the general people. On top of this Ai Weiwei speaks of the internet being the most direct form of communication that can be seen by anyone around the world. Due to this direct and open format o creating something that lends itself to this online platform I believe is an appropriate format to create my practical response in. I would like to look into online communication of political art, with the large amounts of art and design now for websites like instagram and facebook there is an opportunity to document this in a online publication this would work along side some more classical examples of politically influenced art and design, this range of mediums will give a much broader overview of the power of art in politics and why these artists and designers have chosen to create work in responce to these issues.

Thinking about my practical work within this project analysing firstly, how my practical work can be read, what can I do to insure it makes an impact, is there anything I can do to make it more accessible to everyone and what is the best way to communicate the power of political art? Considering these questions will inform my design decisions and in turn create a more engaging and appropriate practical piece in response to my essay question.

After discussing previously about putting my designs on to some kind of online space creating a online magazine or publication will give me the oppitunity to promtote a range of examples in the different pages and features of the magazine. This will then make my designs more accessible to everyone and communicate the power of political art to a younger audience as this is were they see the most part of information.

To insure the designs make an impact and best represent the theme of iconic political art in response to social and political upheaval I want to use very graphic, large type alongside some strong images, this will make the design hopefully stand out and be eye catching, the cover image within this is very important as this is what needs to draw the reader in most. On top of this creating an online magazine is an area of graphics I have always wanted to experiment with and could be the best solution to this project.

Within my essay I highlight the idea that both artist and designers feel a social obligation to respond to issues within politics they feel strongly about, displaying these themes in my practical work is important to demonstrate what I have learnt when writing my essay and in my research into this project.

Initial looking at more contempary examples of poltically driven art starting with the film 'Never Sorry'

by Ai Weiwei looking at freedom of expression and the strict censorship in China, shown through a variety of art pieces made by Ai Weiwei and his ongoing battle with the Chinese government. The film is offers an amazing insight into not only the artists work by also the kind of beliefs and ideas he echoes in his practice, For me it really opened my eyes to a issue I had no knowledge on, this really shows the power of the documentary to captivate and inspire.

Guotes from Ai Weiwei relating to art and politics he states ‘I think there is a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression.’ this concept relates to not only my essay question but also to the kind of things I have been trying to explore in my own work.

He speaks of this responsibility of the artist to communicate to its audience on issues they feel passionately about. On top of this Ai Weiwei speaks of the internet being a tool for communicating ‘Blogs and the Internet are great inventions for our time, because they give regular people an opportunity to change public opinion.’ With my practical work I think communicated through the internet is one of the best ways of getting my work out there and as Ai Weiwei states inform and help promote change through art and design.

privately and distributed through word of mouth. I love this idea of pushing communication of art as a kind of illegal act, trying to express the right of freedom of speach through the medium of an art book is very provocative and exciting, the artist clearly beleived by showing modern and contempary art with may inspire the people of China to think more about what art can and should be. This form of communiation as it was banned in normal book shops the distrubution had to be more underground and subversive.

The book 'Ai Weiwei speaks' records a series of convocations with the artist and Hans Ulrich Obrsit, I am particularly interested in the convocations on Ai Weiwei's work on 'The Black Cover Book', 'The Grey Cover Book' and 'The White Cover Book'. A project produced when Ai Weiwei returned from New York and set out to show the Chinese people examples of modern and contemporary art. As there was strict censorship in China and no examples of the celebration of non communist art Ai Weiwei took it on himself to create a publication for the Chinese people that would have to be sold

These images show the books and the kind of work they showcased from iconic twentieth-century artworks by Marcel Duchamp and Jeff Koons to contemporary Chinese sculptures, photographs and painting. For my practical piece creating a kind of online version of this idea, a book to inform and inspire. Looking at how political art online has taken shape over the last few years and document this in an engaging and expressive way.

This kind of communication is what I am more interested in rather than the content of the book. Thinking how this could be reflected in my own magazine the use of an online format allows the distrubution to be very wide spread.

