For this history spread, I was partnered with Emma and we were assigned to create a spread for the final survey on “art/culture”. As this time period was during World War 2, We chose to focus on Degenerate Art and Third Reich Art- the two arts connected to the Nazis.
Continue reading “Nazis and Art Domination (1930-1945) (Final History Book Spread)”
For this history book spread, I was assigned to create a comparative spread for the time period 1915-1925 on the subject of “design/type”. Thus, I decided to create a spread comparing the traditional pictorial approach that the UK and the UK continued to use versus the Constructivist style that the Russians used in their posters.
While both styles were drastically different, they did have one thing in common. Both design styles were used as a call for action: the Russians and their revolution against Communism, and the UK/US and their demand for support in World War 1. By using the shouting figure on the left side of the spread, I have emulated this call for action and created movement in relation to the intense events that happened during this time period.
One of the major decisions I made was the use of papercraft to create the spread. Since Russian Constructivist posters used bold colours and shapes, I decided to use construction paper for the entire spread to keep in sync with the style. However, since the UK/US’ pictorial approach mainly used drawing mediums such as watercolour, I decided to draw the images for the UK/US side with pencil crayon to keep with that style while adding a border around each image so that it could fit with the construction paper approach.
The use of the shouting figure in Constructivism was one of the most popular motifs and so I used this image to represent Constructivism. I used Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam to represent the UK/US as they are also popular and important figures in their poster designs. In terms of colour, I only used red, black, and white for Constructivism just as the Constructivists did. For the Western powers, I used the colours of red, blue, and white- both the colours of the US and the UK. In addition, I wanted to contrast the difference between the two sides so by using the red vs blue concept I have created more emphasis on the idea of opposing sides. This is also present in the black and white borders around the differing sides.
Overall, I think I did a good job with this spread. I had a lot of fun with making this spread (such as cutting out every letter and shape) and by only using papercraft, I have kept consistent throughout the spread. I am especially pleased with the use of the figure and connecting it to the borders. I would have liked to add more motifs around the text but at the same time, I also think that that would have made the spread too busy when the poster design back then only used a few important figures/motifs. I give myself a 9/10 for this spread.
Summary:
In this week’s lecture, we learned about the Great Depression, the Second World War, and European designers in America. During the Great Depression in America, many jobs were created by the US Works Progress Administration in an attempt to stimulate the economy. These included the Farm Security Administration (an organization that tried to improve the lifestyle of American farmers during the depression) and commissioning artists to create posters for public services/events. In 1933, the Nazi party was elected in Germany and they used extensive propaganda to spread their racist goals and ideals. Artists, such as Helmut Franz Josef Herzfield aka John Heartfield, were named Degenerate artists as Hitler believed that modern art was bad.
Several European designers including Herbert Bayer and Jan Tschichold fled to America when World War 2 broke out. Edward McKnight Kauffer, as well as many other artists, were involved in creating posters for World War 2. Walter Paepcke, the son of a German immigrant, founded the Container Corporation of America (CCA) and hired many European designers to design his posters. Such as A.M. Cassandre, Jean Carlu, and Herbert Bayer. Fortunato Depero was another designer who moved to the US.
Summary:
In this week’s lecture, we learned about Art Deco, the Bauhaus school, and the leap forward into modern typography. The Dasstaatliche Bauhaus opened in 1919 in Weimar, Germany. Their goal was to create useful objects and designs. Walter Gropius was named the Bauhaus’ first director in 1919 and he had a new way of teaching design where students would be able to learn, but also able to make prototypes and sell them. He hired numerous famous and respectable artists to teach at his school. These include Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, Gerhard Marcks, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Lázló Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer, Marcel Breuer, and Herbert Bayer. However, due to the eccentricity of the school, the government and public believed that the Bauhaus provided no value and wanted to cut their funding. In response to this negativity, Gropius moved the Bauhaus to Dessau instead, allowing the school to gain more freedom.
Jan Tschichold never went to Bauhaus but he was inspired by their exhibition. He was very interested in typography and wrote an essay that set out rules about using type and layout effectively. He invented in Sabon type in the 1960’s and Paul Renner created his Steile Futura type in 1927. Kurt Schwitters was the leader of the Ring of New Advertising Designers, Piet Zwart thought himself as a typotekt (typographer and architect), and Paul Schuitema was another modern typographer.
Other notable events that occurred were the art movement Art Deco, the creation of the Chrysler and Empire State building, and Charles “Lindy” Lindberg’s crossing the Atlantic by plane.
Summary:
In this week’s lecture, we learned about the first World War, Dadaism, and the Russian Revolutions and constructivism. World War 1 was the main subject in advertising and poster design. Much propaganda focussed on recruiting able-bodied men to the war, women to join the workforce and factories to make supplies for war, and people to invest their money in war bonds so that governments could fund for the war. In the US and UK, their poster designs were mostly the traditional pictorial approach while in other areas, such as Germany, their posters were still following neo-classical designs with heavy gothic type.
