William Klein, race garcons de cafe, Paris, 1993.

William Klein uses Painted Contacts to create a new style of his own photography combining his notorious stimuli of street life with what Keiln had learnt  ‘about graphic art, painting, and charcoal drawings’ (Famighetti, M. 2015). The uses of paint creates a more ‘graphical’ style of imagery, adding structure and experiments alongside communicating a message to the audience. The thick, bold red strokes of gloss paint present a DIY aesthetic, mimicking the idea of the expressiveness of ideas. For instance, circling and crossing out images on a contact sheet which you like and dislike (hence the name Painted Contacts). Personally, I feel the use of loose, free brush strokes juxtaposes but compliment his energetic photography and create a playfulness to his style.

Spread from Mayakovsky: Twenty Years of Work, the catalogue to the accompanying 1982 show at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, designed by David King.

King’s ‘Twenty Years of Work’ double page spread applies bold, primary colours, contrasting with harsh, black photography and typography, highlighting Mayakovsky and the controversial work in his career. The bold, sans serif typography is an iconic style that whilst reflecting Mayakovsky’s futurist attitude, helps demonstrate in a forceful manner the scale of his work. This presentation could be considered professional due to his heavy influence of politics and culture as he said himself, ‘It challenges those nations that still settle their judgements by imposing the ultimate penalty’ (Moore, D. 2017). This pairs nicely with the large scale portrait of Mayakovsky himself, using monochrome to connect visually with his expression to show the seriousness of his want for change. The primary colour scheme helps provide structure for the overall composition.

Jonathan Barnbrook, Adbusters, 200.

Barnbrook’s ‘Adbusters’ uses powerful graphical elements to produce a comical, yet triggering effect, to communicate the corruption of corporate company’s in the design world. The over powering use of different type faces, mocks the idea of professionalism and ‘big buisnesses’ by making it child like and overbearing. It ties in nicely with the meaning of the type itself, designers are acting like children to get what they want (being part of a corporate business) – it is not simply based on enjoyment but a ‘fashion system’ of who can be the best. Similarly, the use of bright and mis-matching colours portray that he doesn’t really care. As Barnbook says  ‘The bigger corporations obviously tent to keep away from us, because most of them don’t like designers with opinions’ (Wall, D. 2016), which is exactly what he over exaggerates  in the piece – being extremely opinionated and going against standard graphic design rules (e.g. alignment, complimentary type faces).

Bibliography:

Famighetti, M. (2015). An Interview with William Klein. Available: https://aperture.org/blog/magazine-interview-william-klein/. Last accessed 03/12/2017.

Moore, D. (2017). David King and the power of graphics – an appreciation of the late designer’s work. Available: http://www.bjp-online.com/2017/11/davidking/#closeContactFormCust00. Last accessed 28/11/2017.

Wall, D. (2016). Ryan Jefferson Hayes. Available: http://www.iloveoffset.com/jonathan-barnbrook/. Last accessed 29/11/2017.

Cover of Typografische Monatsblatter by Wolfgang Weingart, 1973.

Weingart created work that presents his skills of producing experimental graphic design. The manipulation of his materials, created postmodern designs that show how attractive typography on a standard page can be. The variety of scales (not always aligned) and the cutting and pasting of diagonal alignment seems to ‘break the rules’ of modernist typography. This shows to me, that typography doesn’t have to be ‘traditionally beautiful’ in order to communicate and be satisfying as a design. Weingart manages to do this in the simplest of typefaces and monochrome; as he says himself ,‘the simpler the assignment, the more difficult the soloution’ (Smith, S, 2014). This shows the imagination he had as an artist, to create such impact on a blank page with the simplest of tools.

Carson’s ‘do it yourself’ aesthetic was ‘fuelled by raw emotion’ , which shows through the features in his designs, that rebel against the rules of traditional magazine spreads. Shown above, Carson hated his interview and decided to symbolise the text instead. The overwhelming use of symbols and shapes overlaying typography, creates confusion within the design that works. The free-form of Carson’s work, enables him to expose a contemporary and non-conforming attitude of youth, which is later known to be ‘grunge’. This allowed the younger generation to appreciate and relate to his work, creating a statement. ‘The appeal of grunge was based on a basic idea: it had not been seen before’ (Shetty, S, 2012) , especially in a graphical form.

Keith Haring, Untitled, 1982.

Keith Haring ‘committed his life and work to the democratic ideals of social justice and equality’ (Sheff, D, 1989) and to me, this is what made his work so appreciated and cherished. The piece above, presents two males holding a heart together, symbolising homosexuality. The style of his illustrations could be deemed childish, especially with a monochrome or primary colour palette. His work goes against social norms, and displays what is deemed ‘not right’, in a fun and exaggerated style. By exposing what society is against in this style, it begins the deconstruct the opposing attitude, creating a more accepting outlook to issues such as homosexuality and aids awareness; big themes within his work.

