Proverb Critique

I think I preferred giving feedback and evaluation having the work in front of me personally and answering a set of questions about the work privately. I think it makes it easier to be honest and the results are usually more genuine and reliable. Although I do think group crits where everyone discusses the work is necessary too as ideas are generated this way I find.

The feedback to my work.
I received two individual pieces of feedback. I am happy with the feedback I received and generally think the point raised are valid. General points:
- Anchor the text only poster with the other too more - Use of colour (more orange)

- Image only poster - Sharper print. I knew this needed adjusting before I submitted it for the crit but I must of accidentally opened the original poster canvas in 72dpi and continued to work on it until it was finished; when I came to print it the morning before I realised the mistake and by that time it was too late and I did my best to make it sharp with the time I had in hand.

- I should of also put the proverb on one of the posters as this would of made the message obvious, for some strange reason I didn't?

I am quite happy with the results, although the points raised seem obvious now but without the crit I couldn't see the problems. I think the whole visual concept worked well and even though my message wasn't on any of the posters the two people who critiqued my work were more then on the same line as my proverb 'don't judge a book by its cover'

I have enjoyed this task and it was nice to create the posters from scratch with the freedom to try new things.

What is a Critique?

• Form of assessment, chance to get feedback
• Chance to put your opinion across
• Allows persons(s) to improve
• Generate some ideas
• Non - judge - mental
• To make sure you are working productively, discipline, time management.
  
  When trying to analyze a piece of work it might be helpful to use - DIET:
  Describing, Interpreting, Evaluating, Theory
  
  Questions to ask when looking at a piece of work:
  How was this made?
  Where would you find it?
  Was it commissioned?
  Will this poster be international?
  Who is the audience?

Street Art/Graffiti - Lecture 3

At the site of the one of the world’s oldest art exhibits, at Lascaux, France, we can see Man’s early success at Wall-Art.  Drawn nearly 20,000 years ago, this work still makes us stop walking and take notice; something all Graffiti artists strive to accomplish today.  The early artists who created the works in these caves couldn’t possibly have known what they had become a part of, and the legacy they left behind, though lost for countless centuries, would be discovered again and treasured beyond all others.  Their work is our birthright.

The Formative Years

 

Once Man discovered his ability to modify his surroundings, art began to cover cave-walls and rocks all over the world.  Even so, despite Man’s penchant for progress, graffiti was slow to evolve during its first several thousand years of its early existence. While amazing displays in their own right, it would still be ages before the human qualities of humor, lust, and rivalry begin to work their way into the budding art-world.

Adolescence

 

It seems true of any subject in any era, that with time comes comfort and with comfort comes complacency.  The Dark Age’s affects were not limited to daily life, education, research and freedom.  Art and its front-line manifestation of the urban populace, graffiti, suffered as well; during this period it seems as though people simply stopped trying.  Graffiti degraded to simply marking names over other artists’ work, usually in foreign countries freshly invaded.  The occasional, humorously lewd depiction of sexual escapades could be found from time to time, such as the above drawing from a castle in Bulgaria, but for the most part graffiti as we know it today lay dormant throughout the period.  It would be another 200 years before the first semblance of modern Street-Art would begin to appear.

 http://weburbanist.com/2009/04/22/roots-and-history-of-modern-street-art-and-graffiti/

 

Modern day graffiti as we know it started in New York City. Graffiti. Artists chose names, or "tags", that were short, easy, and could be written quickly. Many early taggers chose names that represented what part of the city they came from. Such was the case for Taki 183, from 183rd street in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Taki 183 is credited as being the first tagger in New York City. Taki was a foot messenger and being on the subway, he put his name along the trains and streets during his travels across the city. A 1971 New York Times article titled "Taki 183 Spawns Pen Pals" was referring to the growing number of people who, like Taki, chose to mark their territory with names like Stay High 149, Phase 2, Cay 161 and Joe 182.

