Heller’s comparison of contemporary design between the mainstream and the underground comes from the fact that ideas are constantly manipulated or stolen from others. In the passage, Heller brings about the idea that contemporary design became relevant due to the fact that marketers constantly sought new ways of expression and depended on modern culture to fulfil that requirement. Some ideas were made by artists originally but were either taken or slightly edited to present the illusion of originality. One might say that the original works done by artists were mostly overshadowed by their fake counterparts created by corporate conglomerates with their goal of relevancy being fueled by grabbing the attention of the masses. Heller also stated that the mainstream always tried to cater to the current culture of society while the underground opposes it in any way possible and tries to lead a different path that is both straightforward and innovative in concept and execution. The struggle between these two factions often result in a “silent ideological war” between the content and the techniques used for it. In that sense, it is a way to dispute a style or motto officially and unofficially, that can be monitored by the public eye and serves as entertainment.

The designs that I will use in my presentation correlate to Heller’s text due to the fact that the idea of corporate intrusion has begun to slowly decay what was once creative designs into something entirely murky. All the charm of good logos and art has been stripped out entirely and the senses are dulled. Without the original message being shown in a work, there is nothing that can be interpreted. After all ,“Most people do not know where the design came from, but they recognize it and know what it does when they see it. Of course, the best designed message is no use if people don’t see it.” (2) 

The underground designs did not officially come in contact with the designs that come to mind. However, they did spawn as a result to redirect the attention of the masses. It is true that there are only 2 ways the underground seem to handle the mainstream which are to either join it or alter it. Depending on the individual and the ideology being presented, the underground will either conform to it or disengage from it entirely. It is the same concept as joining an organization or rebelling and in that sense, the designs often reflect the problems of the time period. The underground mocks the mainstream for choosing a foolish action to become lazy and uninspiring in the modern age. What many people fail to realize is that designs are made to be understood. Unfortunately. corporations do not think so and firmly believe that graphic design is “the business of making or choosing marks and arranging them on the surface to create an idea.” (1) . 

The products of modern design did come from the stem of Modernism and Postmodernism designers who often broke apart good design and stressed chaos and unrest. As a result, they were seen as heroes of graphic design and were praised to the point that they became the mainstream. These roots began to infect what was effective and gradually became ineffective. Heller’s article ties closely to this as he states “Today, designers for mainstream advertising companies, weaned on alternative approaches, have folded the underground into the mainstream and call it “cool” “. This summarizes exactly what the modern era has done in the past 10 years as the decline of Modernism forced its way into the 21st century pallet. It will only get worse in the future due to the fact of modern art “Having failed to gain legitimacy by sucking up to business and adopting to politics, maybe it is time for design to make a challenge” (3). Thus, all good design will be washed away by the business men and the politicians gathering the wrong ideas from the wrong people and creating a new era of design despair.


The Sources I have used.

1). Barnard, Malcolm. Graphic Design As Communication, Taylor & Francis Group, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/citytech-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1273176.

2). Reynolds, Donna. Graphic Design : Putting Art and Words Together, Greenhaven Publishing LLC, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/citytech-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5413273.
3). Fitzgerald, Kenneth, and Rudy VanderLans. Volume : Writings on Graphic Design, Music, Art, and Culture, Princeton Architectural Press, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/citytech-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3387332.