Chapter 17- The War Years and After

Chapter 17 discusses how the United States' design concepts were changed during World War II and post-war.  They were very diverse and made posters that were informative and comical.  This was because there were so many different types of artists that were hired from the U.S. Office of War Information.  Once the U.S. entered the war in 1941, the main goal was creating posters for propaganda and production.  We needed to have spirits soaring high with confidence in the Allies, as well as an increase in production so we could support our troops oversees.  One very famous poster relating to production is Jean Carlu's "America's Answer! Production."  Artists began to create more graphic and emotional posters due to the intense hate of Nazi's, Hitler and the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The achieved the greatest impact by using contrasts in color and scale.  Once the war ended -Go Allies!- the posters turned toward consumer markets, which would help the U.S. recover from such a brutal war.  It was at this time that copy lines first began to appear on all full-color paintings, followed by a logo.  To boost moral, once company began to design posters that showed liberty, justice, investors, prospective employees and human rights.  

I was quite surprised to read about Seventeen Magazine at this time.  For some reason I thought it was created much after World War II.  It makes me wonder about other magazines and when they were first published.  

I don't fully understand the concept behind image 17-42; Herbert Matters brochure covering chair.  Can you explain it?

Ad recreation, week 1

Above are the original advertisements that I have chosen to recreate in a different art period.   Both of them were found online.

* Sorry about the images scattered everywhere.  I'm not entirely sure on how to arrange photos on Blogger so they are all just smashed above.  Clearly, you can see which images are the real advertisement, and which ones are my sketches.

The advertisement with the cards is interesting, but I felt it could be pushed more.  The girls needed a little bit more sex appeal and the overall composition of the ad was bland.  I thought this would be a good one to recreate under art nouveau because I was immediately thinking about Mucha's concentration on women and how seductive he created them.   I also think that the art design on the Ace card has as little bit of art nouveau style to it, so it started from there.  Above, you will find my quick sketch of how I feel this advertisement would look with an art nouveau feel to it.  I first began with a border around the entire image because I saw that decorative, tile-like borders encompassed much of the art created during this period.  In the background, I added organic poles with vines wrapping around them because art nouveau pieces often had nature incorporated within their work.  I would also like to add a little bit more work to the background, such as more organic and leaf-like images into it.  This would add more depth and layering; more like the intended style I was going for.  On the women, I made them a little bit more sexy by adding the 'spaghetti hair' that Mucha made famous.  I also added a halo-like border around them because this too was also seen often in art nouveau.  As for the typography, it was a little bit more difficult because I didn't see much use of typography during art nouveau.  I did, however, see some in Mucha's "Job" and he had the tile border around each letter.  I gave an attempt at this, but decided to only do the first letter of each phrase due to the limited space I had.  If I were to recreate this, I would do each letter the same way. 

The next image with the car was effective, but a little to simple.  In order to get that rugged, urban feel, I thought it could be pushed farther and be designed similar to the style achieved during the Industrial Revolution.  It already has a lot of the qualities, such as the colors and the central image.  I added some harsh brush strokes at the bottom because that was often seen during the Industrial Revolution.  I would probably keep it all within grey/silver tones to match the car.  Maybe some black?  In order to make the punch line a little bit more effective, I decided to mimic the Industrial Revolution's style and add buildings.  Now it shows how much the car will have to go through in 'a few minutes', so it seems more unrealistic that the car will make it in time.  But!  Since this is an Audi, who are known for the speed and agility, it might be possible that the car will make it in time.  To add the final touch, I thought I should add a more industrial-like feel and add smoke and lightning rods/antennae's to the buildings.  Now it's a bit more realistic and harder looking.  Unfortunately, I can't read the small print underneath the car, so I redesigned according to what I could see.  After sketching this particular advertisement, I have realized that I should probably never work in a car-building/designing business because my sketches look awful...

Kitsch and WWII Posters

In short, Kitsch can be described is ugly.  The website given to us had little compliments for it, other than it's so bad, it's good.  The pleasantly distastefulness of it is often overdone, tacky and sometimes is intended to be funny.  Materials used were often bright shiny metals, so just think of a really ugly Christmas tree ornament that your grandma has,... and it's probably Kitsch.  

