Jenna Spevack | COMD3504_OL08 | FALL 2021

Discussion: Week 11

Watch the following video from our Week 11 Agenda and respond to the prompts below.

  • Which elements of Modernism continued within the Postmodern era of the 1970s-1990s?
  • Which elements of Postmodernism continue today?
  • Are we still in the Postmodern era? If not what era are we living now?

Add your ideas in a comment in this Discussion post by Friday, November 19th at 6 pm to allow time for responses. Add at least 4 follow-up responses to your classmates’ comments by Sunday, November 21st, at 11:59 pm.

Punk Pop & Post Modern – Graphics of the Big 80s (38 min)

Punk Pop & Post Modern – Graphics of the Big 80s – Ann Lemon Kutztown University

45 Comments

  1. Zi Hang Lian

    I’ll try to give an honest answer. I have no idea what the presenter said in the video at all so I did my own little research and my own knowledge on this subject. Some elements like the Bauhaus, media, and history existed within the Postmodernism era. Although they contradict each other, you still need to know the fundamental design and use whatever available in the world like world history and media like print, broadcast and the Internet. Without any references from these, there won’t be any inspiration and art to be shown.

    The elements of Postmodernism existed today are in TV shows, movies, media, and etc. We can see them in our everyday life. It can be religion, old art history, Internet, movies. You name it. It may not be obvious but sometimes, Postmodern elements can be seen most of them time because we convey them through art, action, or feeling.

    Today, we are still living in the Postmodernism world. Although the concept of Postmodernism is different from the 1970s-1990s, we can still see elements of Postmodernism even today. For example, depicting someone in a whole different way. We may not be aware of it because we were never interested in this subject or never knew about it.

    • Jenna Spevack

      Thanks for your honesty, Zi Hang! 🙂 I think this video has a lot of good and varied examples of Postmodernist design, but try reviewing the Week 11 Agenda first to help give them historical context. There I’ve included three videos and some text that spells out the qualities/elements of Postmodernism. Rewatch the LinkedIn Design History video on Postmodernism for a simplified explanation. Try being a “Design Detective.” Watch and listen for the descriptive words and images and see how they contrast with Modernism.

    • Nicholas Albanese

      Postmodernism definitely seems to be the latest art era. I haven’t seen much in terms of new art movements yet but I believe whatever comes next will be new and exciting and change our perceptions of how we see certain things.

      • Zi Hang Lian

        That’s true. Art comes in different forms and are always evolving.

      • Shauntaya

        I feel like minimalism art is the new era just based on tech, new logo design, and texture as opposed to printed patterns and shapes.

        • Hadassah

          I agree because you see it now often. From what I researched about album covers that are used today. People like seeing simple and clean designs.

          • Hadassah

            now reading back on it, it depends. Adding back on designs used for album covers. I think that depending on the artist’s brand and their identity, an example would be CeeLo Green’s song F**k You. The single cover art is still noticed for it’s saturated color and even if it was sized down significantly. It would still be remembered. There are designers out there that still use the styles from postmodern design.

    • SimonWill21

      Yeah I never realized how much post modern is frequently used in media and other art forms

      • Shauntaya

        if you watch tv shows like a good place, upload,or poses all have elements of postmodernism just based on the set design.

    • bryanmendez

      I also sometimes have to do extra research after reading or watching something in class in know the feels

    • Eric Sukhdeo

      I never thought of postmodernism being applied to TV shows but now that you mention there are some that are just way more different that other or even some that make fun of the style old TV shows went for. One I can think of is Wandavision where each episode had the style of a TV show within the different decades like the 70s, 80s, and 90s so thanks for mentioning that.

  2. rahel lehar

    Postmodernism uses references from the modernism era. Postmodern design was a reaction to the modernist utopia that valued simplicity. Postmodernism is to break the modernist ideals and instead of simplicity, it uses complexity and created a lot of design styles during the 70s through 90s such as grunge and punk.

    postmodern elements that continue today are bright vibrant colors, complexity, forms dont always follow function, and mixing of cultures.
    We are still in the postmodern era because we see it everywhere in movie posters, advertisements, interior design/architecture, and web design

    • Zi Hang Lian

      Oh, I see. I couldn’t understand the video but this actually make sense when you mention it. It was informational for me.

      • rahel lehar

        Glad my breakdown was easy to understand

    • Nicholas Albanese

      Agreed. Postmodernism still seems to be the latest movement and there hasn’t been much progress in terms of the creation of a new movement. Most art now seems to follow older movements like Dadaism, constructivism, and postmodernism. I feel that whatever movement is next may draw on something even older or perhaps something more niche and not well known.

