The History of Type

Graffit & Street Art

A History of Creative Advertising

Graphic Design: A Media for the Masses

Lecture Two: Postmodernism

Lecture Notes

Soup Cans by Andy Warhol, 1962

Design by David Carson

Summary

Postmodernism questioned conventions & rules, especially those set out by Modernism. It had no rules and often celebrated the kitsch and tacky, drawing on the consumerist lifestyle.

The key aesthetic involved a multiplicity of styles and approaches, drawing from other previous sources and periods in art, design & history.

During the period of Postmodernism which begun around the 1960s with Pop Art there was a shift in thought and theory which allowed space for new voices - art and design stopped being dominated by white, heterosexual males.

Lecture One: Modernity & Modernism

Lecture Notes

Gustave Caillebotte - 'A Balcony' (1880)

Modernist influence was captured by painters of the time who showed the anonymity of the city, and worked in different styles to the classical in response to the new technologies of photography.

Bauhaus Typography by Herbert Bayer

Modernism was a movement that came out of Modernity as a response to social and cultural experiences between about 1750 to 1960. Within this time industrialisation and the idea of the City as the nexus of modernist experience had a huge impact and caused a dramatic period of change. This change was seen in art, fashion, photography and design in a range of ideas and styles. The main principle of modernist design was about function overriding form - i.e. the aesthetics following practicality. To me the example of Herbert Bayer's Bauhaus Typography emphasised this the most - a simplified, sans serif font developed for legibility and ease of use.