In term of content for my publication the images work need to of course be engaging with an underline theme of politics additionally I wanted each piece to be very different, to showcase the varring kind of art I looked at in my research. The political activist Ai Wei Wei often takes to the social media platform Instagram to promote issues from around the world, posting photos of Syrian refugees for example shows people all around the world how though over looked these problems are still ever present. This platform for communication is something and including examples of political art on social media platforms would be a provocative theme to include in my magazine. How I displayed these images presented a challenge but could create some interesting results.

Murals have been uses throughout social and political upheaval as a format of highlighting the issue and promoting change. These three murals, My God, Help Me to Survive this Deadly Love was painted by Dmitri Vrubel,Guernica painted by Pablo Picasso and the Keith Haring in Collingwood are perfect examples of artists and designers that have created large scale artworks in response to a issue. Being so eye catching and different these works will make great additions to the publication.

As a comment on sociopolitical culture including these Donald Trump effigies as part of the magazine is something that I feel is current and engaging.

Looking at the effigies as a sculptural piece is something very interesting. As Donald Trump is the most controversial

example of recent politicians and his views and thoughts have created a whirl wind of media attention this would make an interesting article within my publication.

JR is a french photographer, graffiti artist and political activist. His work is totally unique in terms of size and scale. Pasting up large images relating to issues on migration, war and social injustice. The artists approach is unlike any other and the large scale pieces are really iconic. As his practice is so different inclusion in my publication would make the design much more engaging and add something different.

The artist James Bridle has created these installation pieces titled shadow drone in response to the UK and US military forces frequent bombing of Iraq, Siria and Afganastan. The drone war is a issue that seems to be at times over looked, James Bridle’s work highlights the size of this problem.

James Bridle’s art is very contemporary and deals with a lot of real social and political issues, inclusion of his work in my publication shows some more recent works in another totally different medium. On display at the Tate modern, Political protest photobooks from Argentina, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Chile, taken form the collection from the photographer Marin Parr these books showcase amazing use of imagery and typography displays the social and political issues troubling these counties in the time of the Cuban Revolution. The choice of colour and strong images throughout the designs make the books really iconic and stand out and using them as feature in my magazine would be very intriguing.

In the typography magazine Baseline there is an article titled Type as Agent of Power exploring the use of typography seen in propaganda posters and publications connected with dictatorships and some what controversial political movements. The layout of the article uses this consistent black back ground with white type on top, this not only makes the type stand out but the images also. This was a design feature to implement on my own work. As my magazine designs features mainly examples of other artists and designers work thinking about how this is presented is through typography and the layout of images was key to my designs.

Written by Steven Heller initially describes communication through type, 'when formed into certain typeface styles and families, are agents of power and tools of the powerful. Some are used to gnaw away at freedom of thought and deed, expressing authoritarian dictates.' Speaking of the typefaces being the incisor of language and how communication is expressed.

In terms of my own publication looking at how type is formed and composed using these techniques will show further understanding of what they are communicating and how.

The article then goes on to speak of typefaces denoting certain ideas and themes, the Germain Blackletter (Fraktur) is described as 'the Nazi's ideal German typeface' is forever tainted as a reminded of Hitlers crimes against humanity. This notion of a typeface being able to express such hate, pain and evil the effectiveness of striking and arresting type.

The article goes on to speak of Obey the giant by Shepard Fairey and how this use of words and type can denote a direct and abrupt form of communication. Then goes on to talk about the use of a serif type may not have the same impact 'Can types designed for power even have serifs?

Heavy slab serifs not withstanding, do in line serifs slow down reading and provide the receiver with a millisecond of contemplation time, which could mean the difference between acquiescence or disobedience? Power you might say, is in the lack of details.'

An interesting statement weather a san serif typeface is more powerful I'm not sure but the immediacy of expression and readability is certain. How type can express information is for me a engaging idea and one that would be interesting to look into in my own publication.

The final page speaks of the German artist Kathe Kollwitz, who's son was killed in World War I created the 1924 poster 'Nie weider Krieg' (War Never Again!) How the hand scrawled lettering of the masthead evoked the power of the masses. This in contrast to the 'Hitler' election poster the writer describes 'the stark geometric typeface posses an architectonic authority that suggests, ironically a forceful yeah modern persona.' This idea that both designs speak to the masses but one shows much more authority and the other urges the country to unity against this authority. This article gave me some understanding of type as a tool for promoting power and how typefaces alone can be provocative in expressing this power.

the emphasis on the information, this is something I looked to do in my own work if the images or text need to be explicitly highlighted.