In Chapter 17, American graphics during WWII was discussed.  It first because in the early 40's before anybody ever believed the US would enter WWII.  The federal government wanted to increase production so they began producing posters.  This led to posters that depicted Hitler, Pearl Harbor because they were discussed frequently and had a huge impact on the US.  One painter, Ben Shahn, focused on Nazi brutality though very graphic forms in dynamic compositions.  Once WWII was finished, the next area of concentration was on consumer markets.  We were no longer creating war machinery and had to produce necessary items to improve the way of life.  What a better way to promote this than through advertising!  

I think it's interesting to think about how differently the US's history would have been different if it wasn't for graphic design and other forms of art.  Without it, as seen in this chapter, a lot of things wouldn't have been possible or worked as effectively if graphics weren't involved.  We were able to publicize our wants (such as focusing on consumer markets) that sped up the recovery process after the war.  I don't think many people give graphic design enough credit because this is rarely discussed in our general history books.  In these general books, our country just magically fixes itself with apparently no help from propaganda and other posters.  

How long did Kitsch last?  Or, is it still going today?

Art Deco

Part of Chapter 14 goes into detail about art deco, which took place in the early 1900's.  It is similar to art nouveau and was influenced by cubism, the Bauhaus and the Vienna Secession, along with random references such as Egyptian, Aztecs and De Stijl.  Art Deco can be described as very geometric, decorative, zigzag and slightly modern.  There is usually a lot of layers with bright, bold colors. A very popular font during this art period is Bifur, which is very blocky and heavy.  It contains no serifs and isn't the most attractive thing to look at.  Another font that emerged was Peignot, which was an attempt to 'revolutionize' the roman alphabet.  One thing that really stands out for me with this typeface is the ascenders and descenders because they stand out greatly and are unique in comparison to earlier fonts.  Jean Carlu realized that by adding expressed lines and angles, tension and alertness would come from it.  By creating curves, the feeling of comfort and relaxation arose.  For some reason, I feel this was already understood and experimented with, but Megg gives him some credit. 

I think it's interesting that our eye reads what isn't in front of us, but what we feel should be read.  On page 282, A.M. Cassandre's Bifur typeface is put into effect but half of the letters are missing.  Even though they are missing, we can still read them and understand their meanings.  

I'm curious.  What is the difference between the Art Institute of Chicago and the Institute of Design in Chicago?  According to later chapters, the Institute of Design wasn't formed until after the Bauhau crumbled, which was in 1933.  And the Art Institute was mentioned in this chapter when Edward Kauffer traveled to Chicago and studied there.  

After class 3-13

Yesterday in class, Sam gave her presentation on Chapter 15.  She described the Russian movements as follows:  Supremism- purely geometric, one of the two radical art movements, done by Russian Maleovich (who did the black square as art).  Constructivism- led by Vladimir Tatlin, abstract geometrics, PROUNS was created which showed depth and overlapping.  De Stijl:  Brought together by Doesburg, horizontal and vertical lines, flat primary colors.  This movement died when Doesburg died,... pretty sad.  De Stijl artists used sans serif typefaces, which became a popular font for the Soviets.  An important man was El Lissitsky, who designed posters regarding politics.  He used simple imagery to convey very important and big meanings.  One of his famous paintings incorporates a red triangle defeating white space, which signifies their love for communism and their revolution.

Yet again, I am surprised at how the Russians used color.  With El Lissitzky's red triangle poster, it shows that by using color, it can tell a story.  If I were to make the same painting in today's time, the message might not get across well because people wouldn't understand the red triangle. What is it?  What's it supposed to be doing?  However, everybody from all ages and classes understood this art because it was so basic, guided by simple rules that everyone could relate to.  For them, just a solid color stood as an emotion and as a signifier of their own country.

I want to know what a 'radical art movement' is, and what was the other one (besides supremism)?

