Author: Rana Abdelnaby

Futuristic Movement as the Major Theory of the Readings

The major concept outlined in graphic design and art is concerned with the futuristic movement. The futuristic movement concentrates on associating natural beauty and humanity (Lissitzky 30). In the past 40 years, an artist influenced by Moholy-Nagy’s is Peter Halley’s Neo-Geo paintings in 1962 (Art Work Story np.). The development of the telephone painting prefigured an entire range of modern art which was inclusive of Warhols factory-produced screen paint, minimalists’ serial works. One of Halley’s artworks depicting futuristic movement is Red Cells with a Conduit Of 1962. The painting portrays the geometrical formation through symmetrical aspects by use of colored lines intersecting at a right angle.

The artist uses innovative avant-garde in the manner of social-artistic as it had materialized as a motivation to involve the artist in the promotion and development of graphic designs. Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and Moholy-Nagy and Victor Margolin had examined the engagement and changing the relationship between the social ideal along with political realities they confront. This is seen in Halley’s painting of Red Cells with a Conduit. Additionally, Halley’s painting could be explained through the concepts of David Harvey on the heterotopia in which the art can be described in terms of spaces and places. In this perspective, Halley represented his work in terms of spaces and places to define his mean theme in the red cell painting. For example, he created spaces (topia) that were used in the development of interior cell and the conduit section. The spaces could be classified based on the uniformity of the cells such as isotopia or heterotopia for the conduit section because of uniformity (Harvey no pages).  Hence, it becomes easy to understand the paintings and why it has varying subsections.

Finally, Halley employs the same tactic as Moholy-Nagy where this picture displays asymmetrical formed by the two vertical black lines (Moholy-Nagy. The typography of the painting is red in the background and a horizontal line near the bottom that contains the two symmetrical short black borders that reaches the middle of the painting (Art Work Story np.). according to  typography in a picture creates a new design and look that audience can interpret in a new tempo as is created through paint, brush rather than use of technology (Moholy-Nagy 34; Rodchenko 23). However, this art is not per Barthes indication that required iconic message and linguistic signs. Yet, the picture takes underground mainstream as it evolved that helps the views have a sense of sight and touch (Heller 101). Also, in the movement of Neo-Geo, Halley referred to Jean Baudrillard in the aspiration of hyper realization as it was a realm of progressivism to assign the value of reality to the society.

 

 

 

Work cited

Art Work Story. “Artworks and Artists Of Neo-Geo.” N.d. Web https://www.theartstory.org/movement/neo-geo/artworks/

ART. “Neo-Geo – History and Concepts.” ArtWorkStory. Nd. Web https://www.theartstory.org/movement/neo-geo/history-and-concepts/

Barthes, Roland. Rhetoric of the Image. na, 1993.

Borevitz, Brad. “Super-Abstract: Software Art and a Redefinition of Abstraction.” read_me: Software Art & Cultures. Arhus, Denmark, University of Aarhus (2004): 298-312.

Halley, Peter, et al. Peter Halley: maintain speed. Distributed Art Pub Inc, 2000.

Halley, Peter. Peter Halley – Paintings from the 1980s. Conference Publication. 2017. Print.

Harriet K. Stratis, Salvesen Britt. The broad spectrum: Studies in the materials, techniques and conservation of color on paper. Archetype Publications, London, UK (2002).

Harvey, David. Spaces of hope. Vol. 7. Univ of California Press, 2000.

Heller, Stephen. “The Underground Mainstream Steven Heller “Graphics.com Interview: Steven Heller” graphics.com. 2007”

Kemp, Virginia Millner. “Theoretical Concerns In the Geometric Abstractions of Peter Halley.” (2009).

Lee, Patricia. Sturtevant: Warhol Marilyn. MIT Press, 2016.

Lissitzky, El. “Our Book.”.” Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers. El Lissitzky: Life Letters Texts. London: Thames and Hudson (1967).

Moholy-Nagy, László. “Typofoto.” Malerei, fotografie, film 8 (1925).

Prince, Mark. “Adventures of the Black Square.” Art Monthly 384 (2015): 22.

Rodchenko, Aleksandr, Varvara Stepanova, and Aleksei Gan. “Who We Are: Manifesto of the Constructivist Group.” Aleksandr Rodchenko: Experiments for the Future. Edited by Alexander N. Lavrentiev. New York: Museum of Modern Art (2005): 143-145.

Şener, Fatma, and Meltem Erdoğan. “Global Journal on Humanities & Social Sciences.” (2016).

