G R A P H I C DE S I G NSix perspectives. One goal.

what’s inside...

Cultural

Ethical

Historical

Personal

Technical

Critical

Graphic Design Perspectives

Free-form and grid approaches

“Sometim

es we design for our peers and

not to solve comm

unucations priblems”

-Saul Bass

Addisson Dw

iggins first intro-duced “graphic design” in 1922

“Design is thinking m

ade visual”-Saul Bass

Arrangm

ent of ideas is essential to conveying a m

essage

Design sensibilites are shaped by

societal values

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Staff: Samantha Mendoza, Patricia Tsai, Christine Vu, Jonathan Wold

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Culture Through TimeNever give someone a piece of your mind without first stopping to consider if

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Art Nouveau1890. Art Nouveau was the first com-mercial art style intended to make products and their advertisements more beautiful. Art Nouveau draws its inspirations from Asian vases, paintings, and screens, particularly from Japan and Korea. This particular image was created by artist Alphonse Mucha in 1896, using lithography.

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Dada3

Da Stijl4

Bauhaus5

Art Deco6

Pop Art7

New Wave8

Hip Hop1916. Dada was created in Europe dur-ing the horrors of World War I. It was an outburst of artists’ rage with political leaders by the use of absurd, asymmetric designs. Dada can be seen as a free art form, where the artists believed that the war was a direct result of capitalism and materialism. This, ABCD, was made by a leading Dada artist, Raoul Huasmann.

1917. De Stijl graphic design is based off of a grid approach. Dutch painters such as Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian were pioneers of this art form. In the eyes of these artists, grid form is seen as a way to search for universal harmony during World War I. The grid artwork shown above is Piet Mondrian’s composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow.

1919. Architect Walkter Gro-pius founded Staatliches Bau-haus Weimar when Germany was bankrupt after a devas-tating World War I, and the younger generation was eager to make positive changes.

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PunkArt Deco united buildings, ob-jects, fashions, and typographi-cal and graphic designs. This art form takes its name from a 1925 exhibition in Paris titled “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes,” which covered both banks of the Seine River.

1950s. This style of graphic design was connected with alternative lifestyles and rebellion against author-ity demonstrated by the “beatnik” culture. This piece was made by Andy Warhol, an iconic pop artist.

This type of design was influenced by the music and the fashions of such bands as Depeche Mode, Devo, and the Pet Shop Boys.

1970s. Hip hop started as a fashion, graphic design, graffiti art, and dance ac-companied to rap music. This form of graphic de-sign is usually expressed through graffiti, especially on walls of public spaces.

Late 1970s. Creators of punk placed typographical and other visual elements on pages in angry, rebellious, and random ways in the style of “ransom note” cuotouts. Punk was greatly influenced by the earlier dada move-ment.

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THE GOOD...AND THE BADEthics in graphic design:

“Issues of morality comes up in all areas of ethics in graphic de-sign. Copyright infringement is a violation of law, but it can also be viewed as not being a “good” thing to do. Downloading fonts is a similar problem. However, there are some issues that point directyl to issues of morality and the role that graphic design plays in influ-encing culture. Graphic designers regularly create visual communica-tion that’s consumed by the masses. Issues like brand stretching, social responsibility, sustainability, and greenwashing all are examined through the lens of morality.”

“One of the listings for the diction-ary definition of ethics is “the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group.” In graphic design, this includes copyright law, piracy plagiarism, fair use, and photo ma-nipulation.”

morality

integrity

legalities

“By definition, integrity means the quality of being honest adn hav-ing strong moral principles. When looking at issues of integrity in graphic design, the focus turns to how graphic designers conduct themselves professionally-- the principles of right conduct that are understood and supported within the profession. Within graphic design, crowdsourcing, working on speculation, corporate sponsorship, certification, and photo manipu-lation are some of the issues that graphic designers can expect to face during their careers. “

stereotypes

certain product promotions

Stereotypes have long existed in the media and in our society. As graphic designers, one must pay careful at-tention to what he or she is design-ing. Because the combination of text, graphic elements, and images forms a powerful communications link, a pring of screen media can easily persuade a viewer by its content. A graphic designer’s choices can rein-force stereotypes in the media that can leave lasting and harmful im-pressions.

As a graphic designer or any com-panies for that matter, the individual must always realized what he or she is promoting. Many products sold legally to consumers are harmful if used regularly and over a long period of time. Cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs easiily fall into this category. The production and use of some products harms the environment. Every graphic designer must decide whether to work for a company that sells such products to consumers or crosses the line when it comes to legal issues. There is a growing trend among graphic designers to pay at-tention to this issue when selecting clients.

For more information on eth-ics in graphic design, visit www.ethicsingraphicdesign.org

Right: In the U.S., each year 25,692 people die from alcohol induced deaths, ex-cluding accidents and homocides.Would you feel comfortable design-ing for an alcohol ad? This can be an ethical problem for graphic design-ers when deciding whether or not to promote harmful products.

Right: Graphic design can be used to spread positive messages. As shown here on the right, graphic design is used to promote Earthday and facts about pollution to hope-fully help make the earth better.

1. Treat others as you would like to be treated with your work.

2. Recognize graphic design for the immensely powerful tool.3. Define your code of ethics.

4. You are responsible for your own professional choices and for

the effects of your work.5. You are however, not respon-

sible for unforseeable conse-quences, so don’t beat yourself up

about those.6. Unless you absolutely cannot, you will say no to any projects that may be harmful to society. You will however, find a way to

make amends in future.7. Be mindful of the environment in your design process. Don’t use

more resources tan you really need to.

