Author: Kevin Chen

Terms I didn’t understand:

Etymology Imitari Semiology Agglutinations En abyme Connotational Italianicity

The article talks about the usage of words and imagery as well as its coexistence as a whole. It speaks about the example of a Panzani advertisement and its use of imagery as its primary source method to express the message, while the logos/caption on the product serving as a sort of support of the ad. The article speaks of the potential disconnect the usage of both actual sentence and imagery would have had for the advertisement.

McLuhan believed that technology is in a way, an extension of a human because it can be create “roles” for people such as the level of involvement they have to their work. McLuhan gave a great example of such concept with the electric light, he talks about the uses of the electric light in setting such as it being used during a brain surgery or night baseball, all of which is indirectly a function of the electric light or and extension of it much like how technology can indirectly extend the capabilities of a person. Such example was given in the “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man” by Marshall McLuhan “Positively, automation creates roles for people, which is to say depth of involvement in their work and human association that our preceding mechanical technology had destroyed”…..”Whether the light is being used for brain surgery or night baseball is a matter of indifference. It could be argued that these activities are in some way the “content” of the electric light”.

Technology itself despite all the benefits, also possess a equal amount of negative aspects to it. Just like how it can be an extension to a person by allowing more functionality, it can also lead to a decline in the specific professions in which machines are more than capable of substituting. Although such events are possible and has occurred, these changes are more of something natural to occurred as most lost of jobs are primarily works that can be elevated to greater heights with the use of machine and some cases have people manning said technology to increase the output of said task.

Jan Tschichold believed that the every essence and basis of New Typography is clarity. He stated that the old style Typographies focus too much on beauty then what is eligible in comparison to the Typographies of today. He believed that in the modern generation clarity serves a greater importance because it is necessary and essential to capturing the attentions of the audiences, especially with the large amount of print seen in todays time. In the reading “The New Typography” Jan Tschichold stated “The essence of the New Typography is clarity”… “old typography whose aim was “beauty” and whose clarity did not attain the high level we require today”.

Karl Gerstner believed that designing means to “pick out” determining elements and combine them. He believed that in design, there is no single outcome, but one which would be best suited for the necessary task/topic. In the article “Designing Programmes” Karl Gerstner states ” There is always a group of solutions, one of which is the best under certain conditions”… “Designing means: to pick out determining elements and combine them.””

Josef Muller-Brockmann believed that a designer’s work should have the clearly intelligible, objective, functional, and aesthetic quality. He suggest the uses of grid, as it shows a certain mental attitude a designer will have for their work, that the grid is a expression of professional ethos.