      • rahel lehar

        yeah i agree postmodernism is about following previous art eras

    • Shauntaya

      I feel as designers are always going to use elements from the past art era in their work without realizing it. I feel like we are slowly leaving to postmodernism and taking away the bright colors of a soft color palette. minimizing the use of shapes and laying. Going minimalize based on new logo designs from burger king, Zara, any tech company and also fashion.

      • Hadassah

        Now that you say that. My illustration teacher actually said something like what you said. That’s interesting because a project we did was psychedelic art and some of my classmates would be intimidated with using bright/ saturated colors. So it’s interesting how you brought that up.

    • bryanmendez

      Postmodernism truly did use what elements it was surrounded by which was the rock and grunge scene of the 70s and 90s

    • Eric Sukhdeo

      Yeah, we do see postmodernism everywhere, one i thought that was pretty weird was how the Wu-Tang Clan made a whole book then used one of those red ink seals for the cover.

  3. SimonWill21

    Post-Modern art still implemented ideas from modernism to create their art. For example, much post-modern art used techniques such as photomontage in their works.

    In today’s era, many designers still experiment with their text, vibrant colors, and images in their composition which are elements of postmodernism

    When it comes to the question of if we are still post-modern I would say it’s like 50/50. I say that because yes there are designers who practice post-modernism and we frequently do see it being used but at the same time we also still see modernism. This is true especially in the corporate side of things where companies demand designers to make “professional” work.

    • Zi Hang Lian

      Yeah, I can see your point. I have seen these kinds of Post-Modern art online. Photo montage, New Wave, etc. These art pretty much don’t follow the rules of normal design since it’s an experimental design after all.

      An interesting point you pointed about 50/50. I can see why you think that way but I believe we’re leaning more toward Post-Modernism.

      • Nicholas Albanese

        I agree that new art is leaning toward post-modern design. My only concern is where do we go from here. What will be incorporated in new art movements and what features will it contain? Only time will tell.

        • Zi Hang Lian

          Yeah, art can be a fascinating thing when you’re least expecting it. Sometimes, it may be disappointing. It’s all up to our moods.

        • SimonWill21

          Yeah good question, I think we will probably be in more so post modern for a while

      • SimonWill21

        Yeah now that I think think about it, it’s probably not 50/50

    • Nicholas Albanese

      I agree. We’ve sort of hit a stopping point and have been relying on post-modern art as well as art from movements like Dada and constructivism. Corporations meanwhile seem to be utilizing more minimalism and vector art in their identity and advertising. While there’s not a problem with it, multiple companies have done the same thing, making them all blend into one another and feel homogenous. I’m curious to see what changes any new art movements will bring.

      • Shauntaya

        This is why i believe corporate is trying to push minimalism as the new art movement.

    • Shauntaya

      Honestly think it depends on who you making art for if for yourself you have creative freedom But if it is for corporate it is to solve a problem with the use of design. Besides the are many factors to it.

    • rahel lehar

      i agree that many designers have vibrant colored designs and vibrant design is one of the most popular types of design

    • bryanmendez

      Yeah I also feel that we’re in a split where we are transitioning into a new era but we still have elements of post moderism

    • Eric Sukhdeo

      I wouldn’t say it 50/50 due to a large number of artists if you were to include those who are not professional, (I know you didn’t say that but I was thinking on a global scale). For instance, if you were to search for a subreddit on a character or hashtag on Twitter just about any topic, you would be surprised at the amount of art you would find around it, postmodernism or not.

  4. Nicholas Albanese

    While post-modern art design differs from modern design in the sense that it utilizes more complex imagery, post-modern art does share some similarities to modern art. One similarity it shares is present within the use of vibrant and garish color palettes. Another similarity is its use of photomontage similar to constructivist and Dada art.

    One element seen today in post-modern art today is the emphasis of text form and the manipulation of text to emphasize its geometry rather than its function. This can be seen in a lot of post-modern art where letters will be broken into geometric shapes and arranged in ways that make it illegible on first viewing. These pieces care more about the form of the text and its parts rather than its function and what purpose it could serve. It pushes the boundaries of typography and transforms it into something new and fascinating.

    I believe we are currently still in the post-modern era as some art today features the same features present in post-modern art. If there is a new era, I’m excited to see what features it holds.

    • Zi Hang Lian

      Very true, Post-Modernism does borrow some principle from the other styles like Dada and Bauhaus. Post-Modernism art does tend to be very messy in term of design and typography. I agree with you we’re still in Post-Modern era because we see the same feature from movies and other medias.

