Yasmin HB

Over the course of this semester, I’ll be honest and say I had no idea what to expect for Communication Design Studies (GRAP2199).

I really enjoyed the ‘hands-on’ aspect of the workshops but was also really fascinated by the content that we learnt in the lectures and it’s influence.

Having no prior knowledge of zine making, the workshops proved to be extremely useful and helped me significantly in learning what a zine was and how to make one.

I realised the significance of something as simple as a pictogram being developed into the type that we use nowadays. It was things like this that I had no prior knowledge of and was incredibly fascinated with.

I particularly was interested in the influence of the Post-Modernism movement as I had not realised a great deal of my inspiration had originated from that period.

Overall this course has helped me to look further than my pre-existing ideas and knowledge of design and has helped to push me outside of my comfort zone (often looking ‘outside the box’).

COMPLETED ASK ME ANYTHING ZINE!!

In progress of making my zine...

Image sourced from: https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/lighting/table-lamps/tahiti-lamp-ettore-sottsass-memphis/id-f_674793/

Post-Modernism

In Friday’s lecture we looked at post-modernism design, a response to modernism and a controversial art movement from 1970 to 1990. It brought about news ideas of freedom in design and consisted of bright bold colours, asymmetry, pattern and geometric shapes as key elements and principles. It especially focused on ‘form over function’.

The Memphis group were a group of Italian designers and architects that made a series of highly influential products in the 1980’s, led by Ettore Sottass. The Memphis style lamp above, as an example of a product with form over function, focusing more on the design, colour and patterns rather than the functionality of the lamp itself.

After looking further into post-modernist designs, I realised that a lot of the designs I had made were heavily influenced by this period, which is really cool and interesting to see. I really admire the use of bold colours and geometric shapes in order to make a really effective design.

Image sourced from: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/robert-rauschenberg-this-is-a-portrait-of-iris-clert-if-i-say-so

Conceptualism

The concept is more important that the artwork itself

We also shortly looked at conceptualism in the lecture. Conceptualism is considered to be extremely important in contemporary artworks and design, where the meaning and intention behind the artwork or design is more important that the artwork itself.

An example of this being Robert Rauschenberg’s ‘This Is a Portrait of Iris Clert If I Say So, 1961’. A plain telegram with the phrase ‘Iris Clert 28 Ruedusthonore Paris’, with no actual portrait of Iris Clert.

The whole idea of conceptualism is really fascinating as we become interested in the artists/designers intention behind their work, rather than the work itself.

Eric Kessel’s ‘Photography in Abundance’

Image sourced from: http://www.kesselskramer.com/exhibitions/24-hrs-of-photos

References:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/postmodernism/

Last making workshop! - Week 11

This week, using the InDesign templates found on canvas, Kezya and I teamed up in order to make our own zine!

We used a collected of images from Kezya’s computer including some of her AMAZING artworks and random things I chose (sorry Kezya haha) like a shoe and a whisk. We then printed this off as an A3 sheet, folded it and cut the sides to turn it into a zine! 

Prototype Zine! - Week 10

This week we focused on the question: WHY DESIGN?

The creative I chose to interview is my friend Iona from high school who I shared my studio arts class with. She is now in Tasmania studying fine arts with a focus in ceramics. 

This week we created prototypes of our zines, which I particularly enjoyed as the workshop was very much a ‘making’ workshop and was really hands on. 

IONA MARSDEN-SWEENEY

Iona Marsden-Sweeney is an artist currently residing in Tasmania. We’re high school friends and when I asked her for an interview she kindly agreed and sent me some pictures of her work that are otherwise not available online.

She focuses in ceramics and print making but hopes to expand mediums and techniques in the future. I will be making a zine based on the interview with Iona and will try to incorporate my own style into the zine to present her incredible work.

These are some examples of her amazing artworks:

This was a picture taken at the Melbourne Art Book Fair. 

Collage Zine Making! - Week 9

This weeks workshop was one of my favourites so far! 

In this workshop we cut up magazine samples and used them to create collages. As a fan of collage designs, this activity really drew me in.

We then placed our design on an A3 sheet of paper and sent them through the printer in order to create a zine! Creating the layout and using negative space along with the element of simplicity was really enjoyable.

Image sourced from: http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/art-history-the-bauhaus

The Bauhaus movement was a short lived but highly influential modernist art school and considered the most influential of the 20th century. The mediums and materials were varied with paintings to architecture. It was located in Germany and eventually became a modern art movement, heavily influencing how we approach design today. It was founded by Walter Gropius and it was renowned for it’s uniqueness.

Bold Typography and blocks of colour along with collages were often created such as the example above. Grid type systems were researched more at the Bauhaus along with the use of sans serif fonts. It’s especially amazing to see how a great deal of contemporary designs were influenced by this incredible art movement, especially with the use of type and bold strong block colours, along with modern architecture and design.

I can can say personally that a lot of the designs styles I had admired had originated from the Bauhaus without me knowing about it, and goes to show the great impact that it can have on design and future designers.

Why do we design? 

What are the ethics of design?

Image sourced from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/guerrilla-girls-6858

The anonymous feminist group known as the ‘Guerrilla Girls’ formed in 1985 and focused on fighting racism and especially sexism in the art world. As a female myself, this kind of empowerment for women is incredible during a time in which equality between the sexes was heavily flawed, an issue that sadly remains to this day.  Female designers and artists have often been left out of the history books and are never focused on as nearly as much as male designers. The works that stand out to me the most are ‘The Advantages Of Being A Woman Artist 1988’ and ‘Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum? 1989’.

Image sourced from: https://art8amby.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/united-colours-of-benetton-fall-winter-2011-ad-campaign/

In Friday’s lecture we also focused more on the ethics of design with examples such as Benetton United Colours campaigns, which were inclusive to race, culture and sex, along with a series of more protractive image campaigns.