Tags quickly became more elaborate as writers tried to make their letters stand out from others. Competition grew as "getting up" became the most important thing a writer could do. The more places you tagged, the more people saw your name, the more famous you became. Tags soon gave way to "bombing" or covering an entire wall or door or any area with tags. In 1972 an artist known as Super Kool 223 is known to create the first masterpiece or "piece" as it would be known. The piece was more than just a tag, it included an outline, a fill in, shadows, and effects of clouds, sparkles or shapes around the outside or inside the letters. The piece was multicolored and took much longer to create, however it was much more visible thus giving the artist much more exposure.

Artists would break into the train yards where the New York City Metropolitain Transit Authority parked their subways and cover the train cars with elaborate pieces. This is where bombing is said to have been perfected as the usually unguarded trains would soon become rolling exhibits of artist's work that would be displayed to millions of people as the trains rolled through the city's subway stations. This is also where the use of spray paint became a must for artists who would do "whole cars" and "top to bottoms" covering the whole train cars with their name. The new goal for a writer was to have his or her work go "all city" and be seen in all five boroughs of New York City.

In 1979 Fab Five Freddy, a rapper, and Lee Quinones, a graffiti artist, had their works displayed at a gallery opening in Rome. Lee displayed many different works of art by both himself and other famous New York City graffiti artists. This was the first mainstream exposure that Europe had gotten to the new art form. England had its own underground graffiti scene that mostly done by punk rockers and their fans in London, but the rest of Europe had seen very little of this emerging movement that was taking New York City and the rest of the US by storm. Tags and pieces soon became common sights in cities like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Oslo.

During the 1980's with the graffiti movement in full swing, the government started to crackdown on illegal tagging and bombing. The crack epidemic had made the streets much more dangerous and graffiti was seen as a nuisance. The Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City began to clean their train cars thoroughly, making it nearly pointless to do any type of graffiti on them since the public would never see the pieces. Authorities actively seeked graffiti artists, guarding areas that were more prone to graffiti and increased penalties for those caught writing. Many graffiti artists however, chose to take the changes as a challenge rather than a reason to stop. Bombing in the subways gave way to aggressive bombing in the streets by die hard writers such as BG 183, Blade, Dondi, Cope2 and Skeme. Many artists found that getting up in their own neighborhoods would lead them to be caught easier so they traveled to other areas of the city to write.

Through the late 1980's and early 90's the graffiti movement spread like wildfire both nationwide and worldwide. In Los Angeles, Mexican American muralists incorporated graffiti into their artwork, producing some of the most intense street art in the country. Street gangs in Chicago, Dallas and many other cities nationwide use graffiti to mark territory and threaten rival gang members. In Europe and Asia where hip hop culture had become just as big as in the US, graffiti artists were bombing the trains and walls of nearly every major city.

Today, graffiti is becoming more of an accepted art form in many ways. While stronger laws and more effective cleaning methods have made it harder than ever to get up these days, an underground scene still flourishes around the US, as well as the rest of the world. Graffiti is on display in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, where writers from the 70's and 80's such as Futura 2000, Lady Pink, Crash and Daze are featured. Designers such as Marc Ecko and PNB Nation use graffiti in their logos and on their clothing lines. And legal murals can be found in many inner city neighborhoods. In New York City the TATS Cru has murals all over the city in memory of deceased famous people such as Notorious BIG, Big Pun, Tito Puente Princess Diana and Mother Theresa. Graffiti is so much more than an illegal form of art. Graffiti has become an important part of pop culture, and a well respected form of art.

 http://voices.yahoo.com/graffiti-street-art-brief-history-755363.html?cat=16

Example of Graffiti today:

Boa Mistura - Perspective typography. I really want to do this somewhere and so does Sam Lane. We will get around to doing it soon.

 

 

Keith Haring - artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s. He focused on graffiti using marker pens and spray paint.

'Art Is Power'

 

'Portrait of Andy Warhol' 1989 

 

 

Results from Final Crit

I feel I now have a better understanding of how typagraphy works. Personally I know that my typeface needs tweeking. The footsteps underneath the letters need to be bigger as they are not very legible from a distance. Although I wanted them to be subtle they need to be legible. I got generally positive feedback apart from that the footprint suggestion. 


