Constructivism

Constructivism

Constructivism has its origins from Russia, Constructivism was primarily an art and architectural movement. The term construction art came up by Kasmir Malvich in reference to the work of Aleksander Rodchenko. Graphic design in Constructivism was the production of product packaging to logos, posters, book covers and advertisments. Jan Tschichold was one of those who inspired himself from this movement.

The aim of Rodchenko, of this movement was that Art/artists should contribute towards the ‘construction’ of the new communist state. Rejection of the idea of ‘art for arts sake’ ex. art should serve a social/political purpose. Devoted themselves to industrial design and visual communication, Tatlin

turned from sculpture to making an efficient stove, suits and coats, and Rodchenko left paintings for graphic design and photo journalism.

The characteristics of this movement are geometric shapes, Reds,white and blacks, sans serif typography and photomontage.

El Lissitzky

El lissitzky is a Russian, he is an artist, designer, typographer, photographer and architect. His ideas were very influential in the development of the Bauhaus and the constructivist art movements. His experimentations and techniques that he used in the 1920’s and 30’s have been an influence on graphic design since. Lissitzky in his work he uses a lot of geometric shapes that he referres to them ‘prouns’. The shapes were developed in a 3-dimensional space, that often contained varying perspectives, which was a direct contrast to the ideas of suprematist theories which stressed the simplification of shapes and the use of 2D space only. This technique was applied to poster art as propaganda for the communist party.

We can see simple shapes, symbolism propaganda, blocks of colour maximum visual effect, positive and negative space.

Aleksander Rodchenko

Rodchenko is an artist and designer he used another mediums like painting, photography, sculpture, advertising and packaging. He was a member of the Productivists, which pushed for the introduction of art into everyday life, a concept which in many ways describes modern day graphic design. At first his main medium was painting but by the time he began to experiment with photography and photomontage. Most of his work that he designed was packages, advertisements, logos, posters, book covers to

bookmarks, photomontage and illustration, and even set and costume design for various Russian theatres. Rodchenko used photomontage to alert the reader to the ‘construction’ of the cinematic process.

These are some posters of today that were inspired from Constructivism:

References:

Constructivism : Design Is History. 2015. Constructivism : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/constructivism/. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

Aleksander Rodchenko : Design Is History. 2015. Aleksander Rodchenko : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.designishistory.com/1920/aleksander-rodchenko/. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

El Lissitzky : Design Is History. 2015. El Lissitzky : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/el-lissitzky/. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

De Stijl

De Stijl

De Stijl is in Dutch for the style that was founded this movement were Theo von Doesburg and Piet Mondrain and the architect Gerrit Reitveld. In this movement we can see simplicity and abstraction through which they could express an Utopian idea of harmony and order. We can see as well geometric forms and primary colors. De Stijl was also the name of a publication discussing the groups theories which was published by Von Doesburg.

This style of De Stijl was unlike Dada, the graphic and typographic style sought to regain order disciplined, using sans serif type face, straight lines, rectangular blocks, innovative asymmetrical layouts, it proved the way for the international typographic style. De Stijl influenced the avant gardes in the 20’s. Von Doesburg introduced the ideas of De Stijl to the Bauhaus.

Theo Von Doesburg:

Van Doesburg was highly influenced by Wassily Kandinsky. Von Doesburg moved his style of painting to one more importance on a conceptual style that favoured a simplistic geometric style. Theo von Doesburg influenced other designers that with design they could create a medium of communication. Von Doesburg moved to Germany with the idea to work in Bauhaus but he was not accepted. In reaction to this he build a studio exactly next to Bauhaus that attracted many students with the ideas he promoted,  most of which were developed out of the ideas of Constructivism, Dadaism and De Stijl. In these times he bonded with Piet Mondrain. In 1923 he moved to Paris to work with Piet Mondrain but they had opposite characters and it resulted in the dissolution of their friedship.

Piet Mondrain:

“To approach the spiritual in art, one will make as little use as possible of reality, because reality is opposed to the spiritual”

-     Piet Mondrain.

