K
TO BREA
or Not to Break
the ESSAY
RULES by Samanta Gonzalez
K
TO BREA
or Not to Break
the ESSAY
RULES by Samanta Gonzalez
Š 2009 Design by Samanta Gonzalez All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owner. Essay, cover and layout design by Samanta Gonzalez Published in 2009 by Blurb www.blurb.com Printed in The Netherlands
04 Introduction Structure: Reflection and Reaction of the Times 06 Development in Page Layout: Towards Rationalism Rational vs Expressive Approach?
contents
12
18 Modernism in Graphic Design: Making the Rules 22 Expression in the Post-Modern Era: Breaking the Rules 26 Modern and Postmodern Influences in Graphic Design in other Cultures 28 Views on Modern and Postmodern Approaches 34 Going Back to Basics: What is Design for? That is the Question Appendices 36
Index
37
Bibliography
38
Acknowledgments
38
About the Author
e
R
noitcelfeR
Reflection
IntRoduC Tio
STRUC tu
&
R EAC oF
T IMES To Break or Not to Break the Rules
TION NOIT CA E Throughout history, graphic designers have been seeking ways of effectively conveying messages to audiences using different approaches derived from ideology. Their productions have been reproducing, constructing and challenging society and culture of the time. Visual organisation has taken different forms, from structural oriented designs based on objectivity and order to more experimental and intuitive methods of composition. These approaches to layout responded to historical, social, cultural even political and economic values of the time, and they were they result of industrialisation, technological developments and aesthetic thought.
Development in Page Layout
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
Grid based organisation started to develop as a need to establish order and improve society by providing functional universal communication. The evolution of this system, which gained popularity in the 1950’s with the proliferation of the Swiss Style or International Style, was a process whose development can be traced back to the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Century, receiving influences from philosophical, psychological and political views which were adopted by various artistic and architectural movements throughout the century.
Towards Rationalism
The Industrial Revolution in the 1740's in England changed the way people lived. Urban population started to grow as people left the country in search of employment opportunities and prosperity. Growth of a more affluent population stimulated technology which lead to an increase in mass-production, lowering cost of goods and increasing availability. The mechanical production of goods in large quantities generated poorly made items of questionable aesthetic v alue which worried philosophers, artists and designers of the time.
T
he Arts and Crafts movement began as a reaction to the aesthetic confusion consequence of a revival of historic styles in the
Victorian era and to the low standards and poor appearance of machine-made production aided by the Industrial Revolution. This movement promoted the idea that purpose inspired form and of careful attention devoted to the finished quality of work. William Morris, an English artist and writer associated with this movement, aimed to revitalise England's daily aesthetic life by unifying art and industry. The aspirational qualities professed by this movement were also applied to type and book design by Mackmurdo and Sir Emery Walker who looked for attention to aesthetic integration and ease of production. The Arts and Crafts Movement evolved into an organic and sensual style developed by the Art Nouveau Movement in France between 1890 and 1905, characterised by the use of floral and plant-inspired motifs and stylised and curvilinear forms and into a painterly and more architectural style in the Jugendstil in Germany and Belgium.
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
8 9
MORE ABSTRACT AND GEOMETRIC ARTICULATIONS OF SPACE WERE EXPLORED BY THE GLASGOW FOUR, A GROUP OF ARTISTS FROM THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART, WHICH FLOURISHED IN THE 1890'S TILL AROUND 1910 IN SCOTLAND. THE WORK PRODUCED BY THE GLASGOW FOUR, TO WHICH THE ACCLAIMED ARCHITECT CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH BELONGED TO, WAS INSPIRATIONAL FOR THE VIENNESE SECESSION, A UNION OF AUSTRIAN ARTISTS FORMED IN 1897 IN VIENNA WHERE DESIGNERS SUCH AS JOSEF HOFFMAN AND JOSEF MARIA OLBRICH ADOPTED EVEN MORE RECTILINEAR APPROACHES IN PURSUIT OF FUNCTIONAL SIMPLICITY. THE ARCHITECTURE OF SPACE BEGAN A SYSTEMATIC EVOLUTION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY PROMOTED BY THE ARCHITECT FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT WHO CONTINUED TO DEVELOP THE IDEALS FROM THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT BUT UNDER A NEW FORMAL QUALITY. HE MOVED AWAY FROM THE ORGANIC AND FOCUSED ON PROPORTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS, RECTANGULAR ZONES AND ASYMMETRICAL ORGANISATION, PRINCIPLES WHICH GUIDED THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM.