I feel as a presentation I did well especially as I thought I would struggle when talking in front of the other 13 people. I still need to improve my confidence when speaking to large groups. Hopefully this will come with time. 


I think I am going to make a few changes to my type before I submit it to be assessed. 

Context of Practice - Lecture 2 (12.10.11) - Post-Modernism

2 - Post-Modernism

This is the hand out we got given at the start if the session with the definition of Postmodernism.

Again I enjoyed the lecture Richard gave. Interesting and I now understand postmodernism better then when I entered the lecture. Sweet.

Some Post-Modern examples:

Do not be satisfied

 

Bose 30

 

Locoism - Metropolis

http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/

Graphic Design on Tshirts within Fashion

http://www.threadless.com/

 

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

 

If your design is picked on Threadless the prize is $2000 and a $500 voucher to spend on Threadless which you can trade for $200. I think this is a great incentive to get people designing and also to actually submit designs. I might have to submit something soon.

Context of Practice - Lecture 1 (5.10.11) - Modernism

1 - Modernity & Modernism
- 'Modern', 'Modernity'
- Modernity - Industrialisation. Urbanisation - The City
- Modern Artists' response to the city

 

The handout we received:

Modernity and Modernism Richard Miles, 2011

1. ‘Modern’ as a term is important to explore for the reason that it has become ingrained in the cultural consciousness, popularised and institutionalised (take for example the popular awareness this country has for such an institution as Tate Modern). The word ‘modern’ has received usage in English from the 16^th C. By the mid 19^th C. the term meant ‘contemporary’, thus, between 1843-1860, John Ruskin in his volume of writings ‘Modern Painters’, was really using the term to refer to painters of the day, such as Pre~Raphaelites, who we today would not consider to be ‘modern artists’. However, by the end of the 19^th C. and into the early 20^th C., the term ‘modern’ began to take on a flavour of something ‘improved’, ‘better than before’. This 20^th C. meaning of ‘modern’ as something ‘improved’ is inextricably linked to a modern consumer culture in which products are sold on the basis of a ‘new is better’ philosophy: take for example washing powder and the way its manufacturers rattle on in their adverts; “new improved”, “whiter than ever before”. Thus we can conclude that the term ‘modern’ implies positive meanings, so much so, that even politicians – Tony Blair for example – will talk about “a ‘modernised’ Labour Party” and “a ‘modern’ Britain”.

2. Modernity. The idea of ‘modern’ then, is linked to the idea of progress. The idea of progress is central to our understanding of ‘modernity’ and the significant changes that took place broadly between 1750-1950. This process of modernisation did not, obviously, happen overnight, although we can fix it historically as being aligned to the processes of industrialisation and urbanisation. Central features of ‘modernity’ are: The City – the city has become the site for ‘modern’ experience and developed as a magnet for those in the country during the period of industrialisation. Communication – with the advent of rapid transport systems, rail and road (the rail network had become fully established by 1840), steamships and the telegraph, communications flourished, changing the character of society (people’s mobility – but also the mobility of the printed image). Effective communications are necessary to promote the idea of change. Progress – implicit in the notion of modernity is the idea that change is for the better. The goal of modernity has been to create a better life for people. There is therefore a utopian ideal inherent within the idea of modernity. Rationality & Reason – aligned to the ideas of progress are the ideas that the only way to improve humanity is to reject religious systems of rule and replace them with the notion of the civilised state. Scientific progress and intellectual investigation (Enlightenment concepts), are taken as being a far better route to further our existence than religion. We therefore see in the period in question a secularisation of our society; fewer people go to Church or follow religion, and societies are today ruled by governments, with the Church playing much more of a minor role.