Chapter 15: A New Language of Form

Chapter 15 describes the art movement in the mid 1900's within Russia.  It first began with Russian suprematism and constructivism.  Suprematism was a painting style that used basic forms and pure shapes.  It was was founded by Kasimir Malevich, who believed that the essence of the art experience was the perceptual effect of color and form.  Most of the art during this time was all fueled by the revolution.  Many people no longer wanted to move forward with art, while many other people knew the importance of it all.  Constructivism was based on industrial design, visual communications and serving the communist society.  They didn't want people to focus on useless paintings, but make them for the sake of the country.  Put them to use.  Texture, tectonics and construction were the three main principles of constructivism.  El Lissitsky was the leader of this movement, who refused to use Gutenberg's metal typesetting.  He developed a new style of painting called PROUNS which introduced three-dimensionality in the positive depth and naught depth.  He also designed a book that set new standards for organization and composition because he used grid structures.  Propaganda photomontage was led by Gustav Klutsis, who described the medium as 'the art construction for socialism.'  This guy was pretty intense because he believed that photomontage was the art of the future, and nothing else really compared to it.  After these movements came De Stijl, which occurred in the Netherlands from creator Theo van Doesburg.  De Stijl 'sought universal laws of equilibrium and harmony for art, which could then be a prototype for a new social order.'  This style was very geometric using only primary colors.  Curved lines and diagonals were removed and san serifs were favored.  

I think it's interesting that artists during these periods really focused on a reason for their color choices.  Most of the time artists choose colors based on popularity, their audience and just because.  But during De Stijl, they intentionally chose red and black because it was the colors of their revolution.  Color wasn't used as an afterthought, it was predetermined and a very important structural element.  I don't recall reading about past artist who focused on a color so much (besides in war propaganda/posters), so this is pretty fricken sweet.

Did the American's ever pick up on these Russian art movements?  

After class, 3-11

Today in class, Victoria gave her presentation on Pictorial Modernism.  According to her, pictorial modernism follows futurism and consists mainly of flat colors, flat images and a crap load of layers.  They followed futurism slightly because they played off  type and tried to create images and emotions based on the compositions of the type.  Lucian Bernhard was the 'father' of Plaknstil, which was a German design movement.  He was kicked out of his house after he painted his father's walls random colors after he was inspired by an art show.  After he left his house, he began to self teach himself and eventually received his fame and glory after winning a poster competition.  After WWI, there was a large emphasis in poster design.  Posters were used for propaganda, recruitment and for donations to the military services.  Usually the artists tried to express patriotic emotions in simple competitions with text being used only as a catchy title.  

I was surprised to hear that America was so far behind in graphic design/art trends.  They were one of the last countries to adapt the new styles versus the other countries that started the trends.  It makes complete sense, but I never really thought about it because I had expected it to travel to America faster because there were so many people who sought a new life in the U.S.  Maybe it just seems weird because today America seems to be on top of things when it comes to modern art.  OR!  Maybe I'm just assuming we are on top of things relating to modern art. 

So my question for today,... is the U.S. ahead of the game when it comes to new graphic styles?  Or do they still generally originate from Italy and France?

Chapter 14: Pictorial Modernism

Chapter 14 focused on the aspects of poster design in the early twentieth century.  These posters were influenced by many things, including war and post modern art.  Collage was first created during this time by the Beggarstaffs.  It's interesting because it wasn't popular when first designed, but it is a huge thing today.  A German style, Plakastil, emerged  in the twentieth century.  This style can be described as reductive and flat in color.  Lucian Bernhard was an influential man in this period, even though he didn't really know it.  He had submitted an art piece that was very simple and plain.  This moved graphic communications into a simpler form, not so noisy and cluttered.  This in turn led to a whole new style of posters and advertisements, where it was mainly the name of the product and a simple image depicting it.  Posters were also very important during WWI and WWII.  Radios and other forms of communication weren't quite advanced yet, so posters were the only way that the government could recruit soldiers and advertise for donations.  They were used as a significant source of recruitment and propaganda.  The Central Army had different styles compared to the Allies.  The Central Army focused on destruction of the Allies, where the Allies focused on the struggles of war and sticking with family.  This chapter also briefly mentioned art deco and how it correlates with art nouveau.  

