Through the lens of modernist and postmodernist understanding, what do you think of the current style, movements within graphic design? Name specific works/artists in your analysis.

‘Never before have the conditions of life changed so swiftly and enormously as they have in the last fifty years. We have been carried along and we are only now beginning to realize the force and strength of the storm of change that has come upon us.’ – H.G.Wells (1933). Author, H.G.Wells was acutely aware of the unprecedented transformation of the era of modernism (approx early nineteen hundreds) given the huge changes that were taking place due to the development involving the industrial revolution that gave rise to the widespread use of modern technologies. It was the Bauhaus culture of ‘Form Follows Function’, embodied in Swiss Graphic Design movements of the 1950s. The utopian ideologies lead the way in the representative arts of architecture, art and design. [1]

Postmodernism was a reaction to the Utopian beliefs of Modernism. It relied on concrete experience rather than abstract principles. This was based on the belief that the outcome of one’s own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative rather than certain and universal. Postmodernism stemmed from a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in the human understanding of it instead it is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality. Interpretation, therefore is the essence. Reality only comes into existence through our interpretations of what the world means to each one of us. ‘Postmodernism cannot on its own principles ultimately justify itself any more than can the various metaphysical overviews against which the postmodern mind has defined itself.’- Philosopher, Richard Tarnas.[2]

Current trends in design have created new rules to accommodate the technological trends in design software and possibilities in different new media created thereof. In his review of Rick Poynor’s book on postmodernism, No More Rules, Jeff Keedy (American graphic designer, type designer, writer and educator) adds,’Not just rule breaking, or a discarding of rules, but an exploration, expansion and redefinition of the boundaries of design as a dynamic, self-organising system of possibilities, instead of a top-down hierarchy of rules.’ In his essay titled, ‘Modernism 8.0, ‘ Keedy writes that modernism has gone through a number of versions, exemplified in Dan Friedman’s ‘Radical Modernism’ of 1994, followed by Andrew Blauvelt’s ‘Complex Simplicity’ and so on, until finally arriving at the current version, Modernism 8.0. Current design cultures reflect the influence of the massive changes in the technological sphere. Artist, educator, writer, Kenneth Fitzgerald says, ‘Design continues to be a busy but overly placid, pleasant surface. Our pond remains small and shallow.’ In his essay, ‘Buzz Kill’, he says, ‘ In the near absence of any regular critical review, buzz is the means by which design establishes value. Buzz makes taste. Ambitious designers recognize how the field operates and they shrewdly modulate the hum. If you want to have a career, you have to create your own buzz.’ [3] Stefan Sagmeister, Paula Scher are designers who are unpretentious and honest.The former’s AIGA poster where he painstakingly tattoos his own body which makes for the text and visual of the poster, highlighting the pain that a designer goes through in the process of pursuing design is well…painfully honest and down to earth. However, one could perhaps also skeptically view it as being sensationalist. Its perception. The latter with her forthright and honest views on Helvetica being the typeface for war, in the documentary with the same title to her Citibank logo being the result of many years of practice in order to be able to come up with the logo in the short time that she did.

Today’s design scenario with DIY, sustainability, responsive design among others being buzz words around ideation techniques and approaches, it has become more inclusive with design and its tools/elements now being available to the masses. It has redefined how design is perceived and used by the masses. It has also, in more ways than one, redefined the way designers are now approaching their work.

Do you think that the Postmodernist approach to design is more common among students (in the academic setting) than it is within the professional field of design? Beyond the concept that within the professional world there are client expectations to be met, why do you think this is so? Has some of what we achieved during the Postmodern period receded into the larger corporate needs of design?

Yes, it continues to work to keep the needs of corporate design alive. I personally believe that as long as the corporate sectors in the different areas of product and service do not inculcate a system of sustainable, long term, ethical and empathetic approach towards their approach to manufacturing processes, distribution for sales and marketing, postmodern approaches in design will remain in theory among students and faculty. We may see sparks of it now and then. But by and large, since the corporate sector is where the money is, designers bow down to their demands and needs, however good their intentions may be. I speak from my own personal experience. Creative work, though appreciated, doesn’t pay. At the studio, we struggle to keep creative work alive to keep our idealogies going. However its hard when there are expenses building up and there is the lure of the corporate clients, even though its like selling one’s soul to the devil….

Are you among the designers of the late 80′s and early 90′s that felt that the introduction of digital design tools takes away from some of the authoring nature of the designer within society or do you feel more inclined toward Lorraine Wild’s stance within “On Overcoming Modernism”? Why? Compare either choice with an earlier development in history (example: Gutenberg’s Movable Type Press)

Well I would say I have been fortunate to have been exposed to a time when we used to take bromide prints of type and use rubber solution and set squares to hand align the typefaces on an artwork, doing corrections by hand with ink on images and perhaps sometimes even the type for the headline. It built in me, over time, a better sense of typeface. I find it quite confusing when sometimes I find students, the new ones who’ve just made their foray into design, not having the faintest clue as to which typeface to choose, considering that there are hundreds out there to choose from. Sometimes I find it bewildering that the more choices one has at one’s disposal, the more confused and muddled we get! I saw the advent of computer and computer software exciting. I saw the advent of online world wide web as opening up this massive treasure trove of possibilities in so many new interactions with different platforms, mediums, information etc.

