Month: March 2022 (Page 3 of 9)

When I think of how media extends humanity, the thing that springs to my mind is social media.  And social media springs to my mind quickly and forcefully when I think of answering this question, because social media has connected, and therefore amplified and extended humanity pretty drastically.  It is mind boggling to me that people in let’s say Tokyo can see what people in New York City post to their social media channels, and therefore sort of have surveillance on what those people are doing, from halfway across the world.  It’s easy to understand based on that example alone how ideas are so very rapidly spreading across the world now thanks to social media.  

And then when it comes to the hazards of technological progress on individuals and society, social media is also the first thing I think of.  And within that topic, the first thing I think of is online bullying.  Youth are the main victims of this phenomenon, and it’s such a problem because it affects young people’s self esteem, and therefore ability to contribute to society.

I don’t think the work of a designer is subordinate to the media they use to create, because I think the content of the work is what people really respond to.  For example, I don’t think people really focus on the fact that the Mona Lisa is a painting.  I think they focus on the mysteriousness of her expression and the mythology surrounding the artwork.  However, I do think some ideas work better in some forms of media more so than others.

I think form follows function is really powerful, and it’s interesting to me that Tschichold rejected anything outside of form follows function as ineffective.  A part of me loves that, but a bigger part of me loves highly decorative, less functional typography and design in general.  Tschichold seems to champion sober, highly functional, rather plain typography, but I must admit I love the other side of the coin.  Why can’t typography and other types of design be decorative and frivolous, with pleasure being the sort of ‘function’ of the design?

I find Gerstner’s programme for designing to be mathematical, clinical, and devoid of emotion.  I suppose it is one way of designing, and most definitely a unique one and probably a powerful and effective one I will admit.  However, for me, it defeats the purpose of design.  I try to design with emotion, and I express my personal point of view in my designs.  For me it is so much more enjoyable that way.

Muller-Brockmann’s design ethos is again, for me, far too mathematical, objective, and cold.  There is one element of his design ethos that I agree with, that is the technique of systemizing processes.  Systemizing is something I do in my design work and life in general, because I find it makes every process easier, since once I design the system, all I have to do is execute that system over and over again to get to my desired outcome.

McLuhan’s reading was an interesting read even though I did face some pieces were it seemed to digress into a different topic, where I would lose understanding. Overall, he made interesting points about technology to which I assume he referred as mechanization. He talks about how when a new technology comes into society, creating a whole shift in change, people as a whole either adapt to it or become ignorant of it. He states that “censor acts at once to numb us from the blow and to ready the faculties to assimilate the intruder.” The way he phrased this reminds of me of when a person becomes socks with a virus, the cells in their body are ready to attack it but then they are drugs (medicine) that can alleviate it. This the body becomes numb to the attacker and automatically fights it off without fear. Similarly, as a society we may have reached a point where we accept the new technology changes because in the end, the result is convenient to many.

Another interesting point he makes is about media and technology being extensions of our bodies . This reminds me of the theory referring to man being responsible for creating the advances of our life being dependent on the means of communication transportation and etc, we have created. So, I agree with the statement, because media such as TV and technology such as our phones, is dependent on what we want, need, what we prefer. McLuhan explains it best when he states that we as people give up our sense to be the subject of media and technology. We give up our control, and when media such as the TV produces content, we take it in because at one point it is what we desired to receive. This as a result leaves us vulnerable to manipulation and being influenced by things. My favorite line he says is “taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves.”

Although it was a little difficult to follow, he mentions art being looked at differently instead. To be looked at “for what it is” and how our psychology has our rearrange information for us to comprehend. Instead of taking the information and letting our psyche do the work of thought and anticipation for what artistic technique comes next. Can we then explore the art as it is face value and regard the medium as the medium it is, like an ornament on a tree, an inanimate object or accessory?

McLuhan in “Understanding Media” emphasizes the importance of media in human life, how they changed and keeps changing it and invites the reader to analyze the medium as the message, not for its content. Examples of media are the bulb, the print or any new technological inventions. For McLuhan media is anything that extends our capabilities as human beings influencing our way of thinking, interacting and behaving. A medium influences our “sense ratios” (our senses) in fact it uses specific senses to transmit the message for example we read a book through eyes and mind and we watch television with our eyes and ears. McLuhan defines media as “extensions of ourselves” and the cause of positive and negative changes in human behaviors and societies. For example, the introduction of new technologies brought a change in the interaction between humans which eliminated jobs but at the same time created roles for people. Another example is the railway which doesn’t introduce only movement or transportation but increased the speed of human functions creating new cities and new activities. So society is affected not merely by the content of the medium but by its characteristics, such as the electric light which controls the form of human action and activities. It is thanks to the electric light that men can operate or play baseball in the dark. The medium in this case eliminates space and time. Another example is the impact and the role of the tv had on the society, not because of the kind of shows it showed (its content) but because of its characteristics. Furthermore, as a movie is a combination of different medias such as speech, music.. The same is Cubism, where different patterns, textures, lights were used. The final work of art was a fragmented representation of something (from the top, from the side or the bottom) that let the viewer to receive the message as an whole (“drops the illusion of perspective in favor of instant sensory awareness of the whole”) through different media. 

