Tag Archives: printing

Culture Shocks

Posted on by under Week 13

The characteristics of Postmodernism cannot so easily be described with simply one specific style. This movement in itself uses characteristics from most of the previous major art movements and styles, along with the incorporation of historical references within the subject matter. Artists at this time also rejected the idea of labeling themselves to only one specific style when asked what they identify their work with. This was a time where artists could try and implement techniques not possible in the past, due to the rapid growth of technology, allowing for more complex processes to be done; mainly in the field of Print-Making. Most of the reoccurring and highlighted characteristics in design from this era relate to the fields of: ornamentation, symbolistic expression and use of visual ‘wit’.

During this era, there were a slew of social events taking place that played major roles in shaping the ‘symbolistic expression’ seen implemented in the artwork. Some major examples of which were: the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement & Protests, and upcoming music events; which was often  combined with the use of psychedelic drugs to help the artist establish a vivid sense of color and pattern in their design.

Postmodernism in itself represented a response to the International Swiss Style because it incorporated elements of the past, except improved upon them to ends not previously possible, due to the limitations in technology. Building off elements of the past, while incorporating the characteristics of the current cultural present; Postmodernism proved to be a movement that stands out on its own, through the elements that help define it.

Under Construction

Posted on by under Week 9

This week in our Graphic Design Survey class, we had discussed  design used to support acts of social revolution. A primary focus of this discussion was the Russian constructivism movement, which uses the mentality of essentially rejecting the idea of art for ‘arts’ sake. This was done in favor of art being a practice for socially intended purposes. Artists attempted at creating art that would take the viewer out of ‘traditional settings’ to make them instead an ‘active viewer’ of the work at hand.

One technique set on this principle of ‘active viewer’ was collage; where works are made from the assembling of different forms that create a new ‘whole work’ in itself. In this case, collaging consisted of mainly news photographs and painted sections; along  with use of bold-faced typography and abstract design with cut-outs of photographs. This use of photos is called photo-montage and was used to transform the consciousness of the viewer to what was considered a ‘enlightened’ state of being. A way to replace passive understanding of photographs, instead with spark of revolution potential thinking.

Connections of this movement can be seen today as well, though not as popular in all areas, with the works being representative of the issues coming from the place in which it originates.

Johannes Gutenberg

Posted on by under Week 4

Despite whatever claims linked to Gutenberg and the title ‘Father of Printing’ along with whatever varying degrees of truth associated with them, the contributions of his printing machine and ideas for the future elements of design are influential even to this day.

Starting in the 15th century, most every English text had to be meticulously copied by hand. This was largely due to a growing, literate middle class that only had a limited access to the collective written world. Johannes Gutenberg, a German businessman, realized a money-making potential for the mass production scale of books and set-up experiments with different printing methods.

Using typesetting technologies originating from Asia, a modified recipe of oil-based ink; Along with a design built from screw-type presses used by farmers across Europe, Gutenberg developed his own printing press. Though besides the press itself, perhaps Gutenberg’s most important and original contribution were the letter molds he crafted from a metal alloy that was very durable.

The new system was simplified, still a tedious process, but much more efficient than anything that had existed before. Each page of text was layered out with individual letters arranged by the user in a type tray. That type tray was then reused over and over again to produce multiple copies of a page and then would be reset for other pages that needed to be made, making mass production a task feasible for the first time.

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