Canadian-born Graphic Designer Carl Dair is primarily self-taught in his craft. Dair is a typographer, typographic designer, teacher, and writer. He got his first job at eighteen years old working in advertising layouts for the Stratford Beacon-Herald. In his career, he would become internationally known for integrating design principles innovatively in typography and inspiring many with his design philosophy.
Carl Dair’s book ‘Design with Type’.
During his career, Carl Dair garnered a fair amount of success from his design work. He designed typefaces Cartier, Raleigh, and Cartier Book. He’s also made numerous publications, including books like ‘Design with Type’, ‘A Typographic Quest’; and ‘Gravers and Files a film Dair directed.
Over three decades of work as a graphic designer, Dair would inspire people with his personal design philosophy where he valued “inspired typography” as the most important factor for any means of visual communication. He would also inspire many as a designer and teacher with his standard of excellence in his craft. Overall, I enjoy his use of white space and creativity in handling typographic elements in his work. I hope to experiment with how I handle typography in the future and will be using him as reference.
Citations:
“Carl Dair, FGDC.” GDC (Graphic Designers of Canada) | Carl Dair, FGDC, https://www.gdc.net/fellows/carl-dair-fgdc.
“Carl Dair.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/carl-dair.
“Carl Dair – Alchetron, the Free Social Encyclopedia.” Alchetron.com, 21 Feb. 2018, https://alchetron.com/Carl-Dair.
“DHIS-310-SU90-2016-Canadian Design History/Theory – Term II.” Week 5 B -Graphics, Typography & Package Design: Canadian Skill, Carl Dair, Henry Eveleigh, Toronto, 1950, https://courses.ecuad.ca/mod/book/view.php?id=64394&chapterid=22757.
Indigo Books & Music, Inc. “Design with Type.” Indigo.ca, https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/design-with-type/9780802065193-item.html.
Susan Kare had immersed herself in the arts from a very young age. Whether that was drawing, painting, or various arts and crafts, she had a very early love to create. This passion would lead her to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Art as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in fine Arts from Mount Holyoke College. She obtained the degree with the intent to be either a fine artist or teacher.
Kare’s solitaire interface designs.
From there, Susan Kare would go on from there to work at the Fine Arts Museums of San Fransisco, opting for a job as a Sculptor. It was during her time spent working at the Museum when she would get a call from a high school friend Andy Hertzfeld to commission her for some hand-drawn icons and front elements for the release of the upcoming Macintosh computer. In exchange for her, work Kare was promised to receive an Apple II computer. Kare agreed but didn’t have any knowledge on how to start or complete a digital project such as this. Kare would draw upon her knowledge in Fine Arts of techniques used in Mosaics, needlepoint, and pointillism and began mocking up designs on graphic paper. These designs were the early stages of some of the most iconic and recognizable digital symbols we see daily.
Some of Susan Kare’s original sketches and designs from her sketchbook.
In just one year she would design the core visual design language for the Macintosh. Icons, typefaces, and even marketing material for the product were designed by her. She would design iconic iconography for Apple like the trash can, paint bucket, dog-ear paper icon, I-beam cursor, and much more. She would truly begin to immerse herself in technology and the design world. She also designed the world’s first proportionally spaced digital font family; Chicago and Geneva. Kare would also design a monospaced type family Monaco. She became Creative Director in Apple Creative Services.
Examples of her Macintosh icon designs.
Susan Kare’s work recolonized the way we use and think about digital design to this day. Her innovations would set the bar for the future of digitals interfaces and iconography. Her work and story go to show that even if you set out a path for your career you can’t predict where life will take you in one’s art journey. I admire how she was able to use her Fine Art background and quickly adapt to digital design.
Susan Kare in her iconic cubical.
Citations:
“The Centre for Computing History.” Centre For Computing History, http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1792/Susan-Kare/.
“Susan Kare.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Mar. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Kare.
“Susan Kare: Biography, Designs and Facts.” Famous Graphic Designers, https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/susan-kare.
Lisa Strausfeld and Her Work combining Supergraphics Technology and Design
Lisa Strausfeld is an American Designer and professional information architect. Strausfeld studied art history and computer science to get herself a bachelor of arts at Brown University. Then she would go on to study at Harvard University to get a master’s of Architecture. Later she would go on to study media arts at MIT to earn herself a master of Science degree. She seemingly loved to learn, but aside from her education, Strausfeld would also have an extremely successful career utilizing her multiple degrees in her design work.
