Before Class, What is Art Deco?

The name "Art Deco", in my opinion, means decorative art. Art Deco was an international movement that involved so many things, such as architecture, fashion, painting, and film just to name a few. This movement occurred during the 1920's, 1930's, and some in the 1940's. One word that can simply wrap this movement up is decorative. Geometric styles along with bold colors truly define what the artists composed of during this movement.

After Class, Chapter 15: A New Language Form

There were many influential designers and artists that emerged during the postwar years. Academies such as the Weimar Art Academy were produced that drew inspiration from Expressionism, the De Stijl movement, and constructivism. Along with different art academies, typography also boomed during these years. Eric Gill was the creator of Gill Sans, Perpetua, and Golden Cockerel type families while Paul Renner created the type Futura. Along with typography innovators, Paul Schuitema incorporated these new types along with photography to compose his compositions. Isotype and photography during this time were being incorporated in graphic design compositions.

My question for this chapter is how did isotype come about and who invented it?

Before Class, Chapter 15 (Selective Reading): A New Language Form

Innovation boomed in art and design during the postwar years. A new, formal typographic approach emerged in Holland and Russia. Visual art was turning into pure form rather than pictorial imagery and different ideas about form and space were applied to new paintings and sculptures. By the end of WWI, artists and designers everywhere took on the challenge to question traditional form and function.

A lot of political trauma broke out in Russia after WWI. Czar Nicholas II was overthrown and executed along with Civil Wars breaking out throughout the country. Even though all of this was very hectic for the people of Russia, innovations of creative art emerged that influenced twentieth-century design. Russian artists took elements used in cubism and futurism to form cubo-futurism to move on to new innovations. "Kasimir Malevich founded a painting style of basic forms and pure color that he called suprematism." Through this, he created a geometric abstraction that rejected utilitarian function along with pictorial representation. According to Malevich and another famous artist at the time, Kandinsky argued that "art must remain an essentially spiritual activity apart from the utilitarian needs of society." During the postwar years, a new communist society emerged. Constructivists were tired of paintings and turned to the poster in preparation for this new society. They also believed that tectonics, texture and construction were the three main principles for construction. El Lissitzky played a major role in the constructivist ideal. After he studied architecture at the Darmstadt in Germany, architecture became the basis for Lissitzky's art. He then invented a painting style called PROUNS, which introduced 3D illusions. Lissitzky experimented with all sorts of things, like photomontage, painting, graphic design and printmaking. He influenced many people during this time and had a huge audience.

The De Stijl movement began in Netherlands in the summer of 1917. During this movement, artists and designers worked with an abstract geometric style which sought "universal laws of equilibrium and harmony for art." Theo van Doesburg was the founder of this movement. Piet Mondrian was a very important painter during this time that set the rhythm for this De Stijl movement. He developed forms and incorporated cubism elements in his pieces. He also used lots of vertical and horizontal lines. In general during the De Stijl movement, artists reduced their visual vocabulary by using only primary colors. They also sought "an expression of the mathematical structure of the universe and the universal harmony of nature." The artists during this movement were worried with "spiritual and intellectual climate of their time." Universal harmony was the basis of a lot of De Stijl artists and designers. We also see, in type, that words along with letterforms were designed horizontally and vertically.

One thing that I found interesting during this selective reading of chapter 15 was that Lazar Lissitsky, who played a very famous role in the constructivist ideal, was turned down by the Petrograd Academy of Arts because of his prejudice views against Jews! It's a shame he thought like that or he could have got more experience in graphic design!

After Class, Chapter 14: Pictorial Modernism

Ki gave us a very useful presentation today about pictorial modernism. This was a time where WWI and WWII occurred. Technology was advancing and so was human communication. The theme to this era was to keep it simple. Many designers started to simplify their designs in their posters. Plakatstil was the german technique that took images with complex or deeper meanings and made the message very simple and obvious. So not only were the shapes and design more simple, but the message coming from these designs became more simple as well.

One person that I found very interesting and shocking was Ludwig Hohlwein. When I found out that was Hitler's graphic designer I was shocked because I never knew he had a graphic designer! I just figured it was something Hitler or one of his followers came up with. I am stunned at how talented he was too. He used a wide range of texture and decorative pattern that helped compose his compositions. He also used strong contrasts to get his message across. After WWI, it doesn't surprise me that he received many ad commissions.