The design software never took away my love for sketching, instead giving me a new avenue to look at when designing and illustrating.

In what ways does simulacra in design enhance our daily lives? In what ways does it harm us? Your answer can go beyond graphic design and encompass areas such as architecture and industrial design.

Simulacra occurs in our daily lives when our interactions, reactions and outcome inspired from culture, mythology, our environment, history, geography, physics, biology….well practically everything that we interact with. And as Jean Beaudrillard mentions, this then becomes our truth in its own right. I am reminded here of Wade’s write-up in our parallel course this semester where we are looking at Gun Control. He mentioned how repeated exposure to similar imagery of the same topic, over time, desensitizes us and we cease to be shocked by it. Images of war from different times, do make us recoil. Yet we are desensitized to the visual imagery to a certain extent given the number of violent video games that exist or given the entertainment pleasure we may get out of watching a Quentin Tarantino movie with squirting make believe blood all over the place. The other day, I was watching a commercial on Indian TV that was for a cell phone company. As a way of highlighting their high resolution screen offering maximum colour fidelity, the commercial uses the rhetoric and metaphor of a firing squad which turns out in the end to be paintball, the game, with a mock set up and a splash of colours. I thought to myself, with all that’s already going on across the globe with the tragedies of war, the fact that we can conceive of games like paintball…and well… use metaphors of firing squads in advertisements….seems a tad insensitive. Or am I being sensitive? It’s a matter of perception…

Another example with simulacra that I would like to mention is the Ba’hai temple in Delhi shaped like a ginormous lotus. On the inside it is a quiet space, like a womb. People strolling in expect to see something more and instead find a quiet place to reflect and meditate. It almost emulates perhaps the quiet insides of a lotus flower…we only tend to look at the outer beauty of the flower and perhaps miss out on the inside silence that it must have. Again, this is just my perception.

Or take for example the headphone designs that emulate the shape of our inner ear in order to create the most ergonomic fit. The design requirement is inspired by the shape of the ear. Everybody’s ears are shaped differently and the design processes take into consideration an average shape that would fit comfortably across all shapes and sizes. So, the headphones, in design parlance, fill up the negative space in our ear. Again, this is my perception.

Or the vaccum cleaner that senses on its own when its reached the end of the room to turn around and continue cleaning, thereby almost emulating someone taking the trouble to clean all corners of the house.

Or in architectural complexes when man made water bodies and water fountains, manicured gardens and planted trees are included, the design is inspired by a need to include simulacra that imitates living within nature, its goodness and abundance.

And so on and so forth.

Community-driven platforms such as Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest take on the concept of authorship in a way that has both made design more visible, and harder to protect authorship. Regarding your work as a designer among these networks, in what ways is your work determined by the medium (open to all online) and free from it (intimately your own design) (think along the lines of Modernism and Postmodernism to answer)?

The ideation process can be applied across many platforms that need not include community driven platforms essentially. However, in order to have an outreach and visibility for the work done, one does tend to work towards the newer mediums of interaction along those that have been around. I guess as designers we are constantly looking around for new ways to not only ideate but also in the way we lead it to fruition. The new community driven platforms, according to me, offer a more accessible outreach, which is inclusive. In this sense, it seems to share the ideologies of postmodernism, keeping in mind that Postmodernism stemmed from a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in the human understanding of it instead it is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality. Interpretation, therefore is the essence. And as Beaudrillard has mentioned that re-interpretation of a simulacra becomes the re-interpretor’s own truth. Yes, the new platforms do give us a new way of looking at authorship of work. As soon as an image or text or a combination of both are uploaded, its open to re-interpretation and ‘new truths’.

References

[1] Corcoran Gallery of Art. Modernism: Designing A New World : 1914-1939. http://www.corcoran.org/modernism/. Web. Accessed on 09.04.2013.

[2] Postmodernism. http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html. Web. Accessed on 09.04.2013.

[3] Jeludkov, Anton. New Modernism. Cranbrook Academy of Art. http://jeludkov.com/New_Modernism_Essay.html. Web. Accessed on 09.04.2013.

On Image

Roland Barthes was a significant contributor in the study of Structaralist theory and practice. Interestingly, he would challenge his own approaches in the past while exploring a new layer in his studies. Within this framework certain key points were crystal clear. He was clear with his opposition to essentialism. He challenged ‘nature argument’ questioning the attempts to preserve hegemonic cultural morals. He would time and again re-inforce the value of signs, semiology in language and communication.