Art movements were also prominent at this time. Dadaism artists mocked a society that had gone insane and their art was a reaction to the senseless suffering and loss of life they saw during the war. Surrealism emerged from Paris and its artists searched for the “more real than real-world beyond the real”. The Dutch De Stijl movement was a complete opposition to Dadaism and was an abstract geometric style seeking balance and harmony during the war. In Russia, the Suprematist movement focussed on the idea that geometry was the highest form of beauty. Constructivism derived from the Suprematist movement and featured basic, abstract geometric forms and the use of red, black, and white.
Life in the 1920’s was a difficult time. Many families were hurt by the emotional and physical trauma soldiers suffered when they came home. From 1920-1933, Canada and the US’ alcohol Prohibition was in effect. In 1920, Canada began forcing indigenous children to attend residential schools. However, not all was negative. This was also the time of the “Golden Age of Radio”, the age of jazz, and many famous figures such as Coco Chanel and Josephine Baker.
For this history book spread, I was assigned to create an artifact for the time period 1850-1950 with “fashion” as the focus. Thus, I decided to create packaging for Victorian makeup products as my artifact.
Continue reading “Looking Radiant (1850-1950) (History Book Spread: Yellow)”
Summary:
In this week’s lecture, we learned about the impact of modern art, plakatstil, and the origins of corporate identity. Modern art was developing. Artists such as Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Marcel Duchamp were all part of the art movement known as cubism. The Armory Show in New York City was an international exhibition of modern art that changed the way Americans thought about modern art. Hundreds of artists participated in this exhibition and The Armory was called the most important exhibition ever held in the US.
In 1905, Lucian Bernhard designed a poster for Priester Matches, creating the plakatstil style (poster style). This style consisted of only two basic elements, the product name and the product image, and conveyed a message that was both impactful and effective.
The AEG turbine factory designed by Peter Behrens was the first to have a logo and a corporate identity, making Behrens the first logo/corporate identity designer. This designer was also the first to design a typeface for a specific company where the company only used this typeface- the Behrens Schrift typeface designed for AEG.
Many other inventions were also created during this time. The first Model T was produced by Ford Motor Company and invented the factory line, cutting costs of production. In 1909, an early Autochrome colour photograph was invented by the Lumiere Brothers, Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay introduced keyframe animation, and in 1914, the American Institue of Graphic Arts (AIGA) was founded.
Summary:
In this week’s lecture, we learned about art nouveau, the Glasglow school, the Vienna Secession, and the transition from artist to designer. The art nouveau and Arts and Crafts movement were similar, but their differences lie in their focuses in the past and future. While the Arts and Crafts movement had nostalgia for the past, the art nouveau movement was interested in combining the old traditions to create a modern form of beauty. Many artists had an art nouveau style, especially Eugène Grasset, Paul Berthon, and Alfons Mucha. While it is unknown whether art nouveau started in Paris or Brussels, both cities’ architecture was influenced by art nouveau.
In Scotland, from the Glasgow School of Art came a combination of Arts and Crafts and art nouveau style. Created by the Glasgow Four (Charles Rennie Mackintosh, J. Herbert McNair, Margaret Macdonald, and Frances Macdonald), this new style was art nouveau with a geometric twist. From designing architecture to creating illustrations, these four were popular in Germany and Austria. In addition to the Glasgow version of art nouveau. Other forms of art nouveau were also present. These include Jugendstil (young style) and Sezessionstil (Secession style).
In this era, many geographic-political events occurred. The development of the union movement, Suffragist movement, and Queen Victoria’s death. In the science and technology community, many inventions were also taking place. The Lumiere Brothers created the first moving picture and the first science-fiction film, Sigmund Freud publishes his “The Interpretation of Dreams”, Zeppelin ships (passenger carrying airships) were invented, Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio message, and the Wright brothers fly the first gas-motored plane.
Summary:
In this week’s class, we learned about art posters, the Arts and Crafts movement, and the book-design renaissance. The Arts and Crafts movement (the demand for making things by hand instead of machines) was founded by William Morris and it was the precursor to the Art Nouveau movement. An example of the Arts and Crafts movement would be the Century Guild founded by Arthur H. Mackmurdo and Selwyn Image that tried to get craftspeople recognized on the same level as fine artists. They were a contrast to Charles Robert and his School and Guild of Handicraft who embraced machine production to make his designs affordable to the common folk.
Jules Chéret was the father of poster design as well as the father of women liberation due to his depictions of independent women in his posters. Another notable designer was Louis Rhead where his ads in Century Magazine were influenced by ukiyo-e art: he showed patterns on fabric and used simple lines. The first impressionist painting was Claude Monet’s Impression Sunrise which was also influenced by ukiyo-e art.
Inventions of this age included the linotype machine by Otto Mergenthaler in 1886, the first photo appearing in 1880, and George Eastman’s Kodak camera of 1889. Other inventions were the first postcards in 1869 and then the first postcards with images in 1870. In terms of architecture, the first skyscraper was built by Willian Le Baron Jenney in 1884, Gustave Eiffel gifted the Statue of Liberty to the US, and Gustave Eiffel and Maurice Koechlin completed the Eiffel Tower in 1889.
This history book spread for my topic (culture) combined with the time period (0- 1450) was certainly a challenge. Due to the large range of time, a single culture was hard to pinpoint. Nevertheless, my group decided to focus on the entertainment of the period as well as the influences of the Church. Continue reading “Picture Books of the Devil (0- 1450) (History Book Spread: Blue)”