An example of Lisa Strausfeld’s work innovating supergraphics.
Strausfeld began her career with two other MIT students and launched the software company Perspecta. She would use her baStrausfeld began her career with two other MIT students and launched the software company Perspecta. She would use her background in technology to push the boundaries of mass communication with supergraphics in new and interesting ways. Later, while a partner at Pentagram, Strausfeld would work with innovative digitally animated supergraphics. She specializes in digital information projects; specifically the design work of large-scale media installations and UI design work.
Lisa Strausfeld’s way to using design to visually show the Billionaire Index of the wealthiest people in the world. This project was completed and updated along side a team of deasigners at pentagram done under the managament of Strausfeld.
I chose to research Lisa Strausfeld as I originally liked her innovative Supergraphic designs and was intrigued by just how many degrees she had… turns out she had quite a few. Other than making me inspired and I chose to research Lisa Strausfeld as I originally liked her innovative Supergraphic designs and was intrigued by just how many degrees she had… turns out she had quite a few. Other than making me inspired and wholly intimidated to get one degree of any sort I appreciated how she was able to draw upon the different education backgrounds she received and combine that knowledge in her design work. She is truly a modern renaissance designer and an early innovator of using technology with design, as seen in her infographics and animated advertisement campaigns.
This is Lisa Strausfeld project taking a look into a new form if data visualization. Described as a google earth for knowledge, it’s a inforraphic network of sorts that prototypes three dimensional data visualization.
Citations:
“Meet Lisa Strausfeld, One of Fast Company’s Most Creative People.” Fast Company, 1 Jan. 2000, https://www.fastcompany.com/person/lisa-strausfeld.
Palladino, Valentina. “The Billionaire Index Gets a Responsive Redesign.” Wired, Conde Nast, 24 Jan. 2013, https://www.wired.com/2013/01/interactive-billionaire-index/.
Schwab, Katharine. “Exclusive: Lisa Strausfeld Is Developing a New Kind of Data Viz.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 19 Oct. 2018, https://www.fastcompany.com/90247240/exclusive-lisa-strausfeld-is-developing-an-entirely-new-kind-of-data-viz.
“Pentagram, Lisa Strausfeld, Christian Marc Schmidt, Takaaki Okada, Walter Bender, Eben Eliason, One Laptop per Child, Marco Pesenti Gritti, Christopher Blizzard, Red Hat, Inc.. Sugar Interface for the XO Laptop. 2006-2007: Moma.” The Museum of Modern Art, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/110267.
“VR Prototype for the New Historia.” Information Art, https://informationart.com/.
A look into Victor Moscoso’s work during the 60’s era of Psychedelic Design
An example of Victor Moscoso’s poster designs that shows off the contrasting colour schemes that he is known for. Here he used saturated pink, blue, and green, so the colours can ‘vibrate’ off one and another.
Victor Moscoso is a Spanish American Artist known for his Psychedelic rock posters, advertisements, and underground comix. Originally from Vilaboa Parish of Culleredo, Galicia, Moscoso would travel with his parents to Brooklyn, America. Moscoso’s father worked as a painter and his mother was a seamstress, growing up in an artistically inclined family is where Moscoso would first learn about colour combinations. Later Moscoso would study art at Cooper Union in New York City then Yale University, finally Moscoso would move to San Fransico to study at San Francisco art institute, where he would later become an instructor there.
Here Moscoso adds movement through lines to an originally symmetrical layout to remove the stiff and stagnant feel it might have had and encapsulate the psychedelic rock and roll feel in the 60’s.
In his working career, Moscoso would be known for his vibrant vibrating colour schemes in each piece. Moscoso takes inspiration from Josef Albers, his professor from Yale University, drugs, and the re-popularized Art Nouveau movement. His psychedelic rock and roll posters and album covers would shoot him to widespread public success. He would design for musicians like Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and David Grisman.
This design highlights the Art Nouveau inspiration in the way the figure is rendered in a style similar to Alphonse Mucha. This poster combined the unreadable warped decorative 60’s font into the naturalistic elements of flowers from Art Nouveau.
