modernism =a modern quality of thought or expression/technique. =philosophical ovement that along with cltural trends and changes, arose in 1930-1945. =played off modern industrial societies, rapid growth of cities and world war I. =rejected the certainty of enlightment and religious beliefs =experiments with form and the new to break from tradition and propell the arts into the industralised world. A modern quality of expression or function. A philosophical movement that along with cultural trends and changes, arose during great depression and war. Based on modern industrial, rapid growth of cities and world war I, Modernism rejected the certainties of enlightenment, religious belief and cultural development. Artists experimented with form and the new to break from tradition and propel the arts into the industrialised world. This break from tradition formed many different styles and techniques whilst always rejecting the idea of realism, modernists also reformed ideas from the past which were rewritten and revised and also parodied.
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postmodernism =20th century style and concept in the arts which reprsents a depature from modernism. =characterised by the selfconcious use of earlier styles and convertions and a distrust of theories =postermodernism rejects the modernist, avan garde passion for the new and goes where no man has gone before. to create forms for no other purpose than novelty =they want to maintain elements of modernism whilst incorporating classical forms of the past. the result was an ironic collage approach. =a rejection of the sovereign, autonomous individual with an emphasis upon anarchic collectives. =mysticality, playful, parody of western modernity by skeptical interpretations. =1980-2000+ The 20th century style and concept representing a departure from Modernism in the arts. It’s characterised by the use of earlier styles and techniques whilst maintaining a distrust of modern theories and cultures. Postmodernism rejects
the modernist’s need for the new and creates form for no other purpose than novelty and expression. The ism wanted to maintain elements of Modernism whilst incorporating classical forms of the past which resulted in an iconic, ironic collective approach to art. Postmodernism is a rejection of the autonomous sovereign individual with an emphasis upon anarchic diversity. I see postmodernism as a complete reversal of modernism whilst keeping the same values of rejecting the ideas founded through modern day thinking. Whilst Modernism craved the new to incorporate surreal tendencies and to mock the changes in modern world. Postmodernism however relives the classical world whilst also representing irony and parody.
modernists karel appel =dutch painter and sculptor, founder of the Cobra movement =experiments with bright colour to create messy, surreal expressions =experiments with wood and found objects to create a new style of assemblage, and introduces narrative representation; telling stories within his artwork. =i like how primitive, yet intricate his style is. how he contrasts colour to create bold statements and depicts narrative and feelings in recognisable objects, turned paintings. his work reminds me of cave drawings yet rejuvenated and brought into the 20th century.
daniel buren =french conceptual artist =his work is defined as abstract whilst remaining minimalistic. =he is known for using coloured stripes to integrate visual surface and space, notably on historical architecture. =his work highlights form and fracture in rooms and structures, the chevrons or lines create space which wasn’t there, or destroys space what should be there. his work mainly focuses on a viewers perception and perspective. =like chuck close and his paintings, his installations deceive viewers and i find it amazing how simple geometric shapes can have that much impact on space and perspective.
sonia delaunay =cofounder of the orphism movement, noted for it’s use of colour and geometric shapes. =orphism was a type of cubism that focused on abstraction and bright colours, it was influenced by fauvism. it represents the transition from cubism to abstract art. =includes the use of geometric abstraction and the integration of furniture, textiles and clothing =i like the detail of the paintings, she’s manipulated geometric shapes to form bigger forms containing layers and different edges. adding colour defines these pieces and its almost like an intricate puzzle. easily recognisable as abstraction, and looks to be the starting point of the iconic, colourful patterns of the 1950s/60s.
de stijl - the style
=art movement founded in amsterdam, advocates abstraction by reinforcing the simplicity of the essentials of form and colour. =visual compositions of colour and line, vertically and horizontally. =i believe at the time de stijl was the pinnacle of simplicity and abstraction yet remaining balanced at the same time. it was a revolution in dutch arts and is still deemed important in modern day design when talking about colour and opposition.
postmodernists guy bleus =belgium, mail art movement artist, alongside some performance art. =work presents pop-culture through use of stamps, stencils and printing. =works include text and administration. =first artist to use scents in plastic arts. =mail art was sending small scale works through the postal service, commonly made with recycled images, rubber and created stamps and paint. =i think his work reflects postmodernism in it’s simplicity, taking something iconic, traditional and old and reexploring the ideas to come up with contemporary, expressive works.
