A Cultural Movement in Graphic Design - Article Example

Punk and Dada Manifestation in Graphic Design Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Instructor’s Name Course Date of Submission Punk and Dada Manifestation in Graphic Design Punk refers to an American graphic style that started in the 1970s and exemplified a youthful attempt to rebel1. The style was a clear appearance of postmodernism where imagery commonly contended with comic book art. It was started in between 1974 to 1976 and began as a music movement that forged its way into fashion and graphic design2. For some individuals, punk carried on to develop into a lifestyle, deeply rooted in an anti-corporate ethic of “do-it-yourself.3” Dada refers to a cultural movement in graphic design, visual arts, theatre, literature, and art theory that concentrated on anti-war politics. Data originated from Zurich, Switzerland about 1916 and progressed into the 1920s4. The main goal of the Dada movement, also referred to as Dadaism, was to achieve total liberty: intellectual, moral, and social5. Despite the fact that these two movements originated from different countries and were started in different years, their approaches and ideas towards design share many similarities. The purpose of this paper is to highlight a number of the main similarities between the designs, ideologies, and influences of the two movements. Both Punk and Dada came into existence because people were trying to object their then society and as a means of expressing these frustrations and opinions. This paper will also evaluate several of the design techniques and strategies which are used by Punk and Dada movements, such as the photomontage or collage techniques, the use of unconventional typography, and outrageous and shocking approaches. The Dada and Punk movements resulted as a reaction against the societies in which they were started. In the course of World War 1, Zurich was a safe place or hideout for many individuals who were making an effort to escape the war. People who were going to Zurich included several intellectuals, writers, designers, and artist, especially those of German and French descent6. The artist who gathered there shared a common opinion that the war was senseless and destructive, and these were the ones who initiated the Dada movement. A number of these artists were in a state of confusion and worried that the society had permitted the war to occur and hence, they employed their art skills to give an expression of their feelings as a way of protesting against senseless society and governments7. In connection with this protest, Dadaist refused to acknowledge the traditional and rationality art aesthetics8. The Punk movement was also started as a way of expressing objections to the society. The mainstream society was mainly concerned with consumerism and the future offered little or no hope because unemployment for the youths was very high, and many governments were in a recession. At the time, the youths were made up they mind to disentangle themselves from the monotony of daily routine9. They refused to be tied to the expectations and restrictions of the society, and Punk was formed as a result of this rebel attitude. The Punk movement provided excitement in the form of acceptance and anarchism for individuals who were excluded from the mainstream society. There existed a do-it-yourself attitude, which was used not only to fanzines and music, but may well be any number of additional events, objects, and forms and ideas of community and political action10. The main goal of both Dada and Punk was to alter the attitudes of their various societies, and this was manifested in the designs of both movements. They used a number of similar design methods to call forth their audiences in order to accomplish their objectives. One of the main characteristics that were shared by the Punk and Dada movements was the shock factor, which refers to making an effort to force to move away from complacency and engage them in questioning things. One of the major leaders of the Dadaism was Hannah Hoch. She was a famous German artist and was among the pioneers of the Dada movement. Her best work remains the renowned Cut with The Kitchen Knife (See Figure 1), which is one of her largest collages. She is well-known for her incisively political photomontage and collage works11. The artist used beer and kitchen knife to indicate that that piece of work was a social commentary regarding gender issues in post war Germany1213. Figure 1: Hannah Hoch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the First Epoch of the Weimar Beer-Belly Culture, 1919 To offend and provoke was also the intentional objective of Jamie Reid, who was a famous Punk designer. He was the main visual imagery or designer for ‘The Sex Pistols’ band, a typical example of the Punk music band14. The poster design by Reid for the Sex Pistol band’s single titled Never Mind the Bollocks (1977) is one of his four notable examples of his work (See Figure 2). Just like his other works, Never Mind the Bollocks was influenced by the Dada movement, the photographic collages15. Reid places visual strength on typography. The artistic, visual and social influence of this work was much longer and productive than the Punk movement itself. Punk represented a cultural revolution more than a music style16. Figure 2: Jamie Reid, Never Mind the Bollocks, Album Cover, 1977, lithographic proof print with overlay and collage. A number of the artworks from the Punk and Dada eras involved elements of found objects, images or familiar artworks. The photomontage technique, which was formulated by the Dadaist group from Berlin, concerned pasting items from reproductions or photographs obtained from the press. The mass media offered numerous materials that were used by the Dadaist to mount art of society and traditional art17. Hannah Hoch used photomontage to create the Cut with The Kitchen Knife image. The design of her image is a controversial and cynical representation of the heavy handed and bloated nature of the male dominated German military and Weimer republic. She cut out pieces of text and images found in journals, newspaper, advertisements, and magazines. She then cautiously pieced all the clippings together in a manner that made sense to her and as she perceived suitably served her intention of critical evaluation. Shocking and dramatic and mismatched letters typography of Dada had a strong influence on the work of Jamie Reid18. Reid used this design style in the Never Mind the Bollocks poster for the Sex Pistol band. The do-it-yourself attitude associated with Punk implied that designers kept away from using production equipment in their designs and rather used inexpensive and accessible devices such as hand lettering, found type, photocopiers, and typewriters19. In both Dada and Punk eras, type was arranged in confusing and chaotic way. Artists would frequently set type vertically, horizontally, and diagonally and experiment with letter spacing and line spacing to the verge of illegibility. The chaotic use of type was a means of protesting against the mainstream society because it was the mainstream society that had developed typographic rules and standardized them. Both the Punk and Dada movements were influenced by the society because their propagators were objecting some societal rules. Dadaists were opposed to the war, which they did not understand it, and hence, they made up their mind to ignore all the rules, including art rules. This contributed to the development of innovative and exceedingly original design techniques. On the other hand, the Punk movement was opposed to the societal life that concentrated on consumerism. It had an anarchic do-it-yourself ethic which, together with motivation from Dadaism, developed shocking and chaotic designs. Both Punk and Dada movements used the shock factor to evoke reactions from the mainstream society. Both movements used the photomontage techniques, in which they used everyday items, media pieces, and photos in their designs. The typography of both eras was also similar, which refused to acknowledge all the traditional typographic rules and mixed sizes and styles of type, combining the type of different angles, and experimenting with line and letter spacing. In a nutshell, the ideas and designs of both Punk and Dada movements are similar in a number of ways despite the fact that the two movements took place several decades apart. Bibliography Read More

