Felicia's Journal

This semester has been a ride; we started the year off strong on campus and the energy from Andy was so infectious. Unfortunately we were forced to move to online classes which meant everyone was too shy to turn on their webcams and microphones, except for Andy. I look back on this course as being my favourite and this comes the part where I am just so utterly grateful for my class lead and my peers who have motivated and inspired each other to keep going.

For this last official practical class of the semester, week 13 was continued feedback which I didn’t have anything for, we all put what we had accomplished so far in our Ask Me Anything assignment to share with each other and Andy.

It was great to see what everyone else was creating. It was such a diverse range of topics and media outcomes from Solveig’s fun comic book zine of Keith Haring to Zoe’s exciting animated chat message interview with emojis to Alana’s incredibly detailed Klaus Voorman zine. I was inspired by the topics chosen as well as the questions and answers and the way they are presented. Most of all, I am astounded by the quality of work and the creativity of my fellow peers. I had high expectations but I was still blown away.

Here I have included the lovely and very sweet feedback on my almost finished project that I received.

I left this class very motivated, inspired and in awe of my amazing classmates. Alright, enough swooning over my peers. I’ll finish off with a quote from Andy:

What’s next for design? This was the big question for this week’s lecture. This is a question that has been asked everyday ever since design started and has been asked thorough our studies on the history of design and art movements. 

One contemporary artwork that was showcased is the Public Face project started by Julius von Bismarck in Berlin. Visually it is very striking; a huge glowing face is hard to ignore. But as a self-proclaimed nerd, the true impact behind the work is its “sentiment analysis”. It reads a bunch of tweets to determine the general public’s emotion and changes the smiley, or frowny, face accordingly. This reminds me of Tom’s Scott viral This Video Has ____ Views where he programmed the title of the YouTube to change according to the number of views. This makes for a piece of content that is constantly changing and responding to the world around it, and in these two cases, the public’s reaction to it. 

Earlier this year, I was elated to find out that I was chosen alongside 99 other artists to be apart of The Royal Children’s Hospital 150th anniversary. To celebrate, an art trail has been organised featuring a unique sculpture called a UooUoo deigned by Alexander Knox.

This is still a long work in progress but it’s been a great chance to get some space during quarantine. This was my first time working with something of this scale and in three dimensions. The progress is going a lot slower than I expected because the paint I chose needed several layers to be opaque. However, it’s been a lot of fun and having a chance to chat with other artists and seeing the other sculptures around me evolve each week is super inspiring.

Here is the story behind my gumball machine design that I submitted for my application of this project: 

Maybe they are becoming extinct but I don’t see any more gum ball machines. Maybe it’s because they’re specifically designed to be short and only to be in a child’s line of sight but maybe because we stopped noticing the “childish” things that spark a young person’s imagination and joy. Nowadays I just see young people on their phones or iPads, and while they’re amazing devices invented from amazing imaginations, where did the all gumball machines go?

This week’s lecture focused on conceptualism which as an artform, Andy cryptically described as “the art that I would make if I were to make an artwork.” That is to say, conceptual art communicates in the language of art such as describing an artwork and its meaning. This art movement has definitely taken a departure from traditional art practices and forms.

One of the artworks showcased is a piece by Peter Fischli and David Weiss entitled How to Work Better. As previously mentioned by Andy, a lot of conceptualist artwork is based more on written language and focuses heavily on words. Here is a photograph of a mural produced of their work as well as my own copy of the text to cherish its impact. 

Andy also introduces a design manifesto First Things First created by Ken Garland 1964. He calls out designers: graphic, photographers and students, to reassess what purpose their design has. He is frustrated that creative thought and design talent is wasted on the superficial advertising of “cat food, stomach powders, detergent, hair restorer...” Andy poses this as “the first time... that a group of designers were openly asking for design to be more than a means of driving profit”. I think this demonstrates conceptualist design as it reevaluates what it means to be a designer and what design is, and hopes to communicate with impact. 

Here is a short snippet of what I created for my Ask Me Anything project. I worked with experimenting with what I could do and create. I did this before creating my interview to understand the limitations I was working with. I had planned for longer answers but with the nature of this kinetic typography style, I couldn’t be too wordy. Here is my interview:

How has film changed design? How has design changed film? 

Film inside a film. Set the story's tone.

How do you maintain your design identity in the corporate space? 