I chose to examine Moscoso’s graphic design work as I really appreciate his bold and bright colour combinations. I was already a fan of Art Nouveau, and Alphonse Mucha is one of my favorite artists, so it was interesting to see Designers take inspiration from his work in a different era. Moscoso’s work has great flow and rhythm through each piece that makes them more visually interesting designs. The imagery works perfectly for the type of music that he’s designing for. Moscoso has inspired me to be bolder and more playful with colour combinations and design layouts.
Citations:
Gary Groth | February 9, 2011. “An Interview with Victor Moscoso – Page 5 of 14.” The Comics Journal, FROM THE TCJ ARCHIVES, 1 Oct. 2021, https://www.tcj.com/an-interview-with-victor-moscoso/5/.
Kondolay, Ryan. “The Art of Influence: Victor Moscoso.” Comet Creative, 15 Mar. 2019, https://wearecomet.com/1960s-psychedelic-tribute-calendar-victor-moscoso/.
“Victor Moscoso.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, SAAM, https://americanart.si.edu/artist/victor-moscoso-18206.
Image Citations:
Dukepope. “Victor Moscoso, the Grand Old Master of Psychedelic Art.” DUKEPOPE, 21 June 2013, https://dukepope.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/victor-moscoso-the-grand-old-master-of-psychedelic-rock-posters/.
“Victor Moscoso Master of Psychedelic Posters & Comix.” Victor Moscoso >> Neon Rose Series, http://www.victormoscoso.com/gallery1.htm.
“Victor Moscoso.” Art Blart, https://artblart.com/tag/victor-moscoso/.
An Exploration into Swiss Graphic Design /International Style of Design
Poster by Josef Müller-Brockmann. This poster demonstrates the commonly left-aligned text, hierarchy in size, and strong use of grids.
Swiss Design
Swiss Design, otherwise known as the International Typographic Style was a popular and influential movement that took over the design world in the 1950’s centered around Switzerland. Two art schools in particular, the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich, and the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule in Basel would impart design philosophies like ‘form follows function’, and creating rational designs. These ideas, along with having a strong understanding of the design fundamentals, geometric shapes, grids, and sans serif fonts like Helvetica would shape the movement.
A poster by Emil Ruder. This showcases Swiss Design, through the commonly left aligned and sans serif fonts. As well as simple and graphic shapes.
What I Learned and My Opinion
At first, I wasn’t all too impressed with Swiss design. Sure, it looked clean and communicated an idea clearly, but I was under the impression that it was a simple and easy design style, nothing too special. After doing more research and attempting to make a Swiss design poster of my own, I can confidently say; one, it’s not easy, and two, it’s much more important in the history of design than I initially realized.
I understood this especially after researching Armin Hofmann and attempting to understand his design philosophy through his work and the stories from students who worked under him. Armin Hofmann would teach his students a strong set of fundamental skills that they could build off of. He gave them the minimal means of supplies to work with on projects and pushed them to create complex and extraordinary designs.
A Poster by Armin Hofmann showcasing strong contrast and minimal use of colour, as he never wanted to rely on colour in his designs.
Originally, Swiss design felt in some cases too simple to me. The International style of design was built on a strong understanding of how to use the fundamental principles in design to communicate an idea. To remove all the elements deemed unnecessary and convey a message. I realize now that there is a lot of work that goes into making designs seem so simple, yet visually appealing. I think that complex simplicity is something really special that all designers should understand and take into account when creating. Through my research, I’ve come to appreciate Swiss Design and wish to explore the style more. I now really appreciate the fundamentals and wish to practice and implement some of the Swiss design philosophies in my work.
Nord, Project. “Everything You Need to Know about the Swiss Style.” PROJECT NORD JOURNAL, PROJECT NORD JOURNAL, 14 Oct. 2019, https://journal.projectnord.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-swiss-style-xbPHo.
GeorgiaFollow this publisher – current follower count:0. “Typography 2 Part B Emil Ruder.” Issuu, 12 Nov. 2017, https://issuu.com/georgiagrace1996/docs/typography_202_20part_20b_20emil_20_c167aafadfd2e1.
Abstract Expressionism & Pop Art Contemporary, Post Modernism
Shantell Martin posing with her work done in a bolder line art style used to decorate floors and walls.
