Week 6

I apologize for the pictures all over, Im not quite sure how to get them in how I want them. I chose to Draw The Morton Salt girl in victorian style.  During the Victorian period the style was lacy and little girls wore big bows in their hair, I tried to incorporate these things into my sketch. I also chose to make the Red Cross logo in Arts and Crafts. Arts and Crafts used lots of busy geometric shapes and nature in their work so I incorporated that into my sketch. 

American Kitsch

American Kitsch can still be seen today and not just on Antique Road Show. It is very cheaply made things and things that serve no purpose like porcelain figurines. WWII posters used geometric shapes, posters were recruiting for help. I think it is interesting the ways that Kitsch still exists.

Can you say it is still in-style or just still sitting around (like ugly paintings or porcelain figurines)?

Chapter 17: The Modern Movement in America

As the Nazis began to take over Europe many Europeans moved to America, including many graphic designers. These designers brought with them their talent and ideas which greatly influenced graphic design in America. The closing of the Bauhaus by the Nazis caused modern design to disperse throughout the world along with its faculty, students, and alumni. These immigrants brought almost nothing with them to the United States except their talent but greatly influenced the course of graphic design. Their influence can be seen in World War II posters and magazine covers.

I found it interesting that magazines such as Seventeen and Vogue were being printed at this time.

What was the reasoning behind the WPA's Federal Art Project?

Chapter 15: A New Language of Form

El Lissitzky understood the constructivist idea and applied it to his works. Kisimir Malevich introduced him to a 3D style called PROUNS. Lissitzky went on to experiment with photomontage, printmaking, painting, and graphic design. His hard work greatly influenced the course of graphic design. After his death, Jan Tschichold, wrote that he was one of the great pioneers and that a generation that has never heard of him stands upon his shoulders. In the early 1920's the Soviet government encouraged the new Russian art and offered to help publicize it. The Isms of Art was one of the most influential book designs at this time, its architectural framework was an important step toward the creation of a visual program for organizing information.  Gustav Klutsis was the master of propaganda photomontage, his work has been compared to John Heartfield's stong political statements. Unlike Heartfield, Klutsis was arrested for his new style approach during the Stalinist purges and died in the labor camps. Vladimir Vasilevich Lebedev is another constructivist who greatly influenced Russian modernism. He is the father of the 20th century Russian picture book, influenced by propaganda posters for ROSTA. Piet Mondrian was part of the De Stijl movement and painted geometric abstractions. The primary colors and geometric abstractions became very popular in the works of artists in this movement. Geometric construction was a big step in the direction towards organized printed pages.

I found it very interesting that Gerrit Rietveld's Schroder House was found so radical that people threw rocks at it and that the children were given a hard time at school.

What affect did the political trauma in Russia have on Russian art?

Class March 11, 2009

Victoria presented Pictorial Modernism, it was the move towards simplicity.  Poster artists used bold colors and flat images. The father of Pictorial Modernism is Lucian Bernhard. Posters became propaganda pieces. She talked about the Dada movement, Early Modernism, and Man Ray. In class we talked about  the differences between Central Powers and the Allies propaganda posters. We then split into groups and had to decide what a poster would look like today.

I found it interesting that Dada artists put the word Dada on their art.

Why did Man Ray change his name? 

Chapter 14: Pictorial Modernism

The needs of communication during the World War influenced the change in style of the European poster. Cubism and constructivism were very popular at this time. A poster designer knew he needed to maintain a pictorial reference in order to communicate persuasively with the general public. Collage became a new technique developed by the Beggarstaffs, James Pryde and William Nicholson. Lucian Bernhard moved graphic communications a step closer to a simple visual language of shape and design with his famous Priester matches poster. A sans-serif lettering that Bernhard developed impressed a staff member of the Berthold Type Foundry, who based a typeface on it, Bernhard was surprised to see his lettering cast in metal for the whole world to use. Bernhard was a key designer, his work may be considered to be the sensible resolution of the turn-of-the-century poster movement. Emil Cardinaux created the first modern Swiss poster which was very similar to Germany's modern poster, Plakatstil.  A frequent device artists used in their propaganda was to show destruction of enemy symbols or flags. Narrative design was replaced by persuasive propaganda, illustrators had to combine words and images. Ludwig Hohlwein was a leading Plakatstil designer, his work agreed with Adolf Hitler's idea of effective propaganda. His collaboration with the Nazis ruined his reputation as a designer. 

