Deconstruction in Graphic Design

Lupton, E, 2008, 'Thinking With Type'

http://www.papress.com/other/thinkingwithtype/resources/TextEssay.pdf


'A classic typographic page emphasizes the completeness and
closure of a work, its authority as a finished product.'

Although it would be logical to say that good typography exists for the purpose of enhancing readability, Lupton observed that in fact the opposite was indeed true, that typography serves to help readers avoid reading. Designers work with typography and layout in order to allow the reader to clearly identify entrance and exit points, as well as clearly navigating the reader through the text in the correct and most efficient way.

A sense of completeness as a piece of work is also delivered by the designer, particularly when regarding printed texts and screen-based text. With printed texts, typography becomes a major concern, and due to this a lot more time and care is put into the process of completing and finishing the work. This in itself generates a certain series of voices for the work, not only that of the author, but also of the designer who arranged the layout, but also of the typographer who designed the typeface(s) used. It is possible to say that one of the main roles of the designer is to give a voice to the text that is characteristic of the author, to represent him or her in the correct way. As a result of this, however, is that there results in very few possible interpretations of the text - the completeness and correctness of it lead to the conclusion of only one possible meaning.

Typography also serves a number of other very useful purposes. The most logical spacing and sizing of a block of text allows the reader to absorb the information at their own pace, and perhaps take in the information in the order that they choose. This can once again be interpreted in one of two ways, on once hand it could be argued that this allows the reader to influence their own interpretation on the text, but on the other, it can also be argued that once again the typographic decisions made only add another voice to the author's text, reducing the possible interpretations to that of the author's own and the designer's input.




Hori, A, 1989, Typography as Discourse

As a piece of typographic design, it is possible to argue that theories of Deconstruction apply heavily to this poster. It certainly conforms to the most common of interpretations of Deconstruction in graphic design, if it were meant to be looked at as a labeling of style or attitude - which in fact it is not - the text is chopped up, layered and transformed in such a way to question typographical norms and standards. It was argued by the philosopher Jacques Derrida that the Western world is governed by opposites, and one of these opposites that he was particularly concerned with was the opposition between speech and writing, stressing the point that writing was in fact an inferior use of language compared to that of speech. This poster seems to be a challenge to that idea, the design decisions made seem to be influenced by such a statement. The arrangement of the type is massively abstracted; it becomes very unclear as to where the eye should be reading first, perhaps leaving room for more interpretation by the reader, something which Derrida argued was missing from normalized typographic styling.

Avant-Garde in Graphic Design.

Translated in English as "Vanguard" or "Advance Guard", applying the term Avant-Garde to Art and Design implies innovative, radical and original work considered to be at the forefront of progression. The movement is very often described as to have begun in the 1850's, yet however the term is usually accredited to Henri de Saint-Simon, one of the forerunners of Socialism, some time earlier on in 1925.

"The notion of the avant-garde enshrines the idea that art should be judged primarily on the quality and originality of the artists vision and ideas."

http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=38

In some ways I very much consider this playing card design by Si Scott to be quite Avant-Garde. It is very progressive in terms of challenging common perceptions of what a playing card should look like, and transforms a very typical household object into something innately valuable and beautiful. It fulfills many of the supposed criteria to become a piece of Avant-Garde design, particularly due to its originality and the seemingly painstaking process that has been undertaken to create what is essentially just a playing card. 

This bit of typography (reading 'Hudson Mohawke) I feel is Avant-Garde in the sense of originality and radicalness. It's legibility and readability are somewhat slightly compromised for the purpose of aesthetics, for the need to implement original and progressive ideas. The notion of using hands and fingers for typography is perhaps nothing new, yet arranging it in the way that is shown is far out of the ordinary, reflective of the music created by Hudson Mohawke.

As far as I can tell, the term 'Avant-Garde' has perhaps been applied to so many styles and ideas that it becomes difficult to pinpoint one particular image as being particularly so. These two images I felt were Avant-Garde in the sense they explore radical, innovative techniques to resolve a particular project, yet then again they have been produced over 150 years since the term arrived, so the influence of digital media (or a rebellion to this) means they may have no ties with the term whatsoever, and perhaps they are simply Art and Design in the Digital age.

Lecture notes...Post Modernism

Characterised by:

- Exhaustion
- Pluralism
- Pessimism
- Disillusionment with the idea of absolute knowledge

The term 'Postmodern' has been used since the 1970's, in order to describe the changes seen to be established in Western society and cultures from 1960's onwards.