Shantell Martin is an artist known for her stream-of-consciousness drawings. Born in Thamesmead London, she would start her education at St. Martin. After finishing her education she would travel over to Japan to have her work experienced through music in an avant-garde fashion at clubs. Martin would draw digitally live and have her work projected up on the walls of clubs and to singers at concerts. Martin describes her time in Japan as a little isolating, so the way she drew things in her sketchbooks would be more personal like a diary. All her illustrations were done in 0.05 pen, describing this style as more intimate, with just you, the pen, and the paper.
These are some of the sketches done in the 0.05 pens that allow Martin to create more intimate work to express her emotions. Presumably, this was also completed during her time living in Japan.
Martin’s work evolves with her environment over time. Like how her work became more intimate, smaller, and refined in Japan, once she moved to America her work once again evolved. She described New York City as “Everything is so big bold and confident.” Martin felt a need to fill this new larger space and her work followed suit.
When creating, Martin doesn’t plan out her compositions, her work is a meditative process of thoughts and feelings expressed through lines. “The pen knows where it’s going, and I’ve gotten very good at following” It’s not that Martin doesn’t have an idea what she’s going to draw, her intentions are there to make an artwork that allows her to connect with the world. Many of Martin’s works revolve around exploring themes such as intersectionality, identity, and play. Martin is a cultural facilitator, forging new connections between fine art, education, design, philosophy, and technology with her work. She draws on anything and everything including cars, shoes, planes, tables, walls, and even people.
An example of Martin using different mediums and showing that she does in fact draw on people.
She describes how colour can be used to direct people’s attention around an image. This is why Martin prefers to work in black and white, believing this allows each viewer’s eye to be drawn to a different place.
This is an image of Shantell Martin with her piece done collaborating with the New York Ballet. Done using a thick chisel tip black ink marker in Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater. Here her work is displayed on multiple levels looking down the main lobby of the building.
I choose to study Shantell Martin’s work because it’s not typically the type of work that I would think twice about. Personally, I think her work is interesting and nice to look at, but I wouldn’t feel a need to think deeply about it if I was it on the street. The simple and clean nature of her work makes me think it’s simple altogether; an art piece with no theme, just created to look cool. I wanted to look further into a type of work that I usually wouldn’t, end off the term broadening my horizons hopefully a little. I’m happy I did. Her philosophy about her work holds an interesting and unique perspective. I like how she communicates her own personal story as her work evolves. I also thought it was interesting that her work would adapt to her changing environments. There was a stark difference between the dainty and intimate sketchbook pages done in Japan, and the large bold wall murals completed in America. The lack of colour was what originally attracted me to her art, and I think it works really well for her intentions. Everything she doses feels much more thought out than it appears, even though the process of actually completing the work is described as meditative. After looking into her work more, I found she worked with the company TED a few times, even completing a TEDvTalk on the idea of individuality and the feeling of a blank canvas. It’s interesting to be researching a modern artist on who I can watch YouTube videos to explain their work. It gives me a level of understanding and context for the work that I wouldn’t otherwise get with an older artist like Diego Valazquez. Though, that would be interesting to watch. Overall, I gained a better application for the work, that is more than just aesthetically appealing but touches upon important topics in a unique and modern way with art.
Martin returned to her roots from her days of projecting her art at clubs in Japan. This time she reverses her iconic black-on-white imagery for white lights on a wall for a Kendrick Lamar concert.
Citations:
Martin, Shantell. “How Drawing Can Set You Free | Shantell Martin – YouTube.” YouTube, TED, 21 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzBUAY1wuw4.
Martin, Shantell. “No One Else You Could Be | Shantell Martin – Youtube.com.” YouTube, TEDxTalks, 8 Dec. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0rvNTC_fSM.
Martin, Shantell. “Shantell Martin: Follow the Pen.” Youtube, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ywYnk0-xUY.
“Influential Voices: An Interview with Artist Shantell Martin.” BOOOOOOOM!, 18 Jan. 2018, https://www.booooooom.com/2018/01/18/influential-voices-an-interview-with-artist-shantell-martin/.
Martin, Shantell. “Drawing on People.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 17 July 2014, https://www.flickr.com/photos/shantellmartin/14674072534/.
