Blog Post - 10/26 (late)

John Van Hamersveld















Rick Griffin















Stanley Mouse














William Bradley

Design History Post 2 - Oct 19, 2009

Title: Various forms of typography
Artist: Hermann Zapf
Movement: --
Date: various
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Zapf

Desc.: Not only inventing some of the most commonly used typefaces today, German typographer Hermann Zapf also created the hot metal and phototypesetting compositions (two personal favorite types..). The majority of his styles have varied dramatically as evidenced by the examples at the left, many influential in the design of typography that follows years later.

Design History Post - Oct 19, 2009

Artist: John Heartfield
Title: Adolf the Superman: Swallows Gold and Spouts Junk
Date: 1932
Movement: Dada (Berlin)
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heartfield#Works

Desc:
Heartfield's piece depicting the innards of Adolf Hitler, bring an interesting view as the true intentions of the German dictator truly were. This piece in particular strikes me as it must have been met with some form of controversy in the 1930's (and to an extent most likely still today...). Also worth mentioning are the techniques used in constructing the piece as this originated in the 30's long before Adobe Photoshop or computers ever existed.

Design History Post 2 - Oct. 12, 2009

For this post I chose the MTA graffiti street gang which ran through the Bronx during the late 1970's. Founded by Chino Malo the group predominantly 'hit' the 2 and 5 trains. Often they found themselves in competition with rival street groups such as 'Lee' and 'Blade.' I chose this group due to the use of color which includes one of the first instances in which I have seen pink used as major color in said 'graffiti scheme.'

link: http://www.at149st.com/mta.html

Design History Post 1 - Oct. 12, 2009

-Artist: Jules Cheret
-Title: Pippermint
-Date: late 1800's
-Design Movement: Art Noveau
-Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Cheret

-Desc: This piece in particular was interesting as it appears less friendlier than some of Cheret's other works. The interesting use of composition (note: shadow in the background gives appearance of either fear or death) and color (note: warmer tones with splash of pastel) also help make this piece stand out when comparing with many of Cheret's other works.