Author: Aleexx Martinez (Page 1 of 2)

Sources:

Design as Art. translated by Patrick Creagh, Penguin Classics, 2008. pp. 25-33, 37-40.

Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design. Kiosk Books, 1996. pp. 24-32, 41-45.

Marinetti: Selected Writings. Edited by R.W. Flint, translated by Arthur A. Coppotelli. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1972.

Painting Photography Film. Translated by Janet Seligman. MIT Press, 1973. pp. 38-40. Reproduced in Graphic Design Theory, pp. 32-34

herbert bayer: painter, designer, architect. Rheinhold, 1967. pp. 75-77. Reproduced in Graphic Design Theory, pp. 44-49

Josef Müller-Brockmann, Grid and Design Philosophy (1981): 

The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effect, co-created by McLuhan and Quentin Fiore in 1967

Steven Heller, from 2008, entitled The Underground Mainstream

Jessica Helfand, Dematerialization of Screen Space (2001)

Brower, Steven. “How the Rolling Stone Logo Evolved from an Incredible Mistake.” Eye on Design, 3 Oct. 2018, https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/design-history-101-how-the-rolling-stone-logo-evolved-from-an-incredible-mistake/.

Reading this article was interesting especially having music and advertisement being involved. My internship is working at a music firm where we advertise artists, brands, and content creators. In the article, “It was born in a small community that shared proclivities for sex, drugs, and anarchic behavior—all threatening to the mainstream. Kindred visual artists, musicians, and designers developed means of expression that helped define the culture’s distinct characteristics. Psychedelic art was a distinct vocabulary, influenced by earlier graphic idioms, that overturned the rigid rules of clarity and legibility put forth by the once avant-garde moderns. Through its very raunchiness it manifested the ideals of the youth culture. For a brief time it was decidedly a shock to the system. But as it gained in popularity (like when it appeared on the cover of Hearst’s Eye magazine or the sets of nbc’s Laugh-In) it turned into a code easily co-opted by marketers.” Psychedelic is a new look in the art, music, and entertainment industry but some people didn’t like the idea of drugs or any “bad influence” being involved. But it speaks for the youth, it’s aiming for a specific target audience. When Psychedelic started going big, marketers decided to look for ways to advertise and make a profit from it. In my job, my boss and I look at trends and turn them into our own assets to advertise an artist. The publicity that the trend is receiving will help us boost our exposure for the artist.

“In turn, the record labels advertised and packaged these bands using the very codes that signaled “alternative” to the growing youth market.” In today’s generation (music industry), Psychedelic is still labeled as “alternative.” Artists that I listen to like The Marias, Melanie Martinez, Paramore, and Cannons, their identity has substances of psychedelic (colors, using drugs as metaphors, music, appearances, visuals, typography) and are under the genre of alternative.

“All it takes is the followers of followers to cut a clear path to the mainstream. Indeed the mainstream embraces almost anything “edgy,” although once the label is applied it is no longer on the edge.” The people have the power to make some content/song go viral. Also, when labels are not familiar with an “edgy” look, it is looked at as “unprofessional.” But when labels are open-minded or see that this “Edgy” look is going big on social media, they will decide to work with it because they’re going to make a profit from it. It’s a good and bad thing, it’s good because they’re giving artists a chance to light up their identity with their music, and bad because if labels don’t see numbers going up or are not willing to give the Psychedelic a chance, then it’s not seen as a “unique” style.

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.

Reading all three articles mentioned some interesting points that I agree with. In the article The New Typography, “Every part of a text relates to every other part by a definite, logical relationship of emphasis and value, predetermined by content. It is up to the typographer to express this relationship clearly and visibly through type sizes and weight, arrangement of lines, use of color, photography, etc. The
typographer must take the greatest care to study how his work is read and
ought to be read.” Typographers select fonts that speak clearly for the visuals. Not only do the typographers just select a font but play with its weight, height, color, arranging with lines and etc. This is a great skill for designers who struggle with typography.

In Designing Programmes, “To describe the problem is part of the solution. This implies: not to make creative decisions as prompted by feeling but by intellectual criteria. The more exact and complete these criteria are, the more creative the
work becomes. The creative process is to be reduced to an act of selection.” When designing, we’re solving a problem and during the process is part of the solution. We have to put our ego to the side and look at the facts of how people interact if there’s a bright color, big text, dim images and etc. This will lead to more creativity and decrease so many selections. Another great skill for designers to do is ask yourself, “What if I use this color, image, font, or this composition?” And, do more research on how people interact with designs that screams or that just whisper.

There isn’t a right way to design but what designers need to do is research. You have to get out of your comfort zone because you will find designs that will spark your creativity. You can research before, during, or after you designed. But remember this, “never settle on what you designed yesterday.”

The articles that I’ve read had interesting perspectives about typography. First, I love typography, and when the article Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Guides mentioned typophoto I was asking questions like, “What is that?” A combination of type and photos, searching them online, I ended up realizing I’ve seen typophoto before. “Photography is highly effective when used as typographical material.” When photos are used, for them to be impactful is to develop into a typographical format. Not only it will look like an illustration but it does create a visual communication with its details.

“typographers envisioned possibilities of deeper visual experiences from a new exploitation of the typographic material itself. they called for clarity, conciseness, precision; for more articulation, contrast, tension in the color and black-and-white values of the typographic page.” Typographers select specific fonts for visual content that develops a better understanding through the designs. When I’m in the process of selecting fonts for a design, I ask questions to myself, “Why this font? How’s it related to this design? Why is it big or small?”

“…we do not read individual letters, but words or phrases.” This line is really confusing, I’m not sure if the author is saying readers tend to skip letters because we’re aware that is a single letter and it’s not important. Unlike words and phrases has a summary that the reader can’t miss. “text in color black printing on white stock, because of its extreme opposites, is not entirely satisfactory. the eye forms complementary images.” When the font is in the color black on a white cardstock paper, it ends with a bad result because the eyes create enhance images. I don’t recall this happening to me but I would like to hear what others have to say about that line. Also, I’ve found it interesting how the last article uses lowercases after a period, it does make a huge difference because I’m asking myself, “Did the author do this because the reading is about typography?”