Discourse 2

Deborah Levison

"The Final Days of AT&T"

Originally posted on 3/2/2010

Lecture 3/7/10

• Swiss design: Zurich and Basel
• Basel school of design: laboratory of international school; Emil Ruder and Armin Hoffmann
• Paul Rand: Enron, UPS
• Saul Bass: United Airlines, Exxon, AT&T, movie sequences
• Corporate Design at the NY School
• Bradbury Thompson: expended range of design
• Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar
• "Early Design Office" with strong aesthetic background through educational diversity of the partners
• Vignelli Associates: unigrid system, NY subway system, Knoll
• Henry Wolf
• George Lois: Esquire magazine
• Photo-typography: Herb Lubalin
• Movie:
• high vs low art
• Frank Gehry vs. Vegas garrish architecture
• Andy Warhol
• Jenny Holzer
• Jeff Koons
• Cindy Sherman

I really enjoyed the movie about Modernism. It talked about the differences between high and low art which I found very interesting. I think that Andy Warhol was really the one who blurred the line between high and low art. After him, there was Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman among many others who are considered great artists....but I think that were it not for Warhol, these artists would not be as successful as they were.

Lecture 3/31/10

- isotype movement: pictorial, universal language

- search for a universal language without words

- lexicons (pictorial language) for communicating information are engineered rather than illustrated -- socialist in nature

- Otto Neurath

- designers align with the notion of engineering - objective, rational, systematic and programmatic

- reliance on electronic information management

- design systems become a pervasive metaphor for design

- data integration from multiple sources - Herbert Bayer

- modernism and NY school

- modernism- images cast off neutrality, traditionalism, and provincialism and an embracing of the modern world - NYC is the cultural center

- 1940s design reflective of european models...step toward an original American approach to modernism

- Lester Beal - art of construction

- Paul Rand - an emphasis on the role of content and meaning

- Alexey Brodovitch - Harpers Bazaar

- Theo Ballmer

- Anton Stanowski

- Max Miedinger - Helvetica

Lecutre

McLuhan's Wake

For McHulan's Tetrad i chose to work with the cellphone.

1. The obvious enhancement from the cellphone is the human voice. Besides that, the cellphone is also portable, which allows people to be in communication all the time and assuming they have a good signal everywhere, the cellphone connects people from all around the world. And if you look at certain phones like the iphone, people not only can call everyone all the time, they can also be connected through e-mail, internet connection and text messages.

2.Because of the invention of the cellphone and the calling plans that cellphone companies now have, a lot of people are now using their cellphone as their main phoneline...making their landline obsolete. Many people feel that having a landline at this point is pointless because if someone calls you at home and no one answers, then they end up just calling your cellphone anyway. It really becomes more economical sometimes to just have a cellphone these days because of the hundreds of cellphone calling plans that companies make that fit into different people's lives. They have the plan for the working mother, the single man, the senior citizens etc..

3. The positive aspect of the cellphone is not only the communication aspect, but it also makes people much more efficient. For example with the iphone or some other PDA, if you want to see how much is in your bank account or need to pay a bill, instead of having to look at it in the computer or having to go to the bank, you can just look at it in your cellphone and pay your bills no matter where you are. Or, if you get an email...instead of only seeing it when you are in front of a computer, you will see it instantly wherever you are and will be able to answer instantly.

4. Even though the cellphone was made the bring people from all over the world closer together because they can have constant communication, people now tend to use their cellphone even when they can talk to someone in person. It has become the norm to talk on the cell or text someone instead of having to talk to them face-to-face because it is much more efficient to just do it from wherever they are instead of having to go meet someone. More and more, people are even talking less on their phone and simply texting because texting is something you can do all the time, even when other people are talking around you (which is one of the draw-backs of talking on the phone). One thing that is a "reverse" of the cellphone is that even though you seem to be able to do anything on your phone (while completely isolating yourself in the process), you can only do those things assuming your cellphone works. When your cellphone does not work, then it almost seems like it completely hinders your entire day.