ADBUSTERS On the AdBusters Website they describe themselves as 'a not-for-profit magazine fighting back against the hostile takeover of our psychological, physical and cultural environments by commercial forces.' Dealing with issues on political problems, social conventions and how to act against this AdBusters offered a interesting form of research for my practical project.

The way in which this magazine is designed and communication is expressed is of a similar style to which I wanted my publication to look, the dynamic typography and bold imagery showcases the best of politically driven work.

The use of black and white is a frequent theme used in these designs to insure they are eye catching and engaging, the type size is reasonably large for a magazine of this size and again adds to this directness of communication.

Graphic imagery is another theme used throughout this magazines design.

These two pages both use a striking image to the right in black and white and the use of large typography alongside this. This imagery means the designs are iconic and impacting. I love the use of the large hand painted type writing the words 'EVIL' large.

The use of very simplistic pages put all

This use of large dynamic type is used here again, the typeface TIMMONS NY designed by Matt Willey is used, this type really expresses the information directly and reflects American culture.

Using the TIMMONS NY type in my work expresses this same level of direct communication.

This article on the presidential election has alighted Donald Trump with an image of a swastika, but has been designed in a way that makes it a little more light hearted and not as serious as it could have been displayed. This use of connecting imagery is technique that can be used to suggest things that are some what controversial, this is another design feature I could have looked to use in my own work.

The image bottom right shows best the almost printed digital style that has been used in the design , using pixels images and type gives the designs a connection with an online format. As the website is the main part of Adbusters work this connects the magazine with the online designs.

In terms of engaging design responding to social and political issues Adbusters offers a excellent examples of what can be done to best express this theme. Implementing the same raw and expressive style in my own work would highlight the shocking nature of some of these issues and bring out the best of political art.

These designs are my intial layouts for my online magazine, trying to make the designs iconic and eye catching, on the cover using contrasting black and white helped display this, the initial designs are only a ruff idea and need to be reworked and changed as my research and practical work moved forward. Considering the cover I felt using some striking photography was something I would later experiment with, as this needs to be as eye catching as possible to get as many readers attention as possible.

The first spread includes a small introduction into the content and then this black page with white text on the different artists featured on the right.

Experimenting with using a number of typefaces to try and convoy the various different styles and mediums seen in the publication.

These design are my initial design ideas for a online magazine on art and politics, I began by using the TIMMONS NY typeface seen in the Adbusters magazine for the cover,

This next spread I wasn’t sure about including, the Calder Mercury Fountain as it is in response to the mercury mining that provided the money during the Franco era in Spain, Calder has put beauty into the material and tried to express how Spain could act against the Franco dictatorship. The content is interesting but needed too much explanation and for this reason I didn’t want to include it.

This next spread is on murals made in response to political and social issues, the design I felt should reflect the scale of these works, at this point I was yet to include any information but in terms of layout I was pleased with the high impact style. As each of these pieces is so different the designs are very interesting alongside one another.

This page on the artist Ai Wei Wei I felt really needed some improvements, depicting his involvement in online means of highlighting social and political issues. The quote to the left relates well with my essay and is something I felt I had include in the publication. Including a coloured background for one of these pages will break up the publication a bit and put more emphasis on the content on show like the design for Baseline magazine.

James Bridle's Drone Shadow designs is a totally unique piece of art and I felt should definitely be included in the publication. Composing the images however proved a real challenge. I planned to show all the images of the drones going one direction but this proved difficult I then instead made all the drones point into the middle creating a focal point in the designs.

Alongside the Drone images including this essay written about the drone shadows by James Bridle as he speaks about how and why he responded to the issue. Making this page more engaging is something I wanted look to highlight. Achiving this by creating a drone image out of the negative space of the text, this is something that I felt would bring the designs to life a bit more and be much more engaging.

