GRAPHIC DESIGN / FALL 2015 Log in
s
  • Ê
  • Â

å November 2015

Theo van Doesburg November 16, 2015

Part One:
Theo van Doesburg was born on August 30th 1883, in Utrecht, the Netherlands. His real name however is Christian Emil Marie Küpper, he would always refer his stepfather (Theodorus Doesburg) to be his main father, and that is why all of his work is signed Theo Doesburg he later added ‘van’ to his name. Theo van Doesburg was a writer, designer, an art critic, and a painter he was highly influenced by Wassily Kandinsky, who was a Russian painter that was credited to the first abstract work. His work was structured more around a simplistic geometric style. van Doesburg is mostly known for his lead in the artistic movement “De Stijl” it was said “he influenced many graphic designers with his many theories that conveyed the idea that there was a collective experience of reality that could be tapped as a medium of communication.” This appealed to other artist mostly because it pursued abstraction though primary color schemes and geometric shapes. His work would change to a mix of cubism and futurism mixed together.As I looked deeper into van Doesburg’s work I found some of it to be recognizable. It is very interesting to me that his work was something to start a movement in the art world.
Part Two:
1: This artist started an art movement known as “De Stijl” which is dutch for “The style” 
2. He was a known painter, writer, designer, and an art critic
3.

Part Three:

Theo van Doesburg, Design for a Tile Floor and Entrance Hall, 1917

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Armin Hofmann November 16, 2015

Part One:

Armin Hofmann, born in 1920 in Winterhur, Switzerland. Grew up to become a Swiss designer, that had a very tremendous  influence on the development of the graphic design style known as Swiss International Style. Hofmann believed in simplicity, legibility and objectivity which is the format for Swiss style. Hofmann worked at the Basel School of Arts and Crafts for 40 years and during that time became the head of the graphic design department. Armin thought Swiss International Style was all about communication and he believed the best form of communication was through posters using type and photography, but Hofmann also had written a textbook “Graphic Design Manual” which is still used to teach graphic design today. Hofmann’s former students speak highly of him, in 2011 he even was awarded the AIGA medal which stands for  “American Institute of Graphic Arts”.  For Robert and Alison Probst, who was also Hofmann’s student, these enduring designs are the work of “a master of his craft with a superior sense of aesthetics. His work deals with the universal language of signs and symbols, often including serendipity and always aiming for timeless beauty”(AIGA, the professional association for design). In the article on the AIGA award he received, they speak so highly of Hofmann and  all that he did to help them as students and that is what you want in a teacher.

Part Two:

1)  Hofmann had a good sense of structure and the ability to use space, which projected his personality as a designer and an artist.

2)  Hofmann sought for musical resonance, in his work and in his students.

3)  Hofmann’s teaching was thought of as unorthodox but he would bring you back to the fundamentals of design.

Part Three: 

Armin Hofmann, Theater Bau von der Antike Bis Zur Moderne,1955

Sources:

https://kscgd.com/2015fall/gdp1/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/GTGD_CH2.pdf

http://designishistory.com/1940/armin-hofmann/

http://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/armin-hofmann

http://www.designishistory.com/home/swiss/

http://www.moma.org/collection/artists/2697?=undefined&page=1

http://www.aiga.org/medalist-arminhofmann/

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Milton Glaser November 16, 2015

Milton Glaser, Mahalia Jackson 1967

Gallery Paragraph

With the pieces that i have chosen for the gallery, I think they go together very well. They’re all posters, most of them being about music. When looking at all of the posters, i was trying to find a common theme. The common theme with these specific ones is that they’re all very vibrant in color. You can very clearly see the choices in color were really thought out in order to get the message across and I love the ones from the late 60’s because the colors just go along with the time period, i believe. These works are also spread across the time span of about 15 years so you can really see his growth in designing and where he’s going next in relation to color and subject matter and whatnot. The pieces from the 60’s are different from the 80’s ones but it reads as almost a timeline, i believe.

Part 1

Milton Glaser was well known for his poster and print designs along with typography later on. Born in 1929, Glaser went to the High School of Music and Art along with an art academy in Italy. Afterwards he co-founded Pushpin Studios in 1954 along with creating New York magazine and established Milton Glaser, Inc. in 1974, as well as teaming with Walter Bernard in 1983 to form the publication design firm WBMG. His iconic work can be found in permanent collections in many museums. His work ranges from famous logos, such as “I (heart) NY”, that are known around the world. He has created so many different things that you see every day and I think it’s kind of crazy. I actually own a shirt that has the “I heart NY” on it. He contributed so much in the design world but also in the education world by writing many essays about graphic design along with speaking about it in interviews. His ways of design and typography have taken over and are seen in packaging, logos, signs etc. His work is very influential to all current graphic designers because you can still see bits and pieces of his ways of working around even when being created by someone different.