Development in Page Layout: Towards Rationalism
Top right: The Scottish Musical Review poster 1896 (Charles Rennie Mackintosh). Bottom left: ‘Bieres de la Meuse’ Art Nouveau poster 1897 (Alphonse Marie Mucha). Bottom right: ‘Tropon Children’s Food’ package 1898 (Henry Van de Velde)
PETER BEHRENS, A GERMAN ARCHITECT WHO SOUGHT ORDER AND UNITY IN HIS PROJECTS, WAS AN INSTRUMENTAL
FIGURE
IN ESTABLISHING GUIDING PRINCIPLES WHICH WOULD BE THE BASE OF
RATIONALISM. HE ALSO EXPERIMENTED WITH BOOK LAYOUT MARKING A PRECEDENT TO GRID DEVELOPMENT AND THE WIDESPREAD USE OF SANS SERIF TYPE. THROUGHOUT HIS WORK AS AN ARCHITECT AND DIRECTOR OF THE DUSSELDORF SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS, PETER BEHRENS FOCUSED ON FUNDAMENTAL VISUAL PRINCIPLES AND ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURE WHICH LEAD HIM TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM THAT CREATED GRID PROPORTIONAL SPACES THAT HE APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE AND GRAPHIC DESIGN.
IN 1907 HE JOINED OTHER PROFESSIONALS AND COMPANIES IN THE CREATION OF THE DEUTSCHER WERKBUND,
A
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PERSPECTIVE AND EMBRACING THE MACHINE. IN THE SAME YEAR, PETER BEHRENS UNDERTOOK AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROJECT FOR AEG WHICH CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE FIRST DESIGN SYSTEM FOR AN INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION. HE DESIGNED VARIOUS OBJECTS AND THE VISUAL IDENTITY FOR THE COMPANY USING PROPORTIONS AND LINEAR ELEMENTS. HIS GRAPHIC WORK SHOWS HOW TYPOGRAPHY GOES WELL BEYOND CONCERNS ABOUT LEGIBILITY AND READABILITY.
Top centre: Trademark for Allgemeine Electricitäts Gesellshaft 1912 (AEG). Top left: ‘AEG Arc Lamps’catalogue cover1907. Top right: ‘AEG Ventilatoren’ advertising 1912 (Peter Behrens). Opposite left: ‘USSR Russian Exhibition’ poster 1929 (El Lissitzky). Opposite right: ‘ Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge’poster 1920 (El Lissitzky)
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
THIS NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE STARTED TO ATTRACT STUDENTS AND DESIGNS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD WHO FOUND ITS CHARACTERISTICS SUITABLE AS A MEANS TO COMMUNICATE THEIR MESSAGES. IN RUSSIA, GEOMETRICAL ABSTRACTION BECAME THE EXPRESSION OF POLITICAL REVOLUTION.
M T RIS EN TU VEM U F O M D AN AL ISM CTUR B U E M, C HIT TIS ARC A EM AND PR SU ISTIC M T O AR FR AS M, AN E ID VIS I ND T A RUCT 19. N E ST 9 1 M T ON A IN EA TR D IN C USSI L UA GE N R VIS VER TED I N A O C GIN I OR
EL LISSITZKY, A CONSTRUCTIVIST WHO PRODUCED POLITICALLY DRIVEN GRAPHIC DESIGN, USED DYNAMIC AND GEOMETRICAL ORGANISED COMPOSITION IN HIS PRODUCTION. HIS FAMOUS SOVIET PROPAGANDA POSTER “ BEAT THE WHITES WITH THE RED WEDGE” IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE ABSTRACT COMMUNICATIVE POWER OF FORM, THE RED WEDGE SYMBOLISING THE BOLSHEVIKS FIGHTING THEIR OPPONENTS FROM THE WHITE MOVEMENT DURING THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR.
Development in Page Layout: Towards Rationalism
ETIC
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10 11
ERE WITH M T R A ION IN E. ENTAT IAL PURPOS S E R P E C R O S L IONA ITH A TRADIT USING ART W D E T C REJE EA OF IVISTS TED THE ID T C U R O CONST T AND PROM N CONTE
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14 15
Symbolist poets explored typographic organisations creating word pictures in poems and essays. The famous concrete poem “ ll Pleut� ( “It's Raining�) by Guillaume Appolinaire is organised in vertical lines that resemble a picture of rain.
THE IDEAS DISPLAYED BY THESE MOVEMENTS MARKED THE BEGINNING OF A
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Top left: ‘Manifestazione interventista’ collage of paper and paint on board 1914 (Carlo Carra). Top right: ‘Il Pleut’ calligram 1918 (Guillaume Apollinaire). Above: ‘Small Dada Evening’ poster 1922 (Theo van Doesburg and Kurt Schwitters).