Another key concept that was discussed in this chapter was the expansion of art nouveau, art deco. During this time, different graphics, architecture, and product design were booming and becoming more and more popular. A.M. Cassandre made his finest works by combining telegraphic copy, powerful geometric forms and symbolic imagery for railways and steamship lines. Again, all these new graphics being innovated were becoming more and more simple.

One image I found really interesting today was the Dark Knight poster. The design on that poster is so creative and visually appealing. Cubism played a role and you can see that through the composition because all the images were fragmented. It was very nicely done by the graphic designer!

One question that I have, especially after learning that Ludwig Hohlwein was Hitler's graphic designer, is did Hohlwein get in trouble for producing the graphics used for Nazis? I know that in the past, people that were ex-Nazis got sentenced for the crimes they committed, but what about Hohlwein? Did he even commit a crime?

Before Class, Chapter 14: Pictorial Modernism

Following the last chapter of the influence of modern art, we now have pictorial modernism. The second decade of the twentieth century was strongly influenced by the modern art movements and somewhat altered communication needs of world war. Cubism influenced many poster designs. Communication imagery and design form promoted the excitement and energy of pictorial graphics.

The Beggarstaffs (James Pryde and William Nicholson) made their mark in history during this time. They were painters that opened a designed studio. The two invented the new technique at the time, called the collage, that they used a lot throughout their compositions. The Beggarstaffs ignored floral art nouveau and produced colorful shapes and silhouettes instead. Unfortunately for these two, they were very creative designers and were a success but the finances hit them hard.

Plakatstil was a flat color design school that the talented Lucian Bernhard decided to enter. Plakatstil was a poster style and Bernhard "established the approach to the poster by using flat color shapes, the product name, and product image." German poster art was developing thanks to Bernhard and other artists. Bernhard also developed a sans-serif lettering style that was painted in brushstrokes during his poster design career. Simplicity was key for Bernhard and it anticipated the constructivist movement. Bernhard branched out to interior design rather than just poster design and he even tackled furniture design and construction which then led to architecture. All in all, he was one important figure in pictorial modernism and many artists were influenced by this young artist.

During World War I, printing technology increased and other forms of public communications advanced, such as the radio. Posters were important means in communicating too. Governments involved and not involved in the global war turned to posters for propaganda and a way to communicate to the public of what was going on. Simplified images that turned into shapes and patterns were popular on these posters along with integrated words and images. Many posters acted as advertisements to recruit people for the army and some acted as a form of patriotism. After the war, peoples faith in technology increased. "Cubist ideas about spatial organization and synthetic imagery inspired an important new direction in pictorial images." Many artists were influenced by cubist ideas and it is shown through compositions produced during pictorial modernism.

One thing that I found interesting after having read this chapter is Lucian Bernhard was only 15 years old when he started his design career!

After Class, Chapter 13: The Influence of Modern Art

This specific chapter had a lot of useful information in it. The modern era proved to be a time of ferment and change. New inventions were being innovated such as the motorcar, radio, the motion picture, and the airplane. Technology was advancing and these inventions helped better human communication. Five important movements occured that helped artists design more freely and throw out traditional art. These five movements were cubism, futurism, dada, surrealism, and expressionism.

-Cubism: This movement became a new tradition independent of nature. It provided a new way that challenged pictorial art and the typical norm of the human figure was broken. Analytical cubism was a time during this whole movement that was based upon work by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque during 1910-1912. Their paintings had geometric planes with different fragments that were put together to make a whole. Paper collage also came into play during analytical cubism. As this evolved, we then come to Synthetic cubism that began in 1913. Juan Gris became the major painter during this time and was influential of geometric art.

-Futurism: This movement came about when Italian poet Filippo Marinetti published his newspaper Le Figaro in 1909. This became a revolutionary movement that questioned ideas and forms to the new reality, such as war, modern life, and the machine age. Marinetti wanted a typographic revolution that rejected traditional type. The public was outraged by this. Marinetti and his followers wanted to revolt and rebel against traditional art and type. All in all, this movement became very influential and the violent revolution of art made graphic designers rethink the nature of typographic wording.