Part 2

  1. He didn’t work in one specific field in graphic design, he has many different styles of visual works.
  2. Glaser and the Pushpin artists worked on designing things using simplified images that could function as symbols and signs.
  3. He had a willingness to experiment with many different types of design which lead to some of the most famous designs today.

 

Sources:

http://www.moma.org/collection/artists/2188?=undefined&page=1
http://www.miltonglaser.com/milton/#1
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Milton-Glaser

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Piet Zwart November 15, 2015

Piet Zwart was a Dutch photographer, typographer, architect, and graphic designer, however he referred to himself as a “typotekt” (typography and architect) because he built pages with type. He first attended The School of Applied Arts in Amsterdam where he was introduced to all of these disciplines but mainly developed himself because teachers were not always present. There was a social revolution after World War 1 which offered Zwart a new direction where he launched his graphic design career in 1919. He became the assistant of the influential Dutch architect HP Berlage and was given assignments such as designing a Christian Science Church and a municipal museum. At the age of 36 he created his first typographic work when asked to design stationary for Jan Wil’s office. Zwart felt strongly attahced to radical ideas which propagated an abstract utopian world, however he did not wish to surrender entirely to the dogmatic ideas of those he was working with and felt his work was too playful to be restricted. He began working with photography and learned how to achieve a balance between texts, photographs, and white space. In 1930 he was approached for the design of “The Book of PTT” which taught young kids how to use the Dutch postal service; Zwart wanted to make them curious and encourage self reliance. Each page was colorful and bright and exciting. He used photography and collages along with drawings and various types of fonts. After the publication of the book, he had been fired from the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Artsin 1933 after being explicit in sharing his thoughts on the redevelopment of Art Education. Piet was known for his indiscretion, he didnt stop working until 3 am, barely took vacations, and rarely left his desk. His work came to and end when he was arrested by German Soldiers in 1942 and held hostage with 800 other prominents. he mainly focused on industrial design after he was released and then died in 1977 at the age of 92. His versatility and influence on present day designers led the Association of Dutch Designers to award him with the title “Designer of the Century” in the year 2000.

“Among the few I have indicated, is there no dynamic man of action, the rebel who will help determine the aspect of the collective expression of tomorrow? Ponder this question and know that to make beautiful creations for the sake of their aesthetic value will have no social significance tomorrow, will be non-sensical self-gratification. Every era contains the conditions for providing a rebel.”
– Piet Zwart

 

Highlights:

  1. Worked in many disciplines but is known for his work with Graphic Design
  2. Made sure he didnt restrict his work to fall under specific categories; stayed true to himself and what he wanted to create
  3. Although he was a trained architect, he excelled with his work in typography and even more so when he learned how to add photography

 

Piet Zwart, LAGA Rubber Flooring, 1923,

Piet uses mostly Primary colors in all of his works which are evident in all of these pieces. In some, such as The Book of PTT, he strays slightly from the Primary colors but not very far. He also likes to use cream or beige looking backgrounds which perhaps makes the colors pop more. Most of these works are works of typography where he favors block letters and in most cases they are overlapping or at a diagonal.

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Josef Müller-Brockmann November 15, 2015

 

Joseph Müller-Brockmann, Anthologie de Musique Suisse,1965

About the Gallery
The works designed by Joseph Muller-Brockmann for the Then Here and Now Exhibition are organized in chronological order based on the year Muller-Brockmann designed them.  The collection begins with his earlier works, in which were more graphic than his later more iconic “swiss style” works he became extremely well known for.

About the Designer
Josef Muller-Brockmann was a well-known twentieth century Swiss graphic designer. Besides working as a graphic designer, Muller-Brockmann was a teacher, as well as studied design, architecture, and art history. Muller-Brockmann was born May 9, 1914 in Rapperswill, Switzerland. He studied architecture, art, and design at the University of Zurich and the University of Kunstgewerbeshule. He began his design career with an apprenticeship to a designer and advertising consultant named Walter Diggleman. After his apprenticeship with Diggleman, Muller-Brockmann opened his own studio in Zurich in 1936, in which he specialized in graphics, photography, and exhibition design. Throughout his career as a designer Muller-Brockmann was inspired by the ideas of Constructivism, De Stijl, Suprematism, and the Bauhaus, which eventually led him to his creation of a universal graphic expression that applied a grid based design exclusive of subjective feeling and unnecessary illustration. After two decades of working in his studio, Muller-Brockmann became known as Switzerland’s leading specialist and theorist of “Swiss Style” (a graphic design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950s that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity.) His work easily connected to the audience of his time period due to his simple designs and neat use of typography. Muller-Brockmann’s work has a unique way of grabbing attention without the use of flashiness or unnecessary imagery. His methodology was simple, he would look at everything he encounters in his designs in a critical light, then at all times he would remain self critical. Today, Muller-Brockmann is seen as one of the most well known Swiss designers of all time.

