Pop Art (updated)

The Pop Art Movement came to life during the 1950's and 60's in Britain and the America it was the style of the popular culture and the mass media. 

The mass media includes:

• paintings
• sculptures 
• graphics 
• comics 
• advertising

Based on the research that i have done pop art is a descendent of Dada and the Movement was more about removing materials from its context and isolating the objects and than combining them to other objects. 

The movement is also known to be reaction against the ideas of abstract expressionism.

The colours that were used for the Pop Art Movement were extremely bright when comparing it to other movements and the Pop Art  artists made strong use of the primary colours.

Pop Art was the art of popular culture. It was the visual art movement that characterized a sense of optimism during the post war consumer boom of the 1950's and 1960's. It coincided with the globalization of pop music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and the Beatles. Pop Art was brash, young and fun and hostile to the artistic establishment. It included different styles of painting and sculpture from various countries, but what they all had in common was an interest in mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture.

Pop art is now most associated with the work of New York artists of the early 1960s such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and Claes Oldenburg, but artists who drew on popular imagery were part of an international phenomenon in various cities from the mid-1950s onwards. Following the popularity of the Abstract Expressionists, Pop's reintroduction of identifiable imagery drawn from mass media and popular culture was a major shift for the direction of modernism. The subject matter became far from traditional "high art" themes of morality, mythology, and classic history; rather, Pop artists celebrated commonplace objects and people of everyday life, in this way seeking to elevate popular culture to the level of fine art. Perhaps owing to the incorporation of commercial images, Pop art has become one of the most recognizable styles of modern art.Pop Art - the art of popular culture. 2014. Pop Art - the art of popular culture. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/pop_art.htm. [Accessed 3 February 2014].

Associated with :

• ·         Rock music
• ·         Hippy lifestyle
• ·         Psychedelic images made to recreate the sensation associated with mind expanding drugs.
• ·         Distorted imagery and illegible lettering in garish colours applied to posters and magazine and album covers.
• ·         In the 60’s there was a populist vulgar and fanciful commercial graphic design.

Pop art Examples 

References

Pop Art - the art of popular culture. 2014. Pop Art - the art of popular culture. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/pop_art.htm. [Accessed 2 February 2014].

Pop art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2014. Pop art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_art. [Accessed 03 February 2014].

Corporate Identity (updated)

Based on the research that i have done corporate identity first came to life after the world war 2 and this started by the Modernist Movement in America. 

Although corporate identity had been in existence for centuries the visual identification started in the 1950's 

The thing that helps the viewer distinguish one company from the other is the imagery and that's why corporate identity is very important to a company it also attracts clients and visual imagery has always been very important event in the historical times, for instance in the Medieval time people used to make marks to identify their properties.

It was during the 1950's and the 70's that corporate Identity became a necessity for all corporations. Design was then seen as a major way to shape a reputation for quality and reliability. The Industrial Revolution made way for new generation of corporations across the world and they adopted varying approaches to present their brand identity. Not only were logos but brands and standards became a part of a daily life of employees and described, down to the most minute detail


Brands were constantly inventing and reinventing their visual image to adapt to society that was focused on new technological inventions and modern means of communication, travel and  entertainment.

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 412



The above image on the right is a poster design for Olivetti 1949 by Geovanni Pintori. Olivetti products are suggested by a melange of numbers.Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 410

Some examples of Corporate Identity 

The above image is the CBS Television trademark, 1951. Designed by William Golden. Its consists of two circles and two arches from a pictographic eye. Translucent and hovering in the sky, it symbolizes the great power of projected video image. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 414

Lucky Strike logo 1939 by Raymond Loewy

Eye Bee M poster from 1981 by Paul Rand. By using the rebus principle Rand designed this poster for the presentation of the Golden Circle Awards, an in house IBM occasion. Although Rand eventually prevailed, it was temporarily banned, as it was felt that it would encourage staff IBM designers to take liberties with the IBM logo. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 418

References

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.

Paul Rand (updated)

Paul Rand was one of the pioneers of the New York School, who's career began as a promotional and editorial designer for Apperel Arts, Esquare, Ken, Coronet, and the Glass Packer. Paul Rand's magazine cover designs broke with the traditions of American publication design. Rand was highly influenced by the works of Klee, Kandinsky and cubists. Rand had the ability to manipulate visual form such as shape, colour, space, line, value, and skillful analysis of communication content, reducing it to a symbolic essence with making it sterile of dull.Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 390

One can notice that in Paul Rand's advertising designs he made use of the typeface Futura. It is alos noticeable that his designs were very simple but in the same time eye  catching more that any other advert. In my opinion his work was visually sharp and this is because they ways he played with contrast. Based on the research that i have done Rand brought intelligence to advertising and always communicated well so that the viewer will always know what the advert is about.