Wallis, Brian, et al. Art after modernism: Rethinking representation. The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1984.

Peter_Halley

The major concept outlined in graphic design and art is concerned with the futuristic movement. The futuristic movement concentrates on associating natural beauty and humanity (Lissitzky 30). In the past 40 years, an artist influenced by Moholy-Nagy’s is Peter Halley’s Neo-Geo paintings in 1962 (Art Work Story np.). The development of the telephone painting prefigured an entire range of modern art which was inclusive of Warhols factory-produced screen paint, minimalists’ serial works. One of Halley’s artworks depicting futuristic movement is Red Cells with a Conduit Of 1962. The painting portrays the geometrical formation through symmetrical aspects by use of colored lines intersecting at a right angle. 

The artist uses innovative avant-garde in the manner of social-artistic as it had materialized as a motivation to involve the artist in the promotion and development of graphic designs. Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and Moholy-Nagy and Victor Margolin had examined the engagement and changing the relationship between the social ideal along with political realities they confront. This is seen in Halley’s painting of Red Cells with a Conduit. Additionally, Halley’s painting could be explained through the concepts of David Harvey on the heterotopia in which the art can be described in terms of spaces and places. In this perspective, Halley represented his work in terms of spaces and places to define his mean theme in the red cell painting. For example, he created spaces (topia) that were used in the development of interior cell and the conduit section. The spaces could be classified based on the uniformity of the cells such as isotopia or heterotopia for the conduit section because of uniformity (Harvey no pages).  Hence, it becomes easy to understand the paintings and why it has varying subsections. 

Finally, Halley employs the same tactic as Moholy-Nagy where this picture displays asymmetrical formed by the two vertical black lines (Moholy-Nagy. The typography of the painting is red in the background and a horizontal line near the bottom that contains the two symmetrical short black borders that reaches the middle of the painting (Art Work Story np.). according to  typography in a picture creates a new design and look that audience can interpret in a new tempo as is created through paint, brush rather than use of technology (Moholy-Nagy 34; Rodchenko 23). However, this art is not per Barthes indication that required iconic message and linguistic signs. Yet, the picture takes underground mainstream as it evolved that helps the views have a sense of sight and touch (Heller 101). Also, in the movement of Neo-Geo, Halley referred to Jean Baudrillard in the aspiration of hyper realization as it was a realm of progressivism to assign the value of reality to the society.  

 

 

 

Work cited

Art Work Story. “Artworks and Artists Of Neo-Geo.” N.d. Web https://www.theartstory.org/movement/neo-geo/artworks/

ART. “Neo-Geo – History and Concepts.” ArtWorkStory. Nd. Web https://www.theartstory.org/movement/neo-geo/history-and-concepts/

Barthes, Roland. Rhetoric of the Image. na, 1993.

Borevitz, Brad. “Super-Abstract: Software Art and a Redefinition of Abstraction.” read_me: Software Art & Cultures. Arhus, Denmark, University of Aarhus (2004): 298-312.

Halley, Peter, et al. Peter Halley: maintain speed. Distributed Art Pub Inc, 2000.

Halley, Peter. Peter Halley – Paintings from the 1980s. Conference Publication. 2017. Print.

Harriet K. Stratis, Salvesen Britt. The broad spectrum: Studies in the materials, techniques and conservation of color on paper. Archetype Publications, London, UK (2002).

Harvey, David. Spaces of hope. Vol. 7. Univ of California Press, 2000.

Heller, Stephen. “The Underground Mainstream Steven Heller “Graphics.com Interview: Steven Heller” graphics.com. 2007”

Kemp, Virginia Millner. “Theoretical Concerns In the Geometric Abstractions of Peter Halley.” (2009).

Lee, Patricia. Sturtevant: Warhol Marilyn. MIT Press, 2016.

Lissitzky, El. “Our Book.”.” Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers. El Lissitzky: Life Letters Texts. London: Thames and Hudson (1967). 

Moholy-Nagy, László. “Typofoto.” Malerei, fotografie, film 8 (1925).

Prince, Mark. “Adventures of the Black Square.” Art Monthly 384 (2015): 22.

Rodchenko, Aleksandr, Varvara Stepanova, and Aleksei Gan. “Who We Are: Manifesto of the Constructivist Group.” Aleksandr Rodchenko: Experiments for the Future. Edited by Alexander N. Lavrentiev. New York: Museum of Modern Art (2005): 143-145.

