Woohoo last and final blog!

Well it's the end. And we had two final presentations on Friday. One about Kyle Cooper and another on Shepard Fairely. Kyle Cooper was a rather interesting designer. Saul Bass was a huge influence on him and his style. His work was highly stylized and liked to experiment with typography. His typography ranged a lot; from playful to unique type. He worked on a lot of movies, and I really enjoyed watching all those movie clips in class. Lastly, was Shepard Fairely. The guy known for getting sued over making an Obama poster. He started to design when he was a teenager. He had the skate and punk influence on him as well. Fairely is really well known for the Andre the Gian stickers as well. He would post them everywhere around town. His style is unique in his own way. It has that Art Deco look with the sunbursts, but he also liked to keep it dark with uses of black and red. He had hidden messages in his designs as well. Bold colors and San-serif fonts were another characteristic to define him. I guess he just has his own unique style along with every other designer we studied in the past month.

presentations day 4? i've lost count.

We were presented with 3 more designers 2 days ago, Stefan Sagmeister, Clement Mok, and Leo Burnett. Stefan Sagmeigster was known as a designer "with guts". His biggest influence was Tibor Kalman. His style was very handwritten, not very digital, he used a lot of photography and inventive typography. He thought the human body/face was the most important thing in life and he used it often. He even carved out his words and phrases in his own body. Um ouch. He won a Grammy for his talking head boxed set as well. Moving on to Clement Mok. He had a big influence on apple, or at least worked there. He had a very artistic nature. He liked to use geometric lines and bold colors. He also loved to work with symbolism and abstraction. He established identity systems, which led to creating logos. He had a wide variety of clients. Lastly was Leo Burnett. Man, his website was so much fun! He had three main symbols that described him; apples, hand reaching for the stars, and a black pencil. He also created a lot of different logos for company's such as Tony the Tiger, the Pillsbury dough boy, and Tucan Sam to name a few.

Presentations day 3

On Monday we had three more presentations on Tibor Kalman, David Carson, and Matthew Carter. Tibor Kalmas is a social activist from Hungry. He is known for M&Co, which is his design firm with his wife. They design magazines, film titles and books. He likes to incorporate social issues into his work. He also believed in doing something different, something you don't see everyday. He was also known for his colors magazine, which took famous people such as Queen Elizabeth and Arnold Schwarzenegger and colored them black. Which I'm sure created a lot of uproar over. The next presentation was on David Carson. He had very innovative designs. His designs were very emotional. He didn't go to school, he was a self taught designers. He played off of the Swiss style with asymmetrical layouts. Surfing had a big influence on him. His style was known for big ideas, custom fonts, and cluttered pages. His era was before and after the computer as well. He had many different tittles such as a graphic designer, typographer, author, surfer, and many more. Lastly was Matthew Carter. Matthew Carter is a typography designers who produced a large variety of type. He was largely influenced by his father. He was also influenced by some Reinecassce painters. Technology was a big influence as well. He believed that technology changes faster than design does.

Day 2 of presentations

Friday we were presented with Neville Brody, Art Chantry, and Storm Thorgerson. Neville Brody is native of the United Kingdom. He was really into the whole punk music scenes and that really had an effect on him. It let him to rebellion. Face Magazine was what really made Neville become an influential designer. He worked up his status quickly. It only took him two years to become art director of the magazine. He worked with another magazine called fuse. In this magazine Neville really liked to work with graphic and type face design more than anything. "Brody" is the best graphic design book that has been sold, and this book talks all about him and his designs. Art Chantry was the second presentation we heard about. Art Chantry, or Arthur Samuel Chantry, had a rough childhood. He was born in a predominant family with his father being a high end government official, but his father wasn't a very nice one. He would be his mother a lot to the point where she left them. They moved to a lower end neighborhood, and in high school he "discovered friends, psychedelic posters, rock and roll, french symbolism poetry, and existentialism". Chantry was big on the punk and rock and roll. He had a dadaist philosophy and he used various typefaces in his designs. Lastly, Storm Thorgerson. He was by far the most interesting designer we have learned about so far. He really liked to design album covers for bands, and his biggest band that he designed for was Pink Floyd. He loved to use photography and layer them for his images. A lot of his images consisted of a big image next to a small image. He liked to show big/small comparisons. He was apart of the Hipgnosis design firm specializing in creative photography. The company didn't believe in a set price, and that turned out to bite them in the butt later on, and he left the company in 1985. Munch and Dali were some of his biggest influences and he is now working at Storm Studios as a freelancer.

