Professional and amateur design soon developed from my research as traditional designers thought that Postmodernism was encouraging chaos in their creative practices, and as a result we can see the rise of a growing trend towards an intentionally chaotic and confusing visual language.
Commercial sense: London 2012 Logo
Created by Wolff Olins
Traditional designers from Modernism view this movement as
How did going against the system effect design?
Perhaps looking into style would allow me to simplify my findings and regroup them based on aesthetics. There is clearly a considerable difference in aesthetics when comparing Modernism to Postmodernism which I intend to highlight and analyse in the context of graphic design.
STYLE: A distinctive appearance, typically determined by the principles according to which something is designed.
The subjective nature of design provides designers with their own subconscious style and distinctive appearance that can be analysed in terms of art and design but also an individual's identity.
How important is aesthetic style to successful graphics?
Postmodernism encouraged a rebellion against the idealistic style of Modernism which designers and critics have rejected as shallow and meaningless. However, these ideals can be perceived as outdated as societal, cultural and political factors are changing the way people consume information. This essay investigates contemporary aesthetic styles in graphic design in order to determine its functionality in commercial design.
To begin the essay I intend to analyse Modernist style/aesthetic - Good/Bad
- Minimal - Lots of negative space, clean and simple
- The style makes the design functional, objective and neutral
- Gave design an international style
- Modernists deny subjectivity, 'The more anonymous and objective these elements are the more suitable they prove as a vehicle for the thematic idea' - Blauvelt
- Modernists deny subjectivity, 'The more anonymous and objective these elements are the more suitable they prove as a vehicle for the thematic idea' - Blauvelt
Where is it appropriate?
In comparison to Postmodernism style/aesthetic- Good/Bad
-Autonomous
-Irrational
-Self expression
Doesn't achieve functional design commercially, however it can be appropriated in fashion/editorial due to the creative nature.
'Serious doubts about the function of the International Style as a means of visual communication led to a great deal of ironic experimentation and violation of style.' - Lorraine Wild
'Serious doubts about the function of the International Style as a means of visual communication led to a great deal of ironic experimentation and violation of style.' - Lorraine Wild
Moving on from this, educational institutions encouraged design students to rebel against functional design in order to establish a new direction and self expression, creating new styles.
- Cranbrook
- Traditionally classes were structured, based on theory and design principles however
- Heller describes it as 'fashionable experimentation'.
- Traditionally classes were structured, based on theory and design principles however
- Heller describes it as 'fashionable experimentation'.
The influence of trends:
Retro Chaos
Pretty Ugly
Negative quotes to do with trends - blind imitation
Pastiche?
Conclusion: What I set out to discover and what I found out
Postmodernism encouraged exploration and rebellion
This essay investigates aesthetic style in graphic design in order to identify its importance.
“Modernism exudes order and rationality: in the context of the politics that lie behind this movement, the more ordered a society is, the better it functions” (McCandless, 2009, p. 132).
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