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NA IO AT In spite of the clearly opposed formal characteristics, some artists and designers explored both rational and irrational approaches. Kurt Schwitters, a German painter and designer, created dadaist typographic collages called Merz Pictures and later on, his layouts for his periodical Merz showed Constructivist influences and an increasingly Modernist spirit. Dutch design also showed the adoption of both approaches in the work of Piet Zwart who used montage and typographic expressionism blended with symbolism, dynamic compositions of Dada and Futurism and the purity of primary colours and geometric shapes characteristic of De Stijl movement.
Above: Merz 8/9 magazine cover design, 1924 (Kurt Schwitters) Top left: Merz picture 32 A ‘The Cherry Picture’ 1921 (Kurt Schwitters). Top right: Cover design J.F. Otten ‘Americaansche Filmkunst’ Rotterdam 1931 (Piet Zwart). Left: spread from a catalogue for the Netherlands Cable Works, 1927-8 (Piet Zwart).
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
Rational vs Expressive Approach?
Top: Fragment 2 for Composition VII , 1913 (Wassily Kandinsky). Top left: Composition V, 1924 (Theo van Doesburg). Top Right: Title page of ‘Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar 1919-1923’ (László Moholy-Nagy).
16 17
This visual language formed the basis of a new typographic treatment which was developed by Jan Tschichold, a Bauhaus student who codified the principles of modern typography in his 1928 publication “Die Neue Typographie” ( “The New Typography”). In this book, Jan Tschichold systematised the idea of structure and functional aesthetics determined by the use of sans serif typefaces, negative spaces, intervals between areas of text, compositions based on a system of vertical and horizontal alignments and the introduction of hierarchical grid to structure the page and create space.
Theo van Doesburg, founder of the Dutch De Stijl movement, also influenced the foundation principles of the Bauhaus. As professor in the Bauhaus, the Hungarian painter and photographer Laszlo Moholy-Nagy expanded the geometric expression of Modernism in graphic design by promoting experimentation with asymmetrical layouts composed on a grid, use of typographic elements such as bars, rules and squares and photomontage.
The close association between both ways of representation was also evident in the origins of the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919 before the school focused on Rationalism. Painters like Johannes Itten and Wassily Kandinsky, who were instrumental in setting up the Bauhaus, looked into personally derived abstract representation and merged expression with intuitively structured pages.
Making the Rules
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
Modernism in Graphic Design Development of the grid
In 1933 the Bauhaus had to close down since artists using this visual language were either arrested or forced to leave by the Nazis who disliked the modernist influences and the communist and liberal ideas associated with it. Jan Tschichold and several Bauhaus students fled to Switzerland, which had remained neutral and generally unaffected by war. There, they made important contributions to the reductive and simplified style Swiss designers were developing in their search for order.
Max Bill, a Swiss artist, architect and designer who had studied at the Bauhaus, based his designs on strict mathematical measurement and spacial division, ideas which helped to ingrain the grid in generations of designers and define the Swiss Style, which flourished in the 1950's. This style, also known as the International Style since it was adopted by designers seeking a universal visual expression all around the world, emphasised cleanliness, readability and objectivity by the use of sans serif typefaces like Akzidenz-Grotesk and Helvetica , grid organisation, asymmetrical layouts, white space and preference for photography over illustration as the more distinctive characteristics. The Swiss Style was exposed to the world by Josef Muller-Broackmann, Carlo Vivarelli, Hans Neuburg and Richard Paul Lohse as editors of Neue Grafik ( New Graphic Design) first published in 1958. This publication marked a development in grid based design by the realisation of the modular grid, a system which consists of small units of space which may be assigned a purpose and which, through repetition, integrate all parts of a page. In his book “Grid Systems in Graphic Design”, Josef Muller-Brockmann states “ The grid system implied the will to systematise, to clarify, the will to penetrate to the essentials...the will to cultivate objectivity rather than subjectivity.”
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
20 21
During and after the 1960's, the grid started to dominate European and American design and its visual qualities made it a system which could effectively organise and communicate corporate image and cultural institutions programs. The enforcement of the grid helped to ensure visual uniformity in different applications making communication clearer. Paul Rand, an American graphic designer advocate of the Swiss Style, was a key figure in convincing corporations that design was a powerful tool, becoming a pioneer of corporate identity. He designed logos and identities for IBM, ABC, Cummins Engine, Westinghouse and UPS, among many others. Massimo Vignelli, a Milanese designer, was another strong adept to the Modernist visual language. He focused on simplicity in his designs through the use of basic geometric forms and dividing the space within a modular grid into distinct zones in order to clarify complex informational material.
