The Industrial Revolution
• Introduced a new political system. Everyone got legal rights, there was a free flow of ideas, and British ‘geniuses’ owned their own ideas and could profit off of it. This all provided the environment for new meant to create new wealth and therefore was a change in the power structure as power wasn’t to the monarchy but to the people who own these advanced means of productions.
• Engines sped up the rate of production therefore setting the scene for Modernity.
• There was a lot of immediate cons to this technological advancements and increased productions as workplaces weren’t safe and resulted in deaths such as being killed by machinery and the health issues that come with working by the factory clock instead of by daylight. There was a lot of child labour as well which began the protests from the working class.
Modernism
• The Modern era began near the end of the 19th century and encapsulates a majority of the 20th century.
• The circumstances of the Industrial Revolution set in motion the period in time that we now call the Modern era as it’s factorised by industrial areas, mass manufacturing, and mass production which is all a direct result of the technological advancements during the revolution.
• Concentrated and increased populations began to arise as the areas in which factories and industries were operating as moved to these areas looking for work and therefore creating cities. This also resulted in negatives such as slums and the poor working class life - issues as a result of the Modernist values.
• The Modern values meant believing in technology and not craft. Rejecting tradition, faith and religion and believing in rationality, science, and advancements. This rise in science and widespread adoption of rationality and technology goes hand in hand with the dispersement of cynicism towards faith and religion in the western society which underpinned most advancements during this era. The idea that technological progressions was positive and that belief in these systems was moving in the direction of utopia. The belief in rationality is the belief in human perfectibility in which the idea that humans can control everything rejected the ideas of believing in fate and faith.
• The development of trade and an increase in capitalism. Carrying on the power structure from the Industrial Revolution in which the power goes to those who own the means of production (Upper class). Division of labour.
• This pushed colonisation. The big powers of Europe and North America set their industrial sites on the rest of the world and followed their ideas of domination.
• Rise in mass media. The printing press has been around for many eras even preceding the Industrial Revolution however with the development of the steam engine and the use of mechanisation and automation brought with the process of mass production of advertisements and newspapers.
• Mass consumption - Henry Ford developed the assembly line method in production which revolutionised mass production and made mass produced objects cheaper and more accessible to the wider audience - more people were able to buy cars instead of just the upper class.
*Modern not modern as modern means now whereas Modern is the era.
The Modern era in summary was the establishment of all the advancements from the Industrial Revolution into everyday life. It changed the way society thinks about work, consumption and community. The idea of progress was the rejection of religion and faith and moved towards utopia, universality and rationality with the concrete idea that this was all positive.
Modernism as oppose to modernity was the cultural output of the Modern era. One of the key features of the Modern era was the emergence of movements e.g Cubism and Impressionism. These movements were a group of people organised by their own manifesto.
• Pre-modernism commercial art was colourful, decorative, included representations of people that didn’t need to be there, didn’t focus on functionality or rationality (Art Deco)
• In contrast, early Modernist graphic design (a term that only came around in the 1930’s) was pioneered by Bauhaus.
• Bauhaus featured big block typefaces, lots of whitespace, experimenting with grids, exploring and experimenting with new technologies e.g photographic reproduction. It was very experimental and tried to be very progressive which contrasts to what Modern graphic design developed into.
• World War 1 and 2 spurred the need for progression even more and the need for rationality and a rejection in blind belief as a result of the atrocities and distraught caused by the irrationalities of the wars.
• The displacement caused by the war changed graphic design forever. People from Bauhaus migrated to Switzerland as it was neutral and safe from the war which in turn created the international typographic style and the peak of the high Modernist period - the Swiss style.
• The high Modernist graphic design loses the experimental element early modern graphic design conveyed. It concretes the need for rationality, functionality and universality. The idea that graphic design is solely for communication and practicality was created by designers such as Vignelli (who came to North America due to the war). Order was most important.