“Shantell Martin – Work: X Kendrick Lamar.” Shantell Martin – Work: x Kendrick Lamar, https://shantellmartin.art/work/x-kendrick-lamar/.
Valintine, Victoria L. “Known for Her Free-Form Line Drawings, Shantell Martin Is Collaborating with the New York City Ballet.” Known for Her Free-Form Line Drawings, Shantell Martin Is Collaborating With the New York City Ballet, Culture Type, 26 Jan. 2019, https://www.culturetype.com/2019/01/26/known-for-her-free-form-line-drawings-shantell-martin-is-collaborating-with-the-new-york-city-ballet/.
The Leyendecker Family was artistically inclined one way or another, J.C. Leyendecker was no exception from that fact. From the age of eight, Leyendecker would spend all day at school drawing in the margins of his papers and filling textbooks up with what he described as crude drawings. When he returned home he would oil paint on old kitchen rags. Later in his career, he would be influential to America’s Golden Age of Illustration, creating America’s first sex symbol, and inspiring F. Scotts Fitzgerald’s best-selling classic novel, The Great Gatsby.
Leyendecker’s examples of the Arrow Collar Man in his work.
Born in Germany, the family would immigrate over to America while Leyendecker was still young. They didn’t have much at first but luckily, J.C. Leyendecker would be allowed to study at the Art Institute of Chicago. In his family, his older brother Adolph would go into stained glass art, though he was never close with his family and was pretty much disowned after two very public scandals that tarnished his reputation beyond repair. This caused him to move away and be buried apart from his family. Though the rest of the Lydecker family would remain close. The two younger siblings would be very influential in supporting J.C. Leyendecker’s career working in the same studio and living with him. Frank and Augusta Leyendecker would both join J.C. at the Art Institute of Chicago.
After some time the Leyendecker family came to have more money and felt comfortable sending both J.C. and Frank away to Paris for classical education in painting. J.C. Leyendecker really enjoyed his time in Paris and often spent hours upon hours sketching and painting people in Paris Cafes. Frank was also an excellent illustrator but did not possess the same drive as J.C. and would often get lost in his brother’s shadow. Regardless of that fact, upon returning home the two Lydecker brothers would move to New York and open up an extremely successful studio with their sister Augusta.
Leyendecker working in his studio from a live model.
This new studio is where J.C Leyendecker would rise in popularity for his commercial magazine illustrations. He would create over 322 covers for the Saturday evening post alone. Leyendecker’s other notable series would be posters for Collier’s automobiles and advertising WW2 bonds. His favorite advertisement series would be the Kelloggs Kids. These were illustrations of children with the ceral in magazines. Leyendecker loved painting and working with children as they were more expressive and dynamic in ways adults weren’t.
One of Leyendecker’s many covers for the Saturday Evening Post, for his Saturday Evening Post Babies series.
Leyendecker’s style in his work was notable for many reasons. His use of color, exaggerating proportions and dynamic figures helped to sell ideas for his commercial work. Leyendecker was known for painting these idealized figures of playful happy children, elegant well dressed women, and larger-than-life stoic athletic men to sell a product or idea. He was able to communicate a lot of character within subtle changes to expression and stylized proportion. I really appreciate his ability to tell stories in his work through the smallest of details. Everything he did was to communicate a narrative through his work
When creating an illustration it was clear that Lydecker was a draftsman at heart. Before setting out to paint his final illustration, he made several rough drafts, rehearsing the brushwork of every element until he got it just right. Everything he did was quite intentional in his sketches that he would later use gride method to blow up the painting on a larger scale.
A study done by Leyendecker with the grid-like sketch underneath.
Leyendecker’s most notable contribution in his work would be the Arrow Collar Man. This was America’s first sex symbol and was an extremely influential advertising series to sell the arrow collar in shirts. The Arrow Collar Man was never really the same face being depicted, just a consistently well-dressed stoic man, typical of Leyendecker’s work. This advertising series made the company extremely wealthy. The Arrow Collar factories got more love letters sent to their offices from women who saw Leyendecker’s illustrations and hoped to marry the man in the paintings, than the real and very famous young Louis Vuitton at the time.
Famous example of Leyendecker’s Arrow Collar Man Illustrations.