presentations day 1

Well, the presentations started. We heard presentations on April Greiman, Milton Glaser(my presentation), and Seymour Chwast. April Greiman was born in 1948 in New York. Her mother, father and aunt raised her and taught her to ask a lot of questions when growing up. She has some early inspirations such as you cant fake the cha-cha and determination and hard work. She was educated at the Rhode Island school of design, Kansas City Art Institute, and the Basel School of design in Switzerland. She started a New Wave of Design with Wolfgang Weinhart and she took a break from normal typography. She changed the weight, spacing, size and angle with working with typography. She is known for "the desert", Cal Arts, "Iris light", and "Inventing flight". To this day she still has a design business and she likes to work with architects. April Greiman had a major impact on Graphic design.
Now onto Seymour Chwast. He was born in New York City in 1931. He attended Cooper Union along with Milton Glaser. The both of them along with two others created Push Pin Studios. He preferred working with the speed ball pen and ink than anything else. A lot of his images were images with type around it because he felt that the image was a bit more important than the type and didn't want the type to overpower the image. He has also worked with children's book illustrations and packing products, but he prefers the poster over anything else because it allows him to do pretty much anything he wants.

Thesis

Milton Glaser, best known for his "I love New York" logo, had a major impact on comtemporary illustration and design. His designs were known for being simple and direct along with being completely orginal.

Last reading!

Opps, I read the wrong section. But anyways last reading! and what a short reading it was. These posters were more on peoples view points on things, rather than propaganda and trying to sell things. These posters were often very bright or bold colors. The writing was difficult to read at times. The psychedelic posters got there name because they were related to anti establishment values, rock music, and drugs. A lot of the artists would teach themselves as well. Some designs that were popular among these posters were swirls, bright colors, hippie looking writing, gradient and so on.
I liked this section of reading because one it was short, and two it is getting closer to our period of time, and I really find the poster interesting to look at. The bright colors and trying to figure out what the posters are trying to say are really interesting.
Did the people of this time like the posters?

Chapters 20&21

I actually enjoyed reading chapter 20. I liked it because it was all about corporate identity and visual systems as the title states. The chapter discussed how the CBS, ABC, and MTV logos came about. It was really cool to hear about the backgrounds of the logos. William Golden designed the 1st CBS logo, it was two circles and two arcs that form an eye. "It symbolized the awesome power of project video images". This image is still used to this day. Another person who had an influence on the CBS image was Georg Olden. Olden was the 1st African American known graphic designer. He claimed his status even before the civil-rights movement which was huge back then. Not many African Americans had any status but being a slave. The ABC logo was designed during this time as well. Paul Rand, discussed in the last chapter with The New York school created the image still used today as well. "The continuing legacy of the Bauhaus and Herbert Bayer's universal alphabet informs this trademark, in which each letter-form reduced to its most elemental configuration". The logo is probably the simplest logo you can find. It is about four circles with two straight lines for two of the letters. This logo is still used today, with a few changes. When it's on screen, the logo is now transparent, but still visible. This chapter also covered the Mexican Olympics. When the symbol signs first were used. They needed images for every cultural because writing would take up way to much space. They used simple pictographs to represent the different sports, lodging, food, airports, etc.
I liked this chapter because I liked to read about the different logos and how they became of. It is cool to see how they are still used today and they have barely changed.
Are the pictographs for the Olympics still used today?
In chapter 21 images were starting to become less narrative and telling stories, but now they are becoming more about ideas and concepts. The Polish poster was created around now. When Poland was just about completely destroyed from the war, the communists took over, and they took over printing and graphic design. The artists and designers had set fees and they had standards they had to follow. Artist Tadeusz Trepkowski was the first polish poster artist to come out after the war. His posters were simple, and liked to show devastation. There was also another side of the Polish poster to be created. This poster showed more surrealism, and the posters tended to be more dark and depressing. The American conceptual images were very colorful images. I feel like they were also busy images as well. I really liked how they used color in these images. They are brighter than what we've studied before and it makes me want to look at the images more. The last topic covered in this chapter is the third world posters. The third world countries include Latin America, Asian, and Africa. They would usually used weapons in their posters as images to get people to look at them. Cuba was a major center for poster design. Many third world countries such as Cuba, lacked artistic traditions.
What I found interesting about this chapter was that the third world countries actually had posters designed. You would think that posters would be the last thing to spend money on since they didn't have much to spend on food, clothing and housing.
My question from this chapter is what was the first poster created in some of the third world countries.