'These changes arose from anti-authoritarian challenges to the prevailing orthodoxies across the board.'


http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=230

Post-modernism is particularly seen as a reaction to Modernism as a movement, and may be considered to have begun with the arrival of pop art, and certainly embraced much from other movements such as Conceptual art, Neo-expressionism and Feminism. The designers of the Postmodern movement appear to take themselves far less seriously in reaction to the Modern designers, with far less regard for logical graphic elements such as grids, conforming type, and legible lettering. An element of playfulness is apparent throughout, again seemingly juxtaposing Modernism's strict 'form follows function' attitude.



http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2007/01/20/barney-bubbles-artist-and-designer/

I feel that this design (The Damned, Music for Pleasure, Barney Bubbles, 1977) is a prime example of post-modernism in practice. The spaced out typography at the top of the image is so deliberately abstracted and illegible, in a rebellious sort of way it's as if you had to know exactly what you were searching for. Very anti-authoritarian and underground. A complete disregard for any use of the Modern, logical graphic ideas is perfectly demonstrated as well.



http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2007/01/20/barney-bubbles-artist-and-designer/
(Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Imperial Bedroom - 1982. Also designed by Barney Bubbles)

Another useful example by Barney Bubbles. Again, it is possible to view this as a reaction against Modernism. The type is far more legible this time, but the elements of abstraction and surrealism are still present. There are so many different forms and and colours visible, effectively displaying the playfulness and rebelliousness of Post-modern artists and designers.



i-D magazine cover, Terry Jones, 1980. http://shanny12.wordpress.com/modernism-vs-postmodernism/

This magazine rapidly became an iconic representation of the new-wave and post-modern graphic design aesthetic upon its publication in 1980. The experimental typography and use of heightened, striking colour is symbolic of the expressive design and rebellion against strict constraints that is characteristic of post-modern designers.



Jeffery Keedy - Emigre Type Specimen Series. 2002.

http://shanny12.wordpress.com/modernism-vs-postmodernism/

Another challenging piece of postmodern graphic design. This however seems much more of a direct challenge, as opposed to the last pieces examined; there is slight evidence of a grid structure, yet the illogical aesthetics of the type would suggest a deliberate rebellion against this.

Lecture notes...Modernity and Modernism

Modernism was concerned with pushing boundaries, along the lines of thinking that 'new' is much better than old. This is an obvious result of various large-scale changes and revolutions happening in the world at the beginning of the 20th century and is often considered the birth of the term 'Graphic Design'.

Urbanisation: A shift in society, more and more people begin to up sticks and move from the countryside into the towns and cities with the promise of work and a higher quality of life (trains, shopping facilities, entertainment etc), resulting from industrial and technological advances.

Enlightenment: period in the late eighteenth century when scientific and philosophical thinking experienced massive advancements....electricity, constant water supplies, the invention of psychology as a practise...

One of the earliest stages of this would be the state of Paris at the time of 1850's onwards, a period known as 'Haussmanisation' - new architecture, new fashions, a new way of life, suppose a time when a city really became a city.

Modernism in graphic design was a response to these changes, and was perhaps required to accommodate these changes.

Semiotics...

Couple of useful definitions...

DENOTATION:

indication: the act of indicating or pointing out by name
reference: The MOST direct and specific meaning of a word or expression.

CONNOTATION:

an idea, or meaning perhaps, which is implied or suggested once looking further beyond the denotation.

SIGNIFIER/SIGNIFIED:

The signifier is the pointing finger, the word, the sound-image.

A word is simply a jumble of letters. The pointing finger is not the star. It is in the interpretation of the signifier that meaning is created.

The signified is the concept, the meaning, the thing indicated by the signifier. It need not be a 'real object' but is some referent to which the signifier refers. 

Revolutionary Design in Russia

Communism......sharing the wealth produced by a country between every person. Wildly optimistic, too good to be true.

1917. 

October revolution, led by Lenin.

led to propaganda images aimed at educating the people in the 'correct' revolutionary way of thinking.
The colour Red was particularly symbolic as being the blood of the oppressed people.






These two images are Modern in the way they are characterised by their cutting-edge, freshly original designs, a step up from Commercial artwork towards the realms of Graphic Design. A re-thinking in the way communication relates to form, assisting the Russian Revolution in offering a model for an entirely new society. Techniques similar to those used here are still widely used in today's design work.