Modernism in Graphic Design: Making the Rules Opposite top: ‘Konkrete Kunst’ poster (Max Bill). Opposite bottom from left to right: ‘Opernhaus Zürich’ poster 1966 (Josef Müller-Brockmann). ‘Swissair Swissair’ poster 1952 (Carlo Vivarelli). ‘Paul Schuitema’ poster 1967 (Hans Neuburg). ‘Allianz Helmhaus Zürich’ poster 1954 (Richard Paul Lohse). Top: ‘Neue Grafik’ #6 9 spread. Above left: International Business Machines (IBM) logo 1956 and American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) logo 1962 (Paul Rand). Above right: Book, letterhead and identity design from ‘The Vignelli Canon’ (Massimo Vignelli).
Breaking
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
the
in the Postmodern Era
RULES Towards the 1970s, the Postmodern movement in architecture, which came into existence as a reaction to the established forms of Modernism, excerted its influence into graphic design. Designers began to explore historical, dialectal and decorative elements and inject subjectivity, even eccentric concepts into their designs. Postmodernism took different manifestations such as a return to the vernacular, pop culture, nostalgia, parody, irony, pastiche, eclecticism and deconstruction. These postmodern manifestations were initially seen as an undiscipline self-indulgent mixture of styles with no unifying ideals or formal vocabularies, but they were in fact a reflection and response to cultural, political and social events and ideology.
The International Style was further developed in the Basel School of Design founded in Switzerland by Armin Hoffmann and Emil Ruder through an approach which incorporated an intuitive method of composition based on symbolic form and contrast between optical qualities in abstraction: use of light and dark, curve and
Wolfgang Weingart, a German graphic designer and typographer,
angle, organic and geometric and integration
applied the systematic exploration he learnt from the Swiss
of type and image. Emil Ruder, a typography
Style but went beyond functional representation and into a more
teacher, stressed the pictorial potential of
expressive approach. He is considered to have started the “ New
type as carrier of meaning by freely mixing
Wave”, a typographic philosophy which defies strict conventions of
weight, slant and sizes. In his 1960's book
grid based organisation and promotes a mixture of discipline and
basel school of design Typography, Emil Ruder discusses grids
experimentation. The new visual language of the Basel School of
but also stresses the importance of the
Design based on organisation and treatment of material driven by
exploration of type's visual qualities to
new wave
intuition and direct response to its optical and conceptual qualities
express the meaning of words.
lead to the appearance of the deconstructive approach within the framework of the International Style.
The emergence of the Civil Rights movement in the United States towards the 1970's, a climate of social revolution and influences from “New Wave” ideas in design from Europe encouraged young designers to become increasingly critical of established ways of thinking. Modernism was thought to have become academic and restrictive, and the grid system, which was a hallmark of the movement and had become strongly associated with corporate image, started to be questioned by designers with postmodernist views. A search for expression based on personal experience materialised in the manifestation of the youth culture and generated design countermovements such as Psychedelia and the proliferation of personal styles.
Among designers who popularised these trends are Victor Moscoso a designer and illustrator noted for his psychedelic art and concert posters, April Greiman who is recognised for introducing the “New Wave” aesthetic to the United States and Milton Glaser a graphic designer best known for his I Love New York logo, who has been producing designs which range from primitive to avant-garde style. This new regard for the vernacular and a more idiosyncratic form of visual communication was adopted and promoted by the Cranbrook Art and Design Academy in Michigan where graphic productions were created with emphasis on audience interpretation and active participation in the construction of meaning.
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
Top left: ‘Zürcher Maler’ - Zurich Painters poster 1960 (Emil Ruder). Below: ‘Sci-Arc Summer Programs’ poster (April Greiman). Top right: ‘Typographische Monatsblätter’ periodical cover (Wolfgang Weingart). Bottom left: ‘The Doors at the Avalon Ballroom’ (Victor Moscoso). Bottom right: Bob Dylan poster 1966 (Milton Glaser).
DE CONS-
“ I never learned all the things you're supposed to do, I just do what makes the most sense� - David Carson
TRUC IO N
In the 1990's David Carson, an American surfer an sociology graduate, used this technology to design layouts for , a Californian surf magazine, relying on his intuitive sense of placement. He ignored rational organisation and S, INCIPLE rules altogether and focused on creating a visual experience which translated IONAL PR T A IS N A ORG the content and provided an adventure of the senses. DERNIST E USE OF
FEND TH
HO DE IGNERS W
MO
24 25
EXPRESSION G OF BEIN IN SPITE
S ED BY DE
CRITICIS
EA
M ECO
EB HAV
ID VAL
HOD
MET
FOR CON IN VEY GES ESSA
GM
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for Ray Gun, a magazine published between 1991 and 1996, David Carson demonstrated that in spite of the absence of structure, his designs showed a visual cohesion and he developed an identifiable and understandable system through intuitive and spontaneous relationships.
