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In this digital age, people interact more with graphic design than in previous times. Navigating the Internet is quick and useful. Speed is important to today’s impatient users. Clear layouts are a must, and all elements should be easily located. Flashy graphics are fun, but can be unnecessary distractions. Websites are effective when they can acquire and hold attention, as well as provide the desired information. Ads on the side of a page, however, can use those graphics to entice one to click.

An icon could convey direction, but on the web it can take you there. One could merely adjust typography to indicate a link, but buttons are cooler and generally clearer. Of course, it must be evident that it is to be clicked. Making it look 3-D as if it were a real-life button to be pushed is helpful, as it brings the virtual world seemingly closer to familiar reality. Isotypes are still employed successfully, too. The simple house shape is universally recognized as the means for returning “home.” It is accompanied by the identifiable arrows indicating “back” and “forward.”

JL

Grunge

Grunge, originating around Seattle, was a strong influence on graphic design in the early 1990s. The style is often called “dirty” and “disheveled.”

Many musicians, such as the bands Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam, embodied this trend and created “grunge music,” a subgenre of alternative rock, expressing the contemporary sentiments and angst of Generation X.

The attitudes of the time were also reflected in the clothing worn. Hair was often long, unkempt, and frequently dyed (with Kool-Aid being most popular.)

(Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam)

Design often had a hand-drawn elements, subdued colors, and “dirty” textures. They might include paper clips and torn edges, or notes with a similar appearance to handwriting. A lot of the typography of this sort is characterized as “filthy,” but with an “underlying elegance.”

Grunge was widely accepted at its time. Unfortunately, as it became mainstream, it lost its appeal.

Harsh realm.*

(*Couldn’t resist.)

 

 

http://www.grunge.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunge

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/11/the-secrets-of-grunge-design/

http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Vedder,_Eddie/gallery/P134417p17518i04kg/

JL

Modernist Architechture

Some neat examples from around the world: …………………………………………………………………….

Engineering Building, Leicester University, Leicester, England 

Definitely non-traditional. The interior especially displays Formalist lines and geometric shapes. It stays true to its materials, while the smooth facade and shape of the top indicate Bauhaus influence.

 

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Enso-Gutzeit Headquarters, Helsinki, Finland

This building has Bauhaus-like qualities of color (white,) cubic shape, a flat roof, and a lack of ornamentation.

 

………………………………………………………………………. Berlin Philharmonic Hall

Obviously, this structure fits the Modernist condition of abandoning the past. Elements include an open floor plan, glass, and a hint of Deconstructivism.

  

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Adziogol Lighthouse, Ukraine

As with most Modernist structures, the lighthouse puts function first, and possesses a minimalist design.

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Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Also very minimalist, negative space adds to the design.

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Sydney Opera House (Interior)

The out side is Expressionist, but the inside is open, linear, and highly functional.

 

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Bateson Building, Sacramento

Note the open floor plan, evident structure (minimal,) high efficiency, beige coloring,

JL

Isotype

Otto Neurath's Isotype was a visual classification of symbols that used simple, bold illustrations that included no type, yet they could be instantly understood. These symbols were designed so that they could be universal and everyone could understand their meaning.

The International System of Typographic Picture Education. Isotype is now seen everywhere and has made a huge impact on graphic design. From logo design, to posters, etc. Isotype has been extremely influential in the field.

The Meanings of Type

"Typefaces and typography are never designed in a vacuum. Practical and commercial motivations prevail but social and political rationales are never far away. Type design and typography are routinely informed by conscious and unconscious contexts that change with time."

This is a great quote from an article found on Eye magazine. There has been many different typography trends throughout history. From blackletter to the New Typography, type is always changing and evolving to fit different objectives and uses. And even now in contemporary design you can see influences from the past existing side-by-side with new trends. 

Russian design is quite interesting. Subjects were restricted during the first decades of Communist rule. Constructivism was favored early on, but later replaced by Socialist realism.

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Soviet posters were meant a link between the state and its citizens and presented attention-grabbing  slogans (proekt-a.ru). They were influenced by Russian Avant-Garde, Futurism, and Dada styles. Techniques such as photomontage and symbolic color were employed.

    

Contemporary Russian posters have a wider variety of intentions:

Foreign-movie posters are often hand-painted, but this art is fading. That’s from Men in Black II, by the way. Capitalistic gains and global concerns are more often the subjects of this “social advertising” (proekt-a.ru). Other types of media were utilized as well.

 

 

Browsing the Internet for other contemporary Russian art, I primarily found paintings (usually landscapes and floral still-lifes)

  

 and useful items. Forms resembled other objects, especially those related to modern technology. Proekt-a.ru mentions this as well. However, function is not sacrificed for form.

A twist on common objects, still emphasizing the importance of both:

 

 

www.worldgallery.co.uk/gallery/Russian%20Contemporary%20Art-1.html

www.designboom.com/contemporary/handpainted.html

http://www.internationalposter.com/country-primers/soviet-posters.aspx

http://poster.easytask.biz/

http://www.proekt-a.ru/stat-soc_plakat.shtml

JL

Art Deco and Popular Culture

Art Deco was an art movement characterized by extremely large structures, geometrical shapes and urban environments.

Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) used humongous buildings and sharp angles to help convey a feeling of progress and repression in society.


King Kong used towering skyscrapers to help contrast the humongous mountains and jungles of Skull Island.


The video game Bioshock was released in 2007, and utilized Art Deco in many building and sign designs.


The Rocketeer (1991) was a throwback to Art Deco, along with Republic serials of the 1950s like Commando Cody and His Flying Suit. It featured streamlined designs and terrific posters that really captured the feel of the times.


Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was inspired by sci-fi films of the 30s and 40s, along with the 1939 World's Fair.


And, just for fun, an Art Deco X-Men poster.

- Colin