Bibliography:

Sheff, D. (1989). Keith Haring: Just Say Know. Available: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/keith-haring-just-say-know-19890810. Last accessed 15/11/2017.

Shetty, S. (2012). The Rise And Fall Of Grunge Typography. Available: https://www.theawl.com/2012/08/the-rise-and-fall-of-grunge-typography/. Last accessed 15/11/2017.

Smith, S. (2014). Wolfgang Weingart. Available: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/wolfgang-weingart/. Last accessed 15/11/2017.

Reid miles, Blue Notes Records, Album Cover for Joe Henderson, In ‘n out 1964.

Reid Miles ‘In ‘n out’ album art for Joe Henderson (1964), uses playful yet simple typographic elements, to play on the rhythm and stylization of Jazz music at the time. Within this time of underground culture, the attitude towards Jazz music was being seen as ‘cool’ and ‘revolutionary’. Something I appreciate as a Graphic Designer, is how Miles’ experiments with a sleek and modern aesthetic, due to the playfulness of letter forms, treating them as ‘visual elements that can be broken apart’ ; this also helps with the use of shapes. The scale of type and consideration of negative space, enables Miles to create a ‘new’ , simplistic turning point to Graphic Design, compared to the propaganda posters that people were used to previously. The ‘new’ style helps promote the idea of Jazz being seen as the upcoming underground trend – ‘His covers sound like they know what lay in store for the listener’ (Marsh, G. Callingham, G. Cromey, F, 1992, The Jazzy Blue Notes of Reid Miles).

Grace Slick and the Great Society / 13th Floor Elevators Fillmore Auditorium Concert Poster Bill Graham 1966 Poster Art by Wes Wilson.

Wes Wilsons work focus’ on the psychedelic styles of the 1960’s, communicating the radical impact of creative culture towards society at the time. What inspires his work was ‘a little bit of both music and the times’ (Montagne, R, 2016); the idea of freedom and love. Wilson uses loose forms in the compositions of typography and the letter forms themselves to express this, along with an attractive female within mostly all of his designs. His work would help communicate a sense of togetherness within society, by advertising the events in which the new hippy beliefs were expressing.

Oz 23 cover, by Richard Neville, photograph by Keith Morris, 1969.

Oz magazine persistently pushed the boundaries of cultural norms through each issue, as times were changing and the younger generations were becoming more open to new views. On the front cover of issue 23, it glorified the relationship between a black man and a white woman. Considering the strict racial beliefs of the time, it would have been a shock; especially since the two people are engaging in the closest contact possible (naked bodies touching). From a graphic design outlook, creating the image to be an extremely large scale , with little typography, foreshadows the impact the cover would have towards a society, to help normalise black and white skin together.

Bibliography:

Charchar, A. (2010). The Jazzy Blue Notes of Reid Miles. Available: http://retinart.net/artist-profiles/jazzy-blue-notes-reid-miles/. Last accessed 8/11/17.

Marsh, G. Callingham, G. Cromey, F (1992). The Cover Art Of Blue Note Records: V. 1. England: Edition Olms.

Montagne, R. (2016). Psychedelic Font: How Wes Wilson Turned Hippie Era Turmoil Into Art. Available: https://www.npr.org/2016/05/13/477900499/psychedelic-font-how-wes-wilson-turned-hippie-era-turmoil-into-art. Last accessed 8/11/17.

Armin Hofmann: Poster for the Ballet Giselle – 1959 (left) and Die Gute Form – 1964 (Right) , International Typographic Style

As Theo Van Doesberg states ‘The new artist does not imitate, he creates’ (Wilk, C 2008). However, in order for artists to create upcoming and contemporary pieces, they must expand on what previous artists have explored. To me, this does not affect the authenticity of the work, but recycling old success’ into something more exciting and modern.

The ‘Die Neue Typographie’ by Jan Tschichold, explores the graphic form in a ‘new’ aesthetic for the time. It focused on ‘clarity not simply beauty’ (Phillip B, M, 2011) and explored contemporary features, such as negative space and grids. It could be argued that although this was considered ‘authentic’, styles in the future, such as the ‘International Typographic Style’ (1940s/50s) imitated these features in order to create a newer graphic form e.g. Swiss Typography. Does imitating a style make it lose its authenticity? I feel that influence from designs does not enable a design to lose it’s originality but helps adapt originality of a new style. If Graphic designers in the 21^st century were to ignore the triumphs already established by design, graphics would not move forward, be exciting and not enable communication to modernise and develop culture.

