Field Journal #10

Is the digital age improving graphing design?  Gosh, what a question.  For the most part, that answer is "yes," since the internet has made people think more broadly about the World and the people in it.
But is there anything lost in translation? Perhaps the fact that less materials are needed for computer design with a tablet, stylus and mouse than what you would need for your standard low-tech collage.
I have always thought that most of one's art inspiration in this world comes from the "real world--" outside your computer screen or whatever you see in person, rather than the media you consume on screen. I feel this is mostly because I just find it sometimes hard to be creative in front of small computer screen more than to be creative with a group of people in front of an enormous piece of paper.

With the digital age also comes a more speedy way of thinking in advertising, shows, movies, and games throughout.  For instance, now that some people are able to make a little movie of a green giant squirrel riding a robotic shark in outer space without actually taming any animals, making costumes or needing a stage set, viewers expect less "normal" things to happen all at once in their media.  While this means faster, more unique media for the viewer, this can also make certain potential designers, inventors or artists worry that all the "slower or more down-to-earth stories and ideas" are already done and kaput.
The picture you see on the right is actually a collage I made in Photoshop in 2008 for my high school English class, "A Bird's Eye View of AirSpace One" based on themes and excerpts from Orson Welles' novel 1984.  While some people could imagine making this piece out of cut-up magazines, airbrushes, and overlaying type, I certainly couldn't: I would have had a worse time making this piece if it weren't for Adobe Photoshop, and that's just the way I liked it.

Field Journal #9: Using symbols

Symbols are very common in literature, art, stories, motion pictures, and graphic design. When I say symbols, I don't just mean logos or pictographs: I mean symbols such as famous people, common everyday objects, flags, letters, and other things relating to a cause or meaning.  Often times, it is difficult to make a work of art or a poster if you don't have a good symbol to represent the cause. In fact, sometimes the meaning is forced.  For example, what if a Hello Kitty face logo actually meant "danger" on another life-filled planet?  Also, one should keep in mind that the Swastika used by the Nazi Party of the Third Reich was originally (and still is) a sign of good luck in Hindu and Buddhist communities; in fact, it was once popular all over America as well for a sign of good luck.
So yes, it turns out, people and characters like Che Guevara, Mickey Mouse, Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, and so forth, can be symbols as well.  This is evident in the contemporary word art piece featuring Albert Einstein, "Einstein secret: Find the Hidden Numbers" on the left by Juan Osborne.  Einstein in this case is a symbol of unbridled knowledge, innovation and curiousity.
On the right shows a strange use of such symbols, in 1982 by the graphic artist collective group called Grapus. It shows the "Have a Nice Day" smiley, however it has Mickey Mouse ears, a bullseye for a right eye, a hammer and sickle for the left eye, what appears to be Hitler's moustache and haircut, and finally the smiley is eating an arrow-shaped sign that says "Expo," likely referring to the World's Fair.  This image invokes so many messages at once and contradicts itself, and confuses the viewer profoundly.  This image has so much parody that it is actually a farce.

Field Journal #8: Logo Evolution

For the most part, it turns out the more popular your company is, the more you can get away with your logo being simple.  However, even if your logo or company or cause isn't popular, it should still be memorable and perhaps even "catchy."
Before the 1930's logos were more complex therefore harder to remember, yet still trying their best to be trademarks.  Trademarks in virtually any language often involved ligatures of letters or characters in the name.  However these were not always easy to distinguish immediately, since they were systematic than they were trying to form an unusual unique identity, like today's logos.

As it turns out, it is very common for a first logo to be harder to comprehend then later versions, as evident with these Nokia and Apple logo as seen here.  Nokia went from a fish-oriented seal-style logo to a simple font.  Apple started with a logo that looked like a well-drawn comic panel in the early 1976, but later that year went for a more simplistic approach with literally a rainbow apple.  Apple's old logo is proof that it doesn't have to before the 1930's to have a sluggish standard for design.  Nokia's logo is proof that larger corporations can easily get away with simpler, perhaps minimalist logos with that of less popular companies.