These images depict the Donald Trump effigies burnt over Easter, trying to celebrate them as pieces of political sculpture as well as mocking Drump at the same time. This design needed to show the evolution of making to burning of the effigies I felt I had successfully achieved this here and the

and wouldn't work with the rest of the magazine. This image has also been used many times on the cover of books on political art. After speaking with my tutors and class mates on which cover they felt was most impacting and reflected best the content the general census was that the ‘My God, Help Me to Survive this Deadly Love’ by Dmitri Vrubel.

larger images bleeding off the page means the images really stand out.

This spread above looks at the French Graffiti artist JR. As the images were already so iconic and graphic the design then just had to reflect this, using the TIMMONS NY type again and putting in large letters in the darker part of the image the letters JR along with some text. This spread doesn't take away from the quality of the photographs and in a way emphasis's them. The next spread is a continuation from the JR spread. Again using large images to emphasis the scale of the work will make the designs much more spectacular. Overall I was pleased with these initial designs but definitely felt I could improve on the high impacting communication of the publication.

For my political art magazine I knew I needed to chose a cover that was very impacting and eye catching, experimenting with a range of images allowed me to pick the most appropriate cover for the context and the content of the magazine.

Using images from the magazine I used ‘My God, Help Me to Survive this Deadly Love’ by Dmitri Vrubel an image from the Berlin wall, the large painting Guernica by Picasso, the 'Together we can beat AIDs mural

by Keith Haring and the image of Trump burning and JR's Face to Face project. The Keith Haring piece of work was interesting but related to a more social issue rather than political.

The Guernica image by Picasso in its nature is very eye catching, but reflected to much a very fine art theme

My God, Help Me to Survive this Deadly Love was painted by Dmitri Vrubel shows Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a embrace taken from a photograph in 1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic. The image is extremely iconic and was very revolutionary when first painted in 1990. As the Berlin Wall is such a interesting part of German culture this image would be appropriate for the cover.

The image by Dmitri Vrubel was the most eye catching and would really invite the reader to find out more.

Comparing the different compositions of the cover the forth image shown in this series was highlighted as the most appropriate. The image works with the size of type and wasn’t over bearing.

The use of Timmons NY typeface again is very direct and makes the magazine stand out.

Experimenting with as large range of covers for me was very important as the cover needed to stand out and feel very direct and different.

When pleased with the cover image I could move on to refining the inside pages of the magazine.

This image above is the cover I have selected for my magazine. This spread below the cover is my introduction page and contents page, using black and white backgrounds with white and black type makes the content really stand out. I wanted to keep the consistency from the cover and the black background emphasises this.

Using a different typeface for each of the pieces of content on show in the magazine meant each section is distinctive and different, this puts emphasis on the fact each section of the magazine explores political art and design in very different mediums.

These pages show an introduction into the magazine and have been designed without images for this reason.

This next spread is on the recent burning of Donald Trump effigies in Mexico, I wanted the layout of images to reflect the different stages of it being carried to being set on fire and then being burnt. The two images on the far right hand side are the most engaging so they have been made very large.

The type then sits alongside this, as this is more of a playful feature of the magazine this had to be reflected in the designs as shown above.

This next spread is for the feature on Ai Weiwei’s recent work at the Konzerthaus building in Berlin, as the image is very striking displaying it full bleed on the right hand page then all the type on the left puts the emphasis on the bright orange of the 14,000 refugee life jackets. With the type on the left as Ai Weiwei has been so influential not only in modern political art but in my project, I wanted

to display his name in an as impacting and alluring way as possible, the use of the large AI adds to this alongside the black background and white type. The type dominates the space and reflects nicely the columns of the building and artwork on show.

This page continues on the feature on Ai Weiwei, using a quote on the left that really related to my theme in this project I have edited the slug of the text to insure maximum readability.

Alongside again implementing the back background to keep the designs consistent, using images from Ai Weiwei’s instagram. This highlights another format that can be used to raise issues on problems around the world.

Displaying these images in a three by three grid means I can show a range but the images shown remain clear. I initial identified this as spread as one of the most challenging but these designs I feel show the experimentation and thought put into each design element.

place and the overall slug of the type was easy to read.

This page for JR I have kept similar from the initial designs. I looked as using alternative characters in the typeface to make sure the information is communicated in as clear way as possible. The more rigid letter R bellow felt much more consistent with the other type and therefor more appropriate.

