Monday, March 31, 2008

The Genesis of Twentieth Century Design

1.Describe Frank Lloyd Wright's work1.
Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect who "rejected historicism in favor of a philosophy of organic architecture with the reality of the building. Wright defined organic design as having entity which is something "in which the part is to the whole as the whole is to the part and which is all devoted to a purpose." Wright considered space to be the essence of design. He was also influenced by Japanese architecture and design for harmonious proportion and visual poetry, and pre-Columbian architecture and art. Wright tended to use a repetition of rectangular zones and use of asymmetrical spatial organization were adopted by other designers.



2.Describe the work of the Glasgow school or "the four"
The four were a group of four students in the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Their designs were described as using symbolic imagery and stylized form. Lines were usually bold and simple and they defined flat planes of color. The four also tended to incorporate abstract interpretations of the human figure and they also innovated a geometric style of composition by tempering floral and curvilinear elements with strong rectangular structure.



3.Describe the Vienna Secessionist work
The Vienna Secessionist works drew inspirations from works of artists from foreign countries. The movement began due to the fact that foreign artists weren't allowed to participate in exhibits. Some inspirations involved :symbolist paintings, French floral styles, and the Glasgow School. Secessionists merged text, illustration, and ornament into a lively unity. Bold line drawing would be combined with handwriting and it would be printed in a color background. Secessionists would later reject the French floral styles and turn to more flat shapes and greater simplicity such as squares, rectangles, and circles in repetition and combination.



4.Name on thing Peter Behrens designed
One thing Peter Behrens designed was the cover for Documents of Modern Applied Arts in 1901. (Figure 12-34)

Class follow up 3/31

1. Hmm... I would have to say one of the most interesting thing was how women in those eras weren't allowed to smoke, drink, or curse in public, yet some designers used women smoking in ads for cigarettes. I already knew how women during that time were seen as beautiful if they were a little how to say bigger than women in advertising today but it was still kinda interesting.

2. I would like to learn more about the Rococo period since that wasn't really mentioned much.

3. You are on the hunt now: find a modern day design which you admire and that you feel is influenced by both of these styles and post it in your blog, stating why you think it's in the style and why you admire it

The first image I found is from one of my favorite bands, Panic at the Disco. This is the cover for their new album called Pretty.Odd.



I think that it best represents the Victorian era because of the use of flowers and the woman's head inside one of the flowers (which both of those were used a lot during the time). The reason why I like it is because like I said before, it is from one of my favorite bands.

This could be a good example of modern day Art Nouveau. This is from a fashion show with fashion inspired by the Art Nouveau period. The reason why it would best resemble this time is because of the use of bold lines, shapes, and abstract images. I really like the colors and the abstract shapes of this dress, and not going to lie, I would wear something like that.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Art Nouveau


1. Describe specific qualities of this style that will help you identify it in the future, including typography.
Art Nouveau was a period where western artists started getting inspired by Asian art, Most of it could be described as abstract, simplified, flat color, bold black shapes, and decorative patterns such as vine tendrils, flowers (roses and lilies especially), birds (mostly peacocks), and the human female form. Lines were mostly inventive and realism was rejected and symbolism was incorporated. Sources from art nouveau includes: William Blake's book illustrations, Celtic ornament, rococo style, the Arts and Crafts movement Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and Japanese decorative designs.



2. What was the impetus for this design movement?
What started the Art Nouveau movement was due to the treaties brought by commodore Matthew C. Perry that resulted in the collapse of Japan's isolationist polices and led to open trade in the West and an increased fascination in Asian art for Europeans and North American designers



3.At least 2 designers you admire who created important works in this style & the title of their pieces
The two designers that I admired the most are very similiar in their designs. The first one is Henri de Tolouse-Lautrec and the one piece of work I liked the best from him is figure 11-24 titled "La Goulue au Moulin Rouge". The other designer I admired was Theophile Alexandre Steinlen and the poster he created that I like the most is figure 11-28 titled "Tournee du chat noir".

Victorian Era


1. Describe specific qualities of this style that will help you identify it in the future, including typography.
The Victorian era was a period of strong moral and religious beliefs, proper social conventions and optimism. There was a fondness for the Gothic architecture, ornament and letterforms. Much of Victorian era designs were considered ornate and extravagant. Most images were idealized by printing images of children, maidens, puppies, and flowers. Also, traditional values of home, patriotism, and religion were symbolized during the era. Color printing also arrived during this time. With typography, most types were elaborated and intricate. Shadows, outlines,and embellishments were applied. And mentioned as before, a fondness of Gothic forms came back during this era. Outlandish and fantasy lettering became popular during that time too.



