Bauhaus

Joost Schmidt's poster (1923) was the first poster created from the Bauhaus and the start of a new style of design. It combines text, lines and shapes to create a single message. The dynamic structure in the poster guides the eye of the perceiver, bringing the whole image together.

 

 

The poster, like most of the design from the Bauhaus, such as László Moholy Nagy's logo (1923) and Peter Keler's Baby Cradle (1922), uses simple shapes like squares, circles and triangles etc. to simplify objects and graphics.

The Bauhaus taught people to think more like engineers than artists, and took the 'Art madness' out of students, making them design more intelligently and systematically.  To make design for every day life feel better and younger. They worked under the influence of form follows function. I found the Julia Cave Documentary interesting and helped me understand the Bauhaus clearer.

Wasilly Kandinsky (1923 Psychological test)

In the lecture, we was asked to carry out Kandinsky's Psychological test where we filled in three shapes (square, triangle and circle) in the colour (red, blue or yellow) that we thought matched the shape. My results were the same as what Kandinsky hoped his respondents would choose. I find this strange how a larger majority of people chose these results.

Kandinsky claimed, "A dull shape like a circle deserves a dull colour like blue."

Even though I matched these two together, I disagree that this is the reason why I feel a circle should be blue. I think that blue is a very cool colour but I think that "dull is the wrong word to describe it. I find it cool in a more refreshing sense rather than dull. I find this very interesting and will look into it further in my essay on colour theory.

Channel 4

Channel 4 Idents

The first Channel 4 logo in 1982 was the first to use a wide variety of colours in their logo, compared to the other 3 TV channels which only had a maximum of 3 colours in their logos at the time. His made Channel 4 stand out and look modern and different to the rest.

The current idents use the landscape to create the logo using objects to construct it. The number 4 appears through a short clip where the elements fall in to place to create the figure.

I find this a very clever and creative idea, and just like in 1982 follows the theme of making them stand out from the crowd.

The locations of the idents are varied globally which I think shows that Channel 4 want to appeal to a world-wide audience rather than just internationally.

Also all of the locations are very contemporary. I feel that they have done this to again relate to the brand identity, a new modern look.  

Some people argue that the logo should go back to the old, colourful logo. However I think that the present idea makes Channel 4 very unique and stand out from the crowd. I find it a lot more appealing and entertaining, you don't see many other channels that have ideas as creative as Channel 4.

After Effects Workshop - Animating Text

After Effects Workshop - Animating Characters

InDesign Workshop - Leaflet Design

 

 

InDesign Workshop - Text Layout

Semiotics

Frank de Saussure Semiology

After the lecture of semiotics, I became interested in Frank de Saussure's theory. I learnt that his definition of every sign is that it is made of two parts, the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the sign itself, this could be an image, word or even a sound. The signified is the idea that is produced by the signifier, and is what is put in the mind of the perceiver. The process that this uses is known as signification.

Example:

Signifier - The word "C-A-T" in text or in sound.

Signified - The image of a small furry animal we get from this word.

Creative Semiotics

In this poster by Anthony Burrill, the signifier (the word "oil") and the signified (the oil itself) are used together in one design which I think gives a very creative and visually pleasing effect. It makes the message that is been given loud and clear.



Anthony Burrill, Oil And Water Do Not Mix

This is an experiment that I did with ice cream to play around with semiotics and use it in a creative way. I feel that this gives a very eye catching effect and is something I'd like to experiment further with.

Ji Lee and Tom Lenartowicz

Ji Lee

In these images by Ji Lee, the typography responds to the subject of the word itself, this is referred to as visual onomatopoeia. It makes the link between the word and the meaning obvious. Therefore the viewer would still have an idea of what the word says even if they can't read the word itself, although it would take a moment for them to process it.

I think that the lack of colour and centred composition in the images works well as it keeps your focus on the movement of the typography, making it very minimalistic but still very effective. 

Tom Lenartowicz

In this book cover, the typography is again part of the image itself and corresponds with the meaning. For people who have never heard of it, it is obvious that the word 'Jaws' is referring to a shark, as the 'A' in Jaws sticks out of the water like a shark fin. I find this a very clever piece of design because of how something again so simple can be so effective. If the image contained anything more than this then it would become too busy and not as clean, taking your attention elsewhere.