Gateways to Art Lecture 1, Week 1

Chapter 2.4

Visual Communication Design

PART 2MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Copyright © 2011 Thames & Hudson


Chapter 2.4 Visual Communication Design

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields

Introduction

The essence of visual communication design is the use of symbols to communicate information and ideas

Traditional communication design was known as graphic design: the design of books, magazines, posters, advertising, and other printed matter by arranging drawings, photographs, and

Advances in printing processes, television, the computer,and the growth of the Web have expanded graphic designto include many more design possibilities

While based on simple ideas, visual communication design enables us to express our ideas with increasing clarity, style, and sophistication—valuable qualities in a rapidly changing world




The Early History of Graphic Arts

The ancient Mesopotamians were the first people to employ picture symbols in a consistent language system

The ancient Egyptians created their own version of picture symbols, known as hieroglyphics, as a written form of communication

Western alphabets have now lost any of their earliest connections with representations of things

Calligraphy expresses layers of meaning and feelings by means of the shape of written letterforms

During the Middle Ages, European artists combined calligraphy and illustration to craft illuminated manuscripts

2.58 Section of papyrus from Book of the Dead of Ani, c. 1250 BCE, British Museum, London, England




Section of papyrus fromBook of the Dead of Ani

The Egyptians wrote hieroglyphics on scrolls madeof a paper-like substance created from the pith of the papyrus plant

2.59 Rubbing of stele inscription, Preface of the Lanting Gathering, Ding Wu version (Inukai version), original by Wang Xizhi, Eastern Jin Dynasty, dated 353. Album, ink on paper, 9⅝ x 8⅞”. Tokyo National Museum, Japan

2.60 Dutch History Bible, copied by Gherard Wessels van Deventer in Utrecht, 1443, fol. 8r. National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague




Dutch History Bible

Illuminated manuscripts were executed in monasteries on prepared animal skins, called parchment

After being painted and lettered by hand, they were bound as books

This kind of design was very time consuming and produced only one copy of the book




Graphic Design

Graphic design is the art of improving visual communication design

In text design headings, page numbers, illustrations, and the definitions of terms in the margin have all been carefully considered

In graphic design, the communication is intended to be instantaneous, clear, and direct




Typography

The visual form of printed letters, words, and text is called typography

Type, a word derived from a Greek word meaning to strike, first came into existence with Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in Germany around 1450

Gutenberg also created a technique for producing small cast metal letter shapes, known as letterforms, that could be set next to each other in a row, inked, and then printed in relief on paper using his press

2.61 Albrecht Dürer, pages from Course in the Art of Measurement with Compass and Ruler, 1538. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England




Albrecht Dürer,pages from Course in the Art of Measurement with Compass and Ruler

Dürer sought to create a set of rules for the design ofletter shapes

His was the first text to standardize how to create each letter using such geometric elements as squares, circles, and lines

Through these careful instructions a typographercould create letterforms similar to those used by the ancient Romans




2.62 Some font styles




Logos

A logo is often simply a carefully designed piece of type, called a logotype, that is unique and easily identified

2.63 Ford Motor Company logo, c. 1906




Ford Motor Company logo

In 1903 an engineer and Ford executive named Harold Wills created the original logo, which read “Ford Motor Company Detroit, Mich.”, from the lettering style usedon his business cards

His original design was later simplified into a plainer writing style that was common at the time

This particular font, known as Spencerian script, was derived from the style of handwriting that was practicedin America in the nineteenth century

2.64 Chevrolet logo, first used in 1913




Chevrolet logo

The Chevrolet logo was first used in 1913 and has beenan identifying mark for the company ever since

Originally, the name “Chevrolet” was written across the simple stylized cross (called the “bowtie”)

Over time, the symbol became associated in people’s minds with the name, which was then removed from the design

It now communicates the company name without usingone letter of the alphabet




Illustration

Illustrations are images created to inform as well as to embellish the printed page

Good illustration is critical in such fields as medicine and science, where it may communicate essential information more effectively than text or a photograph

2.65 William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, page from Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Kelmscott Press, 1896. British Museum, London, England




William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones,page from Works of Geoffrey Chaucer

The nineteenth-century English artists and designers William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones believed society should reject rampant industrialization and restore hand craftsmanship

Their illustrated book of the works of the medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer was handcrafted so that each page contained illustrations, illuminated characters, and patterns

The illustrations allow readers to experience and understand the works of Chaucer more richly

