Month: February 2020

Ferdinand de Saussure course in General Linguistics gave me a whole new view point on language. It is something that we use in our everyday life to communicate with one another, but according to Saussure there is much more to language. One concept that I found the most interesting was the process between psychological and physiological. It requires at least two or more people and the whole process starts with “A given concept unlocks a corresponding sound-image in the brain; this purely psychological phenomenon is followed in turn by a physiological process: the brain transmits an impulse corresponding to the image to the organs used in producing sounds (Saussure).” What I learned from this process is that language is much more than just words that come out our mouths but that it is also just as much a physical process as it is a mental one. I can see this relating to design in the way that when we come up with ideas we are doing the psychological part. When we communicate the idea we do it through a design which is the physical part. 

“Language is not a function of the speaker it is a product that is passively assimilated by the individual (Saussure).” This specific quote stood out to me the most while I was reading. It made me think about how each individual person communicates based on their own opinions. For example, Someone’s reaction to a specific painting might be different than someone who knows more about it. How a person responds in language is possibly just not based on what they are responding to but how. This makes me wonder how this fits into design. Since it is called communication design, language does play a big role since it relates to how an individual will respond to a specific design based on the information shown. As Saussure states, “ It is the social side of speech, outside the individual who can never create nor modify it by himself it exists only by virtue of a sort of contract signed by the members of a community.” The social side of language plays a role in communication because most of it is based on what we socially know, especially in one country a specific word might mean something else in a different country. 

Reading Linguistics was definitely confusing at first, especially when it came to describing how language works. After reading some sections a few times I think I came to understanding it a little more especially when the topic of words came up. Words aren’t exactly just a meaning or a name, but a reference to two terms. As Saussure describes it, “The linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a name, but a concept and a sound-image.” In the reading the example used with arbor and the image of the tree reminded me of last week’s reading, because it brought me back to the idea of symbols and how a symbol can sometimes be an exact representation of the meaning just like how arbor means tree.

Reading “COURSE IN GENERAL LINGUISTICS” by Ferdinand De Saussure was very puzzling for me. I don’t even know where to start. I’ve heard the word linguistics before but never knew what it means until now. This article has different definitions of linguistics but I think the main explanation of linguistics is to determine and trace the history of all languages universally.

 

How are language, graphic communication and visual arts related to or distinct from one another? The three of them are related to each other because they involve symbols, expression and creativity for everyone globally. How the three are distinct from one another is visual arts is more solely on having to get messages by yourself without any words involved.

 

Up to the part where the article talks about languages and speeches I was kind of able to understand it. One part says, “no one has proved that speech, as it manifests itself when we speak, is entirely natural, i.e. that our vocal apparatus was designed for speaking just as our legs were designed for walking.” I don’t think our vocal apparatus was designed for speaking only. It was designed for singing, making music, doing voice overs and etc. Plus, our legs where designed to not only walk but run, tap dance, climb and etc. Overall, this article had me confused but some parts were understandable.

Based on the reading , I have gained an ever better perspective about how the history of graphic design plays a huge role in the evolution of it and how various design movements shaped the current era of emerging designers. From what I’ve gathered, the reason why rudimentary communication systems are relevant for contemporary information systems is because it is crucial as designers world wide to be reflective and critical of ourselves because it is the only way to move forward and continue the evolution of design. For that to happen, we must understand that every era had its issues which influenced that eras design movement. With each design movement come different ideas, issues to address, and technological advancements.

I find it interesting how now as designers we have kind of went back to the International Style movement, which are influenced by ideals of anonymity and is very programmatic system as well. This is due to the advancement of technology that makes it accessible for individuals designers or not, to produce content on various platforms. Now there are so many shared tools and resources out there that can hinder our creativity as designers. I also agree with the comparison of the International Style and what Dmitri Siegel’s term for where graphic designers fall now “Prosumerism” (simultaneous production and consumption). Because as designers we have a vast network of us and living in an era where we are connected more than ever , we are redefining universality which is an ideal that relates with the International Style- being able to detach emotionally from their work for a rational universal approach. At the same time designers of today do not adhere to strict design rules. The mass of work emerging from this new universality is a combination of many different styles, blurring a singular vision for what universality is.

The comparison between the International Style and Prosumerism also relates in that there is a restrictive element in our approach to design. For Designers today it is more about how we design- we all use the same software, tools, and technologies. This relates to why it is important as designers to concern ourselves with the history, writings and techniques of designers of the past because with the vast amount of people all creating with the same tools, programs and technology, content is bound to look the same and get boring. We always have to look for new ways to approach design and looking to the past is one way to do that.

