Movements and Styles

 

early modern suprematism: 

I found this piece while browsing images on the internet. The bright colors and strong geometric shapes are characteristic of the Suprematism movement. Suprematism is known to be basic forms and pure color. It is derived from other styles like cubism and futurism. You can see in this piece that both styles of cubism (with the different geometric shapes) and the style of futurism(modern lines and geometric structure) are prevalent.   

American Kitsch: 

I found this picture online. This picture demonstrates the style of American Kitsch in two of it's elements. The woman is wearing a 1950's style dress that has an "a-line" skirt, which reflects the importance of the hourglass figure and womanly curves. The refrigerator also is demonstrative of kitsch because it has curved edges. American Kitsch was all about femininity and curves. These themes were applied anywhere in design from clothing to technology to even cars.

Late Modern: This is an example of Paul Rand's work that is not in the book. I wanted to show an example of late modern design with this picture, because it combines two elements that are consistent during that period. These elements are the contrast between the solid white  graphic egg and the black splatter that looks like  paint. This piece has a symbolic essence while maintaining a visual appeal. This concept is prevalent in late modern design and also in Paul Rand's work.

International Typographic Style: The International Typographic Style emphasizes objectivity, legibility, cleanliness, and use of a grid. This picture is an advertisement for JC Penny I found online. Since Jc Penny went international after WWII they decided to unify all of their visuals to the international typographic style. This design shows the characteristic type face and symmetry found in most designs of this style.

Contemporary: The reason i chose the firefox logo is because it demonstrates "the conceptual image". The conceptual image was something that came to be during the Contemporary period as a means of combining words and image. With the firefox logo, the orange colors represent fire and the fox represents fox, while its encompassing the globe, representing the earth or ability to connect to it(internet). The logo itself is a good example of how the conceptual image was a vital contribution to contemporary design and even to design even today.

Psychedelic: This poster is a good example of Psychedelic design because of the neon color pallet, the art nouveau inspired text and line quality in the female figure, and the text that is pretty much illegible. I found this poster online. I am attracted to it because of it's strong connection to the style of Art Nouveau.

Postmodern: The idea of Postmodern design is that it pushes constrictions, uses experimental typography, and really just ignores all the rules. This was very popular in the 1980's and that is why I chose this piece I found on the internet of a magazine from the 80's. It's expressive type and strong color show the rebellion in postmodernism.

Digital: In the digital revolution, design possibilities are endless. The characteristics of designs from this period are images that look real but are computerized with special programs to make them look that way. In this design, the woman is holding a bird in her hand and she is black and white but the bird is blue...this looks like this could have really happened in real life but we will never know because of the magic of digital imaging.

Rare Prints Gallery Field Trip

In Downtown Franklin, there is a little store that sells old prints that date back hundreds of years. Most of these prints are done by using a complicated process involving metal plates, and sometimes even stones, or wax. Then the print is colored individually by a separate artist. This tedious process makes these prints valuable, but because they are so old, it makes them rare. I really enjoyed my time spent in this store because I love vintage artwork and I was trying to find a print that maybe I could buy. Unfortunately this was the only one I could afford for 25 dollars:

you can barely see the quality because of the glass reflection, but it's a print of some kind of weird squirrel animal. I really wanted a bird or some flowers or something, but of course THIS was the only one that I could possibly get. I decided obviously, not to buy it, because I didn't want an image of an unidentified cat squirrel mongoose on my wall. But it was interesting to study regardless. The amount of detal in these prints is amazing. You can definitely see why they are so pricey, because even though the artist only carves/etches a print once, it takes them a LONG time to do it.

Jim Sherraden from "Hatch Show Print"

In class we had a speaker from Hatch Show Print come in, and talk about the history of the business and what they do. I thought this was one of the best classes because we learned a lot about what the commercial industry likes about genuine prints. It's the fact that they cannot be made on a computer and that they are original. Jim told us that the computer was the best thing to happen to Hatch because of this reason. Most people would think there is no need for such method. But this gives each print an artistic quality that computers cannot give. Big artists like Taylor Swift, Norah Jones, and Imogen heap all have used Hatch to make prints of certain concerts. It was fascinating to hear about such an lucrative outlet for such an obscure and "out-dated" art form.

Printmaking Project

In class we learned about the printmaking process by cutting out our names in a small piece of linoleum. It was sort of a tedious process just to do big letters, so it makes you appreciate how much time and effort are put into making actual prints. This project was fun and unique. I decided to take a more psychedelic approach with my type-style because we had just talked about psychedelic posters reviving art nouveau typography, that day.

Only if this design was permanent!!

So I guess Dr. Pepper decided to change their can to celebrate 125 years of awesome delicious soda!! I ordered a Dr. pepper at Ruson's sushi bar in Nashville, and HAD to take a picture.

