Welcome to the first exciting edition of New Graphic Design!

This month we have been focusing on Form Follows Function in an explora-tion of Modernism and Post Modernism. We have chosen to look at some great new modern graphic design and share the best of the best with you. We’ve also got up close and personal with the Huddersfield Design studio: The Sharp Agency as they let us in to their day to day lives in their work-place.

Over the next few months we are going to be looking at new big brand projects as well as the nitty gritty smaller ones giving you an insight to the design world, which will help inspire you within your very own projects!

Whether you are in education, in work or just looking for some daily inspiration then you have picked up the right magazine. In this issue we have a special article on form follows function that includes features from artists such as Manet and Kandinsky! They may be old but we look at how they have built design today.

Form follows Function - an exploration of Modernism and Post Modernism 06

Artist Typeface: Kandinsky Special 10

Colours & Thoughts by Amy Kilner 11

Studio Special: Sharp Agency 12

Output 14

Is Adobe taking over? 20

Design News in Education 24

Subscribe 26

New Graphic Design Summary 30

Form follows Function an exploration of Modernism and Post Modernism

This piece of art is the first documented piece of contemporary art by Marcel Duchamp.

Modernism is the series of art events that happened before post modernism. Artists not following the general rules of art before impressionism caused post modernism. A quote from the recommended book (on the left) is “But art history had determined that it was in the role of rebel that Manet would be cast, and so with reluctance he became the leader of a circle of dissident artists that included Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Edgar Degas; the group that would form the core of what is generally considered to be the first movement in Modern art: Impressionism.” This was the first major movement where artists did things that most gallery’s disagreed with.

In the first chapter of this book it explains the story of how the artist Marcel Duchamp signed a urinal with “r. Mutt 1917” and called the piece “fountain”.

This is the first piece of documented art that started as an idea/concept rather than starting off by choosing the medium to draw, paint or sculpt on.

Duchamps theory was “an artists job was not to give aesthetic pleasure - designers could do that; it was to step back from the world and attempt to make sense or comment on it through the presentation of ideas that had no functional purpose other than themselves.”

This art is not following any “rules”.

What we are reading:

What are you looking at? 150 years of modern art in the blink of an eye - Will

Gompertz

This book is great for students learning about modernism/post modernism!

“The practical joke that started an art

revolution.”

Abstract Art by Kandinsky

“Abstract art describes paintings or sculptures that do not mimic or even attempt to represent a physical subject, like a house or a dog. To do so would be a failure in the eyes of the abstract artist, who aims to produce an artwork that is a fest of imagination in which we are unable to recognize anything of our known world. It is sometimes called ‘non-figurative art’.”

- Will Gompertz

Here at NGD we love the work by Kandinsky and feel that he has influenced Graphic Design today. The form of abstract art has the function to kickstart your imagination.

The image to the left is called Composition VII 1913. Kandinsky was well known as an abstract artist. His art expressed various music. The line, form and colour used makes an appearence of an explosion of feelings and emotion built in to the image.

Abstract Art began in Modernism. It rejects all the rules within Realism. Kandinsky also taught in the Bauhaus school, which is well known as part of the Bauhaus movement that focused on form follows function. The architecture and things designed as part of that era were made with the focus for them to function simple and easy. Without this movement then post modernism wouldn’t exist. It is all about art growing up and becoming a lot more open and a lot more freedom is given to artists.

This is Manets Olympia, it was the first piece of impressionism by Manet to be accepted in to the Salon.

This is a post modern version of “Olympia” by Mel Ramos. It was made in 1974.

This art experiment is to show the comparison of old and new graphic de-sign which can be compared with the similarities within modernism and post modernism. In Graphic Design today some designers jump straight on the computer but others will start off by experimenting with different materials or simply just start sketching but now with new technologies, most of the time, designers will take their work on to the computer and enhance them using various computer programs.

The above experiment is our cover focus for this issue. It is designed by Amy Kilner and is inspired by the Artist Kandinsky with a hint of Miro too. The second piece is a straight copy that is done on illustrator and by looking at this digitally we can see a crisp clean design. It is similar to some other work that is featured later in this magazine also by Amy Kilner.

In post modern art there are no rules, artists can come up with pretty much anything and as long as it makes the viewer think about it then they tend to have done their job right. It also depends on the artist whether the piece becomes popular and gets put in a gallery. The difference between just anyone creating a piece of art and a designer/artist creating one that is featured is usually that the piece has a lot of meaning behind it or it may even have a political background like a lot of Roy Lichtenstein’s work did from the Pop Art Era.

The overlapping colours and shapes create a strong contrast with the whole set up of shapes, line and form in the overall piece. The bright colours connote a sense of happiness and self belief. It is a motivational and inspirational piece of design which is why we feel it was the right decision for our cover design.

artist typefacekandinsky special

The Graphic Design student Amy Kilner for a University Brief designed this font. It is available on the Font Bureau website: www.fontbureau.com/.

The brief was to create a typeface in the style of a chosen artist that worked in cer-tain sizes. Here is Amy Kilners evaluation of the project.

From the beginning of this project I wanted to base my artist on Kandinsky as I am already heavily inspired by his work. This caused me problems when it came to doing research as I am stubborn but I did carry out other research and came across some really good artists and inspiring stuff. From my research the artists that stuck out to me most were Kandinsky and Miro as they have more abstract work that has a lot more meaning behind it and the amount of bold contrasting colours are really interesting and eye catching. I also found the Bauhaus movement good to look at as that was all about the creation of art that wasn’t the same as the other things going off in the time of the 1920s.

After a lot of shape drawing and colour testing I started to draw up my final type-face inspired by Kandinsky. I kept the lines thin and simple as I felt that the best of Kandinsky’s work was the music inspired ones where it is mainly black lines used that contrast with bright colours. I also love how the colours change when another shape or form overlaps another. When it came to changing the font to the correct size I did have to move things around a little. This was mainly the circle I used on the lines as they distorted as I moved everything else.

This wasn’t too much of a problem, as I hadn’t flattened any of the shapes on illustrator at this point. I then created words with my final type and it worked really well and I am happy with the outcome!

As far as my Design Goals are concerned I believe I have achieved them all. I don’t think my illustrator skills have changed much as I can already use that program quite well. My InDesign skills have improved loads though as I couldn’t use that before this project so I am proud of that! I have also managed my time better than previous projects although I would of given myself more time for the last bit.

This is the font A-Z. More can be seen on:

http://amykilner.co.uk

Colours & ThoughtsBy amy kilner

This illustration is by Amy Kilner. It has recently been featured in the Creative Bloq inspiration app. The style is inspired by artists such as Kandinsky and Miro.

See more:http://amykilner.co.uk/100231/983259/portfolio/colours-thoughts

Featured in the Creative Bloq inspiration app!

http://www.creativebloq.com/

Amy KilnerGraphic Design Student @Huddersfield University

@amykilnerdesignhttp://www.amykilner.co.uk