Before, During, and After the War

The posters for the war impacted the society. Posters were created to try to persuade people to join the war or to support it. The posters ranged from serious topics such as people dying, to cartoons. Some designers had some hard feelings for Hitler, Pearl Harbor and the actual war itself, and this influences the way they created posters. One person discussed in this section of reading was Kauffer, and he created posters for the Allie nations. Meanwhile, Ben Shahn was a designer on the other side for the Nazis. He used intense images by being straightforward with his target audience. After the war, with the Allies winning, and leaving Germany in distraction the CCA "decided to commission paintings by artists from each of the then 48 states"(Meggs History of Graphic Design 367-347). These posters followed more of the Bauhaus idea which is "the union of art with life". Posters started to become more advanced during this period with stronger images and messages.
I really liked how the posters varied for the war. They would have strong messages and then they would tone it down with cartoon messages.
What does the CCA stand for?

I really liked the McDonald's poster. McDonald's are everywhere in the world, and the M is distinguishable. That poster really caught my attention with the color and with the upside down M for spelling our war. Some of the posters have such strong messages with blood splatters in a form of a hand print and the images of the terrorists.

Images 1&2

This is an image for Gold fish for the Arts and Crafts period. They had a lot of clutter almost and it was very natury and flowery. The type was very bold and orderly. I did a design around the edge of the type because that is what I think of when I think of Arts and Crafts. I will probably go back in and fix the blank space around the type because when looking at the images in the Arts and Crafts chapter the whole page was filled.

This is my second image for the Industrial Revolution. I used different type that we learned about. I have fat face, Tuscan, and Egyptian type in there. In the ads back during the Industrial revolution they would bold the words and letters that were more important than the others. I feel like they kept there posters more simple and to the point.

American Kitsch

American Kitsch seems very random. Its tacky and it is almost ugly. It really reminds me of what old people would like as art. The image on the website makes me laugh because it just reminds me of a mess that a little kid could easily make.
The World War 2 posters were very geometrical. They showed some color, but they also showed the truth almost. I feel like these posters are also designed pretty simple.
What I found interesting was that Kitsch is an art movement that a lot of people don't seem to like.
Who created the Kitsch movement?

Postcubist pictorial modernism

This section of reading started off talking about Hitler and a little bit of World War 2. It was in the beginning of World War 2 when the swastika was used for the Nazis. Everything in the Germany was supposed to have the swastika somewhere, even if you didn't beleive. Hitler also talked about the master race, which if i remember correctly was blonde hair and blue eyes. There posters were also affected by the war. The writing and lettering became dark, bold, and heavy. Art deco became during the 1920s and 1930s. It was said that this style might have been a branch off of art nouveau. Kauffer had a major impact on this chapter as well. He designed a lot of different things, from posters, to ads, to signs. Cassandre was another designer who influenced this chapter with designing new typefaces. Germany was also the main center for design beginnings.
What I found interesting about this section of reading was that Hitler had a big influence on design during World War 2. I would assume that if you did something against what he liked, that would be the end of you.
Do we know if Hitler created any propaganda himself since he "had an uncanny knack for visual propaganda" (Meggs History of Graphic Design 278).

Today in class I learned...

Today in class we had a presentation about Pictorial Modernism. This was an interesting presentation and I really enjoyed the pictionary game we played at the end. After we heard the presentation Laura had us try to keep us active today because we are all dead, and stressed because I know I am. But we talked about the propaganda posters from both Germany and the United States during World War 1. Then we did a quick talk about how we would think posters would look like today for the Iraq War.
I thought talking about how we would depict posters for the Iraq war was interesting to hear. Just to hear peoples different views on how to make people provide for the war was interesting.
My question from today is are there any well known posters for the Iraq war?

Posters, posters, and more posters

Plakatstil was developed in Germany during this time. Lucian Bernhard moved graphic communications further by simplifying and using less nature in his work. Bernhard developed a sans-serif lettering style painted in broad brushstrokes. He really liked to work simple, and this is how he was identified. Bernhard also worked with interior design and carpentry. Studying this lead to his work in architecture. He went to America, and no body really liked his work, so it took him a while to get people to like it. Sachplakate were a type of poster talked about in this chapter, and they were basically simple posters. And the poster goes to war! This was a major step in the poster career because this allowed the posters to be shown. Printing was becoming more advance during this period. And posters were really being used as propaganda at this time. The posters for the two sides were completely different from one another. The central powers stayed with the Vienna Secession style. More words and images were used on the posters as well. They also liked to show destruction as a propaganda strategy. The Allies used more literal images for their posters. Persuasive was another strategy to get people to join the war. For example, the one of Uncle Sam saying I want you for the army. Back then I think that would have been a good technique to get people to join the war. Many posters also showed the public contribution to the war by showing emotions. Hitler was discussed a little bit in this chapter. I feel like Hitler was such a strong critic. As discussed in class you said that he was a designer, but I guess no body liked his work so he had to criticize others. The swastika was created as the symbol for the Nazi party. The term art deco to me is a more simpler movement that was very geometric and linear.
What I found really interesting in this chapter was how the Allies and the Central Powers had different posters produced. They were both trying to get across the same ideas, but it is kind of cool how they are different from one another.
My question from this chapter is since Hitler had a thing for visual propaganda, did he create any of his own?