-Dada: This movement claimed to be anti-art. Artists during this movement rebelled and rejected all tradition because they wanted complete freedom. Hugo Ball began this movement and Marcel Duchamp beamce the prominent figure. The public began blaming people of this movement that they weren't creating art but the artists were mocking it. All in all, this movement pushed negative activities to the limit and the movement died off in 1922. The rejection of art and tradition enriched the visual vocabulary and wiped out traditional art.

-Surrealism: This movement came about in 1924. Artists sought a world of intuition and dreaming. Andre Breton founded this movement and it became a way of thinking and knowing, a way of feeling, and a way of life. Surrealism promoted a poetic faith and showed freedom in intuition and feeling to find an inhibited truth. Giorgio de Chirico was an influential painter during this time. All in all, this movement pioneered a visual vocabulary and most of the work made looks very trippy!

-Expressionism: This movement emerged before WWI. Color, drawing, and proportion was distorted by artists during this movement. Thick paint, bold contour drawing, woodcuts, and lithographs were important media. Many artists rejected the authority of the military, education, and government. Many artists liked to show the negative aspects of the human condition and environment in their work.

One thing I found interesting about this chapter was how solarization was invented for photography thanks to Man Ray. Solarization, I think, looks really cool in photographic images.

I really don't have any questions because I presented on this chapter and read it very carefully.

After Class, Chapter 12: Peter Behrens & The London Underground

The class discussion today was based upon Peter Behrens and the London Underground. During this time, we were entering a new century which brought a new direction in design. The new design was moving away from the poetic flourish style.

Kevin talked a lot about Peter Behrens who created the first visual identification program for a German company known as AEG. He designed a honeycomb that had the letters AEG in it. At AEG, Behrens represented two concepts: neoclassicism and sachlichkeit. His designs for AEG ranged from large buildings to electric fans.

Behrens wanted to step away from the old typographic style. He wanted a new one and he promoted sans-serif type. He had a former eye of a painter but he took the approach of an architect in his industrial product design. Incorporated within his work, Behrens eliminated connotations of social class. Behrens proved to be a very talented, gifted man.

Kevin also talked a little about the London Underground. The London Underground was the world's first electric railway system that was opened in London in 1890. Frank Pick's passion for art and design made him the designer for the London Underground. He designed everything, such as posters promoting this electric railway system. His designs were positive and became a model for corporate design identification.

One question I have after seeing and hearing this presentation is what does it mean that Frank Pick's designs were positive?

One interesting thing I learned that I didn't know before is the three concepts for corporate identification is color, logo, and type. For example, apple for macintosh fits this perfectly.

After Class, Chapter 12: The Genesis of Twentieth Century Design

In class today we saw a presentation given on the genesis of twentieth century design. During this time, writers and artists started to question the status quo. All of this took place mostly in Europe but and very little in the U.S. thanks to Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright was a huge architect that was way ahead of his time. He designed Prairie style housing and "The Beautiful House". Although he was a fantastic architecture, he also was a good graphic designer.

Frank Lloyd Wright wasn't the only genesis of the twentieth century. The Glasgow School consisted of four scottish student artists that created geometric designs with accents of floral elements along with curuilinear elements with strong rectilinear structure. Two people, Jesse Marion King and Tawlin Morris, were very influenced by the Glasgow School. King made designs that consisted of medieval style fantasy and Morris became the director of publishing for the Glasgow School.

The Vienna Secession was a very important movement in design history. This movement came about when art students at the reowned Kunstlerhaus resigned due to the disgust of new ideas. Ver Sacrum was a magazine that was produced during this time. It was created in 1898 and ran to 1903. It was a magazine for designers to explore different designs and types to inspire new ideas. Too bad this magazine isn't still around today!

One thing that I found interesting was how Wright designed his homes around nature, thus preserving nature the best he could. I like that and I wish architects today could follow his lead.

One question I have is why weren't more designers subscribed to Ver Sacrum? Was it too expensive? I would think more designers would be subscribed,,,instead only 300 copies were printed!