Chapter 18&19

Chapters 18 and 19, a lot of reading, but getting more into the modern designs. After reading about the International Typographic Style I feel like this style was more of a way for artists to express new ways of communicating. New ways involving clarity and order, art concret which was very mathmatical with the colors and the elements. Aton Stankowski was a major person talked about in this chapter. He worked more with photography and photomontage. Stankowski would work behind the scenes. He would work with things that were not everyday images. He liked to use all material as well. Hermann Zapf was another guy who ended up designing more than 50 typefaces. Some examples are Palantino and Optima. This Swiss design movement really had an impact on America after the wars. This design movement did not just stay over in Europe, it ended up spreading every where.
I really liked the new designs that were going on. They are very orderly and there is a lot more of bright colors being used.
Do we still use this style today?
Now on to chapter 19, the New York School. This chapter talks about design in America, finally some names I can actually maybe pronounce. Paul Rand, Bill Bernbach, Alvin Lustig, Alex Steinweiss, Saul Bass, George Tscherny, and Robert Brownjohn we the pioneers of the New York School. This chapter also discussed graphic design at Yale, where Josef Alber was the director. Alvin Eisenman assisted him later. Albers was more about typography and Eisenman was more about type design and book design. Editorial design was changed as well. They put more "emphasis on content, longer text, and less opportunity for lavish visual treatment, and the layout became more controlled". More technology was used at this time, for photography and printing. Along with new editorial design, advertising was new as well. Advertising was not just used in magazines and newspaper anymore, it is being used in the television for commericals.
This whole chapter was packed filled with information. The design style is changing, and it is cool to see how it was like, not even 50 years ago.
Was this after World War 2?

Images 3&4

OK sorry these are late and in a jumble but these are my 3 images for the week.

They are all pretty simple. But the 1st one is about futurism. When I think of futurism they had those images with all the words spelling out things. I probably could have been a little bit more creative with this one, and i will probably end up going back and fixing it. But its a start. My 2nd image is one of the De Stijl movement. I couldn't use color for this, but they were all about the primary colors and the very simple boxy images. I tried to make this image look very simple. My last image is one to support the war, or propaganda. Trying to get people to buy TVs to support the war. I don't know why i chose TVs or what they have to do with the war either. This one seems to catch my eye and make me want to move my eye around to see what it says.

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.

In class on the last day of February

Yesterday we started off the class with a presentation from Amanda. We learned about the Victorian Era, and it was a very big and elegant. They liked to be very flashy with their designs. After the presentation Laura showed us some movies about printing. I'm not going to lie, I really liked the 2nd one a lot. It looks like a lot of fun to do, just messy. We also went over questions that we've had in our blogs from the last week or so.
The most meaningful thing I learned today was watching how the printing press was actually done, I was a little confused on it before watching the video, now I get it!.
My question though from yesterdays class is when we were talking about the solar/sun power printing or I cant exactly remember what it was, but it was solar/sun power, would it still work even without the sun?

The good old arts and crafts

The arts and crafts movement was a movement that really happened all because of the industrial revolution. William Morris is a very important person who played a huge role in this chapter. Morris had many typefaces and he named his first Golden and it was based off of or similiar to the Venetian roman face. "He also made the characters wider than most Gothic types, increased the differences between similar characters, and made the curved characters rounder"(Meggs History of Graphic Design 173). Chaucer was the last of his typefaces that he created. Morris really wanted his designs to be for the working class, but what was ironic was that only the upper class could afford it. The Ashendene Press became known during this time as well. The type designed for Ashendene was the semi-Gothic types. The arts and crafts movement was very important to 20th century designers.

What I found interesting about this chapter was William Morris in general. It was cool to see how much one guy had such an impact on the history of design. I'm not going to lie though, I'm not really liking the arts and crafts too much. There are some cool things about it, but some of it confuses me.

My question from the chapter would be if Morris wanted his designs to be more towards the working class, why didn't he make it toward the working class instead of the upper class?

In class.

Class today was all about the Industrial Revolution. We started off in groups discussing what we thought was important during the Industrial Revolution, such as important people, what lead up to it, etc. That took a good 20 minutes discussing in groups, and to be honest I was a tiny bit confused at first to what we were doing, but then after a little bit I finally realized we were answering questions. The remainder of class consisted of Laura lecturing about the rest of the chapter. This chapter was FULL of information and it was actually interesting to learn about.
The most meaningful thing I learned yesterday in class was how many different letter types were invented during this time, and I feel like many of these are still used today.
My question from the class is what kind of wood was used for the wood type?

