NEED:

 

Photoshop basics worksheet

 

drawing in illustrator worksheet

 

 

Lecture 1

Introductions,  Going over syllabus, hearing from students- 20 min.

 

What is Graphic Design

AIGA 'Career Guide'

Wiki Entry on Graphic Design

 

Historical Overview

 

Woodblock an movable type printing - as early as 220 - developed in east asia

relief techniques

 

Gutenbergs Printing Press - 15th century

what were some probable social effects of printing press - question to class

 

Lithographs

Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in Bohemia in 1796. In the early days of lithography, a smooth piece of limestone was used (hence the name "lithography"—"lithos" (λιθος) is the ancient Greek word for stone). After the oil-based image was put on the surface, a solution of gum arabic in water, was applied, the gum sticking only to the non-oily surface. During printing, water adhered to the gum arabic surfaces and avoided the oily parts, while the oily ink used for printing did the opposite.

1820s - photography invented

 

Dagguerotypes - 1839

While the daguerreotype was not the first photographic process to be invented, earlier processes required hours for successful exposure, which made daguerreotype the first commercially viable photographic process and the first to permanently record and fix an image with exposure time compatible with portrait photography.

 

1760-1840 - Industrial Revolution

 

Vitorian Era - named after queen victoria

era of grandness and often contradiction

introduction of photography

gas lights & heat, then electric lights

known for child labor

known for poor & hazardous hygiene

introduction of sewage systems

significant because it marks the birth of  consumer culture & rise of advertising (1850s on)

 

founding of term 'graphic designer' - Dwiggins - not until 1922

 

Tools of graphic designers

 

Terms - Comps

Thumbnail sketches

paste-ups / mock-ups

learning curve

 

Practical stuff

logging in to computers

setting up a folder on the H drive

email list

setup for blogging

 

 

Lecture 2

 

 

 

signs and symbols presentation

Pictograms

These images represent an idea or concept. Chinese is a written language comprised of 50,000 pictograms.

Pictograms are useful for conveying information through a common "visual language" which is understood regardless of your native language or degree of literacy.

Phonograms

A Phonogram is a graphic character or symbol that represent a spoken sound, or a combination of letters that represent a sound.

Rebus

Picture images that represent a spoken sound. The rebus, which is mostly used for amusement today, was an important link in the development of the phonetic alphabet during the period of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

(Milton Glaser)

Ideogram

An ideogram is a character or symbol representing an idea or a thing without expressing the pronunciation of a particular word or words for it.

 

Coat of Arms & Family Crest

Originally signifiers of birth or hometown, coats of arms were worn on the crest of a helmet or chest armor for identity in battle.

As the image was moved to other objects it first retained the helmet as part of the composition (see above where the deer stands)Eventually the image moved off of the helmet and chest plate and onto banners, dinnerware, etc.

Now they appear on item including automobiles, web sites, or any application that wishes to imply regal lineage or status.

 

Monogram

Greek for 'single line.' In early European kingdoms illiterate monarchs signed documents with custom monograms. Today a designer's monogram can add status to an everyday object and add value to the price.

 

Trademarks

During the Middle Ages European trade guilds began using marks to signify who made a specific product. The term "hallmark" came from the marks by artisans in the guild silver "hall" in London. Terms such as ear mark and branding orginally come from farmers estalishing ownership of their animals.

The Vienna Workshops started in 1903 merging pure and applied arts to combat the poor quality of mass production and in 1913 registered the Weiner Werkstatte trademark. Their mark was applied to furniture, fabrics, lamps, cards, and jewelry to authenticate the high quality of their items. A product could carry both the individual marks of several artists and the Werkstatte studio symbol.

 

 

Logotype

Typography as the symbol form

 

 

Peter Behrens

(1868–1940)

In 1907 Behrens designed this trademark for the German electric company, AEG. It was uniformly applied to all print graphics, buildings and products in the first complete corporate identity scheme.

research methodology

what are the questions we ask ourselves about design?

 

Edward Johnston

In 1916, under the direction of Frank Pick, calligrapher Edward Johnston designed an exclusive typeface for the London Underground which he combined with a redrawing of the logo. It was the first coordinated public signage systems.

 

 

Raymond Lowey

Know as the father of modern industrial design, Lowey also designed many enduring trademarks. What is he trying to say with the Nabisco symbol? (see above).

 

 

Isotypes

International System of Typographic Picture Education

Otto Neurath's 1920's "world language without words" was a pioneer in the field of visualizing information graphically.

