F.T. Marinetti, “Manifesto of Futurism”; Aleksandr Rodchenko, “Who We Are: Manifesto of the Constructivist Group”; and El Lissitzky, “Our Book”, Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Fieldby Helen Armstrong, pages 19-31. 

Questions / Prompts

  • Consider if and how these manifestos addressed the concepts of authorship/ownership, universal systems of communication, and social/political engagement.
  • What common views do these artists/designers share, and where might they disagree?
  • Which elements of these texts remain relevant for the present, and which elements are problematic? 
  • How has the communication process changed since the early 20th Century, specifically with regard to “feedback” and “noise”?

Reading Response-

These manifestos addressed the concepts of authorship/ownership, universal systems of communication, and social/political engagement in the way that with what people create and design, they’re able to express their own way of communicating to the world, and show their aesthetic to all in different types of forms. A common view these artists/designers share is that with time, art is evolving and changing, and it may keep on doing so within the years to come. However, they might disagree on how people use technology nowadays to create or design. Elements of the text that remain relevant are how artists and designers are able to become experimental and create different types of work, whether it be their strong or weak points, they’re still able to test their new ideas and shape it into any form of art. The problematic part may be that some don’t agree with the new technology of art, which some find helpful, making it easier for many people to express their form of art. This could make the art world hard for those with authorship as many might copy their style of art, making it less original, and more mainstream. The communication process has changed in the way that when we are able to share our work, it doesn’t have to be on one site, it can be on many platforms of social media, giving it more noise as to how we present it and the message we give it. While feedback is also easier because more people are able to share their thoughts on our work whether it be good or bad critique. This may also be helpful in the way that we can see from a wider audience what we may need to fix or work on in our work.

Hypothesis Annotations

  1. https://hyp.is/4yH6UiltEe2s5T8nUM15yA/designopendata.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/graphicdesigntheory_helenarmstrong.pdf 
  2. https://hyp.is/sFhe9CoNEe2oa4-8zcs_yQ/designopendata.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/graphicdesigntheory_helenarmstrong.pdf
  3. https://hyp.is/Cc89UClyEe2wIbdCWbj7Xw/designopendata.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/graphicdesigntheory_helenarmstrong.pdf