The Punk movement provided excitement in the form of acceptance and anarchism for individuals who were excluded from the mainstream society. There existed a do-it-yourself attitude, which was used not only to fanzines and music, but may well be any number of additional events, objects, and forms and ideas of community and political action10. The main goal of both Dada and Punk was to alter the attitudes of their various societies, and this was manifested in the designs of both movements. They used a number of similar design methods to call forth their audiences in order to accomplish their objectives.

One of the main characteristics that were shared by the Punk and Dada movements was the shock factor, which refers to making an effort to force to move away from complacency and engage them in questioning things. One of the major leaders of the Dadaism was Hannah Hoch. She was a famous German artist and was among the pioneers of the Dada movement. Her best work remains the renowned Cut with The Kitchen Knife (See Figure 1), which is one of her largest collages. She is well-known for her incisively political photomontage and collage works11.

The artist used beer and kitchen knife to indicate that that piece of work was a social commentary regarding gender issues in post war Germany1213. Figure 1: Hannah Hoch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the First Epoch of the Weimar Beer-Belly Culture, 1919 To offend and provoke was also the intentional objective of Jamie Reid, who was a famous Punk designer. He was the main visual imagery or designer for ‘The Sex Pistols’ band, a typical example of the Punk music band14. The poster design by Reid for the Sex Pistol band’s single titled Never Mind the Bollocks (1977) is one of his four notable examples of his work (See Figure 2).

Just like his other works, Never Mind the Bollocks was influenced by the Dada movement, the photographic collages15. Reid places visual strength on typography. The artistic, visual and social influence of this work was much longer and productive than the Punk movement itself. Punk represented a cultural revolution more than a music style16. Figure 2: Jamie Reid, Never Mind the Bollocks, Album Cover, 1977, lithographic proof print with overlay and collage. A number of the artworks from the Punk and Dada eras involved elements of found objects, images or familiar artworks.

The photomontage technique, which was formulated by the Dadaist group from Berlin, concerned pasting items from reproductions or photographs obtained from the press. The mass media offered numerous materials that were used by the Dadaist to mount art of society and traditional art17. Hannah Hoch used photomontage to create the Cut with The Kitchen Knife image. The design of her image is a controversial and cynical representation of the heavy handed and bloated nature of the male dominated German military and Weimer republic.

She cut out pieces of text and images found in journals, newspaper, advertisements, and magazines. She then cautiously pieced all the clippings together in a manner that made sense to her and as she perceived suitably served her intention of critical evaluation. Shocking and dramatic and mismatched letters typography of Dada had a strong influence on the work of Jamie Reid18. Reid used this design style in the Never Mind the Bollocks poster for the Sex Pistol band. The do-it-yourself attitude associated with Punk implied that designers kept away from using production equipment in their designs and rather used inexpensive and accessible devices such as hand lettering, found type, photocopiers, and typewriters19.

In both Dada and Punk eras, type was arranged in confusing and chaotic way. Artists would frequently set type vertically, horizontally, and diagonally and experiment with letter spacing and line spacing to the verge of illegibility. The chaotic use of type was a means of protesting against the mainstream society because it was the mainstream society that had developed typographic rules and standardized them.

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