Signature Points
1.Leading specialist and theorist of Swiss Style (a graphic design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950s that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity.)
2.Created a universal graphic expression that applied a grid-based design exclusive of subjective feeling and unnecessary illustration.
3.Simple designs and neat use of typography. His work has a unique way of grabbing attention without the use of flashiness or unnecessary imagery.

Links
http://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/josef-muller-brockmann
http://www.designishistory.com/1940/joseph-mueller-brockmann/http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-josef-muller-brockmann

 

 

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Lester Beall November 15, 2015

Lester Beall

Lester Beall, Unbulit Freedom Pavilion, 1939

The general relationship between these designs are easily recognizable. Each one is done with primary colors (mostly red and blue). They all contain parallel and diagonal lines to create a well organized design and help the viewer’s eyes flow off the page. They each convey a message about the American life or technology that we use. His typography is very clear and concise and has the title of each print in each design. He worked with the Rural Electrification Administration and the government to help communicate with the American people. It was either good advertisement or to open his viewer’s eyes to see what was really happening in American society.

lester-beall

Part 1:
Lester Beall was born in 1903 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was a notable American Graphic Designer. He was mainly known for his clear precise use of typography, as well as his bold use of primary colors, lines, and arrows. It became such a well known style of his that when someone saw his work, it was easily recognizable. Beall as a young child spent most of his time in St. Louis and Chicago. He graduated the University of Chicago and began his design career in 1927. His work was quickly discovered. Each one of his designs delivered an “arresting message”. He had a thrusting perspective and abstract shapes that made his posters stand out. In 1937 he got his work exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York where he moved to in 1935 and opened his own studio/office. His work demonstrated the rapid change in American culture and society. He wanted to find a way to communicate the expanding world of science, technology, and manufacturing in America and how it has brought rising expectations that called for a new graphic imagery / design. He died in New York in 1969 in his farm where he lived with his family. In my opinion Beall’s work is very simple, but effective. His work showed me that you don’t need complex designs to create a good design. I enjoyed going through his work and seeing how he tried to communicate with his audience.

Part 2:

  1. Being simple can sometimes be the best form of design
  2. Every design must convey a message as well as an emotional reaction.
  3. The way he used lines, arrows, primary colors and abstract shapes gave him his signature style.
4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

David Carson November 15, 2015

These are the 10 works I chose of David Carson. I selected a range from his portfolio website from 2011-2015. I want to focus on his most recent works and their style. How he focuses on providing the message rather than a readable image.

Cover of "little white lies"

Cover of "little white lies" 2011

Images source: David Carson’s website

~Todd Gaunt

 

old below

 

 

David Carson is a very influential American graphic designer that works mostly with typography in images to create a stunning picture. Graphic Design was not his first calling however, he was originally educated to be a high school teacher and only after he took a 2-week design class at the age of 26 did he discover his passion. Carson has a unique style that influences many designers that try to make something “pop” or attention grabbing. He often overlaps text and images to pull a viewer in, with some large or clearer text that grabs their attention first. He started his work designing for a small surfing magazine and drew attention from designers and fans with his works. He would use modified typefaces and unique images that mixed together to form a whole composition. This style has been studied and found to appeal to youth for its strong colors and busy design. Although sometimes hard to read, Carson’s style is easy to follow and the text flows elegantly.

 

Hightlights:

  1. His work focuses on type and imagery
  2. His work appeals to youth
  3. Started graphic design work relatively later in life.

A.I.G.A Austin Lecture Poster

A.I.G.A Austin Lecture Poster 2014

Information source: http://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Carson

Images source: http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/

 

~Todd Gaunt

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Adrian Frutiger November 15, 2015

AdrianFrutiger-Pic-by-HenkGianotten

Part 1
Adrian Frutiger was a Swiss designer of typeface.  He was born on May 24, 1928 and died very recently on September 10, 2015 at the age of 87.  Frutiger graduated from the School of Applied Arts in Zurich in 1952.   After high school, he spent most of his career working for Deberny & Peignot in Paris and became their artistic director.  His job was to update and change typefaces through the 20th to the 21st century.  He prepared them for photo-typesetting, and created his own typefaces.  He designed around 40 typefaces himself.  He created Univers, which we have used in class recently on a project, which I thought was pretty interesting.  Some of his other well known typefaces are Frutiger, Egyptienne, Serifa and Avenir.  It’s wonderful that today we still use his fonts and they are still advertised all over the world.  In the 1970’s, he designed a typeface for the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (Frutiger).  He was a professor at the Ecole Estienne for 10 years and spent 8 years at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.  His career spanned through three eras, including the hot metal, phototypsetting, and digital typesetting.

