Day 11

Notes

Swiss design and International Typographrey style is interchangeable

Swiss design

visual unity is achieved through a-semesrtical composition

imbrues object photography

embraces idea of san-serif

flush left, rag right

mathematical grids

“We create things therefore we make things that are socially acceptable”

“More important than the appearance is the attitude”

Deshitl, New typography, and Bauhaus influence Swiss Design

Max Bill and Theo Balmer - Swiss designers from Bauhaus

Max Bill - makes Ulm school in Germany about design

school introduces study of Semiotics

or

what things mean in relationship to other things

3 main parts

Syntactic - the order of things

Semantics - meaning or refereed to 

Pragmatic - way to use it

Armin Hofmann - Swiss design

“Design the negative space and the rest will work”

did some work of Herman Miller

Josh Muller Brockmann

looking for an absolute and graphic expression

used intensity and clarity

Swiss Modernism vs. NYC Modernism

Paul Ran, Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff

Modernism starts to get into advertising design

Europe approach - theoretical

NY approach - graphic

Paul Ran - created UPS logo

does some work for container company

Saw Bass - most known for film titles

Man with a Golden Arm

Anatomy of a Murder

logo design - United Airline and AT&T

Ivan Chermayeff - designed Chase logo

“A dot has no meaning but it can become something with just to position

Post-modernism - a break with earlier modernist principles

seen in art, design, literature, and architecture

Characteristics:

emphasis on fell other than rationale

emphasis on surface, texture, and material

self-consciousness or self-referencing

mixes high and low

historical references

vernacular

Comes with super graphics

Wolfgang Wiengard - recreated how to use a led press

Students:

Dan Freedman - brought Wiengard design to America

April Greiman

Form does not follow function, forum becomes the meaning to exist

Thoughts

Today was the last lecture class of history. We still meet two more times, but one is to take a test and the other is to do presentations. I don’t know if it was that it was that fact, the topics, or that I had a bunch of jelly beans with me - but I felt like the class wouldn’t end. 

Anyway, it was still good. We didn’t have a movie but we did do a a like mock visual test with him putting up different visuals and asking us what we see. Though everyone got their own image when he said, “Martha Steward killing kittens in a blander and serving it to Mother Teresa.” Now that was a disturbing image - but defiantly a way to get people’s attention.

But the class is over now, the semester nearly over with it. I still don’t really like type and the idea of bouncing up and down to see the latest poster design my a particular person doesn’t appeal to me either. I know I’m a strange artist, but it’s who I am. I don’t fault anyone who is like that, just don’t demand I join your cult.

Day 10

Notes

Herbert Matter - main guy moving from Bauhaus to Swiss design

Swiss born American photographer and designer

important for use of imagery, objective image, and scale shift

1936 - moves to America

Worked with Charles and Ray Ewes

Worked for Knoll furniture company

Modernism slow to take in US

Refugees of WWI force the change

Worked with Container Company of America

first company to create cardboard boxes

Tishold’s new text was not liked by American society

Lester Beal - Degree in Art History

Worked in design - self taught

used visual contrast, loved wood type

Worked a lot for rural electric administration

silk screening becomes popular since it is quick and easy

poster’s become very graphing with simplified abstraction

WPA (Works Project Administration)

Roosevelt’s idea to try giving people jobs

creates better housing

hosts concerts

made calendars

get people to go back to school

* Movie about Matter *

Thoughts

Class began with the teacher sitting in front of me talking about what was going to happen in the next 2 weeks of lecture. After a comment form the back thanking him for preparing everyone for the image section of the last one (his voice dripping in sarcasm) the teacher replies with a “you’re welcome” only to mutter under his breath something else. Being so close I was the only one to hear it and laughed at his remark whit made him realize I heard. No, I will not repeat what he said since he asked me not to, but it was a good way to start a class.

The lecture was straight forward and over all, somewhat interesting. On top of that it only lasted, at most, 40 minutes since that was when he started this new movie all about Herbert Matter. It was, thankfully, a recent movie, and was therefore interesting (thank you). In fact, I found it quite entertaining and think that questions for the final test should include some surprise questions from that since it took the rest of the class period.

In the end class was good. An interesting end, and movie I had no problem staying awake for, and a nice short lecture. If only it could be that way every week.