I found it interesting that at age fifteen, Lucian Bernhard repainted his family's home while they were away and ran away and never returned after he was called a potential criminal and criticized by his father.

What are pseuo- nyms? (The Beggarstaffs adopted them to protect their reputations as artists.)

Class March 9, 2009

Today in class Alexis presented The Influence of Modern Art. She talked about all the movements during the twentieth century, then quizzed us over the different styles those movements used. Then Laura talked about what graphic design is, Frank Lloyd Wright, AEG, and Peter Behrens.  We talked about Wrights work and style. He was the master of organic architecture. AEG or General Electric Company is still around today Peter Behrens worked for them. Behrens is the father of industrial design, he designed the tea kettle and street lamp. I found it interesting that he made somethings for Hitler and AEG made planes for the germans during world war 2.  

What did Frank Pick do?

Image Post (Week 5)

This past week we talked about lithographic printing or "stone printing". In chromolithographic printing each color had to be on a separate stone.  I am not familiar with this type of printing but as I read it and Laura explained it it sounded to me a lot like the way my dad and I screen print.  The image I chose is of a screen printing machine, you can see the different colors on the different screens, these machines can have different amounts of arms on them. In the close up you can see the arms that hold the screen and the board that the shirt is laid over. After the design for the shirt is done we have to print it on special photo-like transparent paper, but when the design has two or more colors the colors have to be printed separately. After the colors are separated and printed out they are put on a mesh screen. In another machine the image is laid on the screen where a light and special chemicals that were applied to the screen open up the mesh in areas where the design is. Once the screen is washed off and dried it is put on the screen printing machine, this goes for each color screen. Ink is then placed on the screen and once the shirt is on the printing board the screen is then pulled down on top of the shirt and ink is squeegeed across the design. After the first color is dried the next color is applied the same way and so on for any other colors. So in this process the screens each have different colors and in chromolithographic printing each stone had a different color. I have never seen chromolithographic printing but I imagine it is very similar and that is how I pictured this stone printing when Laura explained it. 

Chapter 13: The Influence of Modern Art

Cubism began from a series of works from Pablo Picasso, it was also greatly influenced by Paul Cezanne.  In cubism figures were abstracted into geometric shapes. Cubism was developed by Picasso and Georges Braque, as the art movement that replaced the rendering of appearances with the endless possibilities of invented form.  Futurism was a movement in which all the arts were to test their ideas and forms against the new realities of scientific and industrial society. This movement was led by Filippo Marinetti. Futurism used typography to make poems a work of art, words and letters were not always strung along the page in a row or standing straight up.  Futurist painters were strongly influenced by cubism but also added movement in their works. Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carra, Luigi Russolo, Giacomo Balla, and Gino Severini were futurist painters who published Manifesto of the Futurist Painters. Antonio Sant' Elia was a futurist architect, he declared decoration to be absurd. His ideas and drawings influenced the course of modern design and art deco. Dadaists rebelled against world war horrors and other norms.  Marcel Duchamp, dadaists most prominent artist, outraged the public when he painted a mustache on a reproduction of the Mona Lisa. John Heartfield used photomontage as a propaganda weapon, The Weimar Republic and Nazi Party were his targets and even after his studio was raided he moved and mailed postcard versions to major Nazi leaders. Dada eventually led to surrealism and then died off. Andre Breton founded surrealism. It was a way of thinking and knowing , a way of feeling, and a way of life.  Giorgio de Chirico is considered to be the first surrealist painter. A large amount of artists joined this movement,  several majorly impacted photography and illustration.  Expressionism was a movement which dipicted emotions and personal responses. There were two early expressionist groups created by the Germans, Die Brucke and Der Blue Reiter. Man Ray was the first photographer to explore and create pictures using solarization. 

I thought the most interesting part of this reading was that even after Heartfield's studio was raided he still sent his propaganda to Nazi leaders, it was as if he had a death wish.

What are schadographs?