    • SimonWill21

      Yeah I agree that post modern really does puts more emphasis on text, more designers are experimenting with their typography today that in the past.

    • rahel lehar

      For now i think there won’t be a completely new era of design for a long time

    • bryanmendez

      Yeah postmodern view what to leave behind what was known as the simplicity of modernism but still calls back to it by using elements of the bauhaus

  5. Shauntaya

    A radical split brought about by new ways of depicting the world, such as television, film especially after color and sound, and computers is defined as postmodernism. In the case of Wolfgang Weingart, the founder of the New-wave movements, who rejected traditional typographic patterns and began experimenting with fonts, spacing, indentations, weight, and angles in order to demonstrate that typography could be considered an art form, these were ideas that were revolutionary at the time. There are certain similarities between modern and post-modern art design, despite the fact that post-modern art employs more intricate iconography. Vibrant and gaudy color schemes are among the features it shares with the original.
    With today’s elements, Postmodernism designers still incorporate is the use of pattern, bright and bold colors. Layering shape to build dimension in a 2d plane.

    I think at the end of postmodernism and entering an era we designers have more commentary on world views.

    • Zi Hang Lian

      Your beginning looks similar to my middle paragraph. It was interesting how you included Wolfgang Weingart into your response. Your perspective of Post-Modernism is interesting to read.

      The only thing that bother me is your spacing between the first and second paragraph. It’s really hard for me and took me a while before I get what you’re trying to say. I say trying even out each paragraph a bit and it’ll be easy for most of us to read.

    • bryanmendez

      how come you think we’re at end already I think we’re in a half way point

    • Eric Sukhdeo

      I do see some artists today still use the design element of patterns along with bright and bold colors such as what we saw with Cey Adams and his designs for his clients.

  6. bryanmendez

    Postmodernism uses many elements from the modernist movement. Postmodernism came from a feeling that modernism brought with it which was a feeling that modernism is perfect in all the sense as it has a simplicity to it that is perfect. But what Postmodernism saw to do was to undo with the simplicity of modernism and bring a new era of complexity with influences from the 70s and 90s grunge and punk rock scene

    The postmodern elements that are seen today are the heavy use of color and complex forms we continue to also use a cultural diversity and the fact that form does not always follow function.
    I believe that were somewhere in the middle that we still use that form of post-modernism but we are transitioning into a new era that might be post post modernism.

  7. Eric Sukhdeo

    After taking a look at the video I can infer that the difference between modernism and postmodernism is that modernism gives this neutral feeling of no emotion, just trying to get the job done and postmodernism is the opposite of having emotion and having fun with it. Some elements I can see of postmodernism which include modernism components are using the main design of that time to reach a message. Whether it be directly or indirectly such as in the ’80s with the punk rock aesthetic where people would do these creative outgoing designs to catch the audience’s attention or do something as simple as a photo of someone smashing a guitar.

    I would say we still live in a postmodern era with many types of artists, whether they be professional or nonprofessional. If you were to follow one of many different artists on social media such as someone I follow on Twitter @helloclonion, you would see different artists like him take advantage of emotion, color, and expression in their designs. So I would say that we still see postmodernist designs being alive and well, especially with how easy it is for artists to share their designs online.

    • Hadassah

      That’s great that you brought up the difference between modernism and postmodernism. Now that you say that we all still live in a post modernistic era, you’re right about different kinds of artists professional of not they use post modernistic designs.

  8. Hadassah

    The elements used from Modernism in Postmodernism would be the sanserif typefaces, asymmetry alignment. And they both rejected certain eras of design. Modernism rejected ornamentation, central axis alignment, and the past. They focused on clear, simple and clean designs. Most importantly, no emotion is shown, it’s all about structure. However, Post modernism focused more on breaking the rules, they still kept some elements of Modernism but they played with the weights of the typefaces, textured backgrounds, and it was more about expression and appropriating. This was a way to break away from the Modernistic style. It was something that was refreshing. The elements still used from Postmodern design would be experimenting weights of the typeface. Using textured backgrounds and more designers are getting more personal with their works. I think we do live in a Post Modern era but it’s been watered down. What I mean is that Post Modern era was that era that designers, artists etc, they wanted to rebel and beat conventional norms. But it has lost its value. There are people who are inspired by it, but it’s not the same because now even companies started to adapt to this style. It’s only when corporate companies start to pick up on it that it doesn’t really feel unique anymore.