Week 14

9th JUNE 2011

our last class for DESIGN HISTORY

Last class for Semester 1 of Design History, our journal/blogs are due also our Illustrated essays.

**this lesson is our make-up class for Ruth being sick during week 9.

My illustrated essay was about two poster designers Vladimir Mayakovsky russian constructivist and Paul Rand a swiss international style.

In today's society, we expect everything at the snap of our fingers. We've grown up into a world where nothing we think of is ever impossible, a world where you change your mobile as fast as you change your clothes. Modern technology has created a way for what we imagine in our heads, to come to life on a piece of paper, or even on a sky-scraper building, everything we use or see starts from somewhere, an idea, a past fad or even an experience where the creator has been subjectively been influenced. We all know that in the 'Design World' , it all started from the birth of design., after all, every piece of art or design is influenced by its beginnings, from the Victorian Period we got curves, patterns, and architectural elements, in Arts and Crafts we learnt about more natural and organic designs, and so forth. We learn that our inspiration comes from the knowledge of how design started, but what many don't realise is that everything we experience from the day we are born to the day we die influences our work and ideas, not just the beginning; everything. So even though people like William Morris influenced us greatly, designers from the middle or late 20th Century also gave us inspiration and designs which are still scene in todays design world. The best thing about the designers in the mid-late 20th Century is that a lot of work is very different in styles, an example would be Poster Designers, Vladimir Mayakovsky who is a Russian Futurism and Paul Rand a Swiss Designer. They may both be Poster Designer's in the same century, there work are very different in technique and influences.

Vladimir Mayakovsky was a Russian Futurism Designer in the mid 20th Century, born Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky on 19th July 1893, the last child of three children. His family moved to Moscow after the unexpected death of his father, where he studied a lot about Marxist Literature and became active with "The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party". In 1911 he joined the "Moscow Art School" where he met his mentor David Burlyuk a Ukrainian Artist and Illustrator of books, he was considered the father of "Soviet Russian Futurism" -(David Burlyuk Wikipedia paragraph 1)

Mayakovsky worked for "The Russian State Telegraph Agency" where he created his most noted Agitprop poster "Want it? Enter.", Agitprop being the russian term for propaganda.

"I want to be understood by my country, but if I fail to be understood – what then?, I shall pass through my native land to one side, like a shower of slanting rain" - Vladimir Mayakovsky -[http://www.iwise.com/pWrfb]

In Vladimir Mayakovsky's Agitprop Poster "Want it? Enter.", it was used as a propaganda poster. Just like the 'uncle sam' posters, it was used to recruit people into jointing an army or large activist group. On the poster the first block on the left "KHOCHESH? VSTUPI" translate to Do You Want to Join?, it gives the audience a feel like they can make a difference, be more involved in their country, help out for the greater cause and be seen as a hero. The salient colour red is used to symbolise power, blood, fast and also the bright, bold colour attracts people to it. Although the image is mainly red and black on a off white paper, there is a little hint o yellow, another salient colour in the third box. The simple imagery in the four boxes were used, for people to notice it and understand the message fast, and not struggle to understand it. As you know, Mayacovsky was not only a designer but a very well-known poet this helped him with making the words on the poster flow together, 'Kholod" and "Golod" in Russian mean coldness and hunger, when spoken the two words rhymed. [KHOLOD, GOLOD] Just like other designers in his movement, a lot of his work was very geometrical, clean and included red, black and white which were colours associated with power; The Russian (Soviet Union).

TRANSLATION - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plakat_mayakowski_gross.jpg]

KHOCHESH? VSTUPI -

1. Khochesh poborot' Kholod?

2. Khochesh poborot' Golod?

3. Khochesh est'?

4. Khochesh pit?

Speshi v udarnuyu gruppu

Obraztsovago truda vstupit'/

Narkompros ROSTA N. ...Transliteration:

DO YOU WANT TO? JOIN

1. Do you want to conquer coldness?

2. Do you want to conquer hunger?

3. Do you want to eat?

4. Do you want to drink?

Hurry up to join the strike team of exemplary labor.