romero britto =brazilian contemporary artist, whose works look mosaic with use of bright and contrasting colour, and thick line. =creates a new expression that reflects optimism, playfulness and cheerfulness in the world =britto’s pieces of colour, pop theme and compositions have led him to become a great contemporary artist of his generation =represented in galleries and museums across five continents. =i think his work is really relatable, and cheerful. Reminds me of drawings and paintings you would do as a child, which sets of nostalgic feelings and sympathy. His works also very commanding, and bright, the use of contrasting colours makes his work stand-out among the crowd, and execute the contemporary style perfectly.
chuck close =american painter and photography, specifically known for his works in photorealism. =he creates massive-scale portraits by forming a grid over an image, and splitting the photograph into cells. each cell is coloured a perceived hue by airbrushing, acrylics and also non-traditional methods. =I love how his work deceives viewers considering on what distance they’re looking at the piece from, i also see the relation to cubism and other earlier art movements, by it’s composition, layout and deconstructing an image into shapes.
stephen lapthisophon =lapthisophon uses found objects, texts and recordings and arranges them in a way that depicts layers of meaning. =normally shows parts of modern day cultural groups. = i like how raw his work is, and shows more non-traditional styles of art such as street graffiti and stencilling. the simplicity of tagging and using found objects in work can create a strong sense of relation with the viewer and also each experience with the work is different per person, as each take away something personal from the piece.
movements expressionism =modernist movement. =originated in germany. =distorting reality to evoke emotion and mood in the viewer. =expresses the artists emotion fuelled by the reality around them instead of literally painting their surroundings. =wassily kandinsky. =max beckmann. =otto dix. =van gogh.
cubism =use of geometric shape, collage and colour to show form, structure and perspective from multiple points. =revolutionised european art and inspired many other movements. =georges braque. =pablo picasso. =robert delaunay. =juan gris.
futurism =originated in italy. =represented emphasised ideas of contemporary concepts of the future. =as the world was progressing into more industrial times, artists started painting new technology through abstraction. =umberto boccioni. =joseph stella. =david Burliuk. =aristarkh lentulov.
constructivism =artistic, architectural movement rejecting autonomous art. =influenced major trends like bauhaus and de stijl. =it was used to describe industrial, angular work whilst still retaining an abstract feel. =john ernest. =el lissitzky. =vladimir shukhov. =mary martin.
movements surrealism =developed out of the dada movement. =the aim was to “resovle the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality.” =artists created illogical forms and scenes and created creatures and techniques to express itself or the artist’s intentions. =a revolutionary movement which supported one’s imagination. =andre breton. =max earnst. =andre masson.
abstract expressionism =emphasis on spontaneous creation, sharing the artist’s subconscious emotion as he creates without thought. =first american movement to achieve international influence. =mark tobery. =jackson pollock.
pop art =started challenging traditional art and techniques by including popular culture such as advertising, news and people. =usually in pop art, the material is removed from their context and collaged with other unrelated material highlighting the attitudes which led to the piece. =it was considered a reaction to abstract expressionism. =roy lichtenstein. =andy warhol. =richard hamilton. =jasper johns.
minimalism =uses substational but lacklustre design elements the subject is reduced to its necessary elements, such as lines, planes and block colour. =de stijl used the same rational thinking in related arts. =yves klein. =dan flavin. =donald judd. =frank stella.
masthead designs these two designs are influenced by white supremecist and nazi symbols. i wanted to create something around the idea of teenagers today will wear/accept something with little knowledge about it’s actual meaning. i was influenced by ’boy london’ fashion, who’s t-shirts display the parteiadler, the eagle emblem for the nazi party. although these t-shirts have taken over, the generation wearing them have no idea what the symbol actually represents. some may assosciate it with germany, but not that emblem-bearers supported the nazi party and their regimes.
masthead designs
i started looking at work from russia in the (post)modernism movements. i really liked the form of the russian language when written and all it’s accents, letters and quirks. i started drawing up designs based on this and the work from Russian artists. i really like the hand-written style i captured from the one above/right and the contrast of the red/gold seen in russia’s history really makes the font stand out and is recognizable.
continuing with the Russian theme, i took a more modern approach to the font and used more lines. it reminds me of the De Stijl movement and also early pop-art lettering. i believe on specific backgrounds it would work well, but not on the one i had in mind.
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N this was one of my more successful designs and my final one based on the russian language and styles. i really like how this turned out, all the intricate gilding and contrasting red, it really portrays that royal, yet stern russian look. the reasoning behind not using it was because i felt it would look out of place if not supported by a russian theme throughout my magazine. i could’ve used a russian theme but my work i was presenting didn’t give off that feel either, and i thought it’d all look just thrown together without consideration of contrast and similarities. however, if that wasn’t the case, i would’ve definately followed through with this masthead.
