Our next reading will be from the media theorist Marshall McLuhan. For this reading, you have two options. Please read one of the following:

The Introduction, Chapter 1 and Chapter 7 from McLuhan’s influential 1964 book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. This is a fairly straightforward text. Here is a PDF:

-or-

Selected paged from The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effect, co-created by McLuhan and Quentin Fiore in 1967. This is an experimental text that relies heavily on image-text interactions. Here is a PDF:

Please take a look at both, to get a sense of the material, then choose one or the other to really focus on.

Please consider the following:
McLuhan describes technology and media as “extensions of man.” How do media extend human beings, or humanity in general? What hazards might technological progress bring for individuals and society? If “the medium is the message,” what role can artists and designers play in creating new messages? How is the work of a designer subordinate to the media they use to create or distribute information? 

You also have two options for this response. You can write 3-4 paragraphs. Or you can respond in a “typophoto-graphic” manner, combining images and text.

Our next reading assignment includes 3 texts from designers who employed systematic approaches to their work. They are as follows:

Jan Tschichold, The New Typography (1928): 

Karl Gerstner, Designing Programmes (1964): 

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

The prompt for this week is an overly simple one: According to Jan Tschichold, Karl Gerstner, and Josef Müller-Brockmann, How should one design?

For this one you can answer with 3-4 paragraphs, as usual, or you can create a visual response, incorporating text with design elements. If you choose the visual response, use the visual-linguistic ideas discussed in class and the systematic approach outlined in these texts to create your design, then upload a jpeg or pdf file.

This week’s reading assignment includes two texts on form and perception in design. The written portion will be the first of the two longer responses to be completed during the semester.

The readings are as follows:

Beatrice Warde, The Crystal Goblet, or Why Printing Should be Invisible (1930): 

A selection from György Kepes’ Language of Vision: Painting, Photography, Advertising-Design (1944):

Requirements for the written assignment are as follows:

First Paper
Select a design or design object created after 1971 in which the influence of the theories considered thus far can be seen. Begin with a brief description of the object, the designer who created it, and the historical circumstances under which it was made. Considering these factors, examine the ways in which the creator was responding, directly or indirectly, to theories related to linguistics or semiology, avant-garde art movements or the psychological perception of forms (ie. any of the ideas that we’ve covered). Discuss the manner in which the design you’ve chosen embodies these theories. Provide direct references to relevant passages from our readings. Locate additional writings using library resources to substantiate your comparisons.

Your goal is to provide a critical examination, not an account of historical details.

This response will be submitted as a 750-1000 word typewritten paper, double-spaced in 12 pt. Times New Roman, with a bibliography. Include images of the work under consideration and any other relevant illustrations. Cite all materials researched for historical context, any related writings, and image sources. All sources, references and quotations should be cited in MLA format. You must upload your paper as a PDF, attached to a new OpenLab Post.

Note: You do not need to address this week’s texts in the paper if they are not directly relevant to your topic, but you must be prepared to discuss them in class on the 12th.

If you’d like some inspiration try the following links:

Cooper Hewitt Design’s Museum’s Blog …you can also just browse their collection.

AIGA Eye on Design

Filter by Graphic Design or Design in MoMA Collection

or browse the MoMA Design Store

Exhibitions and the Collection at Museum of Art and Design

Designboom for a wide variety of design

Design Observer also features conversations and articles

or Print Magazine