Reflections for History of Graphic Design
Overall, I did find the class informational and the content relevant to the history of graphic design. However, I do feel that the structure of these pseudo-lectures could be better arranged- I understand the time constraints though.
Each lecture was overloaded with so much content that we did not have time to delve into. I felt that this defeated the purpose of having art history classes. I am interested in certain aspects of graphic design history and was a bit disappointed that all we were able to learn was surface level reading.
For the reflections on OSS, I think there could be a more meaningful prompt to fulfil? Not that I necessarily want more work to do but if we can only brush the surface during lecture – it would be preferred if our after-class activity was geared towards self-research. Maybe having to answer short essay prompts or something.
The splitting of the quizzes into two is appreciated and the content was manageable for the limited time we had with the history of graphic design.
I do understand that there is really a lack of time to cover so much content so I don’t blame the tutor (I’m not sure if this is supposed to be like an open letter) for working within his constraints. Perhaps the main structure of History of Design needs to be revised.
Thank you for teaching this portion of History of Design! Lectures have nonetheless been interesting.
History of Design – Apollinaire and Calligrams
What caught my eye from this week’s lecture was Apollinaire’s Calligrams. Calligrams emerged in response to the movement of Futurism; that disrupted the need for typographic rules of layout and focused on speed and sound. Calligrams in themselves are lines and paragraphs of text arranged into the visual elements from the text.
The Calligrammes are an idealisation of free verse poetry and typographical precision in an era when typography is reaching a brilliant end to its career, at the dawn of the new means of reproduction that are the cinema and the phonograph. (Guillaume Apollinaire, in a letter to André Billy) Continue reading “History of Design – Apollinaire and Calligrams”
History of Design – Jugen Magazine
What caught my eye during the second lecture was the different covers of Jugen Magazine. Upon further research, the 45-year run magazine was an excellent example of the prints and art of the Industrial Revolution and was in itself a Graphic Reaction.
History of Design – Nicholas Jenson’s Typographer’s Mark
I was interested in multiple images from the lecture like the rebus principle, cuneiform, and italic Old Style from the Roccoco era. However, Nicholas Jenson’s colophon really piqued my curiosity.
Continue reading “History of Design – Nicholas Jenson’s Typographer’s Mark”