Blog Enty

Hello Again,

Everybody take a look at the following spread sheet. As of today the only student to complete all the discussion points is Sandra. It is your responsibility to complete all assessment tasks on time and post them to the blog.

After the last class when many of you for the first time stated you could not log onto the blogg, I recommend if you haven't done so yet contacting Ian to work this situation out. I have stressed week after week the importance of reading the lectures and completing tasks.

This needs to be fixed asap, and before our next class.

Lauren

Meeting times for tomorrow

Hi Guys,

Hope you had a good long weekend. I have to leave uni by 12pm tomorrow, so far I have

Scott at 10:30,
The Breakfast Club: 10:30?
Jay & Christian: you where at 12:30, can you do 11:30?

And Jonathan can you do 11:30 as well.

Email me and let me know guys and ill be in the library.

Thanks
Lauren

Discussion Point 3 – Sandra Stepien

A strong understanding of typographic conventions is essential to graphic designers in controlling meaning. Traditions and conventions have established particular ways to communicate and emphasise ways in which the reader understands and reads. The rules are valuable references that provide an easy and quick way to produce coherency to a publication and being conscious of these rules can improve nearly everything you create. Personally, most of the guidelines from the lecture I have used in various work and have only helped me produce better design. However, I think clever designers can use typography to push the boundaries and experiment. Designers can create sophisticated, complex visual languages and by exploring the unexpected, publications can become more expressive and exciting. 

The example below is a simple yet clear example of the relevance of typographic conventions.

The example on the left has a very traditional approach to the contents page of their publication. There is a clear hierarchy achieved and the alignment creates a cohesive and readable layout. The quote in the top right hand position creates balance and combined with the strong visual image, the contents page is simple yet attracts the attention of the viewer. 

The example on the right also uses typographic conventions, but in a very different way. It again has a clear hierarchy but experiments with layout to produce a new reading to the contents page. The alignment is unusual and adds visual interest as the placement of the text is less structured and thereby produces movement and flow around the page. There is also a strong use of scale which is balanced well between the different visual and verbal elements, adding an unconventional twist to the publication. 

I believe having a strong foundation of typographic traditions can only benefit the designers work. The examples I have chosen highlight this as they both present the basis of common typographic guidelines. Ultimately, there are established conventions which facilitate clear and effortless communication but by pushing the boundaries and providing the audience with something new and innovative, typographic conventions can evolve.

References

Design Inspiration 2012, accessed 30 September 2012, <http://designspiration.net/image/772746826461/>.

Joseph Webb 2012, accessed 30 September 2012, <http://media-summer-assignment.blogspot.com.au/2012_01_01_archive.html>.

Discussion Point 2 - Xuan

Paul Rand 
Paul Rand is an American graphic designer. Having involved in media promotion, cover design and advertising, Rand is most known for his contribution in corporate identification. 

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, typographer and designer influenced by the Bauhaus movement, described Rand as 'an idealist and a realist using the language of the poet and the businessman. He thinks in terms of need and function. He is able to analyse his problems, but his fantasy in boundless'.

Rand believed that brand identity is crucial- even more than billboard advertising. He once said, 'a logo is more important in a certain sense than a painting because a zillion people see the logo and it affects what they do, it affects their taste, it affects the appearance of where they live, it affects everything'.


Drawing from this design philosophy, Rand were able to create simple and modern logos for big organisations- where many of them are still in use.

Notable designs by Rand

Rand also encouraged fellow graphic designers to stand behind their ideas and solution and defend themselves as being the right one. This is evident in his working experience with Steve Jobs when he was hired to design a brand identity for Jobs' company NeXT.

Jobs described Rand as 'the greatest living graphic designer' before the death of the designer. Rand's confidence and ability to communicate with his client taught Jobs a lesson- to carefully chose designers and gave them power to make decisions. 

Matthew Carter

'Type is a beautiful group of letter, not a group of beautiful letters'

As more and more people read on screen rather than in print, creating typefaces for screen gets a bit tricky. Matthew Carter is arguably the pioneer in creating typefaces specifically for on-screen usage.

Approached by Microsoft in the 1990s, Carter created Verdana and Georgia, albeit the initial refusal. Computer users read on screen but little print things out- hence Carter approached the project with a different perspective. He started designing with bit-maps, because bit-maps shows how a font will look on screen, and with lots of space for improvement.

The final result sees Verdana as a sans serif font, with a generous amount of width and spacing, and a notable contrast in weight. The reason is that so the letters does not touch each others. The font is also quite bold, but they never stick together, even in 4 pt. 

the Verdana font family

Discussion Point 1 - Xuan

'TYPOGRAPHY HAS TO ATTRACT THEN INFORM'

For me, I see typographic hierarchy and grid as artworks themselves- because a good visual layout provides viewing pleasure as well as the urge to make you want to read. An excellent example would be attractive in terms of graphic elements as well as informative.

Components like grids, negative spaces, weights for typefaces, etc are generally 'combined' in a way that they not just complement each other, but also stand out on its own.

There might be rules or 'templates' that are more commonly used, but really, it is a work of art, to put together different elements into one blank canvas and make them work.

In the current contemporary society, communication has taken to another level from just being in print, but also in digital format. 

The way of design for both medium might varies, but the objective behind the design decisions stay the same- which is to create exciting spreads and displays of typography and other elements.

To answer the brief on 'typography has to attract then inform', I have found that illustration books are good examples in those lines. 

Having images in different sizes in order to create a more dynamic layout- because the reader to would be attracted to the huge display of image and would then be drawn into other elements in the spread.

In the above examples, the clever use of asymmetrical grids and negative spaces projects a more contemporary, clean and minimal layout.

The typefaces used are chosen/designed specifically for the layout- the simple lines with the again, the asymmetrical composition complements with the overall design layout. 