The Industrial Revolution

This chapter was all about change. The Industrial Revolution had a major impact on graphic design and typography. New materials became available too. Factories became rather popular during this time, and created many new jobs for people. Other materials such as steel and metal were introduced. The sizes of letterings from small to big along with different styles were introduced. There were 4 styles that I read about in this chapter. Fat faces, antiques, Tuscan-style, and sans-serif types. Fat face is just what it sounds like, thick, fat and heavy. Tuscan-style almost reminds me of a cursive with curvy letters. Lastly sans-serif type looked a lot like Egyptian face with the no serifs. Wood-type posters became known around this time too. The two double-cylinder steam-powered press was also built during this time. "They were capable of printing 1,100 impressions an hour on sheets of paper"(Meggs History of Graphic Design 140). Hand pressed printing was starting to be replaced by steam powered ones. Photography became known also. Photography was being used to report things such as news, and events that were happening. For example, the Civil War was a big event that was first photographed. Pictures for children were developed also. Mostly in picture books.
What I found interesting in this chapter was basically the whole long chapter. It is amazing how one little thing, the Industrial Revolution, changed so so much for the graphic design industry. So much was developed during this time as well and it's really cool to see how things such as photography, printing, and such got started compared to today.
My questions is did photographers get killed when trying to take pictures to document the civil war?

Weekly Image

Sorry this is late!

This is a typography design that has a massive amounts of fonts, written in the word font obviously.

I feel like the function of this image is to show all the different types of fonts that are available in word and they show this message by writing the word font out with all the different types mixed in.

I came upon this when I was searching google images for a typography design image and I was just really drawn to this image.

I think the quality of this artwork is good. I like how the word font actually looks like a type of fond you can use, and I really love all the different types of words spelled out in the word.

The typography is a typography design and it is just a bunch of modern day fonts.

What really attracted me to this piece would have to be all the words spelled out in the word font. I also like the contrast between the colors because it really makes the word pop.

This relates to what we have read and discussed because we've discussed older typography and how and who invented it.

Intro to Vis Comm-Pictures for project 1

I love food. But one important thing to me is to eat healthy. I try to eat as healthily I can when I'm at school. I feel like I do eat healthier when I'm at school rather than at home when I have access to junk food all the time. We tend to have a lot of food in our room, but there is rarely any sweets.

This picture represents my love for technology. My computer and my cell phone have a huge part in my life. When I went to London this past Christmas it was really hard to leave both behind. It is actually kind of sad how much I rely on them. I'm usually texting a lot too. It's a really bad habit.

I feel as if I'm a very bubbly person and what a better way to show that with polka dots. I also have a huge obsession with polka dots. I love them. My shower curtain, my bed, a lot of my shirts are covered in polka dots.

This is a picture of a few of my markers in my room. I love to be crafty and I love to color when I'm bored. I have a lot more markers in my room than is shown here. Coloring is another good stress reliever too.

This image shows some of then things we do in my co-ed frat I'm in. That is a big part of my life here at school. All my close close friends are in the frat and I love all the girls and guys in it. I don't know what my life here at school would be without it.

I said before how I have to have my desk really organized, but I never said anything about the rest of my room. My bed is never made, and the rest of my room tends to get messy really fast. And usually I'm too lazy to clean it unless it gets disgusting. This is the way my bed looks all the time, except when I wash my sheets, then it gets made. I just rebel at school because I ALWAYS had to make my bed at home and I hated it.

The speaker represents loudness. When I'm with my friends you can never get me to shut up and I just love being loud and having good times with my friends. When I'm in a comfortable surrounding my loudness comes out. I also have a really loud laugh that is recognizable from down the hall.

This picture represents smartness or studying. I've obviously been in school for 16 years of my life and I may not like to study and actually go to class, but I know it is for my own benefit. I know every test might not come out the way I want it to, but when I put my time and effort into studying I know it will show. Taking notes is one of the most important things, besides pay attention, to do in class.

This picture represents color. I love color and I feel that I am very colorful. My clothes are sorted by color and I like it that way. It makes it easier to find what I want to wear but it also makes my room a little more colorful.