Extravagant Endeavours
The Arrow Collar Man in the paintings was actually a real person. His name was Charles Beach, a live model who worked for Leyendecker and was extremely good-looking. From the day J.C. Leyendecker and Charles Beach met they would become inseparable. Beach would move in with Leyendecker and share an apartment. From there the two would go on to live with J.C.’s younger siblings Frankie and Agusta Leyendecker in J.C.’s famous large mansion.
Charles Beach fit in well with the other Leyendecker children and their business practices. Charles worked as J.C. Leyendecker’s model and would take up secretary roles in the studio. Agusta Leyendecker took on a matriarchal role in the house as well as working as the two brother’s managers. Frankie Leyendecker took on illustration jobs that J.C. Leyendecker didn’t have time for or couldn’t finish.
One of J.C Leyendecker’s more colourful and expressive illustrations.
Charles, as well as being extremely good-looking was great at talking. He recommended they throw large parties under the guise of networking. This plan ended up working extremely well, Charles Beach’s amazing social skills made up for J.C Lydecker’s utter lack of sociability and they raised Lyndeckers sales immensely.
Illustrators were seen as celebrities, and Leyendecker was the most famous of them all. These extravagant parties attracted the attention of all the rich and famous to attend. Anyone who was anyone would go to Leyendecker’s larger-than-life events. In fact, they were so infamous, the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ is actually based on Leyendeker and these extravagant parties. F. Scotts Fitsgerald, the writer of The Great Gatsby himself actually attended quite a few of these parties. This is also why literary enthusiasts believe The Great Gatsby to queer a coded novel among other reasons.
This Illustration highlights J.C Lydecker’s consistency in how he depicts men as stoic, as well as other stylistic aspects, light strong brushstrokes, and hatching in the backgrounds.
The Lost legacy
J.C Leyendecker was a gay illustrator in a time where is was dangerous to have been out or outed. His and Charles Beach’s relationship had always been more than platonic and they would live together in that mansion for the rest of their lives. Though, because of this fact, even with the extravagant parties, the two lived a very private life. J.C Leyendecker only took two interviews in his life and Charles Beach even less. This worried Leyendecker as he got older about his legacy since he worked so hard to keep himself personally out of the spotlight. Leyendecker wondered if all that effort would cause him to be forgotten. Which, unfortunately, he was right to be worried, he was nearly forgotten about in history and doesn’t get the proper respect for all he’s done with his influential body of work. Norman Rockwell, a student of J.C Leyendecker and close with the family would give what we know now as a very biased re-telling of J.C Leyendecker’s life. Though, he had great respect for Leyendecker and has kept his legacy somewhat alive in a way. That alone would be some of the only writings on J.C. Leyendecker still around. Before Leyendecker died he asked Charles Beach to take all his writings, letters, sketches, paintings, and unfinished or unpublished pieces and to burn them. Even after his death Leyendecker wanted to protect the name and careers of his friends and family and couldn’t leave anything that could have been seen as incriminating evidence of his homosexuality.
Even though most of his legacy will be lost to history, there are still pieces of his influence felt today. J.C Leyendecker defined classic American culture and paved the way for artists during America’s golden age of Illustration. There are echoes of him found in The Great Gatsby the novel’s movie adaptations. Yet, I believe J.C Leyendecker would have greatly appreciated that his home has turned into a school to teach young children how to paint, mixing his love for art and children into a lasting legacy.
One of my personal favourite pieces from Leyendecker. Showing a golfing trip in a more photographic layout for his painting.
Citations:
“J. C. Leyendecker.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Sept. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._Leyendecker.
“Joseph Christian Leyendecker : Shades of Colors and Lines.” Bartleby, https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Joseph-Christian-Leyendecker-Shades-Of-Colors-And-FKCUS3VQWQWF.
“Joseph Christian Leyendecker.” Artnet.com, http://www.artnet.com/artists/joseph-christian-leyendecker/.
“Joseph Christian Leyendecker.” The Illustrated Gallery, https://www.illustratedgallery.com/artwork/for-sale/artist/joseph-christian-leyendecker/.
Rowe, Kaz. “JC Leyendecker- The Iconic Gay Artist We ALMOST ForgotJC Leyendecker- the Iconic Gay Artist We … – Youtube.com.” Youtube, TouTube, 21 Mar. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS7ayV2Ac74.