Before Class, Chapter 12: The Genesis of Twentieth Century Design

The twentieth century was a time where genesis' were being produced. Design was changing and times were becoming more modern. Different, inventive forms and spatial relationships were the key design for the new century. Geometric styles and compositions were being produced along with a major boom in sans-serif typography. Different architecture was emerging and street lamps and teapots were some forms of the new industrial design. Below are some of the twentieth century genesis' that made their mark in history and major events that took place:

-Frank Lloyd Wright was was a major influence on twentieth century design. Japanese architecture influenced Wright and he took a deep interest in designs for graphics, furniture, fabrics, and stained-glass windows. He used lots of space and was emerging into the modern movement.

-"The Four" consisted of four students (Charles Mackintosh, J. Herbert McNair, Margaret Macdonald and Frances Macdonald). They developed a style of "lyrical originality and symbolic complexity." Geometric style was also shown throughout their compositions. Also throughout their designs were symbolic imagery that consisted of bold but simple lines that defined color. "The Four" also innovated interior designs that consisted of white walls with light and innovated different designs for objects and chairs. The work produced by "The Four" became a major influence heading into the twentieth century.

-The Vienna Secession became an art movement that boomed in parts of Europe. Exhibition posters were being produced but the major difference that set this movement apart from others was the "love of clean, simple, sans serif lettering, ranging from flat, blocky slabs to fluidly calligraphic form." Ver Sacrum was a magazine that worked as a "design laboratory". Designers that were subscribed to this magazine could discover different text and illustrations. Ver Sacrum covers were very decorative. Most of them consisted of bold line drawings with borders and headpieces. Linear and geometric elements came into play as well in most of the magazine's pages. These elements helped the Vienna Secession evolve.

-Peter Behrens was a German architect, artist, and designer. He basically did it all. He played a huge part and was a major influence for design in the twentieth century. Behrens "sought typographic form, was an early advocate of sans-serif typography, and used a grid system to structure space in design layouts". He was known as the "first industrial designer" of his time. He produced work for AEG and constructed architecture. Again, geometric patterns, spatial divisions, and different dimensions were shown throughout his architecture. After Behrens was appointed as AEG's artistic advisor, he produced the copyright application for AEG which then became their trademark. The trademark was a hexagonal honeycomb containing AEG's "initials that signified mathematical order while functioning as a visual metaphor relating to the complexity and organization of a twentieth century corporation to a beehive". After producing that, Behrens innovated a large series of AEG lamps along with posters. His work during his time at AEG advanced thinking and he "planted seeds for future developments".

-The London underground was a big deal because it was the world's first electric underground railway system. It opened in 1890 and was a huge help in transportation in urban London. Frank Pick helped design posters to promote the London underground. "Underground posters ranged in style from lyrical romanticism to the beginnings of mass-media modernism. Many posters designed for this evolved over time. Edward Johnston was picked to help create a patented typeface with bold letters for the typography used in the poster design. The London underground logo that Johnston also created is still used today.

One thing I learned from this chapter is sans-serif typography was the popular type for that time. It was so popular that ten sans-serifs were designed by the Berthold family.

After Class, Chapter 11: Art Nouveau

Our class discussion today was based upon the Art Nouveau movement. Art nouveau was one of the biggest international art movements in history. All parts of the world contributed to this movement. Art nouveau basically means "new art". The basic style of Art Nouveau was organic and linear. The style was very imaginative. Celtic and Rococo were used during the Art
Nouveau movement along with ideas from the arts and crafts movement and Japanese decorative design. Vines, birds, flowers and females were often portrayed by Art Nouveau artists.

Ukiyo-e was an art movement used in Japan. It was a huge influence in Europe. Ukiyo-e depicted pictures of a floating world and book illustrations along with woodblock prints. French Art Nouveau progressed in poster design rapidly. Henri de Toulouse was a huge French Art Nouveau artist. In England, graphic design and illustrations were very popular. In Belgium and the Netherlands, book design was booming and paintings were abandoned. In Germany, the Germans had a movement called Jugendstil which consisted of art that was rich in variety and medieval characteristics showed in many compositions. Now as for America, the Art Nouveau movement made its way over through the Harper Magazine. Compositions consisted of vibrant colors and the Victorian style highly influenced artists.

The Art Nouveau movement was a very important time for society. It was an imaginative, non-traditional time that allowed artists to experiment more freely with new materials. Art Nouveau embraced all areas of art, whether it was architecture, posters or books. This international movement made its mark in art history forever.