Intro to Vis Comm-Pictures for project 1

This picture shows my wallet and it represents me because I'm a huge spender. Give me money and I swear it will be completely gone within a few hours. I have a hard time saving money and soon as I get it for a birthday or something I want to go out and spend it. I don't like working for that reason. And if I'm out with a friend, I usually talk them into getting things that they don't need because that is what I do to myself.

This is a picture of my bed. I'm completely obsessed with my bed. It is probably one of the most comfortable beds ever. If I'm not in class, I'm probably laying in my bed or napping in it. A lot of my friends will take naps in it because it is that comfortable.

This is a picture of the stack of blankets we have in our room. I love blankets and cuddling up in them when I'm in my cold warm. It's the perfect combination for me. I also like to make those tie blankets. I have at least 6 of them between here and my house at home.

This picture gives me a sense of home. This is my dog and blankie that I've had since I was born. I don't sleep without them. It gives me a sense of security when I am sleeping. Plus I like to cuddle with them when I sleep.

This picture is part of my movie collection at school. I love movies. I usually have a movie in when I'm doing homework, or when I'm falling asleep with my roomie or even alone. Movies are a good way to have me wind down from a stressful day or even if I want a relaxing night.

This picture of my ipod represents my love for music. I don't have a specific type of music that I like, but I'm always listening to it. When I'm doing homework, reading, falling asleep, working out, in some classes, I usually have my ipod with me.

This picture of the water bottles represent me because I'm always thirsty or I'm always drinking water. I do not like very many drinks, plus I like to stay hydrated with water. It is important to me because if I go one day without drinking it, I usually end up with a massive headache. So I try to drink 2-3 bottles a day.

This picture is an up close picture of a fan. I chose a picture of a fan because I like my room cold. I absolutely cannot sleep when my room is hot. I also can't concentrate when I'm uncomfortable in my room.

I chose this picture of my desk to represent how organized I am. Clutter on my desk just makes me more stressed out. I like when everything has a certain spot too because it makes it easier for me to find things when i need them.

These flowers represent relationship. I got them for our anniversary and I thought they would be a good image to represent my relationship. I look up to it. The flowers also make me happy as does being in a relationship.

I chose this cubs hat as one of my pictures because I am a die hard cubs fan. Ever since I was younger I've been obsessed with them. I hate the winters because there are no games and I live for the summers when I can go to them or just relax at home and watch the game.

In class chapter 8

Today's class started out the same. We went over questions that were posted on our blogs and Laura was nice enough, like always, to answer them for us. It is kind of nice to hear what other people have questions about. Then we started to go over chapter 8, Monday nights homework. In chapter 8 we learned a lot because i had 2 and a half pages full of notes. We learned anything from Romain du Roi and Rococo type to three different people; Caslon, Baskerville, and Didot&Bodoni. Going over the chapters in class help me understand what I didn't understand when I was reading through the chapters.
What was really interesting about this chapter was the Romain du Roi type. It just blew me away about the 2,304 square grid. Did they make the grid by hand every single time?
My one question from this class is if there was no printing in the United States, was the Declaration of Independence printed over in England or somewhere else?

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 was all about a new graphic design movement. There were many different things that were introduced in this chapter. One of a few new typefaces was called Romain du Roi. There were also types designed for the Imprimerie Royale. This type was only allowed to be used by the royal people, otherwise you would get in trouble. Transitional Roman was another type that was founded during this period. One bigger type was called rococo. I feel like rococo was a more elegant style, they liked to use nature and classical art. Engraving was developed and became popular this time. And engraving jobs became common as well. Ben Franklin introduced Caslon and was used for the Declaration of Independence. Another guy, John Baskerville was popular around this time. He was part of bookmaking. He also updated the paper quality. Modern is defined as a new category of roman type.
What I found interesting about this chapter was basically everything. There was so much new information that was told in this chapter. Many new types were formed and many new people had influence on our society.
One question I have from this chapter though is how long did it take an engraver to make an engraving on a copper plate?

In class today I learned...

Class today was rather long, but it was filled with a lot of interesting information. We reviewed answers from our blogs over the previous few chapters along with going over chapters 5,6, and 7. Today was filled with a lot of notes. I really like how we went over chapter 7 with us separated into different groups talking about one particular guy and then we talked about it as a whole. This really helped me understand more about the Renaissance than before. Chapter 6 was all about Martin Luther and Albrecht Durer, along with a few other things here and there. We learned how typographic printing changed society as we know it and that the spread of printing started in Germany.
The most useful or meaningful thing I think I learned today was how typographic printing changed our society in many different ways including: abundance of books and broadsides, spreading ideas, stabilizing and unifying languages, illiteracy declining, lead to basis for scientific inquiry, more education, individualism, and this even lead to the industrial revolution.
One question I have after this class would be did anything bad happen to Martin Luther for nailing the 95 theses to the church?