AND
THESE ALTER NATIVE TYP OGRAPHIC T David Carson explored REATMENTS HAVE BEEN W new spatial and visual IDELY USED SINCE THE B relationships such as the EGINNING OF THE POSTMO overlapping of lines of type DERN ERA and letters that flipped backwards and forwards, dense textures of type and image, columns of type with contours not parallel, perception of layers within the compositional space and optical confusion between foreground and background. In his designs
Expression in the Postmodern Era: Breaking the Rules
R
EVOLUTION
The Digital Revolution
marked by the introduction of the desktop computer with graphical interface by Apple Computers in 1984, facilitated the manipulation of type and image in exotic combinations which lead to the appearance of new approaches. In no time, this technology became available to a vast audience bringing digital editing and typesetting to individuals with no graphic design background.
T
During the 1980's and 1990's, deconstruction in graphic design was characterised by breaking apart preconceived structures or using those structures as a starting point to find new ways of connecting images and language verbally and visually.
DIGITAL DIGITAL
In the late 20th Century, graphic design began to appear in developing nations due to the expanded access to professional education locally and abroad, the increased availability of computers and printing technology and growing demand from industrial, cultural and communications clients. Designers were influenced by established design approaches from Europe and North America, but incorporated local and national influences to make communication effective. Other Japanese graphic designers were inclined towards other sources of inspiration seeking more individual representations, away from formalist tendencies. They used iconography from mass media, comic books, manga, popular science-fiction films, newspaper photographs and Japanese imagery to produce pop-art style montages. Igarashi Takenobu, who trained as graphic designer in Los Angeles, back in Tokyo used deconstructed forms in his poster proposal for Expo '85 to make visual reference to the theme. Contemporary Japanese graphics show a marriage of tradition and hyper modernity. They depict the simplicity and elegance typical of conventional Japanese art combined with bold and colourful visual material of global commercial graphic productions in the West. To Break or Not to Break the Rules
Modern European Constructivism and Western design exerted an important influence on Japanese design which assimilated their principles with traditional Japanese art theory. Symmetrical compositions, central placement of iconic forms, harmonious colour palettes and meticulous craftsmanship remained primary elements of Japanese graphics. Kamekura Yusaku, in his poster proposal for the Japanese World Expo '70 in Osaka , an international exposition of the dwelling and construction industry, displayed his ability to combine 20th Century modernist formal language with the traditional Japanese sense of harmony.
in Graphic Design in other Cultures Latin American designers received the influence of European and American design tendencies and incorporated them in their sophisticated spatial configurations characterised by a strong presence of regional identities. In spite of regionalisms, which result in a rich diversity in the design production, Latin American graphic design reflects a unifying concept of strong discourse with expression of feelings, vigour, energy mixed with conflict, worries and sorrow. The vivacity of colour is a trademark of graphic design throughout the region. Today, Latin American graphic productions show the influence of modernist principles and an even stronger emphasis on the exploration of experimental visual arrangements which best reflect the vigorous, passionate and chaotic spirit of the region.
Modern and Postmodern influences in Graphic Design in other Cultures
influences
26 27
POSTMODERN
&
View o
Modern&
app To Break or Not to Break the Rules
&
roaches
Modernists designed with strong ideology and social mission which responded to the times they were living in. In an interview with Creative Review editor Patrick Burgoyne in 2004, Rick Poynor, a leading design critic, explained that on the years after the World War there was a sense that designs' purpose was to help people's lives by brining order and presenting information clearly but that with the arrival of the unideological age, when everyone started to voice their own ethics, more personal styles started to appear. Commenting on the Modern formal language he also added: “... those post-war idealists were setting themselves up as communicators in opposition to persuasion which was seen as a manipulative way of treating other people. So the idea is that information is the pure thing and the visual communicator's job is to convey that information as objectively as they can.
IRRATIONAL
still stand as an idealistic model, as we well know,as EMOTIONALBut while that might EMOTIONAL, L NOITARRI BEINGS LED BY OUR A
, any view of design which insists on pure objectivity DESIRES seems to reduce us to machines – we aren't like that.