The sharp colours that Rand used for his designs were to attract the viewers attention he also enjoyed found objects and paper cutouts and also minimal typography and one can also notice that he liked to make use of Sans-Serif typefaces mixed with his own hand writing.

Rand's style often reflected entering puns of wordplay. Rand also liked to play with contrasts such as red against green, organic against geometric, cut or thorn edges against sharp forms, and textural patterns against white.

Rand understood the value of ordinary, universally understood signs and symbols as tools for translating ideas into visual communications. to engage the audience successfully and communicate memorably, he know that the designer needed to alter and juxtapose signs and symbols.Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 391

The hand written Christmas tag on a crisp rectangle contrast sharply with the mechanical stencil lettering of the logo on a thorn-edge collage element. A christmas present wrapped with barbed wire was a grim reminder of of the spread of global war.

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 390

References

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.

New York School (updated)

Based on the research i have done the New York School emphasised mostly on the direct presentation of information and on the expression of ideas. 

Before and during World War 1, an influx of European designers to the United States from Europe gave rise to a wave of modern design. This influx had a great impact on American  design. The Europeans provided the Americans with first hand introduction the European avant-garde. New York was served a a cultural incubator in the middle of the 20th centuryPhilip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 390

The pioneers of the New York School were Paul Rand, Bradbury Tompson, Saul Bass, Cipes Pinele, Iven Chermayeff, Henry Wolf, George Lois, and Herb Labalin.

 Work by Bradbury Tompson 

Bradbury Tompson was one of the most influential designers of post war America. Tompson had a thorough knowledge of printing and typesetting and experimented with both great success this allowed him to expend the range of design  possibilities. 

For the spread on the left Tompson used large, bold, organic and geometric shapes to bring a graphic and symbolic power to the page. Letterforms and patterns were often enlarged and used as a design elements or to create visual patterns and movements and often over printed to create new colours. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 393

The image on the right is a spread from Westvaco inspirations 1958 by Bradbury Tompson the photograph of the saxophone player has a multiple exposure. The saxophone player is reversed from a black circle on the left then on the right it is over printed in primary colours. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

Tompson than turned to classic approach to book and editorial design focusing on the readability, formality, and old style typefaces. 

With this design on the right Tompson combined the text "Learning Never Ends" with homage to the square "GLOW" that was painted by Josef Alberts.  Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

Work by Saul Bass 

Saul Bass took a lot of inspirations from Paul Rand 

Paul Rand and Saul Bass both relied heavily on simplified shapes, but they were far more expressive that minimalist designs seen in constructivism. Bass cut out shapes by hand and assemble his design leaving uneven edges and corners which added a casual ability to forms. Bass's ability to evoke strong emotions from simplified forms is most apparent in the crooked arm from his work on the "Man with the Golden Arm"Biography | Saul Bass. 2014. Biography | Saul Bass. [ONLINE] Available at:http://thejoshparker.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/biography/. [Accessed 09 March 2014].

His work inspired many contemporary designs both in print and the film industry. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

Left billboard for Pabco paints early 1950. The proocess of painting is reduced to a multicoloured stripe, while happy customers are articulated by 3 simple marks. 

Bass had a remarkable ability to express design with images that became glyphs or elemental pictorial sins that exert great graphic power.  Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

For the above poster Bass created a pictograph of arm reaching and struggling for refle, conveying the violence and strife connected with the birth of the nation of Israel. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 395

References

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.

Presentation

Theo Ballmer (Updated)

Theo Ballmer

Theo Ballmer developed his modernist instincts when he worked as a graphic designer with one of Basel's largest pharmaceutical companies Hoffann-La Roche. This was when he developed a personal style characterized by geometric surfaces, in precise grid and a matching avant-grade typography. Ballmer briefly studied at the Bauhaus under Klee, Gropius, and Meyer, where he refined his style using De Stijl principles.  A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 54: A History of Typeface. 2014. A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 54: A History of Typeface. [ONLINE] Available at: http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2012/03/history-of-type-face.html. [Accessed 2 February 2014].


