Further Research
After reading through the first part of the course, I researched the terms in more depth to increase my understanding. I found this very beneficial. I intend to read further about semiotics in particular as I found this quite tricky to get my head around.
18th and 19th centuries – Industrial Revolution
Mass migration from rural to urban areas > creation of industrial cities/mass production/more goods and commodities/growing population.
Growing market for design/developments in printing.
Industrial Revolution had major social, economic and environmental impacts.
Increased rates of literacy – growth in books, magazines and newspapers.
Arts & Craft Movement (1880) – founded by William Morris. Opposed mass production – called for a return to traditional craftsmanship.
V&A – The Arts & Crafts Movement
Art Nouveau (1890s – 1905) – architecture and design based on curved, natural lines and shapes.
Tate – Art Terms – Art Nouveau
Futurism (1909 – late 1920s) – Italian group of artists celebrating industry, machinery, modernity – movement/energy/violence. Not interested in the past. Influenced by Cubism and Neo-Impressionism
Dada (1916 – 1924) – reaction to WWI. Critical/Satirical. Duchamp, Arp, Picabia, Schwitters.
Constructivism (1915 – late 1930s) – Russian. Founded by Tatlin, Rodchenko. Replaced composition with construction. Abstract/industrial – reflection of modern world.
Tate – Art Terms – Constructivism
The Art Story – Constructivism
Avant Garde (1850s to present day) – new ideas challenging the accepted norms of society.
Tate – Art Terms – Avant Garde
Bauhaus (1919 – 1933) – art school founded by German architect Walter Gropius, wanted to unify all art forms. Form follows function – modernist, simplified forms, design for the every day.
Art Deco (1920s-1930s) – influenced by many different sources, e.g. natural forms from Art Nouveau. Modernist.
V&A – Introduction to Art Deco
International Typographic Style (1950s) – Swiss. Emphasis on clean, readability, objectivity, simplicity, order and rationality. Use of grids, sans-serif typeface, asymmetrical layout and text flush-left, aligned-right.
History of Graphic Design – The International Typographic Style
Pop Art (1950s-1960s) – British and American. Revolt against ‘what art should be’. Young people could not relate to art taught in schools/shown in museums. Coincided with ‘creation’ of the teenager/youth culture. Used graphic design and packaging.
Counterculture (1960s) – civil rights, Feminism, environmentalism, anti-war protests. ‘First Things First Manifesto’ – called on designers to use their skills for worthwhile causes rather than supporting consumerism.
Design is History – First Things First
Semiotics (particularly Roland Barthes – late 1960s) – study of signs (words/sounds/body language/visual signs/drawings/paintings/photography). The role of signs as part of social life. Investigates the nature of signs and laws governing them. Refers to anything which ‘stands for something else’.
Meaning is not transmitted to us, we actively create it according to complex interplay of codes or conventions of which we are normally unaware.
Semiotics for Beginners: Introduction
Deconstruction (Jacques Derrida – late 1960s) – A meaning is not fixed – signs always have different meanings than that which was intended. People are not in control of their interpretations.
Harwood, J. (2010). Philosophy A Beginner’s Guide to the Ideas of 100 Great Thinkers. London: Quercus. p184.
Postmodernism (term first used about 1970 – present) – reaction against Modernism. Influenced by philosophy of the time (such as Barthes and Derrida). Not one particular style. Questioned reason and universal truths. Often used humour.
Tate – Art Terms – Postmodernism
First Things First Manifesto 2000 version