They support and enhance the written words

2.66 Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter, 1943. Oil on canvas, 52 x 40”. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas




Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter

Norman Rockwell drew covers for the Saturday Evening Post magazine for forty-seven years

One of Rockwell’s most effective and memorable images is a character he created to support the war effort on the home front during World War II

Rosie the Riveter, a female construction worker, symbolizes the contribution American women were making, working in jobs traditionally held by men

Rockwell’s Rosie sits defiantly and confidently as she looks down from her lunchtime perch

2.67 Kok Cheow Yeoh, Kiddo, c. 1994. Computer-generated vector drawing




Kok Cheow Yeoh, Kiddo

Digitally created

Yeoh’s images, such as Kiddo, can easily be distributed via many different mass-media channels

He controls color so that his work is relatively inexpensive to print and uses less disk space on a computer




Layout Design

Layout design is the art of organizing type, logos, and illustrations in traditional print media

Good layout design is essential if information is to beeasily understood

One of the main considerations in layout design is spacing Designers are very aware of white space—the voids that lie

between text areas and images—and are careful in its organization and distribution in their layouts

2.68 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Goulue at the Moulin Rouge, 1891. Lithograph in black, yellow, red, and blue on three sheets of tan wove paper, 6’2½” x 3’9⅝”. Art Institute of Chicago




Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Goulue at the Moulin Rouge

Toulouse-Lautrec created posters for his favorite Parisian nightspot, the Moulin Rouge

Uses a free, rounded writing style that is as casual as the spectators in the nightclub scene, as they watch La Goulue (the nickname, meaning “The Glutton,” of the dancer Louise Weber) dance the can-can

Toulouse-Lautrec’s great skill as an illustrator and typographer is apparent in the excellent hand-rendered text and images

2.69 Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos advertising agency, Boston, Massachusetts, Tyco—A Vital Part of Your World, 2005




Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos advertising agency, Tyco—A Vital Part of Your World

The designer carefully controls the color and size of the fonts so that the list of Tyco products and services reveals the face of a young child

The designer effectively communicates the suggestion that Tyco’s products and services are vital to her and others’ survival




Web Design

The use of text and image in mass communication has evolved from the motionless design of print publicationsto the interactive designs used on the World Wide Web

The Web allows designers more freedom to add interactivity so that text and image can change as the reader progresses through the information presented

2.70 Carolina Photojournalism Workshop, Seth Moser-Katz (design) and Emily Merwyn (programming). Photo Eileen Mignoni. School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008. http://www.carolinaphotojournalism.org/cpjw/2008/




Carolina Photojournalism Workshop

The artist, Seth Moser-Katz, has placed a large photographic background image, illustrating the important issue of beach erosion, into the page design

The central location of the gray text-box combined withthe open space around it draws attention to the written message

Moser-Katz has also cleverly created a series of rectangular images as hyperlinks at the bottom ofthe design

By employing good visual communication design Moser-Katz makes the message more direct, clear, and engaging




Conclusion

Calligraphy is the sophisticated art of expressive handwriting and influenced the first Black Lettermachine-made typeforms

With the advent of the printing press, the new art of typography focused on refining the attributes of movable type, leading to new Roman-inspired letterforms

Typographers further enhanced the communicative possibilities of their medium by developing the use ofbold, italics, varying sizes, and color

Logos and logotypes identify millions of organizations quickly, powerfully, and memorably

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Video:




(Media/Processes)

Visual Communication Design

PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios



This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 2.4

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts By Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields

Copyright © 2011 Thames & Hudson

PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios



2.58 British Museum, London 2.59 Tokyo National Museum 2.60 Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, Folio 8r., shelf no. 69B 10 2.61 V&A Images/Victoria & Albert Museum 2.62 Ralph Larmann 2.63 Courtesy Ford Motor Company2.64 General Motors Corp. Used with permission, GM Media Archives2.65 from Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Kelmscott Press, 18962.66 Printed by permission of the Norman Rockwell Family Agency. Book Rights Copyright © 1943 The

Norman Rockwell Family Entities2.67 Courtesy Kok Cheow Yeoh2.68 The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison Collection, 1954.1193 2.69 Taesam Do/FoodPix/Getty. Image courtesy Hill Holiday2.70 School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Photo

Eileen Mignoni

Picture Credits for Chapter 2.4

Gateways to Art Lecture 1, Week 1

Education

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