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i used the font on another circular design, but just a simple white spot with a small slogan surrounding it.
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carrying on with the white circle designs, i started looking at different borders and fonts. i really liked the hand-written style of my earlier designs so i picked a font accordingly to that, and also tried a black outline following the same style. i thought it was abit too harsh so changed it to a white, this would be alright in the end because my coverpage is all colour, and pretty dark. i wanted to include the subheading of ‘form follows function’ and the rest in my masthead, so it was all in one-
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neat, simple patch avaliable for other media if needed; such as badges or stickers. my final design and the masthead i used was the middle, of the lower level. i feel it incorporated everything i wanted and worked well together as a composition, it also looked professional and suited my overall design of the magazine. it has all the components necessary stated in the brief, and as i said above; is versatile and a good brand image.
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photo of my mother in her younger years, taken from my cabinet of curiosity project, with my chosen masthead
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form follows function an exploration of modernism and postmodernism
taken the subheading out of the masthead and placed underneath like a typical magazine cover, added lines to break up the background image and give it a more abstract feel
Form follows Function an exploration of modernism and postmodernism
incorporated geoemtric shapes influenced by the cubism movement and others which specifically focused on form and colour. ditched the masthead for a more flowing, handwritten header
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own take on modern influences. taken from campaigns such as OBEY and SUPREME. With no colour the page is pretty boring and bland, but also unique in it’s simplicity.
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influenced by Guy Bleus and his stamped artwork, edited my masthead to a more stencil looking one, and repeated it several times to get the effect of being stamped. the final thing is pretty hard to distinguish.
was becoming more focused into headings and mastheads, went for an iconic font with just the photo of my mother.
NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION
an exploratiion of modernism and post modernism
expanding on the cubism aspect with geometric shapes, and influences from images scattered on the web, i adjusted the photo and went for a nouveau looking cover, i think it works well and looks very professional.
I adapated the font into some abstract form involving lines, and matching colours to the photo.
final cover design (research)
i was torn between two final coverpages, so i decidied instead of wasting one to change it to my research sketchbook coverpage. this particular one is heavily influenced by the de stijl journal and movement, i think it’s a good balance between modernity and postmodernity, seen in the contrasting font agaisnt the style and colour. i also like the fact is doesn’t take anything away from the photograph used as the background image. i also tried to match the composition with the golden ratio.
final cover design
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coverpage was the one above, this one is influenced by cubism, but also artists who deconstruct photos and rearrange them to create intricate portraits. i focused on squares and rectangles and included this into the heading, while remaining readable i believe it has that edgy feel which at the time, being new and daring, cubism had. it also breaks out of tradition of grids and perfect lines, much like the cubism movement follows. i used this for my coverpage on my final magazine.
inner page layout designs i wanted my inner pages to look as simplistic as possible, i hate when looking through a magazine or a piece of graphic work and having all these layers of texts with different gradients, images and everything going on. i believe it looks juvenile if done incorrectly, and you can’t really pick out what you need to know. i wanted people to look through my magazine and actually appreciate the time taken to carefully position each object, rather than scrolling past and looking at the images; so i tried to use white space to contrast bigger images and vice versa. i focused on making everything to a grid, or in a symmetrical pattern to make my images and text equal and in line, which also improves the overall aesthetics. i looked through my moodboards and magazines to find suitable layouts which i could adapt into presenting my own work. most of these designs are either in my final magazine, or improvements of eachother and i’m very happy with how i eventually presented all my projects.
contents page design
contents page design, inspired by images found on the internet, and continuing with my cubism theme. i like the simplicity as it goes well with the rest of my magazine. but i don’t think it shows enough of my skills personally, and it all looks abit out of place.
contents page design
another contents design with more images of my family, which is a running theme through my magazine. this also includes my final masthead design, which isn’t on my coverpage so i feel it has become a necessity to my contents page. i like the listing style of the page numbers also the hand-written look of the numbers.
final contents page design final contents page design; i’ve carried on the cubism theme but only through the heading, as i wanted the image of my brother remaining clear so it didn’t look like a copy&paste of my coverpage. i’m also thankful i found a perfect spot to put my masthead.
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modernism and postmodernism explore definitions and characteristics
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street graphics Promoting research, creative thinking, experimentation, semiotics and visual narrative
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cabinet of curiosity provoking a sense of curiosity and wonder in the viewer
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earth artefact Promoting research, creative thinking, experimentation, semiotics and visual narrative
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i think listing the contents vertically with the matching colour scheme overall makes the page look much more professional than my other designs. i believe this design looks alot more fuller than my others too.