after classss

Today in class we learned about another presentation from Alexis about the influences of modern art. I liked this presentation because I really enjoyed the pictures she gave us that we had to identify what they were. I think that really helped me understand the movements a little bit better. Plus we got candy! =). Anyways after her presentation we went over our questions from the past week from our blogs. And it was really interesting to hear other questions that people in our class had, and to review what we learned.
I really enjoyed going over our questions because it helped me review what we learned about the past week, plus we went over new information.
My question from class is we might have gone over this in class, but from Alexis's presentation with the pictures, how is Umberto Bocioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space futurism movement?

The influence of modern art

The influence of modern art. Lets start with cubism. Georges Braque developed cubism and Juan Gris was a painter who developed synthetic cubism. Gris strongly influenced the development of geometric art and design. Cubism was said to have changed painting and some graphic design as well. Moving on to Futurism where they tested art with scientific purposes. Speed and noise had really impacted 20th century life. The futurist painters were strongly influenced by cubism,, but instead they showed more motion and energy. Futurism became a major influence. On to Dada which actually scares me a little bit because they were so anti art, and yet they were considered an art movement. I feel as if they didn't agree on anything. And what I found funny was that to get their name they just opened a dictionary and picked a word. Marcel Duchamp was a very outspoken artist. He even painted a mustache on the Mona Lisa, and this really made the people angry. Dadaists were known for mocking art, more than creating it. Surrealism is next. Andre Breton was the founder of surrealism. Surrealism reminds me of arts taking everyday things in life, and creating art out of it. The Spanish painter Salvador Dali influenced graphic design in a couple of ways by different perspectives and his nature views. Expressionism to me is when artists use how they are feeling or what they are feeling to create their art. Almost everything in their pieces were distorted. The artists of this movement tended to use the poor, and the outcasts as examples for their work. Expressionist consciously looked for new approaches to art and life. The techniques and subject matter of expressionism influenced graphic illustration. These art movements continue to influence artists still to this day.
What was interesting about this chapter was how much information was put into this one chapter. We are now getting more to modern day art, and it is really interesting to see all these different styles over a century ago.
My question from this chapter is why were people in such an uproar when Duchamp painted a mustache on a reproduction of the Mona Lisa if that was the style going on back then?

Weekly Image

This is an image that I took while I was in London in December. It is an image of the underground tube sign that was discussed in the book this last week. The function of this image is to show people were the station is for the tube obviously. When I went to London this past December there were Underground signs everywhere because along with the buses and driving, the tube is one of their main transportation because I don't think they have an above ground train system like we do. The type fact is bold and simple shown by distinctive letters from preceding epochs, but with an indisputably 20th century quality. They wanted it to be simple and easy to identify for people from all over the world. What attracted me to this picture was that I took it first of all, and I thought it would be something different to post on here. This relates to class because this was talked about in the last chapter we read.

Wednesday after class

Today in class we had a presentation from Anna. She talked about the 20th century Genesis. We discussed Frank Lloyd Wright, the Glasgow school, and the "four". After her presentation we had to go around the room and answer each others questions we were assigned for our last after class blogs. I was a little stumped by Laura's question not going to lie. Since we were all exhausted, and we did so good in class Laura decided to be so so nice and give us Friday off!.
I really enjoyed learning about Frank Lloyd Wright because in high school I took a class called Humanities and we took a month or so and discussed a lot about Wright. We had the opportunity to go and see his place in Oak Brook or where ever in Illinois it is, but I was unable to go, and I wish I went because I hear it is amazing.
My question from this class is did Frank Lloyd Wright ever get remarried after his families disaster? And how did he pass away?

