Lecture 2: Graphic Design

In 1922 William Addison Dwiggins defined graphic design.

"In the matter of layout forget art at the start and use horse-sense. The printing-designers whole duty is to make a clear presentation of the message - to get the important statements forward and the minor parts placed so that they will not be overlooked. This calls for an excersize of common sense and a faculty for analysis rather than art."

Richard Hollis put it more simply.

"Graphic design is the business of making or choosing marks and arranging them on a surface to convey an idea."

Steven Heller said that Graphic Design originated in the late nineteenth century as a tool for advertising. But that it shouldnt be used soley for this as it undermines the graphic designer as an artist.

In 1893 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was making posters for concerts and dance events at the Moulin Rouge and other popular Paris venues. These included illustration and text. Examples are "Aristide Braunt" and "La Goulue"

Alphonse Mucha at around the same time was making illustrative posters with text. 'JOB' is an advertisement for cigarette papers and was drawn in 1898.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Kolomon Moser were working around the same time. Making covers for magazines and posters for exhibitions. These included illustration and text.

As the first world war started in 1914 Alfred Leete drew the famous "Britons wants you!" poster.
3 years later James Flagg made the equally famous uncle sam "I want you for the US Army" poster. These both included illustration and text.

When Kandinsky started working as a graphic designer this had a huge influence on graphic design. El Lissitzky's "Beat the whites with the red wedge" seems to take influence from Kandinzky.

The first london underground map made in 1931 by FH Stingemore in the UK was a literal map.
Where as Harry Becks "London Underground Map" interpreted the underground system in a way he thought would be easier to read. There is more design here. Illustration and Text.

Simon Patterson in 1967 did a drawing called "The Great Bear." This is an example of graphic design moving towards fine art.

Kandinsky started working with Bauhaus and still in Illustration and Text. Hitler closed the Bauhaus describing the work done there as Degenerate Art. He held an exhibition in 1936 to exhibit this.

Herbert Matter, a Swiss designer, drew "Swiss Tourist Board" posters in 1932. The swiss at this time were at the forefront of Graphic Design and still are.

A poster for the Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam train line by AM Cassandre (French) show more interpretive illustrative styles and playfulness with typography. "Etoile du Nord" 1927.
Tom Purvis' poster "LNER" for the train to Durham isn't so exciting.

In 1936 Pere Catala i Pic (spanish) made "Lets Squash Fascism" depicting a foot stepping on the Swaztika. There was no text in this poster.

In 1951 Abram Games (uk) drew "Exhibition of Science" for the Festival of Britain in London.
This is an example of the UK starting to play more with illustration in Graphic Design.

In 1959 Helmut Krone designed the "Think Small" advert for Volkswagon. This has stuck with the company ever since as a design.

In the late 1950's Saul Bass drew film posters for "Vertigo" by Alfred Hitchcock, "Anatomy of a Murder" and "The Man with the Golden Arm."

Paul Rand designed a famous poster for IBM in 1970 using just illustration. He also designed the ABC broadcasting logo in 1962 which is a logo that has been the same ever since.

"The First Things First" manifesto by Ken Garland written in 1964 spoke out against Graphic Designers being used purely for advertising and said there were much more important jobs for them such as books, instruction manuals, industrial photography, educational aids, films, and "all other media through which we promote our trade, our education, our culture and our greater awareness of the world."

In 1960 FHK Henrion designed the CMD logo and a poster called "Stop Nuclear Suicide." This was mostly illustrative with minimal text.

The Art Workers Coalition produced a poster (illustration and text) called "Q. And Babies? A. And Babies." The question is whether this particular piece needed the text.

James Reid produced the "Never Mind The Bollocks" sleeve design which was mostly text, but playful with typography and using odd angles.

Peter Saville made the Factory records club posters. They were 2 days late after the event, true to the anarchic style of factory records. He also produced the album sleeve for "Blue Monday" by New Order.

In the '80's Neville Brody did magazine covers for "The Face."
David Carson was working for "Ray Gun" at the same time.
Is this art for arts sake?

"Dont mistake legibility for communication." - David Carson

In 1986 the sleeve for Public Image Limited's album simply said "album" or "compact disc" depending on what format you bought it in. It also had the the "PIL" logo on it.

Peter Blake designed a cover for Chumbawamba in 1986 called "Pictures of starving children sell records" which was purely text. Is this lazy?

Mike Farrow designed several album covers for "Spiritualized" a producer well known and out spoken about his drug habits.
The cover resembled a pharamceutical drugs packet."1 Tablet. 70 Min"
They also did a limited edition cover which said on it "12 tablets 70 min" which contained 2 packs of six foil wrapped pill packets where you could pop out each song on an individual cd.
While being really fucking cool I think this was ultimately pointless.

In August 2001 "The Coup" released the album "party music." The album looked like a bad photoshop and featured the twin towers exploding. A month afterwards the twin towers were bombed using aeroplanes. The album cover was replaced with an image of a cocktail glass.
On septermber 14th Time Magazine published their front cover which was a photograph of the towers exploding. It looks remarkbly similar to the album cover by "The Coup."

In 2000 Naomi Klein released Truth in Advertising and spoke about Bennetons ad campaign with designer Oliviero Toscani. Is it immoral to try deal with moral and ethical issues in advertising? They are still trying to sell a product.

"Benetton's clothing has nothing to do with AIDS or war or the lives of prisoners on death row, and by using these issues in sweater adverts. Benetton is inserting a layer of distance and mediation - represented by the Benetton name itself - between consumers and these important issues." - Naomi Klein, Truth in Advertising, 2000

"Which the publicity generated by such campaigns (Benetton) is immense - and their globalised distribution protects them from the effects of a ban in any one country - it is also surely shocking that the shock effect wears off so quickly. perhaps the overall driving motive of such campaigns is in fact nothing new - but simply an astute loyalty to one of the oldest adages in the business: there is no such thing as bad Publicity." - Cook, G. (1992) The Discourse of Advertising

Barbara Kruger / selfridges "Buy Me I'll change your life" campaign is a wierd example of a company designer collaboration that conflicted each other.

Judy Blame "Keep Britain Tidy" t - shirt design. Example of graphic designers being part of a worthwhile compaign against racism.

Adbusters make images juxtaposing adverts. For the example the obsession CK poster being reworked as a bulemic girl throwing up.