Day 9

Bauhaus - 14 years, 33 staff, 1250 students

utopian desire

first location-looking for union of art and craft

second location-start designing for industry

third location-just doesn’t work

Most important people of Bauhaus:

Paul Klee

Moholy Nagy

Jahannas Itten

Herbert Bayer

Kandinsky

Mies van der Rohe

Walter Groupus 

Oscar Schlemmer

Joseph Albers

Groupus - first director from 1919  to 1928

solder of WWI

trained as architect

start school to ‘tame’ new technology

manifesto on wood print of cathedral

allegory for total work of art

painting

sculpture

architecture

Council of Masters

Garhard Marks

sculpture/pottery shop

Lyonel Feringer

painting

Johannes Itten

preliminary courses

Itten

creator of foundation classes at colleges

tries to reaes each person’s individual ability

was very religious

believed in understanding material fully

Moholy Nagy - Hungarian constructionist

experiments with lots of theories

Itten’s replacement

experiments with type and illustration

looks to unify type and photo

creates type-o-photo

photo plastects- photo colleagues

Herbert Bayer - gives un universal alphabet with no capitals

Van der Role - 3rd president of the school

attempts to hold out in Berlin but closes 8, 1933

time line

type-o-photo

photo gram

photo plastec

Jan Tschichold - hand lettered ad for fair

studied callegraphy

goes to Bauhaus expo at 22

write paper exploring new type

writes book about new type

the aim of every typographic work to be the delivery of a message in the shortest most efficient manner

harassed by Nazi

arrested for book

released after 6 weeks

leaves country

Thoughts

The class really is changing it’s mood. We are concentrating so much on the people now, only glancing at events - it’s odd. 

I’m glad that we now have a projector that works. For a while we just talked about the movie we watched last class. Everyone was saying how much they were upset by it, how some even cried! Personally, I found it a bit boring. The acting was boring and I didn’t really care for the characters so it was hard to connect.

Test next week.

Day 8

NOTES

watch the rest of Romancing the Revolution

Surprematist - pure color

Kandinsky - pioneer of abstraction

El Lissizty - influences constructionist

influences Bauhaus

uses simple shapes and colors

develops prouns - projects for an establishment of a new art

writes book “-Isums of Art”

develops mathematical page system

book uses

san-serif type

asymmetrical balance

active white space

grid system

Eisenstien - Russian filmmaker (1925)

montage becomes big in cinema

Alexander Radchencky - in art school from 1910-1914

finishes with paint after ‘Pure Red, Yellow, and Blue’

goes to constructionist

Russian Avant Guard artistes used as pawn in Revolution

If it’s product, it’s good

DeStil : 1917-1931

biased on utopian approach and functionalism

uses black, white, and primary colors

sought to express mathematical structure to the universe and universal harmony

best known member: Piet Mondreal

DADA - why should art make sense if the world doesn’t?

applied to

  architecture

furniture

sculpture

painting

family

President: Theo Van Dosburg (dies 1931)

embraces it to destroy it

Thoughts

This is a very weird time period for art. It’s defiantly a time that I wouldn’t want to be it - and the fact that there are wars going on. Not that I really know what type of art period we’re in now.

The movies are very depressing, though I guess that Russia was a depressing country. It’s odd learning more about history events rather than something like the evolution of type that we did earlier. Still, both styles of ‘art history’ isn’t like the one that I got use to last year at Moore College. 

I’m starting to accept all of it, but I’m still not all that interested of any point other than doing well on the next test. 

Question

If the one side losses the projector can we turn the lights up a bit so people who take real notes can see.