Chapters 6&7

Chapter 6 is about the German Illustrated book. By the 1500's printing was used in over 100 cities across the world, unfortunately some cities banned it. Because of typography, illiteracy became less and less. Martin Luther was one of two main guys talked about in chapter 6. Martin Luther was known for posting the 95 theses on the church. Copies ended up making it around town because of his friends, and within a few months it was spread all across Europe. Many jobs were feared to be lost because of typography. Woodblock illustrations were brought up in this chapter as well. Illustrator artists were at need because of the woodblock illustrations. Another important person in this chapter was Albrecht Durer. The Chronicle had emotional power and graphic expressiveness. Durer was well known in all over Europe before he was 30. "Durer absorbed the painting theory and technique, as well as the humanist philosophy of the Italian Renaissance. He became a major influence in the cultural exchange that saw the Renaissance spirit filter into Germany. He believed German artists and craftsmen were producing work inferior to that of the Italians because they lacked the theoretical knowledge of their fellow professionals to the south" (Meggs History of Graphic Design 85). He also contributed significantly to the alphabet design. Lastly, a broadside is a single leaf of paper printed on only one side. When both sides are printed, the page is frequently called a broadsheet.
Chapter 7 is all about Renaissance and Graphic Design. Renaissance designers loved to use floral decoration. With the rapid growth of literacy created a huge demand for teachers to teach writing and this created the need for records needing to be kept. Many books flourished in different cities, but only Paris, and Venice were the top two.I found the last thing interesting about broadsheets because now-a-days we hate wasting paper, so we are taught to use both sides.

My question from chapter 6 would be how did Martin Luther and Albrecht Durer die?

Picture of the Week

This is an image of the alphabets. It shows the earliest alphabets to today's modern day one. I think this is kind of cool to see the modern day alphabet up against the old ones. There isn't every single alphabet letter in the image, but there is a good amount of them.

The function of the picture is to compare the alphabets. And I feel like it does a good job comparing the alphabets from way back when to basically today.

I found this image when I was just searching the web for an image for this week. I actually googled the first alphabet to today and this is one of the images I found.

There really is no typography besides the alphabet letters I guess.

The quality of this artwork is really cool. There is a piece of clay or what not that has some letters etched into it and it looks like under it they are writing out what it says or at least what letters are in it.

What attracted me to this piece is that it was different from the others. It had really old letters to more modern day letters. I also liked how there was a piece of clay that had letters or symbols etched into it.

This relates to class because we spent a whole chapter or two reading about alphabets and the many different kinds there were or are. We talked about Latin, Greek, Korean, the 1st alphabet and so on. I thought this image would fit perfectly.

Guest Speaker

Today's class was interesting. Not only did we have Andrew Lloyd Goodman speak to us before class, we were lucky enough to have him join us in class. When reviewing the last 2 chapters we read, chapters 4 and 5, he would go into more detail about what we were learning. I'm not going to lie, it was really interesting to hear how much information he knows. We discussed the illuminated manuscripts into more detail and then we started to go over printing.
One thing I found really interesting about this class was the process it took to make a book back in the day. There were many different people involved in this process and some people had better jobs than others.
My question after this class is how much did the workers get paid back then to make a illuminated manuscript?

The Printing Press

Chapter 5 was all about printing coming, obviously, but anyways this an interesting chapter. It started off talking about typography. They define typography as the term for "printing with independent, movable, and reusable bits of metal or wood, each of which has raised letter form on one face". Typography is up there with one of the most important inventions. Writing allowed people to keep records, and document what was happening. Paper was a important invention to allow printing to happen. Movable type was created around this time as well. Johann Gensfleisch created the first book that had printing in it. Gutenburg was the guy that was known for the invention of movable type. One last topic covered in this chapter was the copperplate engraving. Engraving is defined as "printing from an image that is incised or cut down into the printing surface".
One thing I found interesting from this chapter was that Gutenberg had many things to do with this chapter. No only he invented typographic printing, may have been involved in the development of copperplate engraving as well.
The question I have from this chapter is when was color first used in printing?