Narkompros, ROSTA no. ....

Paul Rand was was an American Graphic Designer who was one of the few people who started the "Swiss Style" also known as "The International Typographic Style". Born 15th August 1914 as Peretz Rosenburg, he studied at many well known Schools such as Parsons The New School for Design and The Art Students League. You could say Brand was always interested in the design world, although his parents disagreed with art, he read many books, magazines about art and their artists. from the magazines he learnt about the different styles of art such as, Bauhaus, Art Deco, Constructivism, Futurism and etc. From learning about all these different styles he loosely based his work on it, and making a style which later became known as "Swiss Style". 

Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations 

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/simplicity-is-not-the-goal-it-is-the-by-product/388624.html

Paul Rand's idea about design was about how there should be an equal balance between the use of asymmetrical shapes and spacing. He believed that it didn't matter how much you put on the page along as it showed the meaning it's trying to give or sell wit its colours, shapes, and modern look. As one of the original designers who started the Swiss Style, he said the combination of having the words on a poster not just be added onto the poster last, but better yet making the words apart of the imagery. This would send out the idea that it was dynamic and 'fresh', different to other posters therefore making it a great tool for Advertising companies. Paul Brands work was very bright and lively, grabbing the attention of so many people that may be the reason why he was a hit in the advertising world, with his modern, innovative corporate logos, and his bright and exciting advertising posters.  Rand's designed a New york Subways Advertising Company Poster in 1947, the poster was used only primary colours with shades of green and the rectangle and circle shapes, creating a new innovative and inspiring type of design. The main design in the poster looks as if it is a continuous target, as if to say that with the company you will always hit the target. The bright primary colours made it look simple yet filled out the page at the same time, the target-style circles show motion in her poster which symbolises with the train moving. Paul Rand's work has always been highly acknowledged, after all although many of the logos he has designed are decades old, they are still used internationally around the world, it seems his corporate logo designs we too good to be replaced.

The year is now 2011, we are now in the millennium where everything is developing at the speed of light. The world is a very different place compared to a century ago. We wouldn't be who we are today if it weren't for scientists like Einstein, musicians like Elvis Presley, and the inventor of Apple Steve Jobs. However it's not always about the big names, but also those who influence the younger generation today, after all they are the ones leading the future. Poster Designers Vladimir Mayakovsky and Paul Brand may be from different movements one Russian Constructivist and one "International Typographic Style", they influence a lot of the designs we see today. From the commercials we see on television flashing repetitive rectangle shapes in bright, bold colours, to the radio blaring out 'A SALE NEVER TO BE MISSED, this is your only chance…' propaganda. Lets face it, everything we see or do influences how we design and picture the world to be like, they may not be as famous as Classical Artists Picasso and Matisse but that doesn't mean they're not famous or well-known at all. Vladimir Mayakovsky work was a designer who told the audience what to do an believe, where as Paul Brand believed the poster should appeal to it's audience so that they can interpret the message themselves, a simple and clean message. Although the two styles of design are very different, they both send their message out to their audiences through the Poster Designs.

REFERENCE

http://gds.parkland.edu/gds/!lectures/history/1950/swiss.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Mayakovsky

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/majakovs.htm

http://www.lifeclever.com/paul-rand-thoughts-and-despair-on-logo-design

http://artandthis.typepad.com/art_and_this/2009/06/mark-danceys-graphics-and-russian-constructivism-.html

http://www.moma.org/collection/details.php?theme_id=10955&displayall=1#skipToContent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(art)

http://www.paul-rand.com/site/biography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rand

http://beatwicki.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/paul-rand/

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/drawing-a-blank-russian-constructivist-makes-late-tate-debut-1516801.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agitprop

http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1972/?id=300

http://www.logodesignlove.com/all-about-paul-rand

http://www.artbook.com/1890761036.html

total word count 1 467 words [excluding reference page + title page]