I was very really excited to come across inspirational images and artists I had not heard of before in Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. As I looked through the images before the Modern Movement, I started imagining the artist sitting down, drafting their designs, and painstakingly hand drawing everything because they did not have the luxury of technology of Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and the entire Adobe Suite at their disposal. The doctored photos in the early 20th century was also highly impressive. I've had experience in the darkroom and I can tell you it is not easy at all.
Looking through these images as a whole made me realize that the need to communicate has always been a strong part of society and continue to be so until possibly the end of time. It was interesting to see graphic design constantly evolving, first by going through stages of clumsy crudeness, to highly polished and ornate and even through rebellion. Graphic design is a great reflection of society's ideals and beliefs and vice-versa.
The Digital Revolution section were not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. I think this section would have been more fun if we could actually see interactivity from the title sequences and Martha Steward magazine cover instead of them just being static images in a book. Without the moving graphics and sound, the images seem to lose quite a bit of impact in my opinion.
While perusing this very hefty book,I was quite pleased to see a variety of different cultures depicted. More often than not, my experience with art history in the classroom has been extremely Western and Euro-centric. I have always found that to be very frustrating because no country is an island in today’s global world. East and West are constantly influencing each other and that can’t be ignored. I’m really glad to see Meggs' History of Graphic Design rectify this by making an effort to show a lot of diversity in the selected images.
It’s quite interesting to note that in the variety of images showing casing the graphic designs of different cultures, they still end up sharing a commonality. Different cultures have different outlooks on certain things and different typography to deal with. For example, Roman letters need to be read left to right, while Asian writing (such as kanji) are often read from right to left (if the characters are arranged from top to bottom). Yet whether Western, Eastern, Middle Eastern, or Latin American, designers tend to usually adhere to the same rules and principles of design. The elements of composition, color theory, harmony, emphasis, and most importantly clear communication are all there.
Abedini, Reza. Rêves de sable. 2003. Film Poster.
Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. 5th. New Jersey: John Wiley , 2012. 528. eBook.
Even though I am not able to understand the language and words on this movie poster, I still find the image to be highly appealing. The elements are well put together, it's simplistic and complex as the same time. The intricate white and black text contrasts nicely against the bold yellow-tan background. The poster appears to have been designed with a grid layout or rule of thirds in mind. I also notice the woman is smack dab in the center, which should have created boring symmetry if it had not been for the asymmetrical placement of the text.
As a movie poster, it serves its purpose well by advertising and creating interest in the film.The poster makes me want to know the woman's story and who she is.She seems melancholic yet proud at the same time. Even though I may not be familiar with the culture, but I can see and somewhat understand the message that the designer is trying to communicate to the audience. This makes me think that good design is able to transcend cultural rifts and contain clarity in its communication.
No comments:
Post a Comment