"It's the way I want to live my life; I want to make beautiful things. Even if nobody cares."

How has your legacy impacted modern design and cinema?

Showcase of logo and movie poster work.

How do you remain consistent in your work? 

To create a brand, you must repeat the message. Keep a restrictive design palette. Style is substance.

What do the opening and closing title sequences of your life look like? 

Upon opening the video for this week’s lecture, my ears were blasted with Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen and I knew we were going to have an exciting time. 

Andy and Karen introduced the concept of the “end of futurism” and rise of post-modernism as a response to the failures of modernist ideals. This is something I have thought about quite a bit, in wondering what comes after post-modernism and the rise of a post-post-modernism. Of course, before we can even think about what lies ahead, it is important to reflect on the past.

The punk movement was established as a liberation of modernist pop culture. It is defined by a subversive and rebellious concept towards establishment. Technical skill and polish is not the focus, but an improvisational and DIY attitude is championed, as seen in its influence in zine culture and collage. It is interesting to see how the punk rock aesthetic has made an impact in the graphic, social, political and musical world.

Moving on from this, Andy introduces, quite controversially, the Memphis movement as another deviation of the punk aesthetic. Where punk is rough and callous, Memphis is more bright and playful. As Andy wonderfully describes, “IKEA on LSD.” Both movements stood up against the materialistic ideals of modernism and pushing form and impact to the forefront of its message, and using humour to communicate. 

For this week’s practical class, we were inspired by the collage work of Christopher Day and Sergei Sviatchenko. Collage is a medium where things are cut and pasted together and a new image is created from the transformations of others.

Two pieces by Christopher Day, sourced from https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/art-and-design/article/end-christopher-day. There is a lot of texture in the clippings that he used that work together and contrast such as the natural texture of caves and the sleek, man-made material of the car.

Two pieces by Sergei Sviatchenko sourced from https://www.nowness.com/story/sergei-sviatchenko-for-light-and-memory. His work is more minimal and human as compared to those by Christopher day. A repeating motif in his work is the face being cut out or covered, and this makes me wonder what is inside that person’s head; what are they thinking?

We worked together in smaller groups to create our own collage and of course, we had to create letterforms out of these. We chose the word “collaborate” for ours but it’s a bit difficult to see due to how long the word was. Here are the two letters I created, a “t” and an “r”.

Moving on from Bauhaus, this lecture focused on the art and design movement of Futurism which was also established in the early 20th century, but in Italy. It is characterised by its energetic dynamism, portrayed through the lines, shapes and colour. With the rise of new technology and advancements to photography, painting has shifted further away from being a medium to accurately and realistically capture real world imagery to a more abstract form of expression. 

The movement in Futurism captured a “sense of time, sense of speed”; an acute acceleration. I reflect back on my time as a physics student, what little I can remember of different formulas and concepts. Acceleration is a linear equation calculated by dividing speed over time. I remember the graphs we had to draw and analysis and how it created a straight, not unlike the straight lines used to denote motion in works created in Futurism.

Of course this is Andy and Karen’s lecture so we swiftly moved on from paintings and sculptures into typography, or more specifically, kinetic typography. I have seen this term to categorise Saul Bass’ style of credit sequence and see similarities between his work and that of Fortunato Depero. Somewhat of the next step in technological advancement that would allow Depero’s work being brought to life and animated, but with Bass’ more sleek and minimal aesthetic. 

I would like to finish off this post by showcasing some images provided in the lecture of the Bolted Book which I think are just amazing and speak for themselves.

For this week’s lecture, we have quite a longer video to watch as Andy and Karen delve into the history and teachings of Bauhaus. Bauhaus is a German school of design which has had much reverence within the history of design. Notable alumni include Anni Albers, Wilhelm Wagenfeld and Herbert Bayer. 

At the beginning of the lecture, Andy mentions the concept of an architecture of information which I believe relates to a school of design, where teaching and education is considered an architecture of learning. Bauhaus was a school for design but also a place for designers to develop their own theories and pedagogy of design education to be used throughout other parts of the world.

Andy introduces Bauhaus with a quote from the founder of the school, Walter Gropious:

“Architects, sculptors, painters, we must all get back to craft!”

This implies an “impulse” to return to the exploration and dissection of material found most intensely through the practice of fine art. I resonate with this sentiment of returning to practicality and the combining of different art forms to implement and assimilate with design.