Piet Mondrain was one of the founders of De Stijl, which incorporated an art movement that worked around abstract works, and the new art forms that were being introduced to the world in the early 20^th Century. After the De Stijl, a disagreement with Van Doesburg, about the use of diagonal lines in painting and art work, Piet Mondrain decided to leave the group, and to start to work on new movements, and new forms of art he had not really entered in to the past. Piet Mondrain was also a writer that wrote a number of pieces during his career. His writing s dealt with neoplasticism and how the art form had changed, and with abstract work in general. His writings were published in magazines.

The influence of De Stijl today:

         

References:

De Stijl : Design Is History. 2015. De Stijl : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/de-stijl/. [Accessed 28 January 2015].

Theo Van Doesberg : Design Is History. 2015. Theo Van Doesberg : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.designishistory.com/1920/theo-van-doesberg/. [Accessed 28 January 2015].

Piet Mondrian:Paintings,Biography,Quotes of Piet Mondrian. 2015. Piet Mondrian:Paintings,Biography,Quotes of Piet Mondrian. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.piet-mondrian.org/. [Accessed 28 January 2015].

                      

Futurism

Futurism

Futurism developed in Italy in the early 20^th Century. Futurist were all practiced in other mediums like painting, ceramics, sculpture, graphic design, interior design, theatre film, literature, music and architecture. Much of the ideas were generated through writing and several manifestos of futurism were published. Futurism influenced many modern art movements of the 20^th Century which in turn influenced the development of graphic design. Some characteristics of futurism are simultaneously dynamic, lines of force, repeated motifs, inclusion of typographical elements and collage. In 1909 technology and dynamic aspects of modern life rejected harmony and order and expressed speed and movement in their works/paintings.

Marinetti

The modern visual communication was born by Marinetti. He published the sound poem Zang Tumb Tuuum in 1912. Mrinetti’s typographical innovations, within the parameters of graphic design, introduced a powerful technique for representation of the clamorous hum-drum of modern life, which used expressive typography with poetic impressions to illustrate the repetition of the drumbeat of war. He dubbed his

technique “multilinear lyricism”, which with great ingenuity and visual imagination composed the type of varying sizes into split columns, horizontal and vertical elements, integrated at right angles to each other, with fragmented words into letters which amplified the onomatopoeic effect.

Some posters of today that were inspired from Futurism:

 References:

Futurism : Design Is History. 2015. Futurism : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1850/futurism/. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 44; The Italian Futurist Visual Design. 2015. A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 44; The Italian Futurist Visual Design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2011/08/chapter-44-italian-futurist-visual.html. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

                                

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

The movement of art nouveau began in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Art Nouveau began in Europe, this movement is known by various names, such as the Glasgow style or, in the German speaking world, Jugendstil but its name was taken from the French, literally means “new art” and is characterized by the use of organic shapes and dramatic, curving lines that encompass many forms of art including paintings, glassware, furniture and architecture artists from this style Aubrey Beardsley, Thomas Malory and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The influence of art Nouveau is not characterized on nature only; it has inspiration from High Victorian, Rococo and Japanese art. This artistic style is like the contemporary Pre-Raphaelite, symbolism and Arts and Crafts styles.

Aubrey Beardsley

Cover of "the yellow book"

Aubrey Beardsley was an artist and illustrator and is best known for the black and white illustrations. The first published work of Beardsley was “The Valiant” a poem in the June 1885 issue of past and present the Brighton Grammar school magazine. In the year of 1893-94 Aubrey Beardsley made illustrations and book covers and periodicals, including his first commission, J.M. Dent’s edition of Malory’s Morte Darthur. The fame of Beardsley was established in “The yellow book” that was appeared in April 1894. In this book Beardsley was the art editor that made black and white drawings, title-pages and covers.

