While reading this book about the different types of graphic design in the 1900s it seemed very strange to me. It was weird that at these times these types of art forms were created. It is sometimes believed that only in our day there are the most innovative and useful types of designs, but this book says otherwise. Truly, most of our designs really stemmed from these ideas that were from a very long time ago. We follow the foot steps of those who created these different types of designs and we tend to not even know where they originally came from! So as I continued I chose four different types of designs that I had felt inspired me the most. Those different types of designs I picked were futurism, surrealism, cubism, and lastly constructivism.
Futurism (1910-1918)
Futurism is an art form that involves movement especially with words. I chose this type of design because it had related to a part of our class. In our class we did a few projects with words and expressing them the way they were defined. In our project expressive words, we were given three words to work with. We had to use those words, figure out their definitions, and lastly use those definitions and express them in a piece. For example, I had the word sorrow. Sorrow means to be sad and I had to use the words and show sadness. I put the words in a frowning face as well as create a rain cloud above the word to show sadness. Futurism directly relates to our expressive words project so I chose futurism as it correlates with our class. To go more in depth with futurism you can read up on it here on this link! There is also another page that can be found here that goes in depth about the topic as well as in a form of a youtube video.
Surrealism (1924-1955)
When I initially saw this topic I thought oh no what does it symbolize? It showed a dark piece of what it looks like Hitler sharpening a knife ready to kill a chicken wearing a war helmet. The story behind realism is it is more based on psychology based images that tend to give a bit of a shock or a surprise. Well it certainly did for me as I was confused and almost intrigued why this man was in this reading. This type of design involves three dimensional shapes and shadows. This gives a piece a sense of reality to it rather than it feeling like a piece of paper. This type of design makes it feel almost alive in a way and can give a sense of feeling or emotion when gazing your eyes upon it. A major reason for choosing this type of design was mostly by the first image, but as well as what it actually represents and can give a person a feeling towards it. Some images of this type of design can be found on this page as well as at this link. I also encourage checking out this quick video on the subject.
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Cubism (1907-1921)
I chose this type of art form because it had a familiar name behind it. Pablo Picasso is a very well known artist for creating many unique pieces. His paintings and sculptures that had lead to cubism. It is considered to be one of the most influential arts of the twentieth century. Pablo used very abstract ideas and put them into his work form with people. Cubism allowed creativity to flow and have no boundaries. I feel to be able to really express something it should not be limited it should feel free and able to do many things. I have known about Pablo Picasso for a huge portion of my life. I would say I learned about him early on in life. This is why it was so interesting to me to see he basically created the design form of cubism that inspired many others to follow as well and create all their own beautiful pieces. It is an inspiring thing to see all how one person can change and create a domino affect to others. Cubism art is more complex than what I make it sound like! There is more information about cubism found here as well as watching this video found here that shows you how to draw cubism art.
Constructivism (1919-1934)
This type of art originated from Russia. Its main goal was to represent and reflect modern industrial society. This type of art was believed to show and have a social purpose. It meant that it existed as a propaganda center. The reason why I chose this initially was I was drawn to the black and white image that was on the left hand side of the text representing constructivism. The image was Vladimir Tatlin’s project called “the monument to the third international”. At first glance, it looked like a roller coaster! What it is actually supposed to represent industry. If his work was actually built at full scale it would have dwarfed the Eiffel tower, but as a model it expressed the heart of constructivism. It was cool to see how at first glance I thought it was one thing whilst it was actually something more complex. This is what lead me to chose this type of design. Just like the other types of designs I included more information about them and here is another link that leads to more about constructivism. Lastly, I would like to show you an article about the topic.
I felt that this reading wrapped up the whole class. As a class we all created so many pieces and different types of art forms all in just one semester. With each project, it was a new type of art form. In this reading, I got to learn about the different types of art and design and it showed me how we used these ideas in our class. I really feel as I said before, we are following the foot steps of those who originally created these designs. We may not all know where they came from or how they came about, but it does influence our past, present, and future. I know taking a step back and remembering my class, it correlates to this reading. It is an interesting concept to think something I am creating now came from a little over a hundred years ago! I highly recommend this book to be read at the start of the next graphic design class as it sets a path to future success and knowledge!