3. Modernism is the term used to describe the cultural expressions of modernity in relation to the experience of modernity. Theoretical features identified with modernism in art & design include: SOCIAL MORALITY- In essence, there was a ‘utopian’ flavour to the modernist ‘project’. TRUTH - In design, it was agreed that designs should not be illusionary or create false impressions. TECHNOLOGY - Modernists embraced new technologies. Also, design initiative had to allow for the mass production of goods – thus, simple forms were preferred over complex ones. FUNCTION - The idea that design was functional was of prime importance. And, a key idea within modernist design was that the form of an object should be dictated by its function; “Form Follows Function”. The shift away from ornate decoration was politically inspired – fancy decoration and ornamentation was equated with the bourgeoisie and decadent frippery. PROGRESS - Implicit in the notion of modernity and modernism is the idea of change for the better. The goal of modernity and modernism has been to create a better life for people. The modernist project therefore sought to embrace the tools of technology. In the aftermath of World War 1 (The Great War 1914-1918), it was felt that such a tragedy and waste of life could not happen again. The feeling therefore in the 1920’s was one of optimism and that modernism would direct the way towards a progressive society. ANTI-HISTORICISM - Previous styles tended to draw from older historical styles; e.g., Victorian gothic and classical styles. The modernists attempted to eschew historical references altogether. INTERNATIONALISM - For the modernist, it was an appealing idea that a design/artwork would be instantly recognisable to an international audience. Part of this internationalist tendency derived from the post WW1 attitude towards the need to bring countries together. TRANSFORMATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS - There was a belief held amongst modernists that design and art could change the way people think. Underlying the Town Planning Movement and mass housing projects was the idea that such projects would improve the people who made use of them. THEOLOGY - Modernism was adopted almost as a religion. It constituted a set of beliefs which sat within a context where people felt they were living in a ‘new age’. The term ‘Zeitgeist’ refers to this feeling of “the Spirit of the Age”.

Bibliography

Meecham, P. & Sheldon, J. (2000) Modern Art : A Critical Introduction london routledge

dawtrey, l. (1996) investigating modern art london open university

frascina, f & harris, j. (1992) art in modern culture london, phaidon

WOODHAM, J 20^TH CENTURY DESIGN, OXFORD

Slide List,

John Ruskin

William Holman Hunt The Hireling Shepherd (1852)

Paris Exposition Universalle – 1900

Paris Exposition Universalle – 1900 – trottoir Roullant

View of Paris – Postcard

View of Paris Photograph – 1900

Caillebotte Paris A Rainy Day (1877)

Caillebotte – Jeune Homme (1875)

Caillebotte – A Balcony (1880)

Manet – The Balcony (1868)

Psychology Lab c. 1880s

Caillebotte – Le Pont de L’Europe (1876)

Seurat – Isle de la Grande Jatte (1886)

Degas Absinthe Drinker (1876)

Manet - Bar at the Folies Bergere (1881)

Kaiserpanorama

Kaiserpanorama

William Powell-Frith The Railway Station (1862)

Monet – Gare St. Lazare (1876-7)

Alfred Stieglitz – In the New York Central Yards (1905)

Rodchenko – Gathering For Demonstration (1928)

Charles Marey – Running Man c. 1880s

Giacomo Balla – Girl Running on a Balcony (1912)

Giacomo Balla – Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash (1912)

Picasso – Les Demoiselles D’Avignon (1907)

Cutlery from the Great Exhibition 1851 –

Bauhaus Style Cutlery

Bauhaus teapot

Bauhaus College of Building at Dessau

Walter Gropius House – Dining Room / and Bauhaus Lamp

Mies Van der Rohe- Barcelona Chair

Mies Van der Rohe – Portrait of Mies in Chair

Marcel Breuer – B3, Wassily Chair

Examples of Bauhaus Book Design

Le Corbusier - Plan Voisin

Herbert Bayer – Bauhaus Typeface

Stanley Morrison- Times New Roman Typeface

Fraktur Typeface

Alphabet Soup

 Linus Dean, type themed rugs. I want one seeing as the last person who stayed in my room must of had the worst foot odor known to man.The way this is presented makes it really stand out showing it off to its full potential.

http://ilovetypography.com/2011/09/18/gay-type/

Just My Type from Pentagram on Vimeo.

 Promotional video for Simon Garfield’s Just my Type.

 

5th Grade Cursive by Lee Batchelor

http://www.dafont.com/5th-grade-cursive.font?text=foot+step&psize=l

My font is going to to have varying stem and bracket stokes. The terminals are going to be wider and the theme is footprints for walking. I'm trying to make it not as obvious though. Foot prints generally do look like serifs and tails so I think it will work.