Image Citations:
“American Advertisement, Arrow Shirt Collars by Joseph Christian Leyendecker.” Fine Art America, https://fineartamerica.com/featured/american-advertisement-arrow-shirt-collars-joseph-christian-leyendecker.html.
Born: March 23, 1874 | Died: July 25. “J.C. Leyendecker.” Illustration History, https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/jc-leyendecker.
“J. C. Leyendecker.” Wikiwand, https://www.wikiwand.com/en/J._C._Leyendecker.
“Joseph Christian Leyendecker.” Artnet.com, http://www.artnet.com/artists/joseph-christian-leyendecker/.
Outmagazine. “Rediscovering J.C. Leyendecker & the Creation of the Perfect American Male.” OUT, Out Magazine, 6 Feb. 2015, https://www.out.com/entertainment/art-books/2012/09/04/jc-leyendecker-perfect-american-male-charles-beach.
Tangcay, Jazz. “Director Ryan White on Telling J.C Leyendecker’s Queer History in ‘Coded’.” Variety, Variety, 30 June 2021, https://variety.com/2021/film/markets-festivals/ryan-white-j-c-leyendecker-coded-1234998399/.
Taylor, Jeff. “J.C. Leyendecker: Norman Rockwell, but First and Make It Gay.” LOGO News, 23 Oct. 2019, http://www.newnownext.com/jc-leyendecker-illustrator-gay-lgbtq-history/10/2019/.
For my Historical Type Identification Poster project, I started with no clear idea and too much research. This left me with too many options and no clear theme besides the idea of breaking down different typography categories as expected from the brief. After doing research I had two ideas for my posters, The ‘Anatomy of Type’, and ‘The Different Faces of Type’. The themes were chosen as I thought they would allow me to best meet the requirements from the brief without making the theme feel forced or out of place. In the end, I like the ‘Anatomy of Type’ idea best and decided to model the design after anatomy sketches and studies from Old Masters like Leonardo da Vinci.
After the class check-in, I decided to modernize my theme based on the feedback I received. I still wanted to center my theme around studies and breaking down the elements of typography. So, I used the idea of using blueprint grids and similar grids found in notebooks of the modern notetaking aesthetics seen on Social Media. I used this theme adding a collage element allowing me to break up the typefaces so that I could show them clearly being studied and broken down. I also needed to re-vamp the name to fit the new them so I choose ‘Typography Deconstructed’. For this poster, I wanted to use high contrast and push myself to try different color combinations that I don’t usually go for. I don’t think I’ve ever used my orange paint marker, so I went with a bright neon orange to grab the viewer’s attention and balance out the piece with pops of color. I also used a more muted complementary blue that I mixed with gauche.
When assembling the poster, I re-drafted some of my designs and picked the elements I liked best before starting construction. I tried to use the type in the poster how it was intended to. Decorative Typeface for the title to grab attention, Blackletter to match the idea of Initials in older scripts and books, and the clear and clean Text Typefaces for smaller and denser areas of type. Overall, I really liked the outcome. I think there was definitely a time crunch near the end and that lead to sloppy mistakes. Some of the typeface names aren’t as straight and aligned as they should be, and I wish some elements were cleaner and clearer to read. Yet, I enjoyed making this poster, even though I was worried about the challenge of neatly fitting eight different typefaces on one poster without looking like a chaotic jumble. This project took me around 7 hours total with research and I’d score myself 8/10.
My Finished Historical Type Identification Poster!
Expressionism, Fauvism, & Early 20th Century Cubism, Dadaism, & Surrealism
‘Composition 8’ is an oil on Cavas painting that uses a varity of shapes in different sizes and colours. Though the painting looks chaotic there is an underlying flow created through the directions of lines and shapes that draw the viewers eye through the piece.
Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow, Russia in December of 1866 to a family of businessmen. He grew up with European and Asian culture as a prominent aspect in his life and would travel often to explore around Europe. Kandinsky found himself drawn to the arts from an early age, learning to play the piano and cello, and would later take an interest in drawing. This would bring him to try painting and from there Kandinsky fell in love with the process of creating art. “I remember that drawing and a little bit later painting lifted me out of the reality”. This interesting perspective he had when creating art pieces and how he viewed colors would be a defining trait found in Kandinsky’s Expressionist works.
