IMD Student

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Week 4: Illustrating Interfaces: Art in Action

Research for Design of apps

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Week 3: Hand to Mouse

Research of Illustrations

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Week 2: Getting Iconic

This is my research of creative design icons that can help me create my own icons

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Week 1: Introduction; Brief; Master Apprentice:

This image below was the one I decided to select to do a representation of the icons through illustrator

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Week 05: Tying it All Together: Mobile Interfaces

More Research of Design Apps

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Research for Poster- Art Exhibition (Influence on Modern Art)

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Week 11- The Here and Now

In Week 11 We kicked today's talk with a look at Stefan Sagemaeister and his Ted talk the power of time off. Sagmeister is a incredibly creative and innovative designer and one you should definitely keep an eye on.

The main focus on today’s lecture however was on how we deal with designing for today’s proliferation of devices. We consume digital content across numerous devices. We may start reading a piece on our laptop and continue it on an iPad before printing off a hard copy for our great aunt. We saw that by sticking to tried and tested principles we will be able to design for anything technology throws at us.

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Week 10 – The Rise of the Machines

The launch of the Apple Macintosh in 1984 saw the true beginning of the computer revolution, especially where designers were concerned.

After spending 30 years working as a commercial artist Ed Fella entered the MFA program at Cranbrook Academy of Art at the age of 47. This subsequently saw Fella become recognized as a pioneer of postmodern graphic design.

Meanwhile the Apple Mac was beginning to make an impact on the design industry. The key to the computers success, apart form dedicated design-based software was the inventive interface. Apple's graphical user interface made it very easy for those not familiar with computers to interact with the system and its software.

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Week 09 – Postmodernism

Wim Crouel is a Dutch graphic designer best known for his work with the Stedelijk Museum. 

Seen as the father of Wolfgang Weingart studied under Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann at the Basel School of Design. He soon tired of the restrictive Swiss typographic style and began experimenting with type, pushing the boundaries of what it could do. He was fascinated by the effects of letter spacing and frequently stretched words until they became almost unintelligible. 

Two students of Weingarts, April Greiman and Dan Friedman carried on the postmodern tradition in the US

Examples of Work from Artists mentioned above: Research

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Week 8- WWII, HfG Ulm and Modernism in the US

American modernism, much like the modernism movement in general, is a trend of philosophical thought arising from the widespread changes in culture and society in the age of modernity. During this time, many European designers were forced to leave their countries and go to America for safety. American modernism is an artistic and cultural movement in the United States beginning at the turn of the 20th century, with a core period between World War I and World War II. Like its European counterpart, World War II forces many of Europe's most influential designers to flee to the safety of the US while the Ulm School of Design picks up the pieces in Germany.

This week took a look at Modernism in design and started with a few points looking at how the Modernist movement was defined.

Reject traditional forms and decorative elements

Seek a solution that is simple and direct

Use systematic methods rather than intuitive ones

Think about relationships in form and content

Use geometric shapes: circle, triangle, square

Use primary colours

Use sans serif typefaces

Nazi persecution forced numerous artists, architects and designers to flee Europe for the safety of distant shores. Many mover to the US where the creative community welcomed them with open arms. The move saw a cultural shift of creativity and intellect from Europe to the States. However, all was not lost at home.

The Ulm School of Design sought to redress the balance in Europe. The origins of Ulm School of Design goes back to the Scholl Foundation. The Scholl Foundation was created in 1950 by Inge Scholl in memory of their siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl, mmembers of the resistance group "White Rose" who were executed by the Nazis in 1943.

Inge, along with Otl Aicher and Max Bill founded the Ulm School of Design in 1953 where it quickly gained a reputation ans one of the finest design schools in the world, sceond only to the Bauhaus.

The shift of creative talent to the US had a profound effect on the resident design community. Previously, Modernism had been rejected when the 1913 Armoury Show introduced the movement to America. Designers eager to learn from Modernism had to satisfy their thirst through exhibition catalogues and brochures from their European counterparts.

The movement didn’t making a lasting impact until the 1930s when artists, architects and designers started to flee Europe for the safety of the US.

Key designers of the American Modernist movement included Alexey Brodovitch, Herbert Bayer, Herbert Matter, Paul Rand, Saul Bass and Milton Glaser to name a handful.

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Josef Müller-Brockmann

Josef Müller-Brockmann was a celebrated twentieth century Swiss graphic designer and teacher. He studied design, architect and history of art. Moreover, he worked as a European design consultant. His works had been exhibited in Zurich, Hamburg and Bern. Born on May 9, 1914, Müller-Brockmann grew up in Rapperswil, Switzerland. He attended the prestigious schools to study architect, art and design, including University of Zurich and the city’s Kunstgewerbeschule. His first step toward a professional career was his apprenticeship to Walter Diggleman, the designer and advertising consultant. In 1936, he opened his own Zurich studio which specialized in photography, graphics and exhibition design. Over two decades he established his position as the country’s leading practitioner and theorist of Swiss Style. He created a universal graphic expression employing a grid-based design exclusive of subjective feeling and extraneous illustration.