 

Gerd Arntz was a

woodcut artist who created the artwork for Neurath's Isotypes. Arntz's clean graphic style set the tone for future symbol designers.

examples

 

Otto Aicher

German

Munich Olympics, 1972

Aicher designed identities for corporations including Lufthansa and Braun. His Olympic symbols

(above) set a new standard for reductionism and clarity in 1972, the era of the "International Style."

 

 

Henry Dreyfuss

Industrial designer Dreyfuss advocated for symbols to replace words on control panels to enhance safety and clarity. In 1972 Dreyfuss and his staff codified and published graphic symbols from throughout the world as a unified frame of reference.

 

AIGA Transportation Symbols Dreyfuss urged the AIGA and the IDSA to convince the US Department of Transportation to implement a well designed system of passenger/pedestrian symbol signs. A committee studied and standardized dozens of symbols which were drawn by Roger Cook & Don Shanosky and offered copyright free to encourage universal adoption. Now offered for free by the AIGA

 

Religious Interpretations

The Red Cross logo, designed in 1963, cannot be used in Muslim countries due to its connotation of Christianity. The red cross with soon be changed to the the red diamond, an acceptable symbol for Christian, Muslim. Jewish and other world religions.

The Red Cross, the Red Crescent ... and now the Red Crystal.

The Red Crystal is a compromise designed to break a deadlock over the admission of Israel as a full member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and would allow countries with mixed populations to replace the cross or crescent with a more neutral symbol.

The compromise plan was discussed during six years of negotiations brokered by the Swiss government. Its adoption requires approval by two-thirds of the 192 signatories to the Geneva Convention. We live in a period where these symbols are taking on very strong connotations and very divisive ones."

Like the designers of euro bank notes, which feature nondescript images of bridges, arches and other monuments, officials at the Red Cross believe that by selecting a symbol devoid of any apparent historical reference, controversy can be avoided."

 

Perception of Skull and Crossbones

"Research indicates that the old skull and crossbones used in the past to identify poisons had little meaning for the children in the 20th century. Pirate symbols have been exploited in movies, cartoons, commercial products and amusement parks to denote happy, exciting things like pirates and adventure.""In a university-conducted testing program, children at daycare centers were shown six symbols which were affixed to identical bottles of mouthwash often found in family homes. The symbols included a red stop sign, the skull and crossbones, and four others.

At the beginning of the test, each child was told that he might find bottles like these at home and was asked to identify any bottle he might not like to play with."

From the Washington Poison Center web site

 

 

Branding / Rebranding

Rebranding is the process by which a product or service developed with one brand, company or product line affiliation is marketed or distributed with a different identity. This may involve radical changes to the brand's logo, brand name, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes. These changes are typically aimed at the repositioning of the brand/company, usually in an attempt to distance itself from certain negative connotations of the previous branding, or to move the brand upmarket.

 

Poland--how a country gets rebranded.

Last year, Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs hired DDB Corporate Profiles, a branch of the global agency DDB, to design a logo that could be used to promote tourism and trade. This summer, the company unveiled its design: a red-and-white kite whose tail is held by a dancing stick figure that doubles as the K in the word ''Polska.'' The Polska lettering is thick, red and curvaceous, a nod to the emblem of the Solidarity movement. The red-and-white design on the kite is a four-square checkered pattern, reminiscent of the emblem on Polish warplanes."A dancing group of people flying a kite with Poland's colors' has taken the place of protesters carrying a bloody flag."

 

Nike  Carolyn Davidson

 

Based upon art student Carolyn's $35 interpretation of the wings of Nike in 1971, the swoosh was once the emblem of youth and athleticism but now has an unfortunate association with corporate greed. But don't blame Carolyn!

stencils

 

Anti-Branding

Black Spot Sneaker Campaign

The world’s first global anti-brand created by Adbusters magazine.

World's most ethical shoes Blackspot campaign was born almost three years ago when we decided to stop merely criticizing the status quo and actually do something about it. It was born on the back of Nike, capturing the attention of the global media as a lively attack on the brand idolatry and sweatshop production methods of that multinational. Encouragingly, over 25,000 people are now wearing Blackspot shoes.

 Nike Considered package from HunterGatherer - http://huntergatherer.net/pages/projects.html

 

Discuss Reading

Space

 

Look at

SWOON

Stencil Archive - space!

 

 

Talk about process of collection - look over blogs

 

technical & practical:

H: drive

posting to the blog

 

Lecture 3

brief history of modern design presentation

questions:

what do you think the relationship between art & design of the avante garde movments related to industrialization and conusmerism

 

 

avante garde

rejection of the idea of art for arts sake

other examples

adbusters

 

 

 

 

technical -

raster vs. vector

example with free downloadable vector