This spread looking at Political Murals it was vital in the designs to make sure all the images are as large as possible and show the different scales of each mural.

As red and black stands out in these images I wanted to use the image with the most red at the bottom of the page and the least or no red at the top, this creates an appropriate hierarchy to the designs and intuitively feels right. This compositions allows for an appropriate amount of space for the fairly large amount of text it needed.

This feature on James Bridle’s Drone Shadow project, I have kept the design consistent from the initial designs but made space for text on the right hand side. In conjunction with the first double page on James Bridle this page features a small essay written by James Bridle. I wanted to make the design engaging so creating a outline in the type of a drone emphasised this. Using arranged left type made the designs much more clear I changed the number of columns on the double page from six to four this again emphasises clarity. I made sure each line was as consistently

This next spead continues on from the page above on the artist JR I have once again not changed much from the initial designs, I wanted to let the images be the focus and show best the large scale of the designs.

This final double spread features the Latin American photo books. As seen in the Tate modern the book covers have been displayed in a layout that looks to emphasis the varying styles on show in the book designs. The layout additionally needed to have a large amount of space for the type.

This image is the back page of the magazine, keeping the designs as minimal as possible just featuring my name and link to website. Overall the designs of this magazine I feel reflect my research into Adbusters and Baseline magazine. Being impacting and engaging were the two design elements I knew I wanted to include in this design and I feel this is echoed throughout the publications design.

After completing my practical work for this project I can now reflect on successful I feel it has gone. My ambitions were to create an publication in the form of an online to inform the reader on examples of art and design in politics and what this can do to help change the world.

As highlighted in my essay I feel both artists and designs when confronted with an issue they feel in touch an passionate about they feel a social obligation to act in some way.

Exploring examples of this theme a range of formats shows how varied each example of can be and still have a lasting impact. Within my essay I spoke of the image being a powerful tool of promote change, this is explored in a range of examples in the magazine, through painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, graphic design, mural design and using social media I planned to give an overview of the power of the image and feel I have done so with success.

For the format of the magazine in my research the artist Ai Weiwei spoke of the internet being the greatest art form of the 21st century and the best and most accessible platform to voice your opinion, due to this I wanted to make my designs work in an online format and using the website 'issuu' meant I could display and share my designs with ease. As shown in the issuu link bellow.

In terms of design and content I looked closely at the work of Adbusters, Baseline magazine and The Black Cover Book', 'The Grey Cover Book'

and 'The White Cover Book' works

by Ai Weiwei, all with an emphasis on highlighting political and social issues around the world. There design in essence was direct and impacting, the use of large bold typography and black backgrounds was a design feature seen throughout the various design this was then something I knew I had to translate into my own designs, and I feel I have done this to good effect. The choice of dynamic images was something that really adds to this, using either black and white images or image with a strong use of colour, overall I feel with the photos I have picked they are appropriate to the content and are engaging in the context. Some elements of the design I feel could have been improved upon the use of consistent typography, for me this is something that can be changed throughout a publication but some my think it needs to be totally consistent throughout. Another issue I feel I could have improved could be thinking about a range of ideas, I feel I may have just gone with my initial idea and a range of ideas would bring up theme I didn't initial think of. Lastly the other thing I feel I could definitely have improved upon is the creation of my own additional content, my idea is to celebrate politically driven art and design but inclusion of my own design work in response could have proved engaging.

Overall in my practical work for Context of Practice I feel my design fully relate to the themes in my essay and the designs I have created are to a high standard with a lot of research and development backing up my

design decisions. I feel my knowledge of politically driven art and graphics has greatly improved but I would like to look to keep improving on my essay writing and application of design principles and ideas highlighted in more complex texts. Context of Practice is the project I feel I struggled with most on my time in the first year, I found it difficult to get motivated for the projects but after I reworked my essay after my feed back and may my work relate more in line with my interests in graphics I found I really enjoyed a further level of analysis in the theme of graphics. Feedback is a large part of making insuring my designs are appropriate and competent but is another aspect I feel I could have pushed and improved upon.

I am pleased all in all with my final outcomes for this brief and would like to look to continue to explore the them of politically driven art and design.