 

imprint mt shadow

 

abadi mt condensed

I asked Lisa and these are her favorite fonts which gave me an idea of what shes into.

This is an image from ilovetypography. Apparently 90% of the time trained monkeys can correctly identify Helvetica!!

http://ilovetypography.com/2008/02/28/a-guide-to-web-typography/

Alphabet Soup work

I made this from the information I collected from my Alphabet Soup partner. These words don't sum Lisa up, especially jealousy and biting; just words I picked out! Ive only just met her! From the words I got out of her set of questions we came up with connotations of the 5 words. I think I'm going to go with walking. Got some ideas so definitely time to start designing the Lisa alphabet.

Ive just decided I'm going to include OCD/ Organisation into the font as I'm going to make the font legible and simple. This to me translate the idea of being organised and visually being tidy.

Critical Comparitive Analysis

 

The first image 'The Uncle Sam Range' (1876) by Schumacher & Ettlinger uses a gold, Western, cowboy style font. When the gold rush started in the West of America the font and colour from posters promising the 'land of the free' and the 'American dream' typically used this font and colour for example the film 'True Grit' staring John Wayne. Classic. The illustration in this image is exaggerated and crude. The image of the face in the world is racist and misleading as it is meant to be African and because of this it has been drawn to look like a comical characterture. The font in the second image by Savile Lumbley emphasises the YOU! Which is also underlined, this looks like another 'Uncle Sam – I Want You' poster. The point of this is to focus on the audience which would be males within the age of military service. The illustration also depicts the man looking at us as an audience which again puts the focus on the audience, the same technique as the text but an image instead.

Both images existed to persuade the audience. The first image exists as an advertisement for a cooking range. The second image exists to persuade men to join in the First World War effort. The Uncle Sam image is a scene which tries to create and sell a feeling of a middle class, ideal lifestyle of the time; the men being served by a women and a slave, which in that time was not sexist or racist but socially accepted and even 'trendy'. Along with these ideals the pro American patriotic country is branded and in a sense using the country's status to sell the cooking range. The Savile image tries to play on the guilt of the father when asked “what did you do in the Great War” by his daughter and the point being he did nothing and should be ashamed. The whole feeling of the War being glorious and great is highlighted by the son playing with toy soldiers and the daughter reading about the war in her story book suggesting a positive outcome.

The relevance of the clock on the wall in the first image which denotes 1876 at the top and 1776 at the bottom is that America became America in 1776. This poster is also a celebration of American history and you sense a feeling of Schumacher & Ettlinger gloating and dismissing other countries. You can see this in the parchment bill which shows the orders of the country’s for example China ordering birds nest, soil and rat. Ireland ordering raw potatoes. The significance of the second poster is that in 1915 England were fighting the first World War and this was in pre conscripted times so the aim of the poster is to try and enlist men. You can also denote the red rose and fleur' de' lis in the background which suggest patriotism like the first image.

Seminar task 1 Love/Hate (all love baby)

 

This is sweet, 1920's - 1930's Japanese Graphic Design. I like the colour scheme and use of grey and black shading on the fish. I think Japanese/ Chinese symbols look mint when used appropriately.
http://ffffound.com/image/508426da7f07d020781a0eb88f8c61cd409c0143

 

This is looks good to me, i like the simple effect and the brown/ black colour contrasting with the white. Although I don't like the alien character.

http://ffffound.com/image/71256a37d8d293fe6642b9e8183f93d22a26bf1d

 

I like the colour scheme, Red transparent boxes, old fashion feel and typography.

http://ffffound.com/image/1c149c9782afd220aabd0fe47c4b572d719f1c98

 

Although the vintage thing is being killed slowly this is cool. I like how the font literally pops off the image.

http://ffffound.com/image/bbc682b8db6a6eeeffa840fe0737626d4692076e

  

Nice!! screened effect looks lush and the colour scheme really works.

http://ffffound.com/image/d5d25106770cf2edb2fe2b6c1790399a6f2c05f0