8. Being ethical means respecting the views of others.

9. It’s unrealistic to expect your-self to be 100% ethical all the time, but nevertheless, it’s the

goal to strive for.10. And likewise, do not assume

moral superiority and expect those you work with to be ethi-cally perfect. People make mis-

takes.

CODE OF ETHICS

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1891

1984

Pre-Gutenberg

Gutenberg

Industrial

Artistic

Digital

As the printing press was invented, it took less time to do lettering by hand. Discoveries in typography expanded.

Egyptians were among the first to develop manuscripts and wall decorations. During this time the Greeks also developed a combination of nature and art.

Steam-powered printing preses made production much quicker and more efficient. Printed, colored cards became popular.

Graphic design art styles began merging with technological advancements.

Five Eras ofGraphic Design

Combination of computers and printers raised the possibilities in graphic design.

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As a a hockey fan, the way I see graphic design is mostly in team logos. And with about a

century of NHL history, there is a rich tradition of great hockey logos. But what is it that makes a hockey logo good? And which is best? Back in 2007, a young graphic designer named Chris Smith created a blog to settle those questions. The NHL Tournament of Logos pit every logo against the others in head-to-head polls to determine the best. In a short time, the popular-ity exploded, and Smith exxpanded focus on ‘the aesthetics of hockey’ with concept art. “I only kept doing it because there was such a following for the site,” said Smith. Now, over six years later, the rebranded Icethetics.info, gets about “fifteen to twenty thousand page views a day”, according to Smith, to go along with over five thousand fol-lowers on Twitter (@icethetics). In that time, Smith has run three NHL tournament of logos. And each time, a different team’s logo has won. The Montreal Canadiens won the first time, followed by the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Black-hawks (seen from left to right at the bottom of the page). But what makes these logos

so popular? “I think it’s probably in their simplicity,” said Smith. “A lot of people don’t like the complicated, cartoony logos.” That simplicity is very evident in the Canadiens’ and Blues’ logos, but maybe less so in the Blackhawks’ logo. All three logos do have history on their side. According to SportsLo-

gos.net, the Canadiens’ and Black-hawks’ have barely changed their their look since the 1920’s, while the Blues have used the same basic logo since 1967. This consistent branding has endeared the logos and the teams to many generations of hockey fans.”

BELOWFollow to an animation of the evolution of the Maple Leafs’ iconic logo.

In Hockey, Even the Logos are Competitiveby Jon Wold

V. V.

Smith’s Favorites Smith’s favorite logos belong to the Minnesota Wild and Hartford Whalers. Both logos use the idea of gestalt - the sum being more than their parts. The Whalers logo uses negative space to form a ‘H.’ This idea was not lost on the San Jose Sharks when they re-de-signed their logo in 2007.

ABOVECan you see the ‘SJ’ hidden in the logo? Follow if you need

a hint!

Saul Bass

One of the greatest designers of cor-

porate logos was Saul Bass. He created iconic logos for many compa-nies, including: Quaker Oats, the United Way, United Airlines, the Girl Scouts, AT&T, and many more! Bass was also the graphic designer for the title sequences to great movies like Psycho and Vertigo. Google re-cently celebrated Bass’ birthday with a doodle homage.

GETTING TechnicalGraphic design incorporates technical aspects such as contrast, balance, rhythm and unity

Scan the QR code below to learn more about technical aspects from Alysa Trinidad

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Looking with a criticaL eye“Beauty is in the eye

of the beholder” - These familiar

words ring true in many aspects in our life and graphic design is no exception.

When it comes to what we see and interpret in graphic designs, it is almost entirely up to the audience to make the decision whether this is good design or not. Lester comments that the process of viewing and judging graphic design is almost like that of music. Different generations may appreciate musical tastes in certain ways and these values may be shaped from other cultures.

In a similar way, what may look good in graphic design to one person doesn’t neccessarily mean it looks good to all.

There has been a shift over the years from traditional print design to web design. With internet popularity exploding, there is been a high demand for good graphic design. It can either make or break a website.

For the full interview with Vivian Nguyen, scan the QR code below.

Although graphic design is viewed as a purely visual field, graphic design is looked at critically to make sure it delivers the intended message of the company. Because of this business aspect, graphic design education becomes very important to help students and designers understand not only technique but their client’s needs. Education helps designers translate ideas into design.

Graphic design can appear in many forms that we may not notice in society.

Graphic design on an ad can help companies capture the at-

tention of their audience.

Careful placement of graphic design becomes esential for websites to best convey their val-

ues and services as a company.

In an interview with graphic designer Vivian Nguyen, several topics were disussed in regards to how you look at graphic design from a critical standpoint. Questions like “What is considered to be good graphic design?”, “How important is graphic design education?”, and “How do you look critically at graphic design?” are just some of the many questions discussed during the interview. Getting the viewpoint from an actual graphic designer helps viewers see things from a professonal point of view. From an audience point of view, there are several things that are not taken into consideration.

Color, concept, and format are just a few things that influence the graphic designing process.

It is especially important to take time to look at graphic critically because doing so will help keep the field progressive. Critical view of this will help target weak spots and identify trends that will affect the way the audience recieves a message now and in the future as well. As graphic design continues to be a part of our lives, it is essential that we continually look at it with a critical eye.

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