 

 

According to the readings, Rudimentary communication systems are very important for contemporary information systems. Their importance can be understood mainly from two perspectives. Developments over many epochs, and in different societies, such as the use of symbols and signs in denoting countable objects, or numbers,  formed the basis of the numbering system as is today, which is the basis for the counting system used in computer programming, base two, the ones and zeros. On the other hand, the development of writing styles over the years, such as the Carolingian writing scripts, paragraphing, use of periods and other punctuation marks and styles, such as italics, bolding, and underlining, has been integral to the development of programs, such as word processing software programs.
Design is a visual language. Ultimately, the design is about the person’s object interface and how people see and perceive objects. Important to note, as evidenced by the transitions from counting using objects, such as fingers, stones, tokens, and the abacus, to the development of numbering, writing styles, and other systems, such as pictograms, hieroglyphics, and isotypes demonstrate an ever-evolving field. Contemporary designers, therefore, should concern themselves with archaic or medieval counting, writing, and printing techniques because they contextualize modern day design. Modern day designers can only become better if they have a better understanding of developments and changes over the years that have influenced the development and formation of the field as is today.
Evidently, from the foregoing, design, termed as the language of vision, is continuously evolving as evidenced by the changes and developments experienced over different eras in different societies and cultures. Key tenets of these developments that form the basis for modern day design is that they have their roots in the general environment and interactions between different societies and cultures. The process of the development of hieroglyphics and isotype, as well as other pictograms, provokes ideas for new design strategies. A look at the environment, society, interactions, and everyday living is a key source of inspiration for the design. For example, emoticons or emojis are continuously being developed for use on the growing social media and other information technology communication platforms, and it is evident that they leverage these same ideologies and principles of design strategies and initiatives; photography, even with the absence of words, achieves and delivers meaning.

 

Day to day I never really spend time thinking about the alphabetic system that we use all day, the way the words look, the history of the glyph and so on, especially in different cultures, the relationship of that with numbers is another history that I never bothered to look into. The article “Counting Sheep” goes over in great detail not only a short history of both, but also the psychology of both, moving from how tally systems relate to how we think of values in relation to objects, to the psychology surrounding image association with Freud.

One part of this large document that really had me thinking was where it made the statement that depending on the times, many civilizations had made a shift from seeing the quantity of an object as central to the object’s character, to those two being separated, the author even goes so far to say that this would make the value abstract. It’s the kind of stuff that only someone specializing in these fields would think of.

The idea of a number, a value, separate from an object, making values abstract, seems something very interesting to me, and upon thinking back on how that might effect design it brought about something new in my mind, really, that system is designed, sure it’s not graphic but it showcases a manner of communication, this one of values and amounts, designed in icons and style in a numerical system. As a graphic designer, my first thought is to wonder “What about color? What about shape?” but the first thought here, at least from the outside looking in, is how does this make me think of it, what are the underlying assumptions, how would I live my life only knowing this particular expression of a universal fact?

It reminds me a bit of how some language, I can’t think of it on the top of my head, has two words for blue, some languages, older ones, don’t have words for colors we do, some divided the spectrum differently, so it calls to mind, what role to designers have in affecting how people think? As a graphic designer my end usually comes in making some text larger or a color brighter, to change how the tone of a poster comes out, or changing the font, maybe make it round to seem fun or a sans-serif to keep it neutral. This article then kind of just brings to the extreme what I already do on a smaller basis, and brings new meaning to it, a new reverence.

While reading Helen Armstrong, Graphic Design Theory. I really got inspired by the definition of “Theory “which is questioning “why”. I believe as a designer we basically ask ourselves why it works. Why is this design attractive and by asking out selves why?  We learn from our mistakes and we basically start looking for inspiration. I also remember in one of my typography design we were required to design a book cover, after doing the first draft we had to stop and look and ask why?. I also liked how she expressed the process of being a designer is on focusing on the “How”. It’s true after we know “why” we usually think about the “How”. Like for example how to use to this certain design or how to use the software. When we know the “How” by that it impacts use as designer to become better and more inspiring.