DESIRES
In spite of cultural and ideological changes over the years, the modernist precept of faith in rational functionalism and its ethic of discipline, clarity and cleanliness have been present in graphic design production since the 1950's. The grid system was an important development which has continued to play a major role by structuring communications, bringing clarity, efficiency, economy and continuity.
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
”
This system, which has helped organise communication for corporations since its implementation, has also made an essential contribution to information design and is still used by designers today as the basis of their projects. The Internet also benefits from grid organisation since it simplifies the complex act of navigation and web-site development.
This was strongly criticised by modernists who believed this approach was unprofessional, a view which has been held by some designers since then. Steven Heller, an American art director, author and critic who values functional simplicity published a controversial article in the Summer issue of the British design magazine Eye in 1993 titled ‘The Cult of the Ugly’ in which he criticises the breaking or total omission of rules in graphic design production particularly in the desktop publication Output created by Cranbrook Academy students in 1992. According to Steven Heller, the publication came across as a manifesto of what graphic design is and this sparked his reaction against it, describing it as stylistic abuse. In this article, Heller states that graphic designers' role is to present the message to audiences clearly and believes that these stylisations fail to do this by coming across as ‘visual noise’ making information inaccessible. He also questions the use of the term ‘experimentation’ to define their work: ‘ Experimentation is the engine of progress, its fuel, a mixture of instinct, intelligence and discipline. But the engine floods when too much instinct and not enough intelligence or discipline is injected into the mix.’ Heller describes these manifestations as ‘ugly’ since they come across as layering of graphic forms without a guiding principle, a result of selfThe breaking of the rules that this movement proposed indulgence and style without discourse. He says that lead in some cases to the postmodern manifestations cannot be considered designs based merely on intuition resulting in in the strict sense of the word since experiments there are no controls or learning from failure but just instinct with no substance.
e c e n e c i r n e e eexxpperi
‘Open Microphone: Gates of Hell’ poster 1993 Cranbrook Academy of Art (Brian Schorn)
Views on Modern and Postmodern Approaches
engaging v v i s i u s a l u a l
Graphic design produced under this movement enriched visual communication by enhancing the message, giving it feel and dialogue between content and visual form and making it an
personal and
30 31
THE POST MODERN MOVEMENT
contributed to giving new form to visual communication through the exploration of
COMPOSITIONS
In an interview with Michael Dooley published in 1994 for Emigre 30,
Jeffery
Keedy, a designer, writer, type designer and educator teaching at C a l A r t s , California Institute of the Arts, since 1985, expressed dissent from the views of designers who apply modernist principles literally believing in a timeless notion good for all cultures and places since they seriously ignore context. He also disagrees with Steven Heller's categorisation of postmodern manifestations as “ugly” by saying it is a superficial appreciation of their meaning and relevance in the history of graphic design. In his essay
“Graphic Design in the Postmodern Era” Although Jeffery Keedy believes that there is interesting design work displaying alternative formal characteristics that deserves thoughtful criticism, he shares the opinion of modernist adepts that is a weak explanation to design work.
published in 1998 in Emigre 47, Jeffery Keedy writes:
“ Postmodernism isn't a style. It's an idea about the time we are living in, a time that is full of complexities, contradictions, and possibilities...”
“ In the postmodern era we are not just mediators of information, but individuals who think creatively and visually about our culture.”
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
He thinks that many designers have embraced technology as the end and not the means, confusing medium with message. Jeffery Keedy states that there is
a need to
reinstate history and education to generate critical reflection and inspiration which leads to graphic design practice with a more
responsible discourse.
32 33 Views on Modern and Postmodern Approaches
For Modern adepts, this “experimentation” sometimes means interference with clarity. They maintain that clarity and order are the means through which the transmission of the message can be achieved,
Ellen Lupton believes that the fact that everyone has now access to design software, far from having a negative effect, it has been raising awareness of design among the general public which is good for the profession since people can better understand design and appreciate design at the highest level. She expresses her conviction that it does not represent a threat to professional graphic designers.
The impact that the easy access to design tools has been having on graphic design is also raised in a debate between Ellen Lupton and Steven Heller titled “The D.I.Y. Debate” published in January 2006 by AIGA, the Professional Association for Design. Steven Heller expresses his concern about the totally intuitive approach which has been encouraged by the widespread use of design software by people with no design background and stresses the need to structure design to avoid devaluation of the profession and maintain credibility.