Field Journal #7: Average Joe Aesthetics

Herbert Matter's works are something I very easily sympathize with.  The fact that photography blending in with type, let alone via angles and so forth, was hardly even practiced before-hand blows my mind.  The angles of the text making the it blend with the picture is quite excellent. The work on the left here is Herbert Matter's 1934 piece for Swiss tourism.  In fact in this piece there are actually quite many elements that make it all come together: the recolored photo of the person with the ski hat, the illustrated elements (ie the mountains, the skiers, the symbols similar to the Swiss flag), the minimal colors aside from the photo used; and the text, rotated to smoothly contrast against the skiers and the mountain, giving a feeling of functionality.  The mentality of the poster is either "anyone should go to Switzerland and ski," or "Switzerland is the has the best places to ski." Something like that. Whatever the case is, the picture displays a simple but well-defined approach to graphic design that would make anyone interested. It certainly caught my attention!
Nowadays, we get these picture-and-text "internet memes," which are evidently not as revolutionary, but they do go back to the modernist ideal concept of appealing to one's "average joe" audience. They are usually used more for humor and personal enjoyment than for advertising.

Field Journa l#6: Cigarette Ads

As it turns out, the first Plakatstil graphic designer Lucian Berhard worked a number of times for matchstick and cigar companies. His debut was in making a poster for Priester matchsticks for a contest and winning in 1905. He later went on to work for Manoli cigarettes in 1910. He made many, many advertisements for Manoli.
Up until the late 20th century, cigarette advertising was one of the most profitable businesses! This was mostly because in the 1950's smoking was incredibly popular.
Many cartoon characters were seen smoking. Fred Flinstone had a cigarette ad, himself. Wolverine is known for smoking cigars. In the 1950's, pseudo-3d techniques were sometimes employed in ads. They were seen in movie theaters, commercial breaks for popular TV shows,
Joe the Camel is an example of cigarette advertising being so profitable that it is actually quite delusional: in order to make more money, they target a younger smoking crowd. Unfortunately many of these "young smokers" or "potential young smokers" might be too young, plus they may find the character too appealing for their own good.
It is partially because of Joe the Camel, "Cool" ads and many other delusional advertising campaigns, -- not just the fact that smoking is plain bad for you -- that America has realized that it needs to cut back on smoking ads, perhaps even making it harder to be a smoker in America.

Field Journal # 5

The Japanese Ukiyo-e influence was the greatest influences in Art Nouveau. Thanks to Art Nouveau, the simplistic but stylish approach to graphic design is still evolving in our media to this day. Art Nouveau was a pivotal factor in simplifying a good portion of graphic styles. Of course, this was being worked on before, but still: Art Nouveau made Victorian style look overly complex, hard-to-understand, and lavish in comparison. While Victorian was more about a focus on realism, Art Nouveau and everything after it represented the importance of being eye-catching. Without Art Nouveau, the fantastic place we are today in the looks of graphic design would be less exciting, with less instantly memorable logos, less flashy advertising, and so forth. After all, Art Nouveau brought us the General Elecctric logo, which still today survives.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is a great example of a figure who represented Art Nouveau, as he used simple colors and line qualities on his posters, but he never failed to deliver attractive graphics. To make things more interesting, his "regular paintings" were much more detailed, well-painted post-impressionist paintings. He made life look very theatrical, authentic and dramatic, without having to make it super-realistic.
One of my favorite works from Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is still "La Tournée du Chat Noir," due to it's being a well-shaped cat, mysticism in the grey lines on top of black, great use of shapes in general, fun letters, and so forth. My sister saw the original in Europe; I wish I was there.
- EBEN S.

Field Journal # 4: Political Cartoooning

As photography advanced to the point that it could be used regularly, drawing for news was quickly pushed to concern the realms of farce and fiction. However all hope was not lost!
Thomas Nast is a person I find quite fascinating. He revitalized drawing for news by converting his complex, highly truthful style -- which won Harper's New Monthly Magazine many viewers during the American Civil War-- into a somewhat simpler style which incorporated satire and symbolic characters that survive today. These characters include Uncle Sam, Santa Claus, and the Democratic Donkey and Republican Elephant.

Thomas Nast helped really start the world of editorial cartooning and comics. Without him, drawing would be stuck in the sector of children's books and fiction for a great deal longer. 
I have found that political cartoons are a particularly appealing way of expressing one's feelings about current events and politics.  It provides a more "fun" way to look at such things, perhaps "cartoons for adults."
I find it rather tragic, however, that Thomas Nast died of yellow fever when he arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador in December 7th 1902 after President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him consul of said place in Ecuador in his honor.