In conclusion, I believe there are certain rules that makes a great design composition, but being innovative and experimental might sometimes creates a happy accident.                 

Discussion Point 1 - Alana Dimou

Due to the accessibility of programs such as inDesign, in stark contrast to the niche world of heavy letterpressing, grid layout and design has become a far more simplified process. Visual heirachy remains paramount in modern grid design however, like the process, its general design has become more simplified and dare I say 'chic' for the sake of aesthetics.

As you can see from this old newspaper clipping as much information as possible has been crammed into the one page. There are varying fonts of varying sizes in attempts to grab the reader's attention amongst the slew of words. Leading, and in fact general design, is based entirely on practicality to fit as much information as possible on the one page, reflecting the notion of the heavy letterpress process.

On the flipside we find pages from a recent volume of Kinfolk magazine. White space is luxurious, the grid is entirely simplified. This has a lot do with the ease, efficiency and dramatic decrease in price of paper and printing; information can be spaced out across many pages for the sake of an easier reading experience.

Visual Hierarchy and Grids - Elki Lemmetty

New technologies have enabled visual hierarchy and grid systems to expand beyond the limits of traditional letterpress. Styles have become more abstract and flexible and visual manipulation has created new variations of scale, colour, layering and placement. Traditional technologies created grid systems based on the limitations of letterpress equipment, although highly affective and appealing traditional letterpress lacked ability to create free flowing forms, and complex manipulations.

New technologies make visual hierarchy and grid systems more flexible and spontaneous, giving the designer new skills and options with fewer limitations. New technologies also enable designers to work quickly and efficiently, allowing them to test multiple options of hierarchy and grid systems before choosing final design.

                               

Discussion Point 2 - Weingart/Muller-Brockmann

In our contemporary society, we communicate to one another visually in so many different ways through a wide range of mediums, both digitally and in print.

Among these various forms of visual communication, there are certain contexts in which typographic conventions should be adhered to but there are also situations where they should be taken with a grain of salt or can even be ignored.

In contexts where the purpose of the work is to communicate information, elements such as grids, general convention like the rule of thirds generally and even typefaces and their forms themselves help to communicate this information effectively and efficiently. However, these same elements also influence and bring inspiration for more abstract and expressive publication works. 

Josef Müller-Brockmann was born in Rapperswil, Switzerland in 1914 and studied architecture, design and history of art at the University of Zurich and at the city’s Kunstgewerbeschule.

he was established as the leading practitioner and theorist of Swiss Style, which sought a universal graphic expression through a grid-based design purged of extraneous illustration and subjective feeling.

He found the grid in everything and found more depth in the grid. To him it was more than just an organisational system. His designs aligned with mathematics and he felt that there is a right way of doing this. He works with the grid in his own way and believes that it is much like working with the universal truth. The grid in a way is perspective; it is telling you what to do.

Wolfgang Weingart is an internationally acclaimed Swiss graphic designer and typographer. He was perhaps most famously known for his “Swiss Punk” typographic style.

Weingart’s experimental compositions have clearly deviated from traditional typographic conventions. He pushed the limits of traditional graphic conventions and guidelines and blurred the line between grunge and minimalism. He also took a very conceptual and abstract approach to all his typographic and graphic design work:

“In addition to using the typesetter's standard letters and symbols as individual elements, I was searching for the means to emphasise the planar areas of a composition; in other words, to consider text blocks as shapes…”

Weingart had some interesting ideas on typographic conventions; acknowledging their significance and then pushing them or stepping just beyond them to create fresh and innovative pieces. It is evident that his work still operates within or influenced by a grid system.

“In order the break down such rigid concepts, it was helpful to have a practical knowledge of typesetting…

“To me, visual rules in typography were not inviolable. My challenge was to renew a fascination with basic design relationships through the medium of typography: slant, weight, size, the character or various types, the limits of readability, and most interestingly, the effects of letterspacing.”

I believe that with the multitude of information that is being communicated to us everyday all the time, typographic conventions bear quite a lot of significance and should be considered within all publishing contexts. These conventions provide mere guidelines to design within but as we all work towards creating something unique, innovative and timeless, we are constantly making rules only to be inspired by them and then break them, creating new ones to break again.

Discussion Point 2 - Miedinger/Slimbach

It was type designer Max Miedinger who in 1957 gave life to one of the most recognisable typefaces in history – ‘Helvetica’. Initially named Neue Haas Grotesque, he proceeded to rename it as ‘Helvetica’ which instantly propelled it into usage on a global scale. It’s simplicity and it’s act as a statement piece of cutting edge Swiss technology has enabled it to maintain its versatile usability. It has had the ability to transcend time, context and styles and with it beginning with the birth of the ‘International Typographic Style’ otherwise known simply as the ‘Swiss Style’.

Miedinger, changed the face of 20^th Century typography as with the design of Helvetica, he created a style that emphasised cleanliness, readability and objectivity. Void of any real personality or meaning, it establishes a true design dialogue in allowing itself to be neutral and clearly communicate design and it’s clear, direct function.

Alike to Miedinger, Robert Slimbach a designer in part with the digital type age – has influenced the world of typeface design. He started his work within Adobe Industries in 1987, where he began to work within their type-design department. It was here that he paid homage to the past by digitising past metal fonts to be used within a digital interface context. He soon progressed to the designing of font ‘Adobe Garamound’ in 1989 with still utilising many typographic devices from the past. In 1990, he developed ‘Minion’; a typeface completely drawn from scratch – that is nothing redrawn from past typefaces – completely original not reimagined.

It was one of the first digitised fonts that was legible from a variety of point sizes and within an array of different applications. This serif typeface, now has become a sturdy, default typeface option for many digital designers of today.