It's hilarious that Lucian Bernhard was kicked out of his house/ran away after his parents yelled at him for painting everything inside of his house.  He painted walls, ceilings and even furniture in three days after being inspired by an interior design exhibition.  I think it's funny how different society is today.  Most kids leave or get kicked out for drug addictions, abuse or gangs.  Parents today might be upset if their kids got a little paint happy, but I doubt most would send them to fend for themselves at the age of fifteen.  

Since many people and artists wanted to adapt new styles, why did an American uproar occur with the first exposure to modern art?

After class, 3-9

Today in class Alexis gave her presentation on the Influence of Modern Art.  She went into detail about cubism, which was inspired by Pablo Picasso.  Cubism focused on geometric patterns in an abstract composition.  Futurism was inspired through revolt, courage and aggressiveness.  Harmony wasn't an option because these artists wanted speed and noise into their work.  Typography changed during futurism because it was no longer used in the horizontal, straight lines, but in unexpected locations where it was often in the shape/outline of a picture.  It was now being used as a shape.  Dadaism was led by Duchamp, and it was more of a rebellion instead of an art movement.  This was because of the destructive state of the world.  Surrealism was a new of thinking, a new way of feeling.  The artists usually focused on dreams and fantasy in a very realistic way.  Expressionism focused on the poor and social issues that were affecting the world at the time.

I was surprised to hear that Art Nouveau was the first art period that was internationally known.  I never really thought about it or took it into consideration because it seemed like whenever a new style of design began, it spread everywhere.  The more you know..

In class it was mentioned that Frank Pick was chosen to remove the clutter from cities and design a new sign/advertisements for the underground tunnel.  He wasn't an artist, and I want to know what he did, or how he was chosen to recreate these signs if he (possibly) didn't have any experience.

Chapter 13: The Influence of Modern Art

Chapter 13 covers several modern movements, including cubism, futurism, Dadaism, surrealism and expressionism.  Pablo Picasso was the first, and most influential man of cubism.  This new style of art demonstrates the new approach to handling space and and expressing human emotions.  All of the figures are generally abstracted into various geometric planes, including squares, rectangles and triangles.  This abstracted the image greatly, but after viewing the image, the image becomes recognizable.  The real subject of cubism is the use of shapes, colors, lines and textures versus the realistic subjects of previous art periods.  

Futurism followed cubism, and was first launched when the Italian poet Marinetti published his newspaper.  His newspaper consisted of images that were designed by simply using typography.  He called for a typographic revolution and wanted to place text in unexpected locations, and not in a straight horizontal line.  Another way to describe futurism is through noise and speed.  Marinetti wanted to step outside the boundaries created by Gutenbergs's printing press and express a dynamic, nonlinear composition.  Simply put, he created a mood based off the position of the text.  This was a great transition for graphic designers.

Dadaism was influenced by the 'carnage' of WWI.  These artists were designing as protests against the war and were concerned with shock, protest and nonsense.  They intended to mock a society gone wrong through their art, to inspire rebellion.  A famous artist during this time was French painter Marcel Duchamp, who created simple objects as an art form.  A good example is a urinal.  He is also known for his recreation of a manlier Mona Lisa in response to the public losing the humanistic spirit of the Renaissance.  

Next up is surrealism, where artists wanted to depict everything realistically, but in a dream-like fashion.  This was inspired by the scientific work of Freud, and people began to fantasize about  dreams, possessing faith in man and spirit.  It is more of a way of thinking versus a style of design.

This in turn led to Expressionism, where personal responses and emotions were depicted.  Color, drawing and proportions were often exaggerated or distorted, line and color were often pronounced.  Much of the work is based off of the poor because the social crisis that was occurring before WWI.  People felt sorry for the poor and wanted to depict their troubles in their art.