I think that the laws in the movie are important because it makes us think about the good and bad things about new technologies. I think that people these days take for granted that every aspect of new technologies and assume that they are all good...but the reality is that everything has its drawbacks. As with the example I used, the cellphone (specifically the iphone), even though the iphone has great applications, makes your life easier and and things every efficient, it also is making people much more isolated. Instead of having to go through the "hassle" of talking to someone or doing anything in person, people are resorting to text messages and such...anything that will save us from having to spend more time than we have to on something, even if it means we lose some human contact

Lecture 3/3/10

• Dutch Masters of the new typography
• The Dutch Modernism-the printing arts perform as an expressive tool. The technology of commercial reproduction become tools of creativity
• Paul Shoetema-typography and photography integrated in a total structure using overprinting
• Products promoted became icons, their own manufactured shapes serving as the basis of a system of visual forms.
• Hendrick N Werkman- "druksels"; represented a new look at methods inspired by modernism and "art of construction"
• Piet Zwart- used collage techniques with parts from the typecase; ordered word rules and symbols and manipulated to find the design; DADA inspired, masterful control;the diagonal unifies diverse graphic elements through common movements while defying formula; found balance between the playful and the functional
• style, more than substance, supplied the content of this campaign
• designers applied reductive compositional principles of Plakastil with synthetic Cubism inventions and the purity of De Stijl
• A.M. Cassandre and Edward Kauffer
• Art Deco Moderne
• tourism and entertainment industries flourish, exploiting new degrees of mobility and leisure in a growing middle-class
• design of the 1920's and 1930's become a common source of stylistic fantasies crucial to the growth of consumer culture
• Dubbonet
• E. McNight Kauffer- application of cubist ideas; best known for his London Underground posters in the 30's
• Joseph Binder-highly and styled naturalism based on geometric cones, spheres, and cubes, then stylized through Synthetic Cubism
• Schulz-Neudamn - cinema poster 1926
• WWII- European modernism had clearly proved it could raise arms; Germany was cultural hub
• Ludwig Hohlwien
• Abraham Games, Jean Carlu, Herbert Bayer
• Herbert Matter

I really enjoyed tonight's lecture. I forget how design can be found in places where I would not think about looking. War posters are not the place I would look to study graphic design but when I think about it now, it makes perfect sense that these posters be studied. No industry wants to attract more people at once than the war industry. It is no surprise then that the designers of these posters would not only deeply study their demographic, but they would design it in such a way that would impact their audience.

I have always loved the 30s and the design from that time. I really appreciate the way that they integrated typography, photography, illustration to create war propaganda, travel ads and other propaganda. In such a tumultuous time in history with the wars and the crash on the market in '29, it is great to see that design was still able to flourish....even though sometimes designers used this enviornment to manipulate their audience.

Discourse 1- article 2

Futura
from "Texts on Type"
by Alexander Nesbitt

• Futura's designer, Paul Renner may be one the most underrated designers
• Renner- author of 4 books (none which were in english...which is probably why he is not as well known as other)
• The National Socialist Regime removed him because he spoke and wrote sharply against the turn of events.
• The invention of the first useable sans-serif is still argued today-some people say it was William Caslon, others say Vincent Figgins and William Thorowgood's "Grotesque".
• When it comes to classifying a sans-serif, Futura is the best example because it has classic proportions in the capitals and the lower case is in traditional miniscule patterns
• After WWI, there was a lot of experimentation on typography...the most interesting innovations happened in Germany...Bauhaus
• There is still arguement over who came to use Futura first- some consider Edward Johnston's London Underground to be the first noteable useage of this type. Othes say it was Rudolf von Larisch
• Renner began his sketches in 1924
• Then the Bauer Foundry became interested in it and it was not until 2 years later that Futura was launched into the market
• The reason why it was so successful was because all the "kinks" in the type were resolved before it hit the market....so there was no need to go back and fix anything...it was just ready to be used by anyone who wished to do so.
• Influences on Renner-expressionism, constructivism, dadaism and non-objectivity
• Futura had great influence in American advertising because it was a functional kind of typography
• Renner wanted to construct something that was not trying to be something else (He said that people tended to still try to be Jenson or Bodoni but those types, although beautiul, were outdated)
• Renner agreed with Corbusier who said that the best way to move foreward and create something that was both beautiful and functional for the time was to "start again from zero in order to create clear decks"
• There are only 3 components to the printed job (in Renner's opinion): the purpose, the raw materials, and the techniques
• We should just be ourselves with a clear and simple typography
• Futura as a display type is great because it is a well designed face without bad optical illusions

I really love futura as a typeface because it is so sophisticated (and after having read that article I know why...since it was constructed so well). But the images below show futura being used in different situations. The first image is from another article about futura. I liked the way it was designed because it shows how each person liked to use futura including Stanley Kubrick, Barbara Kruger, Wes Anderson and Volkswagen and the way in which they used the type.