In class 3&4

I felt as if class went extremely fast today. We spent the first little bit going over past questions we posted. That was kind of nice to hear questions that other people in the class had. After going over the questions we went into learning about our paper&presentation project. This should be interesting to say the least. After that we went into taking our quiz, that did not make me too happy. I read every chapter, highlight and take notes, and I feel like I could have done so much better. I need to change my strategy maybe, but after the chapter 4 quiz we took, I am determined to do better. After being the last one to finish that quiz we started to review chapter 3 before time ran out. Chapter 3 was all about the Asian contribution and chapter 4 was more about illuminated manuscripts.
The most useful/meaningful thing I learned today would have to be just the whole chapter 3 in general. I really liked learning about how much the Asian communities had a big influence on our lives today.
The one question I have after today's class is are we going to go over chapter 4 at all? I was rather confused reading it, and even if we just go over it a tiny bit, it would really help me out! =)

Chapters 3&4

I found chapter 3 far more interesting than chapter 4. I never really realized how much the Chinese contributed to our societies. They invented things such as gunpowder, compasses, and calligraphy, their ancient writing system, is used today by more people than any other visual language system. Logograms became known during this time and logograms are images and signs that represent a word. The Chinese were also known for developing the phonetic loans which is when they "borrow the sign of a similar-sounding word". One thing that really shocked me in Chapter 3 was that there is no relationship between their spoken and written language. Both of them are completely separate from one another. "A sound from the mouth to the ear, and a sign from the hand to the eye". There are four phases to Chinese calligraphythat were discussed in this chapter. The first is called chiaku-wen. The second is called chin-wen. The third was hsiao chuan. The last phases was chen-shu which is still used today. The Chinese were the firsts to invent paper. Before paper came around they would write on bamboo slats or wooden strips, which was a lot more work than paper. At first they thought the paper would just be an easy substitute, but they realized as time went on that it was cheaper and easier to work with. Their paper invention was used for much more than just writing on, for example, it was used for toilet paper, wrapping paper, and wallpaper just to name a few. I dont know about you, but I feel like their toliet paper didnt seen very soft since it was the same used to write on. It's amazing how one little invention can turn into so much. Along with paper making, the Chinese were known for discovering printing. Printing was a major contribution to society back then, and look how far we've come with printing. The Diamond Sutra is the oldest form of printing we could find. With the invention of both paper and printing, money was one of the big products that came out of this. People would even try to conterfit it back then as well, which I found very interesting, their penalty for this was death. Another thing that came out of printing and paper was playing cards. Movable type was also founded around this time by a guy named Pi Sheng.
Chapter 4 was all about different kind of manuscripts. Illuminated manuscripts got their name from the "vibrant luminosity of gold leaf, as it reflected light from the pages of handwritten books, it gave the sensation of the page being literally illuminated" (Meggs History of Graphic Design 42). There were many people that were responsible for helping create this book. The book was written in the scriptorium. The head of the scriptorium was the scrittori. There was a copisti. Lastly there was the illuminator. It was amazing to see how much work and how many people go into making this book. After the invention of parchment, the codex format became known. There were many book designs that were talked about in this chapter. Celtic, Romanesque and Gothic, Judaic, Islamic and Late medieval to name them. Each one I feel was based off their religion and the religion at the time.
My question over these two chapters is how long did it take to make one illuminated manuscript?

Chapter 2 review

In class today we basically reviewed what we read in chapter 2.  Chapter 2 was all about alphabets and how they became.  We went into detail about the Greek, Latin, and a little bit of the Korean alphabets.  We also discussed about phaistos disk and how it was one of the first steps to the alphabet.  Phaistos disk was also the first known alphabet and it led to mass printing and printing press.  The last thing we went over in class dealt with the substrates we have learned about this far.  So far we've used clay from Mesopotamia, papyrus from Egypt, and now parchment and vellum from animals skin.  We had a foreshadow in that we will be reading about how the Chinese invented paper.   

What I found really interesting was this whole class today.  I really liked learning about how the alphabets became about.  It was interesting to see the different alphabets and how similar they look to ours today.  

My one question from today who have to be who discovered Phaistos disk?  