What Andy describes as a “holistic approach to teaching design”, Bauhaus was populated by a range of different artists and creatives in different disciplines. The examples he lists include an environment where textile workers, craftsmen working in glass, product and communication designs work together to learn and create.

One Bauhaus manifestation repeated throughout this lecture, as well as influencing the course as a whole, is the way of materials and how a designer can use the natural and built space around them; “a truth to materials”  and a “honesty of form”. We see this in Bauhaus furniture design and can use this in our work when considering positive and negative space. This analysis and consideration of materials really shine through in the multidisciplinary structure of different kinds of artists and designers working together. The design community only grows larger each day thanks to globalisation and the internet. I cannot wait to keep working with my peers to form these new ideas.

The original Shapeshifters activity was to be completed in class using cut up coloured paper. I had trouble photographing my work nicely and consistent with the overcast shadow and thin paper lifting off my workspace. I saw that @kiaraconcept​ and @joedesigned had completed this activity digitally which is what I have done here.

The end of week six prepared us with homework to complete during the mid-semester break. The main part of this was to begin our Ask Me Anything assignment by considering the interesting subjects to be interviewed for our project. Here is my list of 5 potential artists/objects/movements/typefaces that I am deciding between.

Comic Sans

Comic Sans MS was a font designed for Microsoft by Vincent Connare in 1994. It is a “sans-serif casual script” typeface which was inspired by comic book lettering. It is well-known for being an ugly and childish typeface. Its history as an official Microsoft font, its widespread use and its status as a graphic design failure is why I would like to interview it. 

NASA Logo

The NASA logo is very iconic and I’m interested in how this logo has appeared in so many places outside of NASA and space travel. There has been a cool history and evolution of their symbols, from the typographic “Worm” logo and the different patches each space crew uses.

Saul Bass

Saul Bass has had a significant and legendary impact in the world of graphic design and film. He has created long-lasting logos for A&T, United Airlines and Kleenex. Most notably, his style comes through in his “kinetic typography” that changed the film industry with his energetic title sequences. I am interested in researching how he merged graphic design with film.

Didot Typeface

Didot is a serif typeface based on a collection of types created by Firmin Didot from 1784 to 1811. He was the inventor of stereotypography, which changed the book industry by allowing printing to be more inexpensive. Didot is an elegant font with high contrast in its stroke weight which makes it unsuitable for copy but beautiful as headings. 

Susan Kare

For the sixth Communication Design Studies lecture for this semester, Andy gave a little tour of some traditional print design books. Many of the guides and grids provided in these manuals of type and layout fascinated themselves with mathematical proportions and headed towards modernist design.

For this post, I would just like to include screenshots from the lecture slides of the books showcased. It’s interesting to see how relatively plain each book is presented and allows the reader, and in turn the designer, to take each teaching into their own work. I just adore the way instructional design is presented here and it’s pretty cool that it is instructional design communicating communication design.

For our Communication Design Studies class following the break, we had an online pop-up exhibition of the class’ “My Question is...” final work. It gave us a chance to view how other students interpreted the brief and executed their project. It was awesome to have been able to rear our studious little heads from out of our bubbles, having worked tirelessly individually in our lockdown spaces, to see what everyone had created. The google doc format of the pop-up gallery was simple but did its job, allowing for everyone’s work to be proudly displayed.

The previous lecture introduced the Gutenberg press and the Blackletter typeface that was popularised alongside it. Thanks to the rise of globalisation and opening of international trade routes, the printing press became more readily available in most regions of the world. With this came the expansion of other fonts to be used in printing. Fonts like Baskerville and Bodoni showed more regular and symmetrical letterforms, making way for predominantly geometric sans-serif typefaces.

The last “O” letterform in the graphic above is very regular and squarish. This is thanks to its reliance on a square grid. The grid provides a strong foundation for which typography, both as a single letterform or as a part of a larger design artefact. As Andy mentioned, it allowed for the rationalisation of the mathematical principles. Immediately the mention of mathematics in association to design made my nerdy heart happy. But more importantly, reminded me of the Fibonacci sequence and how the golden ratio is commonly used in design. This is definitely something to be researched further and I have no doubt will come up later in this course. Until then, let’s appreciate the square grid for how simple it is and the complex letterforms and communications it allows to be created.