One thing that I learned from class today was Art Nouveau was one of the biggest, more important movements in art history. I didn't realize how important it was until after the presentation that was given in class today.

One question I have is were woodblock prints being used by other countries other than Japan or was it starting to die off during the Art Nouveau movement.

Before Class, Chapter 11: Art Nouveau

There was a very important transition that occurred between Victorian graphics to the new art nouveau style. Jules Cheret and Eugene Grasset were two very important contributes into making this transition happen. The poster industry at this time was booming and streets were looking more and more like art galleries. Art Nouveau became an international decorative style that emerged and boomed between 1890-1910. Art Nouveau consists of all the design arts such as furniture, architecture, posters, packages, advertisements, fashion, and graphics. Its visual quality that will distinct art nouveau from others is its organic plantlike line which was used to "undulate whiplash energy or flow with elegant grace as it defines, modulates, and decorates a given space." This line adapted with compositions that consisted of flowers, vine tendrils, birds, and female forms. Art Nouveau became a phase of the modern movement going into the twentieth century.

Asian art really expanded during this time as well. New approaches to space, color, and drawing conventions emerged and gave artists a different perspective. Ukiyo-e defines the art movement of Japan. It was a blend of picture scrolls and decorative arts. Woodblock prints were widely used by Ukiyo-e artists. Japan wasn't the only country that expanded its art approach during this time. Innovations in Belgium and Netherlands were emerging as well with the German Jugendstil movement and the Italian pictorial traditions. As you can see, art nouveau was an international art movement. Lots of countries were involved in this movement. Posters and periodicals were a huge part of art nouveau, moving into the twentieth century.

One thing that I learned from this reading is in England, art nouveau was more based upon graphic design and illustration rather than architectural and product design.

After Class, Chapter 10: Arts and Crafts Movement

Today during class we had a classmate give a presentation on the Arts and Crafts Movement. After she was done giving the class her presentation, I better understood the context within this chapter. As she discussed in her presentation, during the time of the arts and crafts movement, Britain was leading the world in industrial power. This movement took place in the industrial revolution. Highlighted typography, graphic design and printing were all a great expression for the arts and crafts movement. During this time, handicraft was demanded for respect.

During the presentation she also discussed how important and how much of an impact William Morris did to the design world. First off, he designed a red house for him and his wife. Since Morris didn't like the Victorian style houses, he designed his own. The interior ended up being like a "poem" because everything was customized to his liking. Shortly after he made his red house, he got into designing stained glass for churches. After his success in producing stained glass, he began creating wallpaper and textile. Medieval and botanical styles influenced Morris in all of his designs. He had many accomplishments and many designers were influenced by him.

One thing that I learned from today's discussion is that Owens thought there was a connection between morality and environment. I didn't catch that in the reading. I also find the etsy.com website very interesting. Laura your right, it's very addicting and I want to buy it all!

My only question that I have is why was Morris' success of stained glass shortened so quickly?

Before Class, Chapter 10: The Arts and Crafts Movement and Its Heritage

The arts and crafts movement was a time where typography was revitalized. Victorian typefaces were fading away in the later 1800's as typefaces such as Caslon, Baskerville, and Bodoni were being offered for keyboard composition in the beginning of the twentieth century. Revivals of earlier typefaces, outstanding book design, and typography was moving forward during this time period. The arts and crafts movement is much more than just visual appearances. Materials, function, and social value inspired twentieth century designers. One very important person that every designer looked up to and idolized during the arts and crafts movement was William Morris.

William Morris, as I would say, was the man of the arts and crafts movement. He emerged design attitudes that gave a positive outlook in the future of design. William Morris contributed a lot to The Kelmscott Press. The Kelmscott Press became an art form because it contained things such as handcut woodblocks, hand-printing, hand-made paper, and initials and borders. Morris in fact designed 644 of the handcut woodblocks for The Kemscott Press himself! After four years in the making of The Kelmscott Press, Morris produced fourteen large borders and eighteen smaller frames that were surrounded by the illustrations Morris cut. He also designed more than two hundred initial letters and words that were used in the Kelmscott Chaucer. William Morris influenced designers all over the world, even after his death. His typeface designs, design unity, and his small details relating to concepts influenced many future book designers as well. Handicraft inspired fine book design that carried throughout the twentieth century and later transformed into commercial printing. All in all, the arts and crafts movement produced new typefaces, a renaissance of arts-and-crafts activities, and a huge improvement in book design.