Another thing that inspired me while reading Graphic design theory, I Liked the quote that “In the early 1900” As graphic design took shape as a profession, the ideal of objectivity replaced that of subjectivity”. I think this quote is a lesson for contemporary designer. It teaches that not because it feels good that it has to be right. And I think that that’s how designers are being taught. I remember in one of my communication design class I was so determined to use a script font because I thought that it was nice. However, after doing the project it was not nice. Then I learned that not because it subjective doesn’t mean its objective.

In the reading Ellen Lupton & J. Abbott Miller, Counting Sheep, Period Styles, Language of Dreams and Language of Vision from Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design. We as contemporary designer we learn from books from ancient history. Like for example Period style, Greek history. We designers learned from them. We learned that a group of horizontal lines equal to a paragraph. we also learned all basic principles of typography from ancient Greek.

Without the old writing and printing techniques, Graphic design wouldn’t have become modern and contemporary designers became inspiring.

After having read both of the texts I was able to gain insight on inspirations old designers had and how they incorporated old ideas into their modern works.  Before I get into that I have to say when I was reading Helen Armstrong, Introduction: Revisiting the Avant-Garde from Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field, all I could think was wow this is pretentious after reading it over 2-4 times I was able to understand it. An example of this is during this quote:

“Out of this recent push toward authorship, new collective voices hearken
ing back to the avant-garde are emerging. As a result of technology, content generation by individuals has never been easier. (Consider the popularity of
the diy and the “Free Culture” movements.) As more and more designers,along with the rest of the general population, become initiators and producers of content, a leveling is occurring. A new kind of collective voice, more anonymous than individual, is beginning to emerge.”

This is a lot just to say technology makes it easy for anyone to easily and anonymously create content I know that authors probably have to be very articulate to please their publishers but I feel like the overcompliacation of the writing would turn off a more casual reader who might be interested in the topics being discussed  , alright rant over.

To answer one of the questions given contemporary designers should always keep a close eye to archaic techniques because nothing in design in original everything is stolen unless you were the one to create it. All design finds its roots in not just inspiration but taking what’s inspired you and expanding on it and making it your own. We can look at the font styling of Counting Sheep in the text, images are put as a visual for the reader to better understand their use as a numerical value which i’m sure the original designers of the symbols or tallies did not plan for them to be used this way but that’s what happens when we incorporated whats already been made into our modern works.

The visuals in Counting Sheep are not only aesthetically interesting from a designs stand point but also just as eye candy while reading the passage itself. When I was reading both the passages Counting Sheep was much easier to read despite being longer because it has those symbols as little distractions to break the long blocks of text. They served not only as an aesthetic distraction but a functional one this is an advantage of using archaic techniques they can always be reworked and reused to solve modern problems, not all problems need new answers to resolve them some are just hidden in plain sight.

 

In the readings, “Graphic Design Theory” by Helen Armstrong and “Counting Sheep, Period Styles, Language of Dreams and Language of Vision” by Ellen Lupton & J. Abbott Miller, I learned by communicating your art to the world, it leaves an impact on how one perceives and interprets things thus putting it into our own work.  I also learned that without the basic infrastructure of archaic writing, we would not have our own version of writing since we were influenced by archaic writing. Before reading “Graphic Design Theory,” by Helen Armstrong, I knew that art was a communication device and we use it to communicate to others by making posters, ads, etc.  After this reading, I learned that we as designers have a large impact on audiences, due to the fact that we are putting visual content out there. Designers who have this platform are creating content to send awareness to show what is happening in the world, thus making a new collective voice which then creates a new level that occurs. 

In “Counting Sheep, Period Styles, Language of Dreams and Language of Vision” by Ellen Lupton & J. Abbott Miller, they talk about the origins of archaic writing and how it then develops into something that we use to this day, in design and in writing.  One thing I found interesting was that in 260 BC, there was a librarian, Aristophanes, who designed a greek punctuation system. This system consisted of the comma, colon, and periodos, which back then was used to be used for cues for reading out loud.  Today the function of this system is used differently, for example we use it for structure and not for the spoken sound. Another thing that I found interesting was that the scripts are what we use today. For example, the carolingian minuscule was the gothic font.  In different countries, many fonts were changing due to what was in demand at the time for display advertising. This has happened to the bold face fonts, “when advertising created a demand for big, black types.”

 Once in awhile, we can look back at the origins of design and see how far design has come.  As designers, we must adapt to the changes that occur in modern design. It is very important to adapt, because ideas are constantly changing as well as styles.  As time goes by we continue to change designs as new ideas and theories are made.