International Modernism - Essay Example

International Modernism and Section The designer and the art director are one of the mutually intertwined positions in the graphic design and advertising world. The other sets the tone, while the other executes. But was there a time that the other position went on without the help of the other In the 1930's, it was the art directors who sets the tone of the graphic design and they do this mainly in the advertising and magazine layout (Hollis, year of book publication). A designer's main task is to provide an image that will represent the magazine's content based on the tone set by the director. That design shall be used throughout the editorial and advertising pages. Each of the magazine issues "had headlines, text columns and the same kind of illustration" (Hollis, yr of book publication, p. 97). The increasing importance of images, then, as an art element in journalism and advertising also raised the degree of participation of an art director because their reproduction and the layout as a whole became his/her responsibility (Hollis, yr of publication). Raizman (year of publication, p.98) characterized the work of an artist/designer as something that had to embody the magazine's content, while the work of an art director, which is the "artifice behind the elegance of the image, the attention to every detail so that it contributed to the total effect" has to be concealed. An art director during those times himself even added that directors plan, co-ordinates and rehearses but does not perform in public. Public performances are left to designers to create cover illustrations in traditional methods. This was exemplified in the works of designer Norman Rockwell for the Saturday Evening Post from the time of the First World War to the 1960's (Hollis, yr of publication). As an antidote to the hardships of the World War years and the impersonal modernity of factory and city, Rockwell created colored illustrations that presented a variety of familiar themes drawn from common middle-class experience, frequently related to seasonal activities and holidays. His idea is to create a sense of community and comfort provided by the family and neighborhood by using common experiences and techniques of naturalistic illustrations to communicate those values (Raizman, year of publication). One of the best examples is the Post's cover in November of 1933 where a young mother is seen spanking a child in his belly on a chair. The story is clearly and simply told. The child broke a piece of decorative chinaware which led the mother to resort to a traditional form of punishment but only while holding a psychology book that has guided her actions. In his attempt to experiment with more expressionistic approach to painting, he created illustrations of a festive family meal, which is one of four from a series entitled "The Four Freedoms" (Raizman, year of publication, p.226). The illustrations make the reader more comfortable with some of the discomforting information that threatens our confidence in dealing with everyday existence. The Great Economic Crash in 1929 led businesses to formulate designs in order to sell their products. Many advertising executives believed that the purpose of advertisements is to gun for sales and "that the reference to individual artists or works of art focused attention upon the ad as an 'object' rather than the vehicle of promoting a product" (Raizman, year of publication, p.225). Art directors and consultants Art directors and consultants from the advertising industry recognized the importance of images in selling the products, but limited the images to be illustrated to familiar and recognizable images that could be easily grasped by the public rather than abstract ones. Art directors let illustrators and designers accomplish this task with the idea of creating images with which the buyers can easily identify and directly connect to the products. However, because of this imposition by the art directors, the artists felt thoroughly constrained. On one hand it provided steady and lucrative market for their work, while on the other it impedes free flowing of thoughts and idea which could lead to stale repetitions of representations. In addition, business also stimulated what is called Information Design. Pharmaceutical companies used charts, maps and diagrams in promotional leaflets. Fortune magazine, a monthly business publication, used sophisticated illustrations and paintings, often by leftist artists including Leger, Diego Rivera and Ben Shahn (Hollis, year of publication). The advent of photography in graphic design has led to a breakthrough. Even earlier in the 1930's, many art directors turned to photographic reproduction due to its "sense of objective truth, immediacy and visual impact" (Raizman, year of publication, p.228). Magazines relied on photographs to reach an expanding readership by making products irresistible. Charles Sheeler produced a series of photographs for Ford Motors River Rouge facility which intentionally to communicate the opulence of the machine-dominated environment. Historians, however, noted that humans, as factory workers, are completely absent in the picture or besieged by the power of machinery. This, in turn, has effectively translated the interests of large corporations - to communicate the idea that mechanization means power for the industry. The photograph has largely replaced drawn illustration, with the increased influence of the art director, through manipulation (Hollis, year of publication). Through photography, the pages of magazines and other monthly publications has blurred the lines between advertising and the art. European-trained artists have started overseeing art direction in American publications, which gave "self-consciously modern, integrated presentation of photography, text and titles in the late 1920's" (Raizman, p.229). The roles of designers have stepped up in the advertising world in the following decades (1940's to 1960's). There was an increased participation of designers in business communications among corporations, customers and with the company itself (Hollis, year of publication). Likewise, hiring of designers by businesses and industries is increasing. The designer's evolution in the industrial process was highlighted by the changes in print technology. Hollis (year of publication) described the advantage of designers with the breakthrough in print technology: In all types of printing, letterpress was giving way to lithography. Many fewer words were transferred to paper direct from metal type. The designer still gave the printer instructions for typesetting but the proofs were often cut and pasted in position in the studio, ready to be photographed to make the printing plate, rather than assembled in the printer's composing room. This gave the designer greater control. New materials made it possible to for the designer to add tone to the design in the form of dots, and the use of photostats, a simple technique for enlarging and reducing images, allowed designers to experiment with changes of scale, negative and positive, and type reversed as white out of solid black. Simply put, the developments in the print technology gave designers their much needed freedom in "manipulating" their own work. Through this, the designers can easily modify their designs to fit the tone set by the art directors. Aside from the developments in technology, designers have gained more power with their increasing importance to companies due to corporate imagery. According to Hollis (year of publication, p. 126), "(William) Golden had said that corporate image meant the total impression a company makes on the public through its products, its policies, its actions, and its advertising efforts". This started out with designers working closely on how to provide information about a company and its products, while giving it an striking look that will make an impression to consumers. Ladislav Sutnar had worked at Sweet's Catalogue Service since 1941, which supplied industry with information on products. Sutnar argued not only for more factual information but also to provide a better presentation, "with the visual clarity and precision gained through patterns capable of transmitting a flow of information" (Hollis, year of publication, p.118). Sutnar's work was even followed by demands for trademarks and the standardization of graphics throughout a company. Paul Rand did the IBM logo which became the company's basic unifying element that ties all IBM printed material together. Because of the vastness of the company, the usage of the logo alone has enabled the company to produce a huge loose-leaf binder that enumerates simple rules. The guide was the first of such manuals that are regarded as necessary to a corporate design program (Hollis, year of publication). CBS Television implemented the earliest total integration of advertising with corporate identity. Through its art director, it used an eye for the company's trademark By the mid-1960's, the only real difference between products was the way in which customers perceive the products. One product can be distinguished from another only by the image it projected. Designers and art directors are in a very powerful standing to influence a company's position. The 1930's showed that art directors take the lead in the graphic design and advertising world and the designers follow. However, thanks to changes in technology and the corporate scenario in the decades that followed, the designers had their chances on being in the forefront. References Hollis, R. (year of publication). Graphic Design, A Concise History. Place of Publication: Company Publisher. Raizman, D. (year of publication). History of Modern Design. Place of publication: Company Publisher. Read More