One thing I learned from the reading and found interesting is The Hobby Horse. The Hobby Horse doesn't only look interesting but its layout, illustrations, and type shows an excellent example of the growing arts and crafts movement. The margins were larger, the line spacing was wider, and ornamented capitals make this piece a visually attractive one.

Another thing that I found interesting while reading was how the Netherlands haven't produced a single typeface in over a century until De Roos (from Netherlands) made the Hollandsche Mediaeval typeface which later became one of the most popular typefaces available.

After Class, Chapter 9

In class today, we talked more about the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian Era. We discussed how Matthew Brady's pictures of the Civil War showed the public what war was really about. The invention on photography let the public see what the battlefields are really like during war. Horrific pictures were taken by him and then were produced and published in magazines and newspapers everywhere. We also discussed Eadweard Muybridge and how he produced the first sequence of photographs that were of motion. These photographs were of a horse and the development of motion-picture photography changed the photography world forever.

Along with photography, we also discussed the Victorian Era. As we saw pictures shown in class, most of the graphics and designers depicted children, maidens, puppies, and flowers in their design style. Filigree and embellished typefaces were used and part of the Victorian Era style as well. Shadows, outlines, embellishments were also part of Victorian typography and was added in behind the type. Along with this style of design, islamic style also emerged during the Victorian Era. We discussed how Owen Jones produced islamic graphic design during this time.

One thing I learned in class today was lithography. I was a little confused about lithography after reading about it but now I understand the process of lithography better and according to Mark, it's a "pain in the ass." It sounds like a very long process and I would like to see how it is done sometime.

One question I have after class discussion today is how did islamic style emerge during a time like the Victorian Era? I feel that islamic style wouldn't have emerged until later years. When we discussed that today I was a bit shocked!

Before Class, Chapter 9

The Industrial Revolution played a huge role on the expansion of productivity. During this time, many people saw the innovations of electricity and gasoline-fueled engines boom. Mass production was on the rise along with the supply/demand cycle. Due to the use of the supply/demand cycle, graphics were also booming, thus playing a very important role in marketing and business. We start to see the use of lithography and chromolithography come into play as posters were being developed. Lithography allowed designers to take a more illustrative approach into making their designs and communicating to the public. Innovations in typography were also on the rise. Larger scale and greater visual impact typefaces were in high demand during the Industrial Revolution because of the expansion of advertising and posters. William Caslon, Joseph Jackson, and Thomas Cotterell were three very successful type designers at the time. Most of the type that was designed during the Industrial Revolution produced fatter letters and the type became bolder as well. The invention of fat faces emerged and became a major category of type design. Along with all these innovations and inventions that occurred during the Industrial Revolution, the most important one, to me at least, was photography (that's also because I love it so much)!

Pictorial images and printing them was a very long process that was done all by hand until the new communications tool, photography, emerged. Thanks to Joseph Niepce, who was the first person to produce a photographic image, we have photography. Niepce was a lithographic printer with the motivation to find ways to make photography work. The earliest photograph he took was a picture of nature in which he exposed the pewter sheet all day long to the sun. After washing the image with lavender oil, sunlit buildings popped up on his pewter sheet. He kept on discovering new ways to capture pictures and images on light sensitive materials. Niepce then died and Louis Daguerre perfected Niepce's invention even further. As the camera kept evolving, a man named William Talbot then invented the process that formed the core for photography and photographic printing. As the camera kept evolving even further from there, George Eastman introduced his Koday camera to the public so people can discover this new innovation for themselves. Photography also became a great way to provide historical records and became a great tool for documentary and communications after the Civil War. Photography's popularity really took off in the nineteenth century and became a great way for artists to gain freedom and expression.

One thing that I learned and found very interesting was the photography portion of the book. It is very interesting to me that the back in 1665 people used the camera obscura and that whole concept then turned into the photography we see today. To think that someone discovered that back in 1665 blows my mind!