International and New wave design

Though the years, changes/ movement in design has been evolving, In the year 1950s, the International design was created. It is what we known of typography today. Following a proportionate grid system and creating hierarchy in posters or other forms of communication in design. At the same time, the Grid system is very organised and metathetical constructed. it helps our eyes too focused on the information. In my typography 1 class, we learn to use just only letterform to create a hierarchy in our designs, therefore I felt that international design is very relatable to what we are learning. It was a very interesting and fun experience to be able to create different varieties of design and have a deeper understanding of design through typography. 

After the international design movement, New typography was created. The design focus on the visibility of information even if it is not as organised as using a grid system. It gives the artwork a purpose. It helps us to understand better and not easily by-pass it.

After the final lecture, I felt that the most interesting and unique artwork is from the La cantatrice chauve by Robert Massin, 1964 and the artwork by Wili Kunz, Posters for Columbia architecture, planning & preservation lectures. 

La cantatrice chauve by Robert Massin, 1964

He is a very experimental artist and expressive in his typographic composition. He uses visual representation in his design. His artwork is simple but different graphic/element to his design, for example, he incorporated faces at the left-hand corner of each sentence. I felt that the artist link the choice of typeface and the meaning of the text together which tells a story out of his artwork. Adding an emotion or a mood in his design. He did not design something abstract but something people could understand. Every character in the artwork is represented by a face. At the side, It will tell the reader that it is like a speech from each character feature at the side.

Posters for Columbia architecture, planning & preservation lectures by Wili Kunz

The introduction of new wave typography came and this artwork was created. Interestingly, the information is kept organised similar to using grids system but the truth is, it does not follow the grid. The information is spread all around. However, you could see that information is categorised in different weights and size of words, I could see the hierarchy of the artwork. Not only that, the colour used is simple and clean. Overall. I felt that he develop very independent thinking and creating his amazing design with so many information in one poster but at the same time being attractive too.

 

Lecture 2 Reflections – Halftone Printing

Halftone printing

In the second lecture, I was very interested in halftone photography.
Examples of Halftone printing are newspaper and photographs.

Previously, newspapers were woodcuts or wood engraving made from hand-carved blocks of wood. It was not recommended as it evolved to mass printing. Commercial printers took on the mechanical printing process. They used halftone printing as it was much more practical.

Examples of Halftone printing are newspaper and photographs.

Halftone printing technique uses discrete dots to form an image, through the different type of size, shape and spacing. It has an optical illusion where you can only view from a distance. The tiny dots on the print gathered and form into a shape smoothly so that human eyes can see clearly. The photographic images must be first to convert into a series of dots to print.

Not only that, there are 3 different types of dot shapes, which are the round shape, elliptical dots and square dots. Also, Lightness and darkness of portions of an image are affected by the size and the density of the dots. The spacing of dots side by side matters when it is nearer or further as it create a lighter area and a cluster dots create a darker area.

The downside of halftone printing
– Details will be lost if the image has a lower resolution
– Does not produce very detail artwork

I felt that it was an impressive start of producing photographs. If there are no halftone printing, it would not have evolved to be able to print photographs now. Halftone has become digital through the usage of lasers.

History of Graphic Design: Reflection – Lecture 1

 

Sumerian Pictograph Tablet

I was interested in the idea of communication through different era as it was very interesting and well crafted over many centuries and how words are being transformed into letters. In the prehistoric times, they will leave a trace of memory or documentation, through engraves and paint on the wall or crafts on pottery. After the Homo sapiens become more civilised they started using symbols, anagrams to communicate.

I learnt that the Sumerian language was created in ancient Mesopotamia and it was the earliest written language. The Sumerians used to engrave pictographs and symbols to represent the trades goods and livestock. The early Sumerian pictograph tablet was constructed by the grid work, and symbols of seeds, plants, tools and other information.

 

 

At first, they use clay tokens to create the symbols but later on evolve to make symbols instead. Symbols develop into the writing system.  

The early direction of writing was from top to bottom but soon after the direction could be read from left to right in horizontal rows. At the same time, the symbols of text reduce too.

The Sumerian language uses the cuneiform that has a ‘wedge-shaped’. it has an appearance of the strokes, which were made by pressing a reed stylus into the clay.

I felt that it was an impressive start of communication with engraves on the tablets. Without the method of “writing” on the clay pieces, the Egyptians and Phoenician would have never evolved their way of writing and to develops further.

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/sumerian.htm

http://www.ancientscripts.com/sumerian.html