The second image shows futura being used as a display face. This image is an installation piece by Barbara Kruger (one of my favorite artists who used futura in a lot of her work because it is such a powerful font and perfect for display pieces. The last image is the alphabet that that Bauer company launched into the market and soon was being used all over the world.

Discourse 1- article 1

The Final Days of ATT

from "9 Short Essays on Design"
by Michael Bierut

• American Telephone & Telegraph was founded in 1885 as a subsidiary of Alexander Graham Bell's Bell Telephone Company to create a long-distance network for Bell's local operating companies
• In 1915, AT&T opened transcontinental telephone service
• there had been a perfect synconicity between the inventor's name and the sound his product made
• unlike so many other brand names, it was a word that could be represented with a simple picture
• In 1968, Saul Bass was hired to bring order to the system, and created a classic modern identity program.
• AT&T agreed to divest itself of its local telephone operations, and seven independent "baby Bells" came into place. This was a "gold rush" for identity designers.
• logo would be nothing but a sphere, a circle crossed with lines modulated in width to create the illusion of dimensionality.
• Despite Bass's logo, after 1984, nothing was stable again in the telecom business.
• And now, after 20 years of telecom chaos, SBC Communications, Inc., a descendent of Southwestern Bell, is taking over its former parent company and wanted to create a logo that was the symbol is innovation and technology
• "Graphic design, unlike architecture , leaves no footprint. When one of the best known logos in the world disappears overnight, the only hole created is in our collective consciousness. By New Year's Eve, Saul Bass's sphere will be no more. Will anyone mourn — or protest — its passing? "

The images below show the AT&T logos over the years. The first logo being the actual bell showing the "bell system" seems to follow the history of the company since the founder was Alexander Bell. The later logo (#2) is the Saul Bass logo of 1968. Bass is known for using spheres such as the logos for Continental Airlines and Minolta...and the same was true for his design for AT&T. I really prefer the last logo and most current one by SBC Communications because not only is it dimensional making it much more dynamic and modern, but the sphere also gives the impression of a global communication...something that can be shared by everyone and is accessible to everyone. And that is perfectly isync with the philosophy of the company which says that they can communicate everyone and are a global network.

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Lecture 2/24/10

• De Stijl:

  • Sought universal laws that Govern visible reality but are hidden

  • same goals as Malevich and the Suprematists

  • Sought to purify art by banning naturalistic representation, external values and subjective expression

• Mondrian: defined horizontal/verticals as the two fundamental opposites shaping our world

  • Everyday objects would be elevated to a higher level of art

• Theo van Doesburg:

  • Applied de Stijl principles to architecture, sculpture and typography

• Visual forms developed from Mondrian’s paintings

  • pure form and assymetrical tension

• Mondrian: defined horizontal/verticals as the two fundamental

• opposites shaping our world

• Everyday objects would be elevated to the level of high art

• Art through careful application of the principals.

• Theo Van Doesburg:

  • Curves eliminated

  • Square module

  • Color is structural element

  • Favored red

• Kurt Schwitters and EL Lissitzky

• De Stijl architectural theory:

  • asymmetrical equilibrium

• Gerrit Rietveld:

  • Architectural and graphic forms in asymmetrical equilibrium

• Schroeder House

  planes in space, high tech industrial radiators

• J.J.P. Oud:

  • structure and signage identification as an asymmetrical facade

• Bauhaus: To solve design problems created by industrialization

  • Bauhaus establishes design as a discipline taught and practiced using modernism’s’ form and functionality.

• In Weimar 1919-1924: Intensely visionary period - possibility for a universal design that integrated aspects of society.

• Moholy Nagy

Piet Mondrian has always been one of my favorite artists. I love the way he simplified his paintings to a few colors and lines yet the philosophical theories behind his art are very complex. I watched a documentary on him and the way that he was so meticulous in his process was impressive. His paintings have this seemingly effortless elegance to them that people forget how difficult it is to produce something that is so precise yet simple-looking.

As a photo minor, Moholy Nagy has also been one of my favorites for a long time. I love his “photoplastics” because it has influenced my work a lot in the past. His work always works with symmetry and transparencies using classic darkroom techniques which I have done in the past and tried to emulate. He is just interesting to me because he has always been a constant experimenter and took classic techniques in photography to create something that was completely innovative.