Examples of His Work:

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The Bauhaus

The Bauhaus was the most influential modernist art school of the 20th century, one whose approach to teaching, and understanding art's relationship to society and technology, had a major impact both in Europe and the United States long after it closed. It was shaped by the 19th and early 20th centuries trends such as Arts and Crafts movement, which had sought to level the distinction between fine and applied arts, and to reunite creativity and manufacturing. This is reflected in the romantic medievalism of the school's early years, in which it pictured itself as a kind of medieval crafts guild. But in the mid 1920s the medievalism gave way to a stress on uniting art and industrial design, and it was this which ultimately proved to be its most original and important achievement. Having suffered the catastrophic defeat of WWI Germany was in a state of economic, political and cultural ruin. The need to rebuild all aspects of live was never more important. With new new director Walter Gropius at the helm, the Bauhaus school opened its doors in Germany in 1919 publishing its manifesto in local newspapers:

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The Bauhaus Manifesto

“The ultimate goal of all art is the building! The ornamentation of the building was once the main purpose of the visual arts, and they were considered indispensable parts of the great building. Today, they exist in complacent isolation, from which they can only be salvaged by the purposeful and cooperative endeavours of all artisans. Architects, painters and sculptors must learn a new way of seeing and understanding the composite character of the building, both as a totality and in terms of its parts. Their work will then re-imbue itself with the spirit of architecture, which it lost in salon art.

The art schools of old were incapable of producing this unity – and how could they, for art may not be taught. They must return to the workshop. This world of mere drawing and painting of draughtsmen and applied artists must at long last become a world that builds. When a young person who senses within himself a love for creative endeavour begins his career, as in the past, by learning a trade, the unproductive “artist” will no longer be condemned to the imperfect practice of art because his skill is now preserved in craftsmanship, where he may achieve excellence.

Architects, sculptors, painters – we all must return to craftsmanship! For there is no such thing as “art by profession”. There is no essential difference between the artist and the artisan. The artist is an exalted artisan. Merciful heaven, in rare moments of illumination beyond man’s will, may allow art to blossom from the work of his hand, but the foundations of proficiency are indispensable to every artist. This is the original source of creative design.

So let us therefore create a new guild of craftsmen, free of the divisive class pretensions that endeavoured to raise a prideful barrier between craftsmen and artists! Let us strive for, conceive and create the new building of the future that will unite every discipline, architecture and sculpture and painting, and which will one day rise heavenwards from the million hands of craftsmen as a clear symbol of a new belief to come."

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Week 7- The International Typographic Style

In week 7 of the DES106 module we looked at what is often referred to as the International Style or the The Swiss Style, the international typographic style originated in Switzerland in the 1950s and remained a major movement in design for over 20 years.Still influencing designers today the movement was refined at two design schools design. The movement still plays a major role in influencing contemporary design with many of the principles found in the current trend for flat design bound in the Swiss Style. Designers such as Olly Moss have found inspiration in the works of Josef Müller-Brockmann and others.

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Week 6- Revolution and the Bauhaus

During Week 6 of our DES106 module we began to look at the Russian Revolution that was known as Bauhaus. The Russian Revolution and The Bauhaus generate visual vocabularies which still influence design today.

Edward Johnston

Edward Johnston, (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a Uruguayan and British Craftsman who is regarded as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad edged pen as a writing tool. He is most famous for designing the sans-serif Johnston typeface that was used throughout the London Underground system until it was re-designed in the 1980s.

Examples of His work:   

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian, born in 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter.

Mondrian was a contributor to the art movement and group De Stijl , which was founded by Theo van Doesburg  He evolved a non-representation form which he termed neoplasticsim. This consisted of white ground, upon which he painted a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the three primary colors.  Prior to founding De Stijl, Dutch painter, Mondrian was heavily influenced by the Cubist work of Pablo Picasso and George Braque. The outbreak of WWI saw Mondrian remain in his home country of the Netherlands. When war ended in 1918 he returned to France where he began to produce the grid-based paintings he became famous for. 

Examples of His Work:

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Week 5- Influence of Modern Art

After the introduction of Japanese art and craft to Europe we witnessed a revolution in art and design in Europe and beyond. From Impressionism to Art Nouveau the speed of change accelerated and there was no turning back.

Where the Arts & Crafts movement fought the industrialisation of the world other movements embraced it.

Examples of Modern Art- Research for Poster

What I find so appealing about modern art is the amount of energy that can be created within a piece. When we speak about modern art the only thing that comes to mind is energy and how you can create so many lines of colors to make an image look visually inspiring. 

This is a very sharp, edge cutting piece that is very effective looking because of the way it is presented in a 3 form. 

This is a very smooth, fresh but yet calm piece. The colours used make the viewer feel cool, calm and collective. This is what I love about the energy that is flowing through the image. Its so simple yet so creative and visually interesting.

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Arts and Crafts Movement

The arts and crafts movement was one of the most inspirational design movements of modern times. The movement began in Britain around the time of 1880 and quickly made its mark by moving across to America and Europe before joining as the Mingei (Folk Crafts) movement in Japan. 

This was a movement that was born of ideals and it grew out of a concern for the effects of industrialization. The movement itself got its name from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society that was founded in 1887.Different Countries have adapted Arts and Crafts matching their own needs. Despite the work being visually different, it is united by one that lies behind it. This movement was unlike any that has happened before. It was spirit of freedom and the value it placed on the quality of materials and design, it was creative and wonderful.