• This seeped into other areas of design such as architecture. Modern architecture wasn’t there to be beautiful, it was there to be practical. This instills these ideas of rationality and functionality into society as it physically surrounds them. Design is ultimately propaganda.
The End of Modernism?
All these optimistic ideas towards progression and universality culminated in a totalising project of modernism and these projects had many cons. One of the biggest urban planning architectural advancements were the housing projects to put order to the working class slums which became an outright failure because it bred crime and disorder and unemployment. By the time we get to the late 60s and early 70s, we see a mass demolition of these housing projects which is really symbolic of the cynicism towards the Modern values. People didn’t want to reject different opinions from religion and cultures and realised these aren’t leading us anywhere as they were ultimately negative.
Post-modernism
• Andrew Logan - perhaps part of Post-modernism is bewilderment
• Robert A.M Stern - Post-modernism is outrageous
• Charles Jenkins - Post-modernism means nothing and everything
• Paula Scher - Modernism felt like trying to be clean; like cleaning up your room. “I began to look at design to create spirit not order”
Times square shows the difference between the Modernist idea of change and the Post-modernist idea of change. Change is to do with pluralism and depth. It’s accepting that the modern world is positive but can be radically improved.
• 1970’s and onwards.
• Technological advancements and progress is a norm in society. This is a result from the constant change since the Industrial Revolution.
• Encompasses liberalism and capitalism on a global scale.
• Views that capitalism is the way of organising social life. Neo-liberal view that capitalism is just economic and there is no regulation binding us together; the view that each of us as an individual controls our own life. Opposing element that we are the subject of our family, race, class, etc.
• Post-modernism is the cynicism towards Modernism. It rejects their claims of universality, progress and rationality. The view that design isn’t solely about function and clarity and that there’s no concrete definition of what design should be.
• It’s about the constant improvement, constant self criticality and self awareness. This is shown through the developing cynicism of some parts of multi culturalism as a result of the colonisation. There is a difference between cultural appreciation (embracing different people’s cultures and artefacts) and cultural appropriation (the mindless use of these things for profit.)
• Conceptual art. It doesn’t have to be practical or look beautiful. It’s about the idea behind it. This seeps into graphic design. Post-modern approach to graphic design is questioning what is communication? Can it be the sense of the work? A stark difference in accepting and exploring expressiveness whereas modern design opposed expressiveness.
Modernism example:
Modernism example:
Muriel Cooper, Poster to promote The Bauhaus, 1969
This is considered modern as it's very experimental and showed the conventional use of block letter typefaces and the heavy focus on the use of grids which all over allowed to show the importance of the use of technology, and create an overall design that was easily communicable and has purpose rather than solely be decorative as was the norm in pre-modernism design. This need for purpose and communicability is based on the core values of rejecting experimentalism for the purpose of decor and the need for a practical purpose as a result of World War 1 and 2's effect in needing rationality. However as this Modernist poster was created in Bauhaus, the processes used in this poster are quite experimental as it explored photographic reproduction and the use of colour theory in conjunction with typesetting which are all elements of Bauhaus' design principles.
Post-modernism:
This spread created by David Carson for an alternative Rock-n-Roll magazine is considered Post
Modern design as it rejects the idea of universality, rationality and practicality that Modernism was very focused on. The universality is rejected as Carson designs solely for the alternative audience that would be reading the Ray Gun magazine and therefore appreciate a more experimental design that was more relevant to their music scene. The big blocked rectangle doesn't add any attractive elements to the design but adds to the concept which was important to Post-modernist designers as it's about the idea rather than its appearance. The idea of rationality and practicality is rejected as there is use of many symbols that represent nothing and are used solely to add to the concept of the almost collaged, alt theme. The symbol further rejects practicality as it blocks the name of the artist the article is about. The article itself is written completely in dingbats which encompasses the principle of Post-modern design as it rejects all core values of Modernist design and focuses on the overall concept, even if it becomes impractical.
No comments:
Post a Comment