However, ‘once art loses the aura and ritual value, it is forced to find meaning through its exhibition’ (Benjamin, W 2008) e.g. galleries and merchandise (such as Starry Night by Vincent Van Gough). It’s so familiarised that it questions whether it is authentic or over popularised. I believe that popularised artwork may not be unauthentic, but provokes losing the impact which made the design so original.

Bibliography:

Benjamin, W (2008). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935). England: Penguin. 1.

Phillip B, M (2011). Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. 5th ed. England: John Wiley & Sons. 355.

Wilk, C (2008). Modernism: Designing a New World : 1914-1939. England: V&A Publishing.

Joseph Müller-Brockmann, 1962, Swiss Typography

The concept of ‘Technology’ being the ‘mortal enemy of art’, could be considered a narrow minded opinion, in a world which appreciates both the physical and digital aspects of 21st century design. As an aspiring Graphic designer, I find technology is an important attribute to advance artwork for an artistic future.

As Melissa Smith (Smith, M, 2017, New York Times) said, ‘Even when the digital component isn’t as obvious, the work is still influenced by the internet’. This could be considered true when modern designers gain feedback and influence from others, through social media platforms like Instagram. Graphic design has a purpose of communicating to a specific audience – research sources are the background support to this, establishing a meaning behind a message. Technology is the easiest platform to research, finding millions of online sources, without having to spend hours searching. Simple graphic styles are also becoming popular, from Johannes Gutenberg’s wooden letterpress (1440), to the Swiss movement (1940’s-1950’s) and it’s type face – Helvetica. Technology helped evolve these simple styles.

Some aspects of technology can be seen to destroy the physical form of art. Instead of appreciating the context behind art, it can be fashionable in today’s society to post art for social popularity. As Holly Williams (Williams, H, 2016, The Independent) argues, ‘Is anyone really looking at the art?’ and how we’re constantly thinking, ‘This would look great on Instagram’.The use technology means that physical play is becoming less important when considering graphical elements, as it’s much easier to do it digitally.

Bibliography:

Smith, M. (2017). Where Art and Technology Collide. Available: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/arts/design/where-art-and-technology-collide.html. Last accessed 25th October 2017.

Williams , H. (2016). Art for Instagram. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/art-for-instagram-is-social-media-ruining-art-a7136406.html. Last accessed 25th October 2017.

Left: Funhouse by Michael George Haddad, 2013.   Right: Kayleigh and Steve by Camilla Perkins, 2015.

‘Funhouse’ by Michael George Haddad uses famous mugshots, in a graphic form, to advertise the ‘Funhouse’ DJ night in a venue called Mugshot. This piece of graphic design really appealed to me due to the black and white halftone screen print. It creates a gritty and underground aesthetic, to relate to the image and the event style which promotes ‘punk, new wave’ music. The yellow typography is also striking, complimenting the half tone to create a modern ‘pop art’ effect – like Andy Warhol’s use of halftone and block colour in his portrait work.

Similarly, Camilla Perkins illustration of ‘Kayleigh and Steve’ is also created through screen print and the layering of colours. However, unlike Haddad’s work, the screen print brightens the colourful imagery, making the illustration more positive and vibrant, relating to the people in her illustration, those she admires in her life; her friends.

The use of squares in both the Funhouse design and the illustration of Kayleigh and Steve, help display more information in the designs. For instance, the layering of typography in square shapes within Haddads work, helps the audiences eyes follow straight from the bright yellow ‘Funhouse’ , to the other pieces of information in a hierarchy order; from most important information such as dates and times to less important like sponsorship’s. The use of squares as posters in the background of Camilla Perkins illustration, helps unravel more personality to the characters, like the date they got married and their love towards their pets and travelling.

‘Terminal Bar’ created by Stefan Nadelman, uses a versatile range of mediums to create an energetic atmosphere of the bar, steering away from the reality of it being derelict and unfortunate.

The most obvious source in the film, are the photographs taken by Stefan’s father, Sheldon Nadelman in 1972. The up close and personal portraits, combined with upbeat music, helps portray a stimulating image of each person as a character and paints an atmosphere of people in the bar being lively; even though they didn’t have much of a life at all. This is successful, as it makes the content visually exciting and easier for the audience to engage with. Combining two types of media which provoke different senses, is something I wish to explore for the same effect.

The research gathered from 1972 – 2002, is another strength about the film. The comparison of the past and present is used to shock the audience, as it identifies cultural changes and similarities. For instance, Sheldon reflects back to 1972, narrating a story about each character and the bar, then revisits the location in 2002. The bar isn’t there, but the people and surroundings are just as depressing. We see the impact it has on Sheldon’s emotions, over something that was so familiar to him. This promotes a personal connection, which the audience are able to get attached and relate too. I will use my own feelings and personal experiences in my work, to enable an audience to interact with the same emotions.