This design, is so cool, in my opinion, because it is supposed to look victorian and old fashioned...but it's also very very graphic and also looks modern! I think Dr. Pepper did an amazing job of combining the two approaches. Also, the color palette is so much better than the original can in my opinion. It looks like a brand that's been around forever, and one that you can trust to be consistent in taste and quality. This marketing technique is used by CocaCola. They keep their orginal script typography to let people know that coke is never going to change. That it's still as awesome as it was 30 years ago and will remain a favorite American past-time. Just for decorative purposes I feel Dr. pepper should keep this can design. I think that right now, with most design decisions being made about minimalist ideas, clean/sleek concepts, and designs being robotic looking and technology influenced etc... we are loosing ornamentation and expression in design, which I believe is important! But then again, I'm a fine artist at heart. 

Typography that "says it all"

Aveeno body/skin products have recently become very popular with the whole trend of "going green." My own observation is that people now-a-days are attracted to purity, when it comes to purchasing ANYTHING. People are afraid of diseases, infections, mad cow disease, anthrax, (other scary germs), etc.

But not only are people afraid of impurities in their products, but people are more health conscious about toxic chemicals and brands that say they are beneficial but really are filled with unhealthy and harmful ingredients. This applies to food, beauty products, or anything else that you are trusting to bring into your home. The design on a package is supposed to jump off of the shelf and say, "hey! I'm better than everyone else, buy me" But how how does a designer accomplish this successfully? 

Like I said, we live in a world of skeptical consumers and shoppers. How does a brand not only tell that consumer,"hey I'm better!" but ALSO instill sense of TRUST with that buyer, so that they are convinced that this product is REALLY going to do what it's promising?

From my own observations, I've seen this done in a number of ways. Some designs try and speak to the consumer by using BIG BRIGHT BOLD COLORS AND LOUD TEXT THAT IS BOUND TO STAND OFF THE SHELF. And then there are some designs that take the complete opposite route, and go small, and minimal, and quiet...which ALSO stands out among the other brands.

The brand "Aveeno" does both. And the main design element in all of their package designs, is their logo...which coincidentally is their typography. With a design decision like that, there is a lot of pressure. But the Aveeno typography accomplishes the goal of STANDING OUT and INSTILLING TRUST in a few different ways.

TRUST:

There are serifs on the type, which gives it an old fashioned look. This feeling of back-to-basics is extactly what the brand wants you to feel. But the serifs are curved, which is soft, and kind, and pretty much basically say, "hey, you don't have to buy this product but we'd like you to because we care and we're honest"

ATTENTION GRABBER:

The choice of black, is obviously going to stand out on the light colored background most of the products have. And the decision to make it bold is also effective in making it stand out. The type style is modern enough that is legible, and communicates fast. It is also very simple and standard/geometric in that the two e's create a linear feel to the design. 

A More Modern Mello Yello

Have you seen the new package design for mello yello? It's hard to identify this soda as the one we used to drink by the gallons back in the 1990's. With this new design, Mello Yello has re-invented itself as almost a whole new product. The design, in my opinion, is pretty cliche when you think about how many corporations are re-branding themselves these days. Most major brands are moving towards clean, sleek, minimalistic approaches when designing their visuals. I originally saw the new package design on a billboard when driving one day and it caught my attention. I was like wait, is this MELLO YELLO???

even this one is "new" because I remember the old, old design with the big chunky letters that were hard to read. Regardeless, it's easy to see where major brands are taking their designs: minimal, sleek, clean, and modern.

Target "Tricks"

Everyone knows that shopping at Target is not necessarily a glamourous experience. As for me, I know I've showed up to that store in my pajamas to buy paper towels and maybe some shampoo. But in the new Target advertisement campaign, their whole angle is to "trick" you into believing that it is some sort of high-end retail store. They want you to feel like a rockstar in their clothes, like a model when using their kitchen appliances, and all for a discounted price?

Just look at this. I'm not saying it's poorly done. I actually really like this whole concept. It's very modern and chic, but also effective because they stick with using the target symbol and the eye-catching RED in every design. Their ads are consistent which is important.

These advertisements, in my opinion almost reflect a 1050's American Kitsch style in some of them, because of the use of beautiful glamorous women, and the wholesome family, home-maker themes.

They also are very modern and almost european, which is also effective in getting consumers to feel like they are getting well made, luxury items at Target.

This campaign attracted me because I love when companies use old techniques and make them apply to today's world. These marketing approaches have been used for decades, and I give props to target for reviving them!

skechers needs to "shape-up" their campaign!!

This is definitely one of the worst magazine advertisements I have seen in a long time. It reminds me of an advertisement you would see back in the 1950's when they didn't understand that the image could say just as much as the text. There is clarly, too much text in this design. The reader doesn't know what to look at first! do you look at the  different kinds of shoes they offer? do you look at the model? are you supposed to read the diagram? First of all, in my opinion there shouldn't be a DIAGRAM in an advertisement! YOu should be able to see the product and understand what it does before you have to play connect the dots. To me this ad is poorly designed when it coms to color, layout, content, type, and overall composition.