I was surprised to hear that Picasso used various elements from ancient Iberian and African tribal art.  I never would have expected that since I have seen a few popular pieces of his work.  I was also intrigued by Berlin artist John Heartfield and his revolts against the Nazi's.  It's quite brave of him to create and distribute propaganda against them, even when he knew he was being hunted.  Crazy man, but for all the right reasons. 

Where was futuristic artist Fortunado Depero from?  I could probably guess based of his name, but I want to know for sure.  I'm just curious because he is created with bringing futurism to America,... but I don't know where is from!

Frank Lloyd Wright

Throughout Chapter 12, The Genesis of Twentieth Century Design, Frank Lloyd Wright was mentioned for his architectural contributions to the Art Nouveau period.  I found the above image from www.flyawaycafe.com.  This amazing building was constructed in the 1930's as his former home in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Today it has become the international headquarters for the Frank Llyod Wright Foundation, which is museum that hosts public tours.  Some of the notable features within Talisesin West include:  a film theater, a performing arts theater, a drafting studio, gardens, terraces, outdoor pools and workshops for students and staff.  I am surprised it contains so much because the building doesn't appear to be very large.

I was attracted to this building because it goes along perfectly with its environment.  I could see the desert-like mountain in the distance and immediately made the connections with the pyramid-like stair structure.  The burnt orange and other various organic colors fit perfectly within the Arizonan atmosphere.  I also think that the organic building materials helped set the tone for this building because it coordinates with its location.  One of my favorite things about Talisesin West is the pool in the front yard.  It seems to be used mainly for decoration instead of actually for fitness.  It's small and a very awkward size to swim in.  I could see people lounging in it, but that's it.  I like the idea that you enter his property and you have to ask yourself, or Frank Lloyd Wright, if his pool is used for swimming.  Awkward conversation.

Chapter 12: The Genesis of Twentieth Century Design

With the twentieth century came great things, one of them being the category of typeface design known as modern style.  Artists and designers began to experiment with new styles and expressions for all aspects of design.  In Austria and Germany, abstract drawing took hold and replaced the organic drawing of Art Nouveau.  A very influential man during this time period was Frank Lloyd Wright.  Later in his practices, he moved toward 'the reality of the building' within the inside areas that people lived.  He saw space as the essence of design and was influenced by Japanese architecture and design.  At an art school in Scotland, four architectural students began working together, eventually receiving the name "The Four".  A romantic connection was made which evolved in two beautiful marriages.... lame.  Their work can be classified as symbolic, simple lines, flat panes, bold and sometimes flowing curves with rectangular structures.  Back in Vienna, paintings began to turn into a French-inspired floral style and this city eventually became the center of creative innovation in the final blossoming of art nouveau.  A magazine was published there, Sacred Spring, that was described more as a design laboratory than a magazine.  This design laboratory consisted of clever use of white space, sleek stock, color, bold line drawings and hand lettering.  This book really influenced and pushed the Vienna Secession.  I'm going to list one more man who played a huge role in the twentieth century; the German artist Peter Behrens.  He 'sought typographic reform, was an advocate of sans-serif typography, and used a grid system to structure space in his design layouts (233)'.  He is also very popular for being the first artist to design industrial objects such as street lamps, teapots, fans and electric motors.  His love of sans-serifs led him to design four weights, three expanded and three condensed versions,... not to mention his several typeface designs.  

When I read through Megg's book, I often get mad because some of the design concepts and objects for design seem so obvious but are often designed very late in history.  To me it just makes sense,... when something new is created (light bulb) isn't the next step to immediately design an attractive lamp?  The same goes with teakettles.  How long have we been using teakettles?  And it took this long to make them pretty.  Maybe it's too obvious for me because everything is stylized and designed today, but it makes me wonder if I am completely oblivious to something that should be designed/redesigned....and it's staring me right in the face.  Like the redesign of medicine bottles, it seems so obvious now, but I don't think I would have thought of it if she didn't.  It kinda pisses me off sometimes.  