2.What was the impetus for this design movement?
The Victorian era began during Queen Victoria's reign in 1837. People living in that time were "searching for a design spirit to express their epoch".


Thursday, March 27, 2008

Class follow up

1. The most interesting thing I learned in the class discussion was about the Luddites because I never actually heard of that group of people before. The linotype was also very useful, especially since it paved the way for the modern day keyboard.

2. I really don't have any questions at the moment to be quite honest.

3. This is a stained glass window done by Joseph Pompei, who was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. It's titled Waterlilies.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement was started by English publisher William Pickering. During the Industrial Revolution, the quality of book design and production went down. Pickering had a passion for design and that led him to commission new woodblock ornaments, initials, and illustrations. He also maintained control over the design, type selection, illustrations, and all other visual considerations. Because Pickering's printers were under his close supervision, a cordial working relationship between printer, publisher, and designer were established in the Arts and Crafts movement. The movement also led to the revival of Gothic forms and the Caslon type. Artists during that time also incorporated Renaissance and Japanese design (especially of botanical and other natural forms) into their works. Their goal was to create beautiful objects so that workers could find joy in their work again.


One artist during the movement that I'd admired was Selwyn Image, who was a member of the Century Guild. The work that I liked the best was a woodcut from The Hobby Horse, a magazine dedicated to the visual arts that could be found on page 170 in the text book (figure 10-11).


Another artist that I'd admired was Charles R. Ashbee who founded the Guild of Handicraft. One of his works was the Essex House Press emblem seen on page 176 (figure 10-21) in the textbook.


Here is something I found that is an example of the styles of the Arts and Crafts movement:


Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution began in England in the years 1760-1840. It was a period of social and economic change. Cities were growing, everything was being run by steam, electricity, and gasoline. Factories were built. The capitalist replaced the landowner as the most powerful force in the Western countries. Not everything in the Industrial Revolution was positive, however. Workers were forced to work 13 hour days with miserable wages and lived in unsanitary conditions.
There were two innovations in typography during this period. The first innovation were the fat faces. The fat faces were innovated in 1803 by Robert Thorne. The typestyle is considered a roman face but the contrast and weight were increased by expanding the thickness of the heavy strokes. The width had a ratio of 1:2.5-1:2. The second innovation was the sans-serif type, which made its debut in 1816 by William Caslon IV. It made little notice until the early 1830s. Sans-serif were pretty much used for subtitles and for descriptive material under bold fat faces and Egyptians.
As type became bigger, it became harder and more costly to use metal type. American printer, Darius Wells, managed to fix that problem. He created wood types which became very successful for poster and broadsheet design. Reasons being were due to the fact that wood-type was more durable, less expensive, and much lighter than metal types.
The Industrial Revolution also led to innovations on redesigning the printing press. The one that I think was the most important in the time period was the steam-powered presses that were created by German printer, Friedrich Koenig in 1814. The reason why I feel that this one was the most important was because it was faster than previous presses (it could print 1,100 impressions an hour) and that resulted in lowering the costs for production. It also helped pave the way for future, faster printing presses.

Sketchbook assignment:






















The Industrial Revolution also led to the invention of photography. It was invented by Joseph Niepce by first coating a pewter sheet with a light-sensitive asphalt which hardens when exposed to light. Then he contact printed a drawing (which was oiled to make it transparent) onto the pewter sheet with the sunlight. He then washed the pewter sheet with lavender oil and then etched it with acid. A few years later, he expanded his experiment by placing one of the pewter sheets in the back of his camera obscura (a darkened box with small openings or lens on one side) and pointed it outside the window and leaving it exposed all day. After washing it with lavender oil, a hazy image of sunlit buildings outside the window was captured.

The one photograph that I found most interesting was the photograph that was taken by Matthew Brady in 1862. It was taken in the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam which was the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. History has always fascinated me and that photo showed everyone the reality of war, since that this was the first time war was documented in photography.
I really couldn't decide on a modern day picture so I used one of my own that I took in a Tuscan village when I went to Italy last year