In the theory of art and design, there have been various movements that broke barriers, pushed boundaries and paved the way for artists/designers today. Without these movements, certain artists/designers and styles wouldn’t exist. The movement that emphasizes the barrier breaking and pointer way to me is the Avant Garde. Avant-Garde was a movement that pushed new ideas, practices of art disrupted the traditional or mainstream approach of art and design. This movement brought about practices such as visual arts, literature, music, film and performance art. In addition, this movement challenged the norms of the traditional ways with their own way of distinctiveness and expression thus bringing individuality and originality. The Avant Garde is a movement that I feel continuously inspires the art we see today. But let us take a ride to what designs practice Avant Garde as well as displays lineage to the movement. Thus, I will dissect the Avant-Garde through Paula Scher’s appreciation for modernism.
Emerging in the late 19th and early 20th century, the modernism movement argued to be a lineage from Avant-Garde in similar ways. More innovative, experimental and rejected the norms of art approach. This movement helped change the way of art/design. One artist’s work I’ll be referencing is Paula scher. Well known American artist/graphic designer who creates iconic work using color, unique typography and immaculate visual presentations that continues to be groundbreaking. This first cover I’ll touch on is Dog Opera (1994).
This cover Paula Scher did for The Public Theater back in 1994 was one of few monumental designs that was done during this time. The cover emulates Avant-garde modernism by the expressiveness of it. The type is Swiss in a modernist style making it functional. The important aspects of modernism are its rebellious character in the norms of society whether it’s in art/design, writing/type, music and political/social issues. This movement created new empowered artists like Scher to express their creativity. According to the Graphic Design Theory: Readings From The Field By Helen Armstrong, the text says that artists spoke in manifestos and created posters, books, magazines, and typefaces using strikingly new visual vocabularies. They embraced mass communication; they abandoned easels. They treated the aesthetic conventions of symmetry and ornament like stale leftovers to be scourged at all costs. Instead the avant-garde looked to the machine for inspiration— sleek, functional, efficient, powerful. They tried to discover untainted visual forms that were fitting for the new modern world. Through such experiments they explored asymmetrical layout, activated white space, serial design, geometric typefaces, minimalism, hierarchy, functionalism, and universality.
Another Paula Scher design that displays Avant-Garde Modernism is “Fucking A (2003). This design is another project of hers that she did for The PublicTheater. 
A third cover that brings forth experimentation is Paula Scher’s Some People (1994). Yet still another design for Public Theater. This design has a similar type concept to Dog Opera, however collaged throughout most of the design.
Looking at this design, it gives me excitement about this play if it was coming out now. Judging by the demeanor of the two people, I feel that the performance would have energy and it would be engaging. Using the right images with the type to communicate the same thing equally is talent and original. It’s nothing but fascinating there are SO many different styles, designs and ideas with Modernism. The uniqueness of each element that came out of Avant-Garde continues to show in abundance in many ways today. If it wasn’t for Avant-Garde, modernism would not exist. If artists/designers didn’t take that chance to stand up for what they care about, then today’s society’s creativity would not be inspiring. The best way to improve is to learn and challenge yourself and that is what Modernism did. That’s what artists like Paula Scher did. She constantly gave new and fresh ideas/concepts to the table. Due to not taking no for an answer and standing for what they believed in, it built this foundation for artists like myself who are trying to pass that torch/wisdom along the generations after me. And that is why I personally believe that Modernism has an edge over other movements due to that.
References
https://designopendata.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/graphicdesigntheory_helenarmstrong.pdf (pgs 9-15)
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