Design for the Information Age

In my opinion it is around this period in design history where the most beautiful work begins to appear. I find that especially ironic due to the fact that I believe a designer must be an artist. And the reason for the irony is that self expression was omitted entirely. Engineering and information progression became increasingly important in design this I am not opposed to infact my position is contrary I feel that designers should be actively involved in understanding engineering and technology but an artist is fully capable of doing so. There is no reason for an engineer to be a graphic designer in my opinion. However they should work hand in hand with them. It is that precise equation that move us forward to find solutions to problems that we face.

Helvetica has sugar coated some of the worlds most destructive corporate leaches. That upsets me greatly and it is to say the least, dangerous. I do not like it. I completely agree with Erik Spiekerman.

Escaping the Maelstrom

Technology is projected from everywhere and is also the projector. It surrounds you and their is no way to escape its effects because society always seems to adopt and adapt to the newest forms of technological advancements. I believe this is due to intrigue. When a new piece of technology such as the iphone or ipod hits the market for the first time consumers are seduced by the freshness of the product, the dream it fulfills, its function, and the effect this technology is having on the people within their social networks. Once a product is adopted into the lives of enough people people start to become dependent upon that technology and its use becomes unavoidable. It is in this way and others that technology becomes like an inescapable vortex.

Marshal McLuhan felt that "pattern recognition" was necessary to understand and escape the grasp of the media environment. I feel, however, that he was far to intelligent for the vast majority of the population and was misunderstood by the masses and doubted due to the specialization study that comprised his colleagues, and critics. Though he most certainly had an effect on the way media ecology is studied and understood today. However I feel he would disagree with the way it was taught.

Facebook has permeated every moment of our lives. It has become the ultimate networking site. I would be hesitant to say that it enhances our ability to communicate because of some unintended effects that I will mention later. Facebook is an extension of our mouths and our ability to speek, our ability to talk on the phone, to email, and even text message.

This technology will soon completelty replace our need for telephones. AIM has most definitely been affected. It is beginning to replace the bulletin board and fliers as you can now just send out mass messages via your Facebook account.

Facebook has retrieved the idea of mass communication of information without seeing the sender or reciever. Therefor one might say that it brings back the idea of the telegraph or the person letter.

Earlier I stated that I was hesitant to say that Facebook enhances our ability to talk and this is my reasoning; its unintended effects. The reverse as Marshall McLuhan would put it. Facebook has allowed students to speek to each other in class instead of paying attention to the instructor. The instructor won't even be able to tell. People have become addicted to it and rarely ever log off. The worst unintended effect however is an increasing phobia "talking on the phone". I have met many people who are scared and very uncomfortable with talking on the phone. Facebook is one of the reasons that this is increasing so rapidly. We are forgetting how to actually speek. This is very disturbing to me.

We as designers must choose wisely what products to promote and how to promote them because we are the ones that create the intrigue amongst the consumers initially. We are the ones that sell them the dream. We hold the future in our hands. Let us just hope that what we sell are dreams and not nightmares.

Lecture 6 Response

The works of AM Cassandre have always fascinated me and I did not know until now that he was considered by many to be the best illustrator of this period. His work is truly magnificent. Also while I am sorry to say it, the posters created during during WWII were amazing and precisely why I took this course. I wish that we had a time to go into greater detail about each and every poster and every technique that was utilized created and discovered during this period. I am sorry to see it happen at this point, but the transition in America from illustration to photography begins. As you may be able to tell from previous writings I am a fan of anything that was derived or evolved from the pencil.

Article 2 Design Discourse

-Symbolist

-Synesthesia

-Futurism

-Filippo Tamasso Marinetti

While he is more often remembered as one of the greatest proponents of Futurism, Filippo Tamasso Marinetti, had roots in the Symbolists as well. This gave him a perfect jump-off point to enter the world of Futurism; where as you know, total destruction was encouraged. Since Symbolists harnessed the technique of suggestion through form and the Futurists wished to destroy the current aesthetic in response to the state of the world as they saw it. It would be nieve to presume that they had no future plans for the aftermath of this destruction. So while they began destroying their current aesthetic why not use the suggestive qualities of artists influenced by the suggestive nature of the Symbolists like Marinetti to guide their followers into a system that they condoned. Otherwise as a universal lanquage was being developed it would be hard to influence the way that it would turn out.

The images that are attached are most certainly poetic with the appearance of destruction as well. In certain instances you can see only portions of the letterforms, relating to this idea of suggestion that the Symbolists embodied. The text in the middle is broken up into verse like lines of text and further establishes a Symbolist attachment to Marinetti's work.

How Can One Make Swiss Typography

-Wolfgang Weingart

-Swiss Typography

Every artist whatever their sub-categorical pursuit, and every person for that matter, arrives within themselves a conflict, or several, that is inevitably portrayed in their work. Many times it is helpful when it does not restrict them under the guise of "inspiration". Wolfgang Weingart is no different. In the article "How Can One Make Swiss Typography" he expresses a set of often conflicting belief systems, that perhaps even he was not aware of at the time. It begins with this (his) statement:

"I would like to summarize what you can expect in the next sixty minutes: a confrontation with the legendary concept of 'Swiss Typography,' and a very personal statement of a very personal concept of typography and typography education."

Now with this statement being made, I would like to point out how a conflict within Weingart may have arisen can be derived from this next statement, according to opinion. However, opinion is subjective. Then again everything is subjective when argued well. His statement is as follows.

" One does not throw away that which has functioned so well."

His statement shows the potential for a conflicted feeling on typographic design.

The images attached show what may have been a projection of some of these inner conflicts that Weingart may have felt at the time.