 

Part 2
Frutiger once said, “A letter follows the same canons of beauty as a face: A beautiful letter is in perfect proportion. The bar of a ‘t’ placed too high, the curve of an ‘a’ too low, are as jarring as a long nose or a short chin.”  This made me think that although nothing is perfect, there are attractions to each letter as there are a face.

Frutiger paid attention to the inside of letters as well as the letter itself, which is what made each letter a little different, or showed the different of an “O” and a “0” (zero).

One of his most known hallmarks is the square dot over the lowercase “i”, which makes it look different from an “l” or “I”.

 

Part 3

 

Frutiger, Univers Typeface, 1957

Frutiger did not like purely geometric designs.  In Frutiger’s work with typeface, he uses weights in the typefaces.  For example, with Univers, he uses a weight scale with numbers, rather than names.  He used numbers so that the typeface could be translated through the world, as different sizes had different names in different countries.  The family of letters would have multiple widths and weights all following a certain form of letter.  Frutiger also stated in an interview (on eye magazine) that “my main life’s work was designing sans serif typefaces. It is much more difficult to draw a grotesque than a roman face – much can be covered up with serifs in the latter. The grotesque is like the body of a fish, it is so smooth that no mistake can be allowed to happen!”  He really loved using serifs in many of his fonts to make them easier to read.

Sources

Design History

Identifont

New York Times

Eye Magazine

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Hierarchy November 15, 2015

Hierarchy is used to help get across the idea of what the artist is trying to convey. I didn’t realize how important hierarchy is in design, probably because I don’t notice it unless it’s done poorly. Text is an important part of hierarchy. It shows the viewer the important information first to clearly communicate an idea or information. Pictures are also used in Hierarchy. This is more subtle to the viewer, but it is just as important in showing the information. I never paid attention to hierarchy in my designs, I just put things in areas that I though looked good. After reading this article I will be able to improve my own designs by keeping the idea of hierarchy in mind and making a clean design that clearly states what I want it to.

4 09: Hierarchy   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

Herbert Matter November 15, 2015

Herbert Matter, Knoll Vintage Ad, 1946

I chose these works by Herbert Matter because these are some of his famous pieces that he did for the company Knoll Associates. He is very well known for these unique works of art. Coming to the US in 1936, 8 years later in 1944, he became the designer and advertiser consultant at Knoll, molding its graphic design identity for 12 years. As Alvin Eisenman, head of the Design Department at Yale and long-time friend, points out: “Herbert had a strong feeling for minute details and this was exemplified by the distinguished typography he did for the Knoll catalogues.” I enjoy looking at these because his color themes always flow and work together really well. What I noticed is that he usually uses the basic complementary colors, yellow, red, blue, green etc… His work makes you feel calm when you look at it.

Old Post

Herbert Matter was a Swiss-born American photographer and graphic designer. He was born in 1907 in Engelberg, Switzerland. In 1925, at the age of 18, he got an education at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva studying painting, but after two years he went to Paris to continue his education at the Académie de l’Art Moderne As he wanted to explore his artistic ability more, he became well-known during the 1930s when he made travel posters for the Swiss National Tourist Office in Zürich. These posters were among the earliest effective uses of photomontage, which is the technique of constructing a picture from parts of more than on photograph. He came to America in 1936, and as a skilled photographer he worked for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and many other magazines, and New York ad agencies. During World War II he was commissioned by the US government to design propaganda posters. In 1944, he even became the design consultant at Knoll, molding its graphic identity for 12 years. He even worked with famous designers such as Charles and Ray Eames. Not only did he do all of that and much more, he was also familiar with film as he directed a film for his friend in 1952. As a master at what he did, he began teaching design and photography at Yale University in 1952, and continued to teach until 1976. Herbert Matter passed away in the spring of 1984 in Southampton, New York.

I found this artist to be extremely talented and interesting as he had such a natural ability in almost all aspects of art. Matter had such a keen sense of collage and skillful typesetting that made his work so put-together and nice to look at. His graphic work cleverly fused the severity of Swiss style with American pop culture. He used every method available to accurately achieve his vision of texture, light and form. His color choices and themes were always on point and his style was always fresh and interesting.

  1. The designer’s innovative and experimental work helped shape the vocabulary of 20th-century graphic design.
  2. He was a master of using photomontage, color and typography in an expressive manner, transcending the boundaries between art and design.
  3. His work often involved manipulating negatives or cropping and retouching images in unexpected ways, and his subjects included portraits, nudes, landscapes, and still lives.

The Designs of Herbert Matter

All About Herbert Matter

The Famous Herbert Mater

4 GD History   b Add comment

Leave a Reply

« Previous Page — Next Page »