One of the biggest things I’ve learned this semester is how much the region plays a role in how a style of art can change and develop over time. I didn’t realize how many art movements there have been either but it makes sense because art has been around for as long as we can remember. Before I had started reading the designers manifestos I had no idea what a manifesto even was. It definitely helped me grasp what a manifesto was I still need to work on how to organize my manifesto. Honestly I found the psychedelic art to be the most interesting now I didn’t say the most enjoying. Reason being is how crazy generally posters were in this time period. The type was all types of crazy along with the imagery. It made me wonder how you were supposed to see these? Were they supposed to be seen while on psychedelics or what are we supposed to see or interpret. Now after I have finished presenting my manifesto in class I wish it would have came out more the way I had envisioned it. I wish I wasn’t so literal in the processes and maybe found a better way to represent my manifesto and what I believe graphic design to be.

This weeks art nouveau has subtle curves compared to last weeks sinuous curved lines for an example of difference. But I always have thought that where the style of art is it develops to fit that region because I think every region has its own certain style that sets it apart whether it may be something huge to something small. It varies but I still believe that to be true. I think life would be boring without some uniqueness especially in art. Honestly I liked last weeks art nouveau more though it’s got kind of a unique feel to it that’s not too complex. But I do appreciate some of the stuff in this weeks art nouveau it just seems kind of complex in certain aspects for me. A lot of this weeks art nouveau just kind of seems flat to me if that makes sense in certain pieces. I am not saying this is what I see in every part of this weeks. The different regions is one of the main contributing factors of the differences in this weeks and last weeks art nouveau. I think it develops certain styles that show in certain regions. This weeks art nouveau had some cool pieces but last weeks seemed to intrigue me more.

The difference between the propaganda we seen in the First World War and the Second World War was the second was more about funding the war in my opinion. It wasn’t so much about getting people to join now it was more about the war budget and who had the better weapons, vehicles and supplies. This is where victory bonds came in to place these were created to raise the budget for war. They were struggling at the time to find the production of war and this was their solution. This propaganda influenced people to donate their money to the war efforts. Some images showing the enemies hands about to grab someone’s family with a statement telling you to buy victory bonds to raise money. This was the easiest way to touch emotionally like I said perviously propaganda has always been a way to lure people in. The reason I feel the Nazi’s were so effective with their propaganda was due to it being everywhere. It was in mass numbers and it twisted people’s thoughts and views. It makes people start believing what they are seeing. And honestly if the Nazi’s had not been as effective as they were with propaganda I really don’t think they would have taken over Germany.

In every era I think design should have a role in the way it effects something such as a “social movement”. I think the design of this era has a big influence on a lot of how people think or feel. A lot of the artist used a lot of photo manipulation in a sort from what I can see to get their points across. It was a good way to show the connection with that ability. Design I feel plays a huge role in change no matter what kind of change. It is all around us so whatever we see and get used to seeing gets us to start thinking differently. Something as simple as color can influence someone in some way it’s all how it’s interpreted and as a designer we have audiences that we plan for. So I think that design can have a huge impact of the way people think. It’s just like the book I had to read for class “Do Good Design”. Reason it emphasizes on doing good design is because as a designer you can have so much influential power. People can be convinced by a message, image, color or illustration. It’s how powerful that piece is and how much it emotionally talks to the audience.

Propaganda was a way to convince men to join the army or a way to get someone else to support the cause. The methods used in these types of propaganda had been: emasculating messages(towards men generally questioning their strength). The propaganda was used to shame men into something it made them feel somewhat obligated. A lot of military propaganda would use adventure and romance as what they wanted you to think would come along with that cause. But they never tell you the bad things that are occurring. The messages would even go as far as saying it was “your” patriotic duty to serve and protect your country. These propaganda posters had strong images that were meant to speak to “YOU”. Honestly for this time I felt these methods were very strong in their purpose. In this time period from what I believe is when the man was the head of the household and it was his duty to protect and care for his family so they used that in their propaganda. They lured people in and that’s the best way I can describe the purpose of propaganda. With how successful these posters were in their time I definitely believe that these methods are still used today in fact I know. Before I say this I have two brothers in the military and I support the military men and women with all my being. But for an example the military commercial are very glorified and make you look courageous, strong and unified which I believe is true but they definitely glorify battle.

This “new media” is always growing in my opinion. I think the way this media differs from older styles of design and such has a big connection to the advance in technology. Technology just lets us grow as designers, giving us more capabilities and endless possibilities. But a smart designer takes what was successful design and incorporates it in this “new media”. I feel that “new media” is always growing because technology will not be halted. I like the interaction of the “new media”. Web 2.0 in my opinion made things a lot more visually appealing to me. It’s nice and smooth very polished and neat for the most part in my opinion. I like how everything serves a purpose in this style of design. When things are interactive it gets your more interested in the design. Everyone is a little curious at least so I think the interactions connect the people to the design more. The designs seem to be more self explanatory and pretty easily understood. One thing I wish this “new media” incorporated more is the more hand done designs. I have a certain appreciation for something that was done by hand. It’s just something about the work that is shown in the hand done work.

Post modernism in my opinion are one of the most eye catching designs. Reason being is some of psychedelic effects. The color really draws your eye now I didn’t say that you liked it but it catches your attention. One thing I found out with the psychedelic aspect is that they didn’t really care about how the type looked it was all about the illustration of whatever it may be. Psychedelics some say we’re originated during the growth of the drug movement at the time. Another factor that may have contributed to this style may have been the war and the way people could escape it in a way kind of. But the biggest factor of psychedelics had to be contributed from the drug movement after looking at some of the posters and such. Illustrations started to become a little stronger. They started revisiting old designs and taking aspects from them. For example more hand made stuff like hand drawn fonts and such. With the Swiss style I could see some of this style being inevitable to avoid. You can see it in some of Illustrations. It gets stronger and more relatable the further away from psychedelics you get. But you can see it more in a couple different styles.

Swiss style was mainly contributed of 3 important characteristics: sans serif typography, grids and asymmetrical layouts that they had mainly used to make influential posters. I personally believe that technology contributed to the Swiss style. Reason I believe this style got so popular was because of the technology and the ability to do these things. I feel the reason Swiss style was popular was also the fact that it was something new and different for people. As a designer I’ve seen how design styles change over time based on the capabilities and such that allow us to do what we do as designers. Technology gets better along with our designs in my opinion. It doesn’t make us better as designers I don’t think it just gives us more of a ceiling! That’s why I think it was inevitable to avoid going in this direction as designers. I recall seeing a few characteristics of this style in today’s world of design. That’s the brilliant thing about being a designer you learn and adapt and it all just comes together eventually. What I mean by this is the more styles you adopt and learn the more you can do. It’s all part of being a designer in my eyes. I believe it is important to learn and adapt to be the best designer you can be.

The different styles of art nouveau are all new art movements and each one has a style based off of where it originated from. They all have their own characteristics and styles. Some flow with natural lines and shapes. Some flourish with flowers and hair flowing almost as if it was being blown in the wind. The country that it may have originated from will usually show with the certain types of movement and shapes and colors that can be characterized into the different countries. For example Japan has a lot of flat planes, strong colors and abruptly cut off scenes. A lot of their design was elegantly based off of plants and insects. France celebrated the vibrant pulse of urban life. Each style had its own distinct  characteristics that give you an idea of where they came from. People use these characteristics to symbolize and show their culture in their art. The influence a country can have on the way their art looks or emotions they might represent and feel and influence others to feel that way. Each country had their own style that represents them or their culture. It can be from the colors they use to the line weight that they use. Art is influenced and can influence!