Lecture 2/17/10

• Russian Suprematism,
• Constructivism and De Stijl
• Kasimir Malevich
• Cubo-Futurism
• Alexander Rodchenko-photomontage
• Salomon Tellingater
• Montage as the “fabrication” of a prototype for printing– not a unique work of art
• Rodchenko and Soviet Propaganda and Commerce
• EL Lissitzky
• Veshech-modeled after "Merz" magazine
• Prouns Space-merges 2 and 3d design in one space and becomes later exhibition design
• "Beat the Whites With the Red Wedge"
• "The Tale of Two Squares"
• "For the Voice"
• "The Isms of Art"
• "Design For Press"
• poster-icon of the 20th century graphic design
• The Steinberg Brothers
• Revolution completes the establishment of a "professional identity" for modern graphic design

I really enjoyed this lecture. I have always loved Russian Constructivism. I think that even though their art was used mainly for propaganda and to influence people, I think that he way they managed to do this was really interesting and beautiful. All of the posters are so visually powerful. It is also very interesting to see the way in which they used the new medium of photography and film as almost a substitute for illustration (which William Morris relied so much on). it personally great for me to study this movement because I love to create collages/photomontages and it has always been an influence in my work today...from their techniques to their somewhat stark color palettes. I also love the was they constantly used an axis in their work and their use of space.

Lecture 2/10/10

plakastil

sachplakate

Picasso- the relationship between form and communication

WWI posters

Ludwig Hohlwien

Ferdinand de Saussure- Structuralism

Futurism

Manretti

Dada Movement

Duchamp

Kurt Schwitters

Andre Breton

I have always loved the Dada Movement. I like the fact that it does not make sense and tried to almost destory everything that artists have tried to build since the italian Renaissance. I think that it was always going to be a "short-lived" art movement because art cannot be made just for the shock value. But it was revolutionary in the sense that it defied everything that the burgouise class thought was important. The only thing that I don not like about the Dada movement (and that I did not know until tonight) was the fact that they denied Kurt Schwitters from entering their movement. He obviously would have been a valuable asset to them.

Lecture 1/27/10

• Victorian art- art of persuasion is born - typography is stripped of its historical evolution for -The sake of commerce
• ephemera
• chromolithography
• lithographic naturalism
• John Gamble
• Thomas Nast-father of the political cartoon
• Brand identities become commodoties themselves demonstrating a design concept was a marketable one
• John Ruskin and William Morris- The Arts and Crafts Movement - total design
• Kelmscott Press
• Art Nouveau: invented forms / ornament becomes structure / symbolic and philosophic concerns
• Cheret and Grasset
• decandence and aestheticism
• the Beggarstaffs
• Will Bradley
• Jungendstil and Sezenssionstill
• Koloman Moser
• Joseph Hoffman
• Glasgow School
• Peter Behrens
• Harry Beck

I really enjoyed this lecture because it was about art movements that I have always liked. I really love the style of Art Nouveau. I think that the romantic and ornate look to it is very interesting. i also enjoyed the second part of the lecture which talked about the end of the "ornateness" of Nouveau and the beginning of modern graphic design which is much more minimalistic.

Lecture 1/20/10

Key points:

early pictoral marking still show figure/ground, organization and scale

paleolithic markings- show that they were capable of abstract thought

cuneiform writing- faster way of writing...easily translated into phonetic communication

papyrus allowed for writing to be portable and much more widespread

notice difference from hieroglyphics to phonecian to greek alphabet (and later roman)

unicals

Trajan's column

illuminated manuscripts

insular scripts

incunabuls

Johannes Gutenberg-textura

German influence

typographers: garamond, Didot, Bodoni, Caslon

notice how the economy in the world influences typography (and vice versa)

It is very interesting to me to see the evolution of type. Since the early caveman had ideas that they wanted to express, they would carve it into a wall and still they were able to create something that even today we can understand. Even though a lot of time went by since the early caveman to the invention of moveable type or the creation of fonts like Bodoni and Caslon, it is really astonishing how much type has changed...and how much it might still change in the future. I particularly liked the section on Albercht Durer because I have always found him fascinating. He was really a Renaissance man in the sense that he did everything...and did it well. He was a master engraver, typographer, philosopher etc.

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