OUGD401 Modernism and Postmodernism

Modernism

Rejection of ornament (Adolf Loos, 1908) ornament and crime.

-           This is were everything is stripped back and less is more. This was adapted by  Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who was a famous architect and designed on a minimalist design.

Form follows function. (Louis Silivan 1896) The tall office building artistically considered)

-                This is where the function should come before the form. This means that the first role in whatever is made should be made to function well before making it stand it.  It should communicate the intended purpose.

International typographic style

-                Switzerland post World War 2.

-                Grid

-                Flush Left, ragged right text

-                Abandoning of drawn illustrations in favour of photography.

Aksidenz Grotesk

-                Simple

-                No decorative serifs

-                Nothing unnecessary

Universal Typeface by Herbert Baye

Le Cabuser ‘Plan Voisin’ 1927.

-                Remove equality

-                Human and personal element

During the seminar we watched various videos but one that caught my eye was Wim Crouwel talking about Helvetica. Wim Crouwel says everything needs to be neutral. ‘It should be clear, it should be readable, it should be straightforward.’ Modernism is about order. Wim Crouwel uses the grid to create this order.

In the same documentary ‘Helvetica’ Massimo Vignelli says that typography is really white and that it isn’t even black.  It is the spacing between the black that makes it typography.

 

An example of modernism is the Byker Housing project.  This is a building made in Newcastle and was one of the first project to unite community with architecture.  The building looks very organised and follows a grid format.  The building was used to get rid of people living in poverty and to enhance structure.

Another example is Massimo Vignelli’s Manhattans subway map. This is a prime example that shows the key factors of the grid and how form follows function. The image only uses colour to differentiate the subways used.

Postmodernism

-                Rejection of International Swiss Style

-                Pessimism

-                Exhaustion

-                Pluralism

-                Reaction to modern life, technology, new materials and Communication

It is equivalent to late capitalism and an artistic and stylistic eclecticism.

According to Charles Jencks on July 15^th 1972 at 3:32pm modernism died.  This is due to an image of the Pruitt-Igoe housing development which lasted less than 20 years after they were destroyed. The building was created to bring families together and ironically created anger and fear.

Postmodernism was a period during the 1980’s and 90’s taking what modernism believed in and going against it. It was chaos and rupture to modernism. Postmodernism was a period were artists went crazy and would reject modernist beliefs. 

After researching about modernism I looked at one artist in particular, Ed Fella.  His artwork consisted of letters going over one another even to the point where it is not readable. It consisted of random colours causing chaos and confusion.

Another artist I looked at was Paula Scher who hated Helvetica. She is an artist who wanted to create chaos against Helvetica. Paula created one poster that instantly caught my eye and indeed went viral when it was made in 1995. It was called ‘The Public – Da Funk’ which consisted of words being varied in size, colour and angle. Paula wanted to created something that had a life of its own and was witty.

David Carson - 'Don’t mistake legibility for communication.'

OUGD401 - Task 1 - Image Analysis Exercise

Context of Practice task 1 image analysis exercise.

The first image is an advertising image by Schaumacher & Ettlinger, The Uncle Sam Range (1876). This was at the time that America celebrated their first centurial of independence. The second image is of a propaganda poster created by Savile Lumley trying to encourage men to join the army and fight for their country.

The purpose of the Uncle Sam Range poster is to sell a cooking range that is trying to sell the “American dream”. The room is surrounded by the colours red, white and blue which symbolize the American flag. I personally believe that the advertisement isn’t very clear at what it is trying to communicate. I do however believe that the British poster is more favourable at expressing its intent because it shows a man being asked about the contribution he gave towards the Great War.

The Uncle Sam poster is very male dominated. This is shown as Uncle Sam is sat in the center with an eagle on his shoulder being served by a woman as well as a black servant making the food using the cooker. The British poster on the other hand is trying to encourage you to join the army by guilt tripping you.. Both of these posters are also trying to aim at middle classed men.

Another difference between the two images is the social and historical context that produce the message of the image. In the American poster we see a lot of small, hidden detail that relates to the advertisement. There is a clock in the back of the room that shows 1776 to 1876. In 1776 America celebrated the official beginning of independence. Therefore in 1876 America celebrated its first centurial.  There is also the globe reading the bill of fare, this included numerous countries that are being mocked for their choice of food therefore showing America as a more culturally superior country.  However, the British poster is created in 1915 a year after the war has began. The words “Great War” show that the war will be a victory as well as the boy playing with British toy soldiers.

Another key similarity is the way the font is chosen and illustrated.  The Uncle Sam Range is written in a bold western typeface using slab serifs coated in gold colours. This again shows the wealth of America and how superior it is. The British poster uses script writing almost as if a child wrote it. This relates back to the father who is being questioned by the young girl about the history of the Great War. Both of these posters relate back to the image and shows glory and promises success.

In conclusion both of these posters are targeted at middle classed men encouraging them to buy the range and join the army. Both of which have a lack in woman directing it at men. Both of these posters try to send across a message of patriotism and glory. To conclude both posters use very certain type to send a message to the viewer and make them think about what is communicated.