Day 7

*Sorry for the different format, PCs are horrible.*


Notes
Secession - art nouvo in Austra
youth movement in relatiation to "elders" way of life
had their own magazine
60's rock posters based off of their work
they try to be new, but the past can be seen in their work
Peter Barrins
the the picture of the kiss
first to use running san-serif type
was a professor and influanced by another
became obsessed with circles and squares
later works for AEG and creates the idea of corperate idenities
Building created to follow a form
Lucan Bernard - evalution of posters
title
flat plane
graphic
placa - poster paint
placa shtil - poster style
WWI - first mecienized war
poster propaganda starts with WWI
Axis Powers
abstract
stunning
graphic
had symbolism
Allies
Uncle Sam
illustration
spoon feed
Wudwig Hohlwien
poster designer
not well know since  was on axis side
Hitler didn't like axis power posters designs. Thought people were too dumb.
Cubisum comes into play in painting and poster design
A.M. Kassander
brings geometry and cubism design
most known for travel posters
Dobonnet posters
DADA - idea that nothing makes sense so why should art
De Shtil - we need to find a system. What is the math of art?
Suprenatism - art for arts sake
Constructionism - art must have function
Aveat Guard - "out there" artist
Thinistashia - being able to hear color
watch movie: Romance with Revolution


Thoughts
We spent most of the night looking at different posters. The Advertising students got very happy that we were finally starting to get into their department more. The poster "The Kiss" I find interesting. It makes you think. I also feel that way about the axis power posters. It's fun to try finding their hidden meanings. Our posters on the other hand were a bit lame in comparison. Sure, the illustration was good, some of my favorite paintings were used for those posters. 
The movie we didn't get too into. It looks like it won't be horrible, so thanks, but still not something I would expect everyone to be sitting on the edge of their seats for.


Question
Ringling offers two different math classes, one that focuses on Statistis and one on Geometry. It is also possible for students to take a class at their local college in the summer. Based on history of all this, would you recomend taking a geometry or an algebra class?

Day 6

NOTES

John Ruskin, born 1819

philosophical leader of Arts and Crafts Movement

-Beginning of socialism

Idea that things are valuable because they are beautiful

Idea that a cathedral is a perfect building since it is created with multiple ideas harmonizing as one

“Topsy” William Morris

many of designs called medieval

lived with beauty=value idea

felt mass produced items weren’t as good as handmade ones

was a socialist

most known for his pattern work

was involved in book arts

would do every step in the process

create his own typeface

Audry Beardshy - art nouveau

the playboy of the art world

very influenced by Morris

felt industrialization had lots of problems but they aren’t all bad and that they should just fix it

Japanese print design influenced

Alphonse Mocha

first job doing liotgraphy

sets in motion what was later called art nouveau

listyal modern later called art nouveau

Characteristics

whiplash pieces of hair

tile work

trump-loy play with depth

flat abstract background

something playing with spacial relationship

an element of something exotic

People loved pattern

Forms go from trying to be realistic to more abstract

art nouveau slow to catch on in the US

Will Bradly - First art nouveau designer of the US

used abstract simple form

had wood cut from influenced

notice in art how he gets very full of himself

Advertising development

Jugendstil means youth style - art nouveau in german

Scotland - Glasgo school

Main four:

Margret McDonald

Francis McDonald

Herbert McNair

Charles Rina Macintosh 

Margret marries Charles 

Francis marries Herbert

Their style:

geometric

curverlinerar elements

rectilinear structure

floral decoration

symbolism

stylized forms

sessionstil - art nouveau of Australia

Klint and Moser 

ver sacrum (magazine)

Thoughts

Last week was a quiz so we jumped right into the next topic. It’s a little odd talking about the major people more that the stuff going on, but what ever. In the beginning of class we watch a video about William Morris that ended up being nearly an hour long. I found it to be okay. It was more entertaining than the other movies we have seen, but it still put some people to sleep.

Like I said, we started to concentrate on major people now which is move like the history classes that I’ve had in the past. It is still nothing like the Art History class I had at my last college, but I never expected it to.

At the end of class the teacher said that maybe we should hold class over spring break since we have so much to cover. Some people were actually agreeing, but there was no way I would agree, even in jest. Forget the fact that I won’t even be in the country for break, I’m still not enthralled with the subject.

Over all the day was okay. We talked briefly about with next step in the project and also got our test sheets back. I was annoyed because I only got one question wrong but I can’t complain too much since I did better than many. I was glad when class was over though, and thrilled it ended a few minutes early, since towards the end I started to get really sick. I was still able to take my notes fine, but I became completely miserable.

Questions

If there are any documentaries on the subjects we are learning by Discovery, the History Channel, or National Geographic could we watch those in class instead? They are made to be more interesting and might have more people paying attention.