Chapter 11: Art Nouveau

Chapter 11 dealt with the transition to the Art Nouveau period.  In  England, this period focused primarily on the graphic arts and illustration rather than posters, product design and architecture.  Aubrey Beardsley was a very famous man through his cult-like, exotic and demonic pictures.  He created an illustration that was awfully close to a design by William Morris in the 1890's.  Morris proceeded to sue him simply because he felt copied didn't like the mood behind Beardsley's further depiction.  Rickett was also a famous face in the Art Nouveau period, focusing primarily on the entire book as a whole.  Each page was taken into consideration as how it would affect the total book, same as the binding, the end sheets, the title page etc, etc.  

Jules Cheret was another influential man by breaking new ground in poster design.  He made flat panels and flat designs move across the page.  The symbolic aspect of Art Nouveau can really be seen in his work.  

And yet another man to point out is Mucha, who symbolized women in a very different way compared to the past.  He recreated a poster for a famous actress in a very short amount of time because she didn't like the first poster created by a previous artist.  Everyone was flabbergasted at his work- the use of Byzantine style mosaics was incredibly detailed.  Since he didn't have much time to complete his work, it wasn't finished and was left with a colorless bottom.  One thing to point out about Mucha's work is that he portrayed women unrealistically, with  no specific age, nationality, or deriving from a specific historical period.  

I think it's pretty bad ass that Ethel Reed stepped up and became the first Graphic Designer in America.  I know the women's rights movement began in the 1950's, but this is a huge step for women because they are working!  It's not just factory or industrial work either, but creating something new and exciting in a time of change.

In Megg's book, it states that Morris 'was so angry when he saw Beardsley's Morte d'Arthur that he considered legal action' (200), but it never states whether or not he sued him.  Did he pursue legal action or was it just a threat out of anger?  I'm curious because I couldn't imagine the law had much content based on copyright issues.

More work from Matthew Brady

During the past few days in class, we had discussed the legendary Matthew Brady.  He is ultimately responsible for photographing the Civil War and bringing the harshness of war to a reality.  Because of him, people realized that war is not a beautiful thing and certainly shouldn't be glorified.  The soldiers should be honored for their bravery and courage, but the idea of war in itself shouldn't be.  

I got the photograph above from a historical Civil War website and it was photographed by Matthew Brady.  One thing that irked me a bit during class was the discussion about him 'cheating' by moving dead bodies to get a better composition/photograph.  I honestly don't think that it matters because the subject he covered desperatelyneeded to be brought to the attention of the people.  Like I mentioned before, war isn't a thing of beauty and people didn't know the brutality of it since there was no media coverage like today.  If he had to cheat and move a few bodies to knock some sense into people, then I would be happy to be called a cheater if I were Matthew Brady.  He got the necessary point across.  Mission accomplished.

To get back onto topic, this photograph shows a dead soldier surrounded by fighting instruments and destroyed walls.  Considering this photograph was taken in the late 1800's shortly after the invention of the camera, I feel the quality of this black and white photograph is fantastic.  The clarity is excellent, and the shadows really give it an eerie feeling.  The angles (naturally or done by Brady,...who knows) of the log and broken items also create a feeling of uneasiness because nothing is facing the exact same direction.  The center of attention is of course the dead soldier, and since we are looking right into his face, it creates a huge amount of tension.  When I come to think of it, it's very rare that we see photographs in the newspaper or on TV where the dead person's face is exposed.  It's too emotional because many people will recognize the person, and not everybody would like to see their dead loved ones displayed for the world to see.  There is more respect in todays world,... in these terms anyways.  

When I was looking at Brady's collection of war photographs, I chose this one because it's often more effective to just show one dead body versus a hundred of them lined up.  The direct angle focusing on the face makes this photograph effective.  My eyes continue to look at his face because human eyes naturally search for things they can recognize.  A picture consisting of fifty mutilated bodies can also be effective in many ways, but this particular image gives a face to the deceased, it's more personable and concentrates on the individual.  This immediately makes the audience first think about the loved ones of this dead soldier, and in turn, forces them to think about their own family.  It hits home for all viewers and I can appreciate that.