Based on the research that I have done I fond that Theo Ballmer has been of great influence to modern design. Other than the fact that he has been a part of the International Typographic Style one can notice that his style is influenced by the Solvet Constructivism. He also mad strong use of the grid system and strong bold lettering are clearly seen in his work 

One can also notice that  Ballmer's work is based on asymmetrical layouts with sans-serif typefaces that stand out also there is purity in his work and the work is also readable. It is also hard not to notice that typography is the most important element in his designs.   

Thoe Ballmer created well balanced poster designs with geometric typography, which are influenced by Van Doesberg's experiments however, his appear to be more elegant and precise that at times the unbalanced types of Van Doesberg. According to Ballmer breaking the system at the right point is a way to make 

something exciting.

Josef Muller-Brokmann

Joseph Muller-Brockmann’s series of posters for the Zurich concert hall have endured as one of the most distinctive contributions to Swiss Graphic design. In these posters he attempts to find a visual equivalent to music. The series would continue over the next two decades, and Muller-Brockmann would pursue the goal of graphic purity. He replaced drawn illustration with a mathematical grid that echoed the rational structure of modern architecture. He reduced the colour palette to its most elemental - black and white - or at other times to one or two colours, and also replaced traditional typefaces with clean and straightforward sans-serif faces. The result was utterly straightforward and logical. The world had rarely seen posters that were more objective and pure in their approachSwiss Graphic Design. 2014. Swiss Graphic Design. [ONLINE] Available at:http://swissgraphicdesign.blogspot.com/. [Accessed 2 February 2014].

References

Swiss Graphic Design. 2014. Swiss Graphic Design. [ONLINE] Available at:http://swissgraphicdesign.blogspot.com/. [Accessed 15 February 2014].

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.

A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 54: A History of Typeface. 2014. A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 54: A History of Typeface. [ONLINE] Available at: http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2012/03/history-of-type-face.html. [Accessed 2 February 2014].

International Typographic Style (updated)

Based on the research that I have done I found that this style of design holds a lot of power today especially when it comes to corporate identity. The main aim of the Movement was to make the designs socially useful and to gain order and clarity. 

One can notice that the result of this was extreme abstraction and that it was based on geometrical forms. 

Joseph Muller Bruckman's designs are known to be the most influential designs of the Swiss era.








For example one can notice the typeface of this design and the use of scale Brockmann used to gain this kind of impact. also in some of Brockmann's work we can see some constructivism influences and the use of red and black. 






The Swiss style designers looked for asymmetrical layouts for their designs and made strong use of the grid system as a tool to organize their layouts 



This poster shows all the Swiss style approaches to poster design. 

• No Ornamentation 
• Strict Grid Structure 
• Sans-Serif typefaces 
• Minimalist
• Overlapping words.

Some of the major components of the International Style include: 

1. Sans-Serif typography (primarily Akzidenz Grotesk, Helvetica,and Universe)
2. Asymmetrical components
3. Flush left, ragged right text alignment 
4. Mathematical grids, often on a title axis 
5. Objective black and white photography
6. Extreme geometric reduction of illustrated images 
7. Bright flat areas of colour 
8. Universal symbols 

Left poster by Ernist Keller 1955 the poster is energized by repetitive geometrical elements 

The International Typographic Style is also known as the Swiss Style. It is a graphic design style that has been developed in Switzerland during the 1950's that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity. The hallmarks of the style are asymmetric layouts, the use of the grid, Sans-Sarif typefaces and flush left, and rigged right text. It also adopted constructivist elements of geometric reduction, photomontage and simplified palette. Contributors to the Movement aimed to create a unified international style based on clear visual communication. 

: The International Typographic Style Timeline :: .. . 2014. .. :: The International Typographic Style Timeline :: .. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://smearedblackink.com/swiss_style_timeline/. [Accessed 2 February 2014].

Some important figures of the movement are Ernst Keller, Theo Ballmer, Max Bill, and Max Huber. 

The Akzidens-Grotesk typeface became most frequently used in the New typography, and it almost the norm in later Swiss graphic design. The typeface was liked for its clarity and precision, and the designers normally used it in its lower case form.

References

: The International Typographic Style Timeline :: .. . 2014. .. :: The International Typographic Style Timeline :: .. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://smearedblackink.com/swiss_style_timeline/. [Accessed 2 February 2014].

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.