Şener, Fatma, and Meltem Erdoğan. “Global Journal on Humanities & Social Sciences.” (2016).

Wallis, Brian, et al. Art after modernism: Rethinking representation. The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1984.

Design_Theory 

 

The mainstream vs. underground concept is relevant in contemporary design. Heller indicates that the mainstream is a progressive entity due to changes underground culture established by some designers in outsiders (Heller 101). In this way, the contemporary society tweaks the underground culture with the trending issues, and slowly the mainstream becomes the trend itself. Most of the culture is adopting commercial advertisement design.

The design of commercial advertising such as Ketchup uses both visual, linguistic signs and coded iconic message to promote its products. In this way, it fits in the mainstream as the underground captures the consumers by engaging them to their values in the market (Kumar et al. 301). Hence, the underground realm of outsiders who focuses on the design comes out with their own way of creating an advertisement or poster that might either criticize or promote a product (Screti 8). Therefore, the punk and grunge movement unhinges the dominant mannerism and methods used in the mass culture to embrace almost everything.

The underground design that influences the work at hand is leeching off the alternative of culture. The reason is that the underground has been appropriated from the mainstream. In contemporary society, it is termed as “culture jamming,” but in the past decades, it was known as “avant-gardists” (Heller 100). It will shape the mainstream through the fundamental forms associated with advertising the commercials through engaging the art into the advertising aspect. It occurs that not only was the futuristic and constructive art masterwork designed due to cultural change and trending events but involved advertising about new ideas (Clements 27). Hence, in shaping the mainstream, the promotion of commercial advertisement of products expands further to the visual language of an edge through social media as an adopted mainstream of advertising.

 

Works Cited

Clements, Paul. The Creative Underground: Art, Politics and Everyday Life. Routledge, 2016.

Heller, S. “The Underground Mainstream.” Armstrong, H.(Comp.), Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the field (2008): 98-101.

Kumar, V., et al. “Undervalued or overvalued customers: capturing total customer engagement value.” Journal of service research13.3 (2010): 297-310. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247744906_Undervalued_or_Overvalued_Customers_Capturing_Total_Customer_Engagement_Value/link/55a0ff1908ae967fb3ea8758/download

Screti, Francesco. “Counter-revolutionary art: OBEY and the manufacturing of dissent.” Critical Discourse Studies 14.4 (2017): 1-23. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/35065119/Counter-revolutionary_art_OBEY_and_the_manufacturing_of_dissent?auto=download

 

Nike is undoubtedly one of the biggest companies when it comes to sportswear and sports brands. Known for their sports footwear, clothes and accessories, The ad was plastered on billboards all over America with the tag line “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything”. The line being a nod to Kaepernick’s previous actions of not standing for the national anthem in protest over the treatment of ethnic minorities.The Problem: After Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem, many viewers became angry at him and viewed him as anti-American. The fact that Nike was using him in their ads made many people believe Nike was also anti-American. This sparked a lot of controversies online with many social media users destroying their Nike products while posting the hashtag #JustBurnIt.

 

LUSH is a UK based handmade cosmetics manufacturer that has stores all across the UK and USA. In 2018 LUSH released their spy cops campaign across all their UK stores which raised many eyebrows.The Problem: The main issue with this campaign is that it came across as very anti-police to most of the general public. In fact, there were reports of people complaining and becoming very aggressive in the stores, resulting in LUSH having to call the police. Due to the negative reception of the ads.

 

Nivea is a German skincare brand that is known for manufacturing antiperspirants, face creams, and plenty of other cosmetics. To promote one of their new invisible antiperspirants, Nivea decided to use the tagline “white is purity” on their social media campaign. The ad featured a woman wearing a white top while looking out the window with the slogan in bold blue letters.The Problem: As you can probably see from the advert above, the choice of words for this campaign were very poorly chosen. To make things worse, they specifically aimed the campaign at people in the Middle East which caused many people to call the advert racist.

H&M landed in hot water at the start of the year, when it featured an ad with a black child wearing a hoodie bearing the slogan “coolest monkey in the jungle.” The image went viral, and was slammed on social media, including by The Weekend, who announced on Twitter that he would no longer be affiliated with the brand. H&M later apologized.

