Typography Reflection IV

The Art of the Title

Saul Bass was one of the earlier designers in title sequences in films.

The Seven Year Itch (1955) Saul Bass - title sequence

Source: the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray (2017)

I find his designs were very intriguing in capturing the essence of the film and making the viewers expectant and ready to watch the film.

As Saul Bass once said:

“For the average audience, the credits tell them there’s only three minutes left to eat popcorn. I take this ‘dead’ period and try to do more than simply get rid of names that filmgoers aren’t interested in. I aim to set up the audience for what’s coming; make them expectant.”

His creation has pushed the potential can be for main titles in films or even interactive works we see currently. He urges designers, directors, to take advantage of this opportunity in the beginning of a movie and use it to help tell the story or just use it to make something really interesting or beautiful. Perhaps, it has also started advertisements before the premiere of a movie?

Overall, this has opened up another source of inspiration for type and graphics in the area of film title sequences. 🙂

Typography Reflection III

Surrealism and Magritte’s Poetic Strategies

Surrealism is something which is surprising, unexpected or fantastical elements juxtaposed to form a dream-like scene. It was a cultural movement started by Andre Breton in the 1920s.

The realisation that “reality” is not a given constant and that “reality” cannot exist outside of “perception” or the mind. It is also influenced by writings of Sigmund Freud and the idea of our subconscious (Automatism), privileging the subconscious mind or instincts of the artist.

The ideas of surrealism had a far-reaching influence and allowed artists to use more intuition and the element of chance in their work. For instance, artists such as William de Kooning, Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and Picasso. Eventually, surrealist ideas became subsumed under the ideas of Modernism and Abstraction – the idea that it is the artist’s internal vision and personal genius that determines a piece of art.

What intrigued me was the works of Rene Magritte which questioned the reliability of the senses in perceiving reality. Hence I found out about some of his poetic strategies which include: Juxtaposition, Dislocation, Hybridization, Metamorphosis, Effective Affinities, Play of Opposites, Fossilization, Animism, Doubling, Paintings within Paintings, Scale, Simultanism, Copying, Words and Things and Unexplained Narratives.

As you can see from the featured image Golconda (1953), it has used the strategy of Doubling which depicts a scene of nearly identical men dressed in dark overcoats and bowler hats, who seem to be drops of heavy rain. It can be a funny analogy of “it’s raining cat and dogs”?

Typography Reflection II

AEG which represents the initials for the German Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft, or also known as the General Electric Company. They were one of the pioneers in large scale industrial development (industrial revolution), founded in Berlin, Germany in 1883. They produced several patented lightbulbs from Thomas Edison, generators, transformers, and arc lamps. Hence becoming one of the fastest-growing companies and world leader in the production of these goods.

Peter Behrens was then commissioned to design the AEG trademark after doing an excellent work of enhancing and streamlining their lamps (form follows function).  Behrens’ creativity in creating a corporate identity, from logos, advertising material, and company publications with a consistent, unified design. Thus corporate design went on to become a basic element of the philosophy of an industrial company and its brands.

It is very eye-opening to learn that a simple standardization of creating a corporate identity leads to a full branding experience now. Today, the idea of an artist designing commercial, mass-produced objects or housewares is very common. Product lines with major retailers like Giant and Ikea, and as consumers, we are conditioned to look for names and labels. We associate labels with a standard of design and quality, and our fundamental reliance on “name brands” simplifies the daily shopping experience. On the other hand, there’s also a movement “no-brand”, Muji style which could be opposing to a recognizable brand. A food for thought?

 

Typography Reflection I

What captivated and intrigued me the most from the lecture was the Book of Kells. I first learned about it during art history, it is an illuminated manuscript from the 9th century. The Book of Kells is lavishly decorated with intricate details covered in precious materials such as gold leaf and lapis lazuli.

The discovery of it being a major part of typography such as having ascenders and descenders, lower letter case form, use of spaces and punctuation marks. It is also interesting to note that the insular majuscule script appears to be works of at least three different scribes. It must be tiring to write all those 340 folios alone…

My mini takeaway from this would be that the history of typography and design are implemented everywhere around us inspired from the past. The evolution of font and type from the start of petroglyphs, Phoenician language to the current alphabets we use today. Inspired by what the future design brings and what we can be a part of.