McLuhan affirms that the machine technology brought fragmentation and decentralization (which is centralist and superficial) while the automation technology brought the opposite. McLuhan defines alphabet as a basic mechanical technology in which the language has been broken in twentysix characters that we can arrange to create words and express thoughts. Before the written language men had to physically communicate through spoken word. The introduction of the electric technology such as the telegraph brought a speed diffusion of the written text in few seconds instead of weeks. 

The content of any medium is another medium, for example for the telegraph is the print, for the print is the written word, for writing is the speech, for speech is a process of thought. “An abstract painting represents direct manifestation of creative thought processes as they might appear in computer designs.”   

At a certain point McLuhan introduces the analyses of Arnold Toynbee of the power of the medium and the concept of “etherialization”. He affirms that our personal opinion or perception of a medium produces a different effect. He introduces the third dimension or private point of view comparing it to the Narcissus fixation, in which the medium brings to the alienation of the man. 

As Werner Heisenberg, in The Physicist’s Conception of Nature, underlines technical changes brings changes not only in the way we behave but also in the way we think and value. One of a possible psychological effect of technologies is the demand for them. The need of constantly have the radio or tv on not for its content, but because we feel the urge of using the senses that are available. “Electric technology is directly related to our central nervous system”. The dependence of the man to technology created a kind of enslavement, but at the same time pushed the fragmentation and the rebellion as a technique of achieving security. 

McLuhan recognizes the art as immune to the technology and able to provide immunity. The artist has integral awareness and he can correct the sense ratios before the influence of new technology. 

Marshall McLuhan’s concentration is on English literature, and he is beginning write about the media in the late 1950s. Media ‘passive entertainment,” meaning they change or altar all aspects of our lived experiences. While I study on the technologies that strengthen the internet infrastructure, I have made a collaborative attempt to provide more individual, face-to-face time with friends, colleagues, and family pre, during and post pandemic. This fact has convinced me that tools such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs can be abused by their own makers and cause people to lose the ability to physically interact with others. Public library, book shop, physical bookstore etc.…is replacing the internet in Western culture as the main thing we read.

This is the way of media and design related in comparison’s way. Marshall McLuhan said, “Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of media by which men talk than by the content of the message.” I can tell in the text “Understanding media” that harm is in the technological advances that may be brought to the individual humans do not study media meaning that there is not enough creativity done in technology. “The electric light escapes attention as a communication medium just because it has no “content.” (McLuhan,8).” Media, today’s essential tool that reshapes the pattern of communication, where we must spend on the internet for entertainment purposes, informational research, publishing, broadcasting and more. For instance, there are printed newspapers, which are mainly bought and read by elders on the subway or bus. One of the major risks that might come with technological improvement is the impact it has on the older group using technology. They are going to have a harder time living in a developing modern society, which puts them at a disadvantage when coming to new chances.

Because of the high speed of the internet communication, everybody time is valuable so, I don’t think we can be too slow to show that our designs are relevant or effective. The statement “Media is a massage” means that the way something is conveyed affects the way the meaning is carried by a creator, for example, a political advertisement with lots of color and noise can obscure what’s being said by a designer, and it’s a kind of perceptive alert about social mass media. Another example, you can learn how to do anything online because there are sure to be YouTube videos on how to do it. The interplay between old and new environments creates many questions and confusions. Marshall McLuhan’s collaboration with graphic designer Quentin Fiore uses visual drawing to question conventions associated with print media. A 1967 NBC television experiment even referred to subliminal messages. Subliminal information includes visual or auditory stimuli that the conscious mind cannot recognize. Getting to know more about words/ images presented below our conscious awareness:

The truth about subliminal messages [infographic]. Visme Blog. (2021, November 26).

Designers should be well aware of the positive and negative aspects of the communication tools they are employing and by keeping these ideas in mind, they should try to produce the content that hopefully makes the world a better place.

References

Berke, R. L. (2000, September 12). Democrats see, and smell, rats in G.O.P. AD. The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/12/us/the-2000-campaign-the-ad-campaign-democrats-see-and-smell-rats-in-gop-ad.html

The truth about subliminal messages [infographic]. Visme Blog. (2021, November 26). Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://visme.co/blog/subliminal-messages/

Reading McLuhan_Fiore_MediumIsTheMassage_1967 was interesting to see how they compare technology is changing with our personal lives. The article, “The medium, or process of our time-electric technology – is reshaping and restructuring patterns of social independence and every aspect of our personal life. It is forcing us to reconsider and re-evaluate practically every thought, every action, and every institution formerly taken for granted. Everything is changing-you, your family, your neighborhood…” Technology is changing and it will benefit society and personal lives. It’s making us re-think what we do in today’s world and our loved ones because we take things for granted. Once, everything is changing we have to grow up and take full responsibility of what we say, think and do.

Another interesting part of this article is the visuals. The images that were selected for each page, flows in with the summary. Especially when the article mentions, “We have already reached a point where remedial control, born out of knowledge of media and their total effects on all of us, must be exerted.” Meaning there’s an answer that we already heard of and it was developed by the media, which causes by influnece. The image is a black and white circles, surrounding one behind another which associates of the small circle being the “answer” and it was caused by the other circles around it (as a way being influenced by one and another).

This article expands my creativity in designing editorial. All spreads are minimal, messy and monochromatic. The black, white and having the images be zoomed in brings more drama, it catches the reader’s attention. This a perfect example of breaking the rules in design, it’ll make some designers feel odd but rules are meant to broken. I enjoy the result of the design.