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Form follows function: issue one
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Welcome to new graphic design issue one:
form follows function
the exploration of modernism and postmodernism
2 & 4:
Modernism & POSTMODERNISM
6:
Swiss influences AND GLITCHING
8:
Book review
2 Graphic design is really a product of Modernism. According to A Hitory of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs, it was coined in 1922 by William Addison Dwiggins, a book designer. He basically used the term to describe his activities. A graphic designer is someone who brings structural order and visualform to printed communications. Of course, today it is not just limited to print, wherever you see text and image, someone or some people have organized the visuals. The internet, television, film, computer graphics, clothing, and of course printed matter can be included in the definition of graphic design. If you look at visual communication before 1900 and after 1900, there will be a noticeable difference. Modern graphic designs roots can be found in Modern Art. Modernism was a reductive movement. Form was simplified as a way to break from pictorial representation. The beginning of the 20th century was the start of radical political, social, cultural and economic changes, the time of radical scientific and technological advances. Life was being changed forever by the inventions of the automobile, airplane, motion pictures, WW1 shook Europe off of its foundations. New ways of thinking were needed. Marxist theory was the basis of some of their political, social and economic changes. There was a rise of radical political revolutions that spawned the rise of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Communist Russia. The visual artist felt that the traditions of the past did not represent the time they were living in. Pictorial representation could not capture the changes of the times, thus Modernism was created.
2: modernism vs postmodernism We are still modern? An introdcution to modernism
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4: Postmodernism how did it all start? and a brief history
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The term postmodernism was first used to descirbe architectural designs that amplify and distort established code. Postmodernism was made to criticize the glass box structures of the SwissWInternational period. Embracing art, architecture, fashion, graphic design, furtiture, postmodernism. One of the major influences within the Postmodernism movement is the punk movement. It was often used to create band promotions. The loose arbitrary collage approach would later inspire postmodern artists. Some postmodern designers were inspired by the torn paper collage approach combined with loose, spontaneous brush stroked used in this and other music promotions.Low budger club promotions often appropraite existing art, producing the edgy look. A postmodern approach to art thus rejects the distinction between low and high art forms. The postmodern creator, in turn, is free to combine any elements or styles in a work, even in ways that are counter to or irrelevant to the apparent function of the object. Postmodern style is often characterized by eclecticism, digression, collage, pastiche, irony, the return of ornament and historical reference, and the appropriation of popular media. Some artistic movements commonly called postmodern are pop art, architectural deconstructivism, magical realism in literature, maximalism, and neoromanticism. It rejects rigid genre boundaries and promotes parody, irony, and playfulness, commonly referred to as jouissance (enjoyment -as the french are lacking in the english word, it has been left untranslated) by postmodern theorists. Unlike modern art, postmodern art does not approach this fragmentation as somehow faulty or undesirable, but rather celebrates it. As the gravity of the search for underlying truth is relieved, it is replaced with ‘play’. As postmodern icon David Byrne, and his band Talking Heads said: “Stop making sense.” Post-modernity, in attacking the perceived elitist approach of Modernism, sought greater connection with broader audiences. This is often labelled “accessibility” and is a central point of dispute in the question of the value of postmodern art. It has also embraced the mixing of words with art, collage and other movements in modernity, in an attempt to create more multiplicity of medium and message. Much of
This progressive, radical movement in graphic design is not concerned with the graphic design in Switzerland, but rather with the new style that had been proposed, attacked and defended in the 1920s in Switzerland. Keen attention to detail, precision, craft skills, system of education and technical training, a high standard of printing as well as a clear refined and inventive lettering and typoraphy laid out a foundation for a new movement that has been exported worldwide in 1960s to become an international style. Emerging from the modernist and constructivist ideals, the Swiss Style can be defined as an authentic pursue for simplicity. the beauty in the underlines of a purpose, not beauty as a purpose in itself. The principle form follows function became a battle cry of Modernist architects after the 1930s. As a consequence of this principle, most of the Swiss Style craft is devoted to the minimal elements of style such as typography and content layout rather than on textures and illustrations. Grids Grid lines form the foundation for Swiss style design and they present a sense of uniformity to the viewers. It serves as a framework for designers to organize their information and make it more presentable to the viewers. When grids are used, it gives a defined structure to the page and makes it easy to group related information. It also gives an overall balance to the entire design and makes it appealing as well as USER friendly. Glitching A device used to help create the feel for a better way of presenting postmodernism in a modern way. There are alot of different ways to make something PostModern, but I think that glitching helps capture all of that. Having the imperfection as the main area is something that you would use for PostModernism. Where are you would throw away the bad: This helps highlight the imperfection and thus embody PostModernism in full.
6: Swiss design and glitching postmodern How does swiss design influence us? glitching: putting in the bad
8: Book review on postmodernism and modern magazine layouts and the different effects you can create with colour, texture and layout
Issues is an analysis of the most revolutionary magazine designs, and looks at the concepts and ideas behind their composition, text and images. This book looks at the magazines from their point of view and gives you an insight to the culture of magazines and how they are affected by advertising and its ever changing audience. It doesnt concentrate on one particular culture or society but looks at magazines as an international output of ideas. The book itself is split into five sections, format, covers, pace, words and images whilst also providing you with varied examples from sources across the globe. Format There is no standard size, shape or extent that a magazine will stop functioning the only thing that a designer is limited by is the print technology. Technology has made it easier for you to compile a magazine and send it off to the printers; you can now use that advantage to look more at the attributes of the magazine itself such as pages and format. Format has to be taken into careful consideration, whilst the need to stand out amongst the thousands of other publications on the shelf, practicality and legibility has to remain key. Experimental graphics often work wonders in gripping new readers however, if the magazine crosses a certain line and is to complex to understand to the average viewer then it has the reverse effect. The magazines in this book have walked this line perfectly and it is for this reason they are so successful. Covers. The cover is the first line of communication between publisher and consumer. Covers are the fundamental part of any magazine, it's the always this area that draws you into purchasing, regardless of content if the cover isn't engaging then sales will fall. The cover has to sell the idea of the magazine as a whole with the image acting as a summary to the content within. A balance has to be made between attracting the reader and revealing all of what is inside the magazine itself, it has to shout out to the passer whilst also engaging with the everyday reader. Whatever is displayed on the front of the magazine there are always reoccurring features; the title, both the name of the magazine and the name of the issue to ensure continuity and recognition with the regular readers. Pace The pace is also a defining factor in the consumers choice of magazine, a magazine such as FHM may have a much slower, relaxed pace to it, relying on dynamic imagery and loud, bold typography, whereas a publication such as elephant is a much slower, text based design. Two magazines that provide a hugely different reading experience and would attract two extremely contrasting audiences. Words There are always dominant features in a magazine, and ones that are set back. The heading and the text within the pages can be heavy if intended so they are the articles that attach themselves to the images chosen. Typography is usually an area with which a designer has free reign to choose how it looks, what effect it has, whether it is a fundamental part of that design or whether it is a small credit. There is always a pressure to get the text correct but anything that will interfere with the design itself is bad. So something that will complement the design itself without becoming a centrepiece is good. Through each section of this book I believe a fine line exists. This line is what separates modernism and post modernism. Modernisms key theme was that the form must follow the function. The form a piece of design takes must convey its message practically and efficiently, the primary focus is placed upon the communication between designer and viewer, simplicity often taking precedence over the perceived, unnecessary complexity of designs. However on the other side of the line exists the polar opposite. Post modernism focuses on the artistic quality and design for the sake of design. Experimental and often illegible but question posing designs were the result.
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Written and design: By Alice Wells Fonts used: code bold helvetica (light)