 

 

McLuhan described that technology; along with media are a form of human extension. In this way, technology acts as an added advantage to the human revolution by easing their activities . Instead of sending letters to communicate with a distant person, a person can use social media such as Facebook or Twitter. For instance, a car is an extension of afoot. Also, the media improves human life as it can be construed as a product of both place and time. Similarly, McLuhan indicates that television is a cool medium since it can project light to the viewers and deliver a message that is full of data and relevant to increase knowledge of human beings. Also, the electric light is purely information and takes the realm of a medium without a message but provides lighting during the night.

On the contrary, technological progress might have a hazard impact for individuals and society as well in the electronic age. As technology advances, people lose consciousness and act without reaction as the message they receive impacts their reasoning and do not understand the dangers associated with their actions. It implies that media binds individual psychic and social effects defining the real significance of the medium

Furthermore, in “the medium is the message,” the artist and designers can be a sublimation of change in society. Therefore, the designers and artists can recognize the essence of the new media and utilize it to show the community the future. Hence, the artist is reliable in changing the movement of art from traditional ones such as painting to use of software to design a building, roads, and other infrastructure.

 

 

 

 

 

From the reading of Tschichold, Gerstner, and Müller-Brockmann, I learned that a good layout design constitutes a creative, appealing, and user interface aspects. It occurs that a design of a layout can be asymmetrical or symmetrical according to the purpose outlined for its use. Also, a designer should have intelligent in expressing a message most shortly and efficiently, functional, objective, and aesthetic quality (Müller-Brockmann 63). I understand the emphasis and scaling makes the layout design to hold the subject of interest to be communicated, such as placing in large icon than others.

Moreover, I gained the knowledge that the balance of the grid is essential in the page as it juggles different element in finding the harmony in their design. According to Gerstner, “the typography grid is a system that is used to regulate the composition and proportionality of pictures with tables to accommodate” the desired designs (61). Thus, I noticed that white space or negative space is an element that gives the eye the path through the designed layout. Therefore, my aspect of this design provides a balance on the positive and negative space to emerge initially.

Finally, I agree with Tschichold that each part of a text is in relation to other sections in a layout through a logical and definite connection of value and emphasis that is predetermined by content (37). Hence, it is the work of the designer or typographer to choose the expression such that the size and contour of the pictures would match perfectly with the weight and colors used. I feel that the asymmetry liveliness expression is a symbol of an evolving form of movement taking place to the diversity of unlimited variation in typography. Therefore, a layout should have the power to create a high expression to the audience, but it should be modified to fit the intended audience.

 

 

 

 

From the readings, I learned that art in the past lacked the unique characteristics that might differentiate it from the contemporaries through time and space. I think that traditional art lacked reproduction and change of ownership. I learned that Gropius shows that topography of past art did was not preserved as a Bauhaus aesthetic idea of the theoretical approach to instruction was not practised. Moholly-Nagy also indicates past art lacked sufficient technology in photographic effects and purity of linear effects as there were no typesetting or printing machines. Similarly, Bayer argues that traditional art lacked the aesthetic approach of mass production of print media due to the lack of machines and special tools of typewriting and copying. I believe, the lack of these critical components affected the art-making process and could have created gaps in understanding the history in the modern world. Hence, these key elements ought to continue being implemented in future art.

Art is a continuous phenomenon that is crucial and mandatory in the future. I can contend that there will be a need for architecture to design different objects and mass production of print media from the classical era as well as the preservation of history. As I read Moholy-Nagy views of typography, I noticed that in the future, every printing press would have to possess a block-making plant as it lies on the photomechanical processes. Hence, I believe that the art will help to continue preserving the history for future generations while also helping modern society to understand the changes happening globally. I believe also art in future will also help to preserve cultures of different people that will be crucial in studying history.

I believe that the academy should teach the artist about their field due to the changing world of art. The modern world is leaving away traditional art and embracing the modern one is schools. I have grown to see rise in technology that is shaping art from photography, painting, recording and designs. I think that Gropius through Bauhaus influence wanted to reunite the applied art with fine art in the desire of pushing back beside the creativity mechanism in reforming education of art. I conquer with Moholy-Nagy and Bayer that in modern art, designers and artists should operate in a market-oriented culture and adapt the Bauhaus philosophy of a new era. I have also seen a shift in market with current generations and I believe they also need well designed and connected emotional arts, hence, there is a need to understand different types of markets in academies.

In my opinion, the idea of writing and art designs are essential as fine and applied art since they dictate the nature of color, contour, shape and geometric of architecture Also, typography of constructivism has envisioned the visual experience of printing and sculpture, oil painting and design through computer-based programs. Moreover, digital technologies have also emerged where one can take photographs, design them, and apply different theme colors depending on the event or environment. Hence, I am confident that ideas of nature, color and architecture of the arts should continue in the digital age of the 21^stcentury.