Class March 4, 2009

Today, Anna presented to us 20th century design.  This was a time of transition from art nouveau to modern.  Modern style artists used geometric shapes and white space. Frank Lloyd Wright, an American architect, believed "space was essence of design" and in his works he experimented with white space. "The Four" innovated the "Glasgow Style" which used curvilinear elements with strong rectilinear structure. Anna also talked about the Vienna Secession, it was the movement away from traditional design. Gustav Klimt lead the revolt; Joseph Olbrich, Josef Hoffmann, and Koloman Moser also played an important role in revolting against traditional design.  Ver Sacrem was an important design resource during its time, it showed artists compositions with which they  had experimented, these artists used and combined different elements to create a new style.  I would have to say that the most useful thing i learned about today was Vienna Secession, before class I was a little confused as to what it was all about and what Klimt was revolting against.  

Did the Vienna Secession lead into modern style?

Chapter 12: The Genesis of Twentieth Century Design

The end of the eighteenth century ended art nouveau and brought on modern style. The twentieth century artists searched for new forms of expression. Frank Lloyd Wright inspired artists and designers toward a rectilinear approach to spatial organization. Wright believed that space was the essence of design. "The Four" innovated a geometric style of composition by tuning floral and curvilinear elements with strong rectilinear structure. Their work inspired many and they were celebrated on the continent, mostly in Vienna.  Vienna Secession artists experimented with unusual methods which would achieve an original looking visual elegance. Koloman Moser may have designed the first white-on-white embossed graphic design. He played a major role in defining the approach to graphic design. Adolf Loos banished useless decoration, he had the same views as Wright about the use of space. Decoration was only used when it functioned as a harmonious proportion. Peter Behrens was an important figure who played a major role in working towards graphic design, he was also called "the first industrial designer". He worked for AEG and designed street lamps and teapots. He used a grid system to structure space in his layouts. Klingspor Foundry released Behrens first font, Behrensschrift. He designed another typeface called Behrens-Antiqua especially for AEG. I found Behrens to be a very interesting man. He not only designed typefaces and styles but created street lamps and teakettles , he influenced and worked with many other designers. 

What were Thomas Edison's patents that Rathenau bought?

Class March 2, 2009

In class we chose partners and we were assigned to answer their question for our in class blog. Sam's question was... 

Did art nouveau affect other countries like Spain and Ireland, because they were close to the countries that did or did they have their own movement? 

France, Japan, England, Switzerland, America, Belgium, Germany, and Italy were the countries the book talked about. After searching online, I found that Antoni Gaudi was the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau. (http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Antonio_Gaudi.html)  I did not find much on Irish Art Nouveau except about the Irish poet Oscar Wildes, who was in the book. 

Chapter 11: Art Nouveau

Asian art revitalized graphic design in Europe and North America. Asians had adapted to woodblock print. Matthew Perry's navel expeditions to Japan opened trade to the West and closed the isolated policies Japan had for its people. Art Nouveau was an international decorative style that was very popular for two decades. The term art nouveau came from Samueal Bing's Salon de l'Art Nouveau, which became an international meeting place where young artists met each other. This new stlye embraced all areas of the arts, architecture, painting, furniture, etc. Art Nouveau was the bridge that led Victorian style into Modern style. Posters became a popular thing at this time, there was a close collaboration between visual artists and writers, and the lifting of the French law restricting freedom of press allowed posters to be posted almost anywhere; the streets became an art gallery for the nation. Jules Cheret introduced a whole new role model for women, his figures were called "Cherettes", they were neither prudes nor prostitutes but they were happy women who enjoyed life to the fullest, wore low-cut dresses, danced, drank wine, and smoked in public. Ethel Reed was the first American woman to achieve national prominence as a graphic designer and illustrator. I found it very interesting to learn about "Cherettes". I wonder what made Jules Cheret feel the need to change the view of women.

What was the Asian spell? (pg. 195)

Week 4

This is a picture of a heat press. It is used to press letters and numbers onto things like t-shirts. My dad and I use one at our family business, Gametime, where we screen print. It is like a modern more graphic way of printing. It is used most to put letters on jerseys but can also be used to put on pictures or any other design. The quality is good, as long as you press the design for the right amount of time and you put the design on straight. I was attracted to this piece because I was working at Gametime this weekend and had to use the heat press. It is not as easy as it looks, it takes a few tried to get used to it. I thought that it relates to the type press only it is a modern day type press and and used on a different substrate.