Jules Cheret

Jules Cheret was born in Paris. At the age of thirteen he took an art course at the Ecole Nationale de Dessin. Cheret was influenced by works of Jean-Honore Fragonard and other Rococo artists such as Antoine Watteau. Jules Cheret created poster ads for the Cabarets, music halls and theatres such as the Eldorado, the Olympia, the Folies Bergeres, Theatre de l’opera, the Alcazar d’Ete and the Moulin Rouge. Cheret was famous for the posters displaying females that were called “cherettes”. This was a taboo for the society because of the clothes, wearing low-cut bodices and smoking in public.

Peter Behrens

The kiss

Peter Behrens was born in 14^th April 1868 in Hamburg. He was an architect and an artist. Behrens was an Art Nouveau designer of decorative and graphic art. From 1890 he worked as a painter and graphic artist in Munich. In the woodcuts of illustrations are all surrounded by a border. The theme of the border is always connected with the illustration like the woodcut “The Kiss”. Behrens was also an artistic adviser to AEG electrical company. Peter  Behrens was mostly was mostly inspired from William Morris. Behrens was an early advocate of sans-serif typography, and used a grid system to structure space in his design layouts. He was also called “the first industrial designer” because he designed manufactured products such as street lamps and teapots. Peter Behrens also explored

formal geometric design motifs with modular sans-serif characters based on a square. 







Posters that are inspired from Art Nouveau:

References:


Art Nouveau Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2014. Art Nouveau Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-art-nouveau.htm. [Accessed 25 October 2014].


The Life of Aubrey Beardsley . 2014. The Life of Aubrey Beardsley . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/beardsley/bio1.html. [Accessed 25 October 2014].


Jules Cheret Biography. 2014. Jules Cheret Biography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.jules-cheret.org/biography.html. [Accessed 25 October 2014].



Inkling. 2014. Inkling. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.inkling.com/read/history-of-graphic-design-philip-meggs-5th/chapter-12/peter-behrens-and-the-new. [Accessed 25 October 2014].

Typography

07/10/2014

Typography

Typography is an arrangement of text on a page. Typography can be used everywhere on leaflets, brochures, signs, name shops, bill boards and in web. It can be used as well as artistic statement. The design of the typography can make a huge difference to the reader, example bright colours and fonts that are difficult to read.

Typography has different fonts but it is a type of communication. Typography has been developed from Johannes Gutenberg that has invented and improved movable type mechanical printing system in Europe. But its roots are in hand written letterforms. Calligraphy, digital type and type on web pages are all under the category of typography.

Typography is in different fonts and spaces through them to create a whole design. There are six types of typefaces on webpages these are: serif, sans serif, monospaced, cursive, fantasy and script. Type faces are a family of fonts. The choice of typeface can make a big difference with layout, grid, colour scheme and design theme. Each typeface has its size. The height is known as x-height.

The size of fonts is very important for the readers, for example when it comes to newspaper the headlines need to be larger with a different font to instantly draw your eye. The paragraphs need to be in a form of a grid to help the reader to read clearly.

Chinese Calligraphy

Calligraphy is handwriting but it looks more like a painting. The roots of calligraphy are ancient; cave paintings symbols represent a sound rather than an idea or picture. The genres of painting and calligraphy emerged simultaneously, sharing identical tools-namely, brush and ink.

Johannes Gutenberg

The first book that has been printed was known a “Diamond Sutra” that was printed in China in 868 CE. Johannes Gutenberg has invented technology that changed the world of printing. In 1440 has created the printing press, a hand

press, in which ink was rolled over the raised surfaces of movable hand-set block letters held within a wooden form and the form was then pressed against a sheet of paper. The first book that Johannes Gutenberg has printed with the movable type was the “Gutenberg Bible”. During the time technologies has developed like the offset printing.

References:

Operations, , Last accessed 7th October 2014. What Is Typography? - Typography Basics, Available at: http://webdesign.about.com/od/fonts/qt/typography-basics.htm

grosz, d, Last accessed 7th October 2014. What is Typography? (with picture), Available at: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-typography.htm

Art, T, Last accessed 7th October 2014. Chinese Calligraphy | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chcl/hd_chcl.htm

Operations, , Last accessed 7th October 2014. Johannes Gutenberg - Printing Press, Available at: http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Gutenberg.htm