Expressiv
e
ap o ac pr h es
an
d
pe r
s on al styles
r nature of human beings, with with ou e c n e her re co o m have
N O I N ta O I S n S S S E E RPR P ed for EX EX
individual though
seem to
d
ne
guidance as well as intuitio
going back to basis: Comprehensive research on the origins and development of grid based design systems and alternative methods of composition, together with the analysis of views on both approaches have lead me to conclude that there is not an absolute answer to the question of whether rules should or should not be broken. Although it is unquestionable that a message has to be clear in order to be understood, I believe that this does not necessarily mean that it can only be achieved by adhering to formal methods of composition. In some cases, grid based organisation proves to be the most effective means of transmitting a message, as in the case of information and website design for example, where hierarchy is a key element to direct the public to the information they need quickly and clearly.
Some examples of “experimental� design though, show that the term has been, in many cases, misinterpreted, resulting in graphic productions of poor aesthetic value and inability to communicate. I believe that rules have to be acknowledge in order to explore other possibilities and that experimentation implies
what is des To Break or Not to Break the Rules
An insightful answer to this question should guide the graphic approach which will best transmit that message effectively,
visual communicators.
?
THAT IS THE QUESTION
ign for
Going back to Basics: What is Design for? That is the Question
of graphic designers as
34 35
fulfilling the ultimate responsibility
what is the nature of the message I need to communicate
In trying to find an answer to the question of whether to adhere to rules or break them I found myself addressing the bigger picture of what graphic design is all about. I realised that there is a previous and determining question that every designer should ask themselves:
Index of artists, designers and artistic and cultural movements
Index
Abstraction p.11,14 AEG p.10 A.I.G.A p.33 Art Nouveau p.8 Arts and Craft p.8 Barnbrook, Jonathan p.25 Bauhaus p.17,19,20 Basel School of Design p.24 Behrens, Peter p.10 Bill, Max p.20 CalArts, California Institute of the Arts p.32 Carson, David p.25 Civil Rights movement p.24 Constructivism p.11,16,26 Cranbrook Art and Design Academy p.24,31 Cubism p.11,15 Dada p.15,16 Deconstruction p.23,25 De Stijl p.16,17 Deutscher Werkbund p.10 Digital Revolution p.25 Dusseldorf School of Arts and Crafts p.10 El Lissitzky p.11 Emigre p.25 Expressionism p.14,16 Functionalism p.30 Futurism p.11,14,16 Glaser, Milton p.24 Glasgow Four p.9 Glasgow School of Art p.9 Greinman, April p.24 Heller, Steven p.31,32,33 Hoffman, Josef p.9 Hoffmann, Armin p.24 Itten, Johannes p.17 Jugendstil p.8 Kamekura, Yusaku p.26 Kandinsky, Wassily p.17 Keedy, Jeffery p.32 Lohse, Richard Paul p.20 Lupton, Ellen p.33 Mackintosh, Charles Rennie p.9 Mackmurdo p.8 Modernism p.9,17,19,21,23,27,28,30,33 Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo p.17 Morris, William p.8 Moscoso, Victor p.24 M端ller-Broackmann, Josef p.20 Neuburg, Hans p.20 New Wave p.24 Olbrich, Josef Maria p.9 Pop-art p.26 Postmodernism p.23,27,29,31,32
To Break or Not to Break the Rules
Poynor, Rick p.30 Psychedelia p.24 Rand, Paul p.21 Rationalism p.7,17 Ruder, Emil p.24 Schwitters, Kurt p.16 Suprematism p.11 Surrealism p.15 Swiss Style (International Style) p.7,20,21,24 Symbolism p.15,16 Takenobu, Igarashi p.26 Tschichold, Jan p.17,19 van Doesburg, Theo p.17 Viennese Secession p.9 Vignelli, Massimo p.21 Vivarelli, Carlo p.20 Walker, Sir Emery p.8 Why Not Associates p.25 Wolfgang Weingart p.24 Wright, Frank Lloyd p.9 Zwart, Piet p.16
bibliography
Bibliography and Sources
Bilak, Peter. 'Experimental Typography. Whatever that means'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel & Steven Heller. Looking Closer 5: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag. 172) New York, Allworth Press, 2006 Blackwell, Lewis. 20th Century Type – revised edition. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2004
Dabner, David. Graphic Design School – The Principles and Practices of Graphic Design. London, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2004
Eilering, Rebecca. 'Modernism and Graphic Design' [online] Cross Section - Art and Design, 2009. Available from: http://rebeccareilering.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/modernism-andgraphic-design/ [Accessed 17th April 2009] Fawcett-Tang, Roger & Jury, David. New Typographic Design. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2007
Keedy, Mr. 'Style is not a Four Letter Word'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel & Steven Heller. Looking Closer 5: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag. 94) New York, Allworth Press, 2006 Lupton, Ellen. 'The D.I.Y. Debate' [online] AIGA – The Professional Association for Design, 2006. Available from: http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/the-diy-debate [Accessed 24th April 2009]
Lupton, Ellen & Abbott Miller. Design Writing Research – Writing on Graphic Design. London, Phaidon Press Limited, 1999 March, Marion. Creative Typography. Oxford, Phaidon Press Limited, 1988
'Graphic Design (art)' [online] Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Available from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1032864/graphicdesign [Accessed 13th April 2009]
Poynor, Rick. 'The Beauty Part'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel & Steven Heller. Looking Closer 5: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag. 43) New York, Allworth Press, 2006
Heller, Steven. 'An Interview with Steven Heller' by Michael Dooley. [online] Emigre. Published in Emigre 30,1994. Available from: http://www.emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=32 [Accessed 24th April 2009]
Poynor, Rick. 'Type and deconstruction in the Digital Era'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel, Steven Heller & D.K. Holland. Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag.83) New York, Allworth Press, 1994
Heller, Steven. 'The Cult of the Ugly'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel, Steven Heller & D.K. Holland. Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag. 155). New York, Allworth Press, 1994
Poynor, Rick. Typography Now Two Implosion. London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1996.