‘Several Circles’ was created near the start of World War I. Kandinsky used an expressive abstract style that reflects the new Russian avant-garde movement. In this piece Kandinsky simplifies to only one shape overlapping at different sizes.
Even though Kandinsky had an inclination towards the Arts he went to study Law and Economics at the University of Moscow. During his time at the university, Kandinsky was sent on an ethnographic trip in the north of Russia. This is where he was introduced to non-realistic Russian Folkstyle painting. This is also where he was reminded of his love for art and colour. Yet, Kandinsky had always believed that “Art was a luxury forbidden to a Russian” and struggled with that mindset for years. Eventually, Kandinsky finished his degree to a doctorate level and was even offered a job as a professor for a university. At the age of 3o years old Kandinsky decided it was now or never and turned down the professor position and took the first train to Germany to become an artist.
‘Composition X’ is an oil on canvas painting that has bright colours against a black backdrop that’s meant to represent isloation. This piece has a large musical aspect to it’s colourful forms which might represent Kandinsky’s love for music and how special it is to his painting process.
Kandinsky enrolled in an Art course in Munich and began his art studies under the Professor Anton Azbé and Franz von Stuck. He would eventually garner a moderately successful career known for being a professional artist who worked with current trends. It wasn’t until he began to break away and invent his own art form entirely where he would cement his legacy.
‘On White II’ is an Early Modernist Oil on canvas painting created by Wassily Kandinsky in 1923. This painting has expressive line movements and shapes. The colourful shapes represent figures and life, while the harsh black line that cuts through the painting is death. The whole piece to me looks similar to a clock and might represent the fleeting time between life and death.
Kadnisky was the first ever Abstract artist and was famous for his use of colour and emotion in his works. When describing how he pairs colors together he says, “each color lives by its mysterious life”. The way he uses and thinks about color is fascinating. He loved to create connections between paintings and music. Attempting to create a language with his work to bridge the gap between visual non-representational pieces and a visual language that could depict emotions, sounds, and actions. This was what would separate his work from mediocracy and pave the way for future Abstract artists.
Personally, I love the way Kadnisky thought about and used colour in his work. Music is also a large inspiration to me, so when looking at his paintings I would try to imagine what type of song he would listen to when creating each piece. Yet, most of all I appreciate Kadnisky’s bravery to pursue his passions, especially when his whole life seemed completely set out for him to be anything other than an artist. It shows it’s never too late to go after your passions with enough hard work and dedication. Art and art history would not be the same if Kadnisky hadn’t dropped everything to follow his dreams.
‘Around the Circle’ is an oil on canvas painting created in 1940. This piece is often debated for what it might mean or if it even means anything in particular at all. Undeniably, there is an large red eye that captures the viewers attention first and two figures falling through space. Possible meant to be a commentary on social appearances and personas.
A revised version of my English 100 Summary Assignment, written to condense Amy Flemings Article “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees.”
Writer for The Guardian, Amy Flemings advocates for modern canopies by describing their significant health benefits in her article: “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees.” Through Flemings’s research, she has come to recognize the significant issue that a lack of emphasis on maintaining and rebuilding urban forests leads to in youth: “each generation will pass on less experience of the natural environment” (5). Flemings described the danger of children growing up without understanding the true value of trees, and how that will affect their future decisions. Flemings also spoke with Historian Jill Jones, who explains the positive economic impact of trees (3). Jones notes how trees “reduce heating energy by a further 20-50%” (qtd. in Flemings 2) and increase property value (2). Fleming further discusses the benefits of trees, remarking the positive impact on the planet as they clear airborne pollutants and cool cities (2). These are some examples of trees aid to society, ignoring the plethora of mental and physical health benefits (4). Allowing future generations to make urban forest-conscious decisions will improve the general quality of life. Jones states due to “disease, development and shrinking municipal budgets” (qtd. in Flemings 1). there is a lack of canopies. Thankfully, Flemings says that organizations like Big Trees Project and the United Nations conference on sustainable urban development make efforts to restore and re-integrate urban forests back into society (1).
Fleming, Amy. “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees.” The Guardian, 12 October, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/12/ importance-urban-forests-money-grow-trees. Accessed September 24th 2021.