A.B.C

Chapter 2 was all about alphabets. Whether its the Aramaic alphabet, the Greek alphabet, the Latin alphabet, or even the Korean alphabet, each one went into detail about how it was created and how it compares to today. The alphabet actually came from alpha and beta in the greek alphabet. Alphabet is defined as "a set of visual symbols or characters used to represent the elementary sounds of a spoken language; signifying sounds, syllables, and words" (Meggs History of Graphic Design 18). Chapter 2 went into detail about the four alphabets listed above. The Aramaic alphabet was used by tribes in Syria. This alphabet was very important to todays society because it helped with common day alphabets. The Greek alphabet was also mentioned about in this chapter. The Greeks had a different way of reading than we do. They started out using the right to left method, then they developed the writing method called boustrophedon which is when every line reads in the opposite direction. And after learning how to read left to right, I feel like this method would be so hard to do. The Greeks also used uncials. One thing I found really interesting was the the alphabet played a role in democracy for the Greeks, we wouldn't even make a big deal over the alphabet being used by the government today because we use it for EVERYTHING. The Latin alphabet was also another mentioned in the chapter. The Latin alphabet didn't use papyrus anymore, then switched to a more durable paper called parchment, which is made from the skins of calves, sheep, and goats. Vellum was the best parchment one of this time could find. Lastly, the Korean alphabet. Hangul is one of the most scientific and complex alphabets in todays society. There are over 2,000 syllables, way more than our alphabet. I find this really interesting because I know you can make thousands and thousands of words form our 26 letter alphabet.
One question that I have from chapter 2 would be are we going to get the chance to play around with the different alphabets?

Week 1 image

This image is written in another language obviously, but its white with black and red colors for the symbols.
The function is to tell people what not to do. No smoking, cameras, and bombs are allowed.
I was looking around on google images for a modern pictograph image and I came upon this image.
The style of this image is simple and in another language. I don't know exactly what the wording states, but with the pictographs being so understandable it says no smoking, no taking pictures, and no bombs.
The quality of this artwork is simple, but it gets the point across. It is a modern pictograph, which are elementary type drawings.
What attracted me to this piece would have to be that it is in another language, and the fact that it is in another language and I understand what they are saying drew me to it. I also like that the drawings are very simple, clear, and understandable and yet I know what they are. The colors work well too because red usually means warning so it obviously helps people understand not to do these things. I also like that it says no bombs, and it makes me wonder where exactly the sign is posted at.
This relates to what we have studied because the last class we went into what pictographs really are and I thought this would be a good example of a modern pictograph. Pictographs were created thousands of years ago, and yet we still use them today.

A look back in History

Today in class we basically reviewed what we read the night before. We talked about pictographs, petroglyphs, and ideographs and distinguished the difference between them all. We also went into some detail about Hammurabi and the hieroglyphics that the Egyptians used. Papyrus is one form of paper out of many that we have learned about so far. The most useful and meaningful thing I learned out of this class was about the papyrus. I find the making and usefulness of papyrus really interesting. The fact that they had to make their own writing utensils is impressive. And it might take days to make one sheet to write on.
One question I still have after this class would be who found the Rosetta Stone, and where was it found?

Chapter 1

This chapter is about the early writings and how people communicated with each other thousands and thousands of years ago. The first human marks were found in Africa over 200,000 years ago. They used a lot of black used from charcoal and some other colors such as yellow and red. These pictures were used for survival, utilisation and ritualistic purposes. Writing became of because people of this time needed to keep records. Writing back then started off very different, then wrote top to bottom, and eventually throughout time it went from left ot right. Stamp seals were first used during this time by the Babylonians. At first the seals were just used with simple pictures, but they eventually turned into stories being told. The Egyptians were known for their hieroglyphs. The Roesetta stone was the first form of hieroglypics found. Another big step for the Egyptians was the invention of papyrus. They were also the first to created illuminated manuscrips.
One person of group I found interesting are the Sumerians. They had a great impact on our future and yet we know very little about them. "The invention of writing brought about an intellectual revolution that had a vast impact upon social order, economic progress, and technological and future cultural developments" Meggs History of Graphic Design.
After going through all the steps to make papyrus, exactly how long did it take to make one sheet to write on?

The Early Communications

I would have to say that the topic we studied in class today would have to obviously be about early communications. We especially went into detail about cave paintings and looked at paintings from millions of years ago. Most of the paintings were just of pictures, and everyone had different depictions of what they meant. Before we actually went into more detail about the paintings we went downstairs to try our own. This was fun, yet challenging. I think what I learned most out of this was that symbols and pictures can be taken many different ways. I had fun being hands on and thinking of ways to show our sentence. A lot of effort and thought had to go into these otherwise people would not have understood what you were trying to show.
My question would have to be did other people during the cave painting times understand what one groups pictures were trying to say? Or did the pictures and symbols just vary group by group?