& sources
Hollis, Richard. Graphic Design – A Concise History. London, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2001 Keedy, Mr. 'An Interview with Mr. Keedy' by Michael Dooley. [online] Emigre. Published in Emigre 30,1994.Available from: http://www.emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=37 [Accessed 24th April 2009]
Samara, Timothy. Making and Breaking the Grid – A Graphic Design Layout Workshop. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers, Inc. 2002
Vignelli, Massimo. 'Long Live Modernism!'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel, Steven Heller & D.K. Holland. Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag. 51) New York, Allworth Press, 1994
Appendices
McCoy, Katherine. 'Rethinking Modernism, Revising Functionalism'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel, Steven Heller & D.K. Holland. Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag. 49) New York, Allworth Press, 1994
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Glaser, Milton, Ivan Chermayeff, Rudofl deHarak. 'Some Thoughts on Modernism: Past, Present and Future'. Bierut, Michael, William Drenttel, Steven Heller & D.K. Holland. Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (pag.43) New York, Allworth Press, 1994
Keedy, Mr. 'Graphic Design in the Postmodern Era' [online] Emigre. Published in Emigre 47, 1998. Available from: http://www.emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=20 [Accessed 23rd April 2009]
Samanta Gonzalez is an Argentinian graphic designer based in Bradford, England, where she divides her time between studying and working freelance. Her interest in graphic representation manifested at an early age in her passion for drawing and painting which developed into an appreciation of form and visual composition. This lead her to study architecture and design, completing a Higher National Diploma in Interior Design in Nueva Escuela de DiseĂąo y ComunicaciĂłn in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2002. Having also studied languages for several years to fulfil her fascination for communication, she found in graphic design a perfect field where her interests in visual representation and communication meet. Her design work is characterised by a style which combines structured arrangements and compositions with a sensitive feel, applying these approaches according to the nature of the message to be communicated.
About the author Acknowledgments
My sincere thanks to all my tutors from the HND Graphic Design course at Calderdale College in Halifax, UK, for their time and guidance in my formative years as a graphic designer. I extend a special thanks to Jane Crumack whose great predisposition, help and encouragement have been essential in producing this booklet and throught the entire course. Thank you to my colleague Gayle McCabe for her company and friendship. I am grateful to my fiancĂŠ Brian, for all his help, support and for making it possible for me to do this graphic design course, and to my parents, Victor and Silvia, for their unconditional support in my personal and professional decisions and for always helping me to fulfil my dreams.
“ Before you start breaking rules you should know what they are. Once one knows what are the correct procedures one can look at them critically and see whether by deliberately flouting them anything can be added to methods of communication.�
INTUITION
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Typography: Basic Principles (1963)
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LEGIBILITY
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Page layout and typographic arrangements have been main areas of study in the history of graphic design and views on which organisational approach is best to communicate a message visually are still matter of debate. As with every controversial subject, the issue of whether to adhere to structural formality professedarrangements by Modernism to achieve order and clarity Page layout and typographic have as main facilitators of communication or to apply been main areas of study in the history of graphic alternative methods of organisation violating these design and views on which organisational approach rules to enhance the message and make the visual is best to communicate a message visually are still interesting has been a ground of matter of debate. Asexperience with every more controversial subject, heated discussion since designers the issue of whether to adhere to structural formality in the Postmodern era started to explore expressive ways of visually professed by Modernism to achieve order more and clarity communicating messages. as main facilitators of communication or to apply
John Lewis
order and clarity