 

 

 

Briefly, focusing on modernity, I can see that the 20thcentury brought with it the ideas of futuristic and constructivism in artistic movements. These authors Marinetti, El Lissitzky, and Aleksandr Rodchenko found that the old style was outdated and needed a new revolution in the field of art. I understand that there was a need to explore new ways of expressing visual art and deviate away from anything old in terms of artistic and political tradition. For example, the author expresses how images recollected from memories bring expression of the artists from the old pictures of funeral and how it rekindled painful memories that were a deterrent to the authors dream . This was to embrace originality in the artwork and incorporate expression of emotions that would easily identify with the audience. As a result, it helped in integrating technology such as architecture and photography to build art in modern society. The manifesto demanded artists to reconsider the wording, design and space of a book to give a chance for writers to embrace new method of writing . I think that El Lissitzky was talking about new way possibilities for type writing with machines, printing and copying and duplicating instead of handwriting which is tiresome and outdated form of art. Rodchenko, Stepanova & Gan Manifesto was a constructivism art movement for communism where the focus was designing new products and relying on geometric to have mass production of products in industry. I think that the manifesto found new possibilities for people to be liberated and form a new society that is equal while focusing on change from oppressing elite class.

These artists anticipated the art and design through the notion that the manifesto was meant to allow the artist to be fearless in their work. From my understanding, futuristic manifesto focused on introducing a new way of representing artists such as graphic, sculpture, and recording. I think the revolution was daring and violent as it rebelled against the excellent harmony as it dismissed the theme of the prior art while glorifying science and nature of representing information in a book. According to the manifesto I think that it provided the artist with a new agenda of not being afraid of taking a different approach in their work of art, even if it was dangerous. It argued that the artist needs to be encouraged in their work and audacity and revolt against the prevailing norms of world art.

As I read the authors work, I gained insight that the idea of Marinetti manifesto of futurism, El Lissitzky of Our Book and Manifesto of the Constructivist Group by Aleksandr Rodchenko are fueled toward integration of technology in the artist movement. The futuristic campaign aimed at embracing the new model of art and leaving away the old fashion of art. When it comes to Marinetti manifestos, I acknowledge that the ideas of futuristic intersect with El Lissitzky idea of art as an evolution and not a new start that requires innovation and embracing of modern technology to improve art in the society. Also, Aleksandr Rodchenko manifesto response is aimed to call for a response even if it is not the one that is expected or was desired but has a positive impact after all.  The improvement is through the political movements that exonerate society from the bondage of the harmful or unprogressive form of life through acquiring new ways.

 

General Linguistics.

From reading the text, I learned that the two terms semiology and linguistics are related but have different functions. After several readings, I found that semiology deals with signs, while linguistics is the scientific study of language. Also, semiology shows what constitutes signs, the law governing them and the idea from the perspective of culture while linguistic is a part of the general science of semiology . Although it was not clear when I first read the text, I found that language is essential since it is a system of signs expressing ideas; therefore, it becomes compatible with the aspect of writing, symbolic rites, military signals or polite formulas.

Use of Signs in Everyday Language.When studying Signs, I found that they are an important aspect of life to communicate a specific idea effectively. The combination of a concept and sound-image without involving any form of speech is a sign that signifies a fact or illustration . I my daily life, I come across the need to use sign to deliver a message or emphasize a certain issue. I have seen signs being used as in traffic lights, zebra crossing and waving a hand to say goodbye or even clapping hands to appreciate something or congratulate an accomplishment.

Signs, Signifiers, and the Signified uses in Communication.In general communication, the sign emerges from a combination of signifier and signified to portray a particular concept. I come across signifier while reading and found that it can be termed as the form which the sign takes, and the signified is the concept the form takes . For instance, I can say that since a sign has both signifiers and signified, a sign with the word “Closed” when invented in a shop’s door becomes the signifier, and signified impression is “the shop is closed for business”.

Language, Graphic Communication and Visual arts Relationship.Finally, I found the concepts of language, graphic communication, and visual arts are related as they are involved in communicating a particular idea. From my personal experience and reading the text, I have learned that graphic communications use language through signs in designed visual cues to transmit a message to the viewers . Either the graphic or visual art communication is used extensively through the use of contours, shapes, color and texture not only to portray a message but also, to show emotions, experience, altitude or concept.