Katherine McCoy and David Frej “Typography as Discourse” 1988 pgs 81-83 found in our main text Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field by Helen Armstrong.

Question/Prompts 

  • Find 2 examples of the work of postmodern graphic designers from the 1980s.
  • Deconstruct the work. Explain which visual elements are associated with postmoderism of the 1980s and why.
  • What does the author mean by “Typography as discourse”?
  • What does the author mean when she states that “…no longer are there one-way statements from designers. The layering of content, as opposed to New Wave’s formal layering of collage elements, is the key to this exchange. Objective communication is enhanced by deferred meanings, hidden stories, and alternative interpretations”

Reading Response 9 

The Sex Pistols album cover is an example of postmodern design as it contains the imagery of the queen which is now repurposed to contain the text “God Save the Queen” which is being used to possibly mock the queen and even the parliament behind it which is why they have the British flag in the background. It is also similar to Low Tech as it uses found imagery and uses swiss punk typography to make a satire of “God Save The Queen”. The second piece has heavy use of the New Wave style as it has implemented the grid system not only that but the typography is very bauhausesk but that some of the types are centered and even overlaying the images has a deeper feeling to it.

When the author says “Typography as discourse” the author means that instead of it being just something as simple as type it now has become one of the talking points of the design as it now is being placed to have a deeper meaning as it is now placed to be sometimes illegible. 

When the author states that “…no longer are there one-way statements from designers. The layering of content, as opposed to New Wave’s formal layering of collage elements, is the key to this exchange. Objective communication is enhanced by deferred meanings, hidden stories, and alternative interpretations” she means that designers when examining a piece cannot give these simple statements that just say the type works but how the type works and what else does is the type doing what is the deeper meaning behind it. The question asked will become more defined and in-depth. 

Hypothesis Annotations

https://hypothes.is/a/TNQ3NEmREeyY1x-xPVKrvw

https://hypothes.is/a/q3ogrklgEey3ILeB1U3e8w

https://hypothes.is/a/hdYh6EldEeywkJe2gLbzeQ