Beginning of 20th century design

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect who was a big influence in 20th century design. He really used a lot of organic materials, and he liked open spaces. He was really interested with the interior space of where people lived and worked. Along with architecture, he also included furniture, graphics, fabrics, wallpapers, and stained-glass windows. The Glasgow school was developed during this time by "the four". They liked symbolic imagery and stylized form. Vienna Secession was an important event that happened in this chapter. A major difference is the artists love of clean , simple, sans serif lettering. The Vienna Secession artists did not stop from experimenting. Moser played a major role the approach to graphic design. Alfred Roller also made significant steps in graphic design. The German artist, architect, and designer Peter Behrens played a major role in this chapter and continued to later. He was known for san-serif typography and the use of the grid system. He has been known as the first industrial designer. AEG also had their logo designed during this time by Behrens. Because this was not available in type yet, they had to hand letter it. In 1890 the first underground electric railway opened in London. Frank Pick designed the logo and is still used today.
What I found interesting about this chapter was all of the London underground stuff. I went to London this past December for a week, and it is really cool to read about what I was experienced while I was over there.
My question from the reading is did I miss what they said what AEG stood for?

Monday after class.

We were put into pairs to answer each others questions for our after class blog, Laura was my partner and her question was what was the Asian spell? (page 195).

In the book it says important inspiration also came from European painting in the late 1880's, which had fallen under the Asian spell. the swirling forms of Vincent Van Gogh, the flat color and stylized organic contour of Paul Gauguin and the work of the Nabis group of young artists all played a role.

After looking up information about the Asian spell online, I feel like they were controlled by the government.  

"It is said that James Whistler discovered Japanese prints in a Chinese tearoom near London Bridge and that Claude Monet first came upon them used as wrapping paper in a spice shop in Holland. James Tissot and his friend Edgar Degas were among the earliest collectors of Japanese art in France, but their own art was affected by exotic things in very different ways. Unlike Tissot, and others who came under the spell of Japan, Degas avoided staging japoneries that featured models dressed in kimonos and the conspicuous display of oriental props. Instead, he absorbed qualities of the Japanese aesthetic that he found most sympathetic: elongated pictorial formats, asymmetrical compositions, aerial perspective, spaces emptied of all but abstract elements of color and line, and a focus on singularly decorative motifs. In the process, he redoubled his originality. "
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm

New New New

New. Art Nouveau was a movement that spread all across the world from east to west. Art Nouveau was based from architecture and furniture to posters and advertisements. A characteristic that identifies Art Nouveau is its plant like designs. Art Nouveau had many different areas of specialties, from architecture, painting and book design. The idea of their designers was to make art apart of peoples everyday lives. Lets start with Japan, one of the many many countries discussed in this chapter. Book illustration was a major form of popular art. Now lets move into France where Jules Cheret and Eugene Grasset played important roles. The streets are where the artists displayed all their pieces, it was almost like an art gallery. Cheret evolved away from the Victorian era and simplified his designs. Grasset was the rival Cheret. Moving onto England where graphic design was more of a concern. Charles Ricketts was the influential man during this period. And then to France were it was very similar to the English. Art nouveau even comes to America. William H. Bradley is one of the two major American influences. Chapbook style was introduced during this period as well. Ethel Reed was the first American woman to be considered a graphic designer. Belgium and the Netherlands also had art nouveau introduced in their countries. There products were different from the others, they were more into jewelry, metalwork, etc. The Windingen style was also introduced; also known as De Stijl and art deco. Two countries left; Germany and Italy. German style had a lot of British and French influences, but they still stayed more modern. And in Italy, posters were characterized by a "sensuous exuberance and elegance rivaling that of la belle epoque in France"(Meggs History of Graphic Design 219). Art nouveau declined until it was gone in World War 1.
What I found really interesting about this chapter was how the art nouveau spread to sooo many countries in one century, and lasted for about two. And it is one movement, but in each country art nouveau was so different.
My question from this reading was did art nouveau affect other countries like Spain, and Ireland, etc. because they were close around the countries that did have the movement, or did those countries have their own movements?

Image of the Week

This is an image about the fat face font we studied in class on Thursday.

The function of this image is to show us the style of fat face, and it shows us at least three times in this one image.

I found this image just searching google images for an image. I thought that this was one of the better images I found for fat faces.

The typography is obviously fat face, and it looks like it has very small serifs. But this type is fat indeed. I really like how it goes from really fat, to extremely thin.

The quality of artwork is good because I like how there are three different layers going on trying to show the same thing.

What attracted me to this piece was the color, and the three different layers that are shown in this one image.

This relates to class because fat face was a very popular type that was invented during the Industrial Revolution and it is probably my favorite.