Deconstruction in graphic design.

After reading the piece of text 'thinking with type' there is a few obvious points noticeable that have been made about type. One of the main points is that type is designed to help readers avoid reading. This means that the reader can skim quickly over text and pick out certain parts or words and still understand the content. It makes the whole reading process less intense. 


Typography sealed the idea of 'the text' being original work and gave ideas an essential form to be produced in. This was another point made in the text, and it also then goes on to talk about how print established authors as the owners of their texts which meant copyright laws were written in the 18th century to protect authors rights. These laws are still disputed today but have shaped the texts we read. 


In the section 'linearity' the difference between a 'text' and 'work' is disputed. This is disputed by a critic named Roland Barthes, he states that a work is 'tidy, neatly packaged, proofread and copyrighted' and text is 'impossible to contain and consists of received ideas'. However, the traditional text page has been supported by features of the book. Features include, page numbers, headings and an index. These things could only come about because the typographic book is a fixed sequence of pages. This section states that due to the 'rules' of typography we were able to create rules for books which work across all areas. 


Barthes description of the text being open and simply ideas means that the reader is more important than the author in creating meaning. This means that depending on how the text reads, each reader may gather different ideas and interpret the text differently. Graphic designers embraced these ideas using typography as a model of interpretation and exploring the difference between seeing and reading. They would challenge readers to produce their own meaning. Overall, typography doesn't necessarily create meaning itself but helps the reader create meaning due to all the factors discussed in this summary I've written. 

David Carson; www.davidcarsondesign.com

Deconstructionist work breaks all the rules of typography and completely leaves the 'reader' to interpret the work in their own way. Instead of avoiding reading the 'reader' has to look closely at this piece I have chosen and possibly even try and interpret what it says. There isn't necessarily a message here which can be interpreted because of the layout and style of the piece. The style of the work is copyrighted to the artist in a way because this style can be found throughout Carson's collection. Deconstructionist graphic design has no rules other than to break the rules themselves. Typography in deconstructionism could be described as 'there to be seen' as design is but graphic design is also there to communicate so the piece above has a message. The one characteristic of typography that deconstructionism does follow is the fact that the audience is more important than the 'author' in creating meaning as each person will take something different away from the above piece. This piece hints at the fact its about the rules of something, maybe graphic design, and the rest is then left to the 'reader'. 

Postmodern graphic design.

Postmodernism 

Term used from about 1970 to describe changes seen to take place in Western society and culture from the 1960s on. These changes arose from anti-authoritarian challenges to the prevailing orthodoxies across the board. In art, postmodernism was specifically a reaction against modernism. It may be said to begin with Pop art and to embrace much of what followed including Conceptual art, Neo-Expressionism, Feminist art, and the Young British Artists of the 1990s. Some outstanding characteristics of postmodernism are that it collapses the distinction between high culture and mass or popular culture; that it tends to efface the boundary between art and everyday life; and that it refuses to recognise the authority of any single style or definition of what art should be.

Reid, J (1977) 'God save the queen'

This piece is a good example of refusing to recognise a certain style of what art should be. Its taken this 'royal' image and changed it so that it has a modern twist. Something so simplistic can be seen as great because its original and unseen. This also created a style for this band as the whole magazine cut out look can be found throughout many of their albums. The style also suits the time of the band its presenting. 

Jones, T (1980) 'ID magazine'

Reid, J (1977) 'Never mind the bollocks' 

Kruger, B (1848) 'Declaration of sentiments' 

I link all of the above pieces of graphic design to postmodernism because of the relationship with imagery and typography because typography plays quite a large part in the postmodern era. It gives imagery a whole new meaning. Examples such as the sex pistols cover proves how much times have changed because artists are now able to get away with a lot more in terms of language used. Postmodern graphic design reflects through the current works because graphic designs now use type and imagery so that they work together to present a particular message. 

Tappin Gofton (2005) 'X & Y' 

This however, is completely different to the rest. It uses alphanumeric coding which could be described as a type of typography in a sense as it has a message. It just looks new and fits with the rest of the postmodern works through colour and the presentation of a message. This is very postmodern because its new, fresh and innovative. It opens a doorway to a new type of design and a new way of sending a message. 

Avant Garde.

Avant-garde 

Originally a French term, meaning in English, vanguard or advance guard (the part of an army that goes forward ahead of the rest). Applied to art, means that which is in the forefront, is innovatory, which introduces and explores new forms and in some cases new subject matter. In this sense the term first appeared in France in the first half of the nineteenth century and is usually credited to the influential thinker Henri de Saint-Simon, one of the forerunners of socialism. He believed in the social power of the arts and saw artists, alongside scientists and industrialists, as the leaders of a new society. In 1825 he wrote: 'We artists will serve you as an avant-garde¿ the power of the arts is most immediate: when we want to spread new ideas we inscribe them on marble or canvas¿ What a magnificent destiny for the arts is that of exercising a positive power over society, a true priestly function and of marching in the van [i.e. vanguard] of all the intellectual faculties!' Avant-garde art can be said to begin in the 1850s with the Realism of Gustave Courbet, who was strongly influenced by early socialist ideas. This was followed by the successive movements of modern art, and the term avant-garde is more or less synonymous with modern. Some avant-grade movements such as Cubism for example have focused mainly on innovations of form, others such as Futurism, De Stijl orSurrealism have had strong social programmes. The notion of the avant-garde enshrines the idea that art should be judged primarily on the quality and originality of the artists vision and ideas.  www.tate.org.uk

To me, avant garde in design is something that has been created from a previously learnt process that fits more into the current era where style is concerned. It can also be something that has been designed that pushes the boundaries of what is described as the 'norm' or accepted by us today. 

'Get unhooked' NHS 2007.

This campaign can be described as avant guard because it pushes the boundaries of what is and is not accepted in our society. The 'shock factor' of this caused the overall campaign to be successful because it caused a stir with many people complaining about the fact its inappropriate. It could be said that it was an experiment to get people to pay attention to the reality of things such as smoking. The campaign is innovative in the sense that they've used a representation instead of being literal with actual cigarets which is overall a new idea. 

Shepard Fairey (American, born 1970) ‘Change’, 2008.

This piece is another avant garde example for graphic design. This is because its taken quite an old style into a modern era to try and get people to accept something politically, in this case its a new leader. Its promoting what is believed to bring 'change' with no knowledge of wether this will in fact happen or not as desired. Its setting a challenge upon people to believe in something new or someone. This is out of the norm for the current era because posters in this style don't tend to come about so it could also be challenging the type of design to see how well it communicates too. This could be described as an experimental piece because it relies very much (despite some text) on the use of colour to present an idea in a way.