‘The Birth of the Reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author’.

Camera Lucida, a book on photography by Roland Barthes, he talks about Puntum and Studium. Two terms that are paradoxical and define the reaction a viewer has, to either a photograph, an illustration or text. With a Punctum reaction, the audience makes an emotional connect with the interaction, one that is at a deeper level, where the audience is moved by emotion. With Studium, the reference is to a more peripheral reaction. These reactions are, of course, subjective. Graphic Design uses this technique of Punctum and Studium to elicit reactions from its viewers.

Some examples of Punctum imagery.

Robert Maplethorpe

Pink Floyd Album Covers

Cindy Sherman

Margaret Burke-White : On the India- Pakistan Partition

Rhetoric of the Image

Roland Barthes considered the complexities of the roles played by image and text, both individually and together and the play of the rhetoric of the image. It was a combination of linguistics, the coded iconic and the non coded iconic. Barthes’ binary approach to concepts in semiotics and their understanding also challenged the role of the author, as it is the reader who is the most important element in the understanding of a work of visual communication.  An individual’s ideolect plays a significant role in the process of connotation and denotation of a visual communication.

Language and Myth

In visual communication, the use of conceptual text and image employs myth or an ideology that is a reaction to existing politics in different spheres. Myths changes over time with changing attitudes and beliefs. Therefore the languages employed in communication through visuals and images also reflect these signs of the times.  This calls upon the maker of the communication to shoulder the responsibility of the truthfulness of the message being conveyed.

As an example the Gillette commercial titled ‘Soldier for Women’ is an example of the reaction to the gang rape in Delhi that shook the entire nation. It was a move away from the shaving product that Gillette stands for and instead is an attempt at making an emotional connect with the audience as a reaction to a current incident. It was an advertisement that reflects the need for change in Indian attitudes and mentality towards women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVwnVg851KY

In a country where women are treated like second class citizens, it is a country of paradoxes where Bollywood movies show skin, goddesses are worshipped, women are molested daily and worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt1Rhd_sRhg

Will this change the movies that Bollywood produces?And if things weren’t bad enough, here’s a vaginal tightening gel in India…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPayFrCOiZM

I am speechless.

Indian women in advertisitng :

Women in India were in the 60s/70s/80s and early 90s commercials were shown as subversive sari-clad housewives when they were used in visuals advertising a home appliance or some such like. Or they were shown as sexy, daring sirens, the ‘other’ woman, the vixen in films and advertisements to advertise products like bikes, cars etc. Things moved with the times and changing values, trends, beliefs when in the late 90s women began to be portrayed as equal partners in household decisions and at the workplace. Visual depictions of women showed them increasingly attired in comfortable workwear or contemporary wear.  The visual and verbal messages were thus taking into account the connections that the viewer would make while absorbing the communication. This is the way in which I make the connect with Roland Barthes’ ideas on rhetoric and myth in visual communication.

Modernism

Modernist art movements before post modernism came about, were in essence reactions to the environment, both social as well as political. Movements like Cubism, Dadaism, Futurism, Suprematism, Constructivism, de Stijl, Bauhaus were all reactions to the living, breathing, evolving, changing social and political environment. The modernist art movements were shaped by the political revolutions, the Great Depression, the industrial revolution, scientific exploration, the world wars, reaction to establishment and bourgeoisie among others.

In  conclusion

That visual communication is contextual is an important factor to understand and appreciate. It has complex layers in the way it is denoted and connoted by the viewer. The rhetoric and myth of the communication itself is influenced by its environment. Just as art movements like Modernism were essentially reactions to its social and political environment, so too visual communication is led by myth, rhetoric, linguistics both iconic and non iconic, punctum and studium in order to elicit a reaction, re-inforce an idea etc with its viewer who is the single most important part of this communication.

The area of visual communication has key elements of image and text. Their symbiotic relationship in semiotics and structure is important to understand, appreciate and apply in order to create messages that are meaningful, cerebral and in context. Images, as much as a language, conveys messages, both coded and direct. To understand the intricate relationships that exist between the semiotics of both text and image would help in the process of effective visual communication. This is clearly demonstrated in the examples used for the Unit 1 readings in the works of Japanese designer, Shigeo Fukuda in his work ‘All Flesh is Grass’ and in Kenji Ito’s ‘For the Pollution.’

The structural and semiotic sides of visual communication is relevant when considering the impact of the hidden meaning in signs : a crucial tool to all designers to encode their message in a manner where the decoding among the audience is carried out the way it was intentionally designed when creating the encoding.

Just as it is mentioned in the Unit 1 readings that hieroglyphs would be merely pictures unless there was a meaning or symbolism attached to them so also the way in which this symbolism is then implied is determined by its origin of culture. Interpretations of meanings are multiple when one considers its semiotics and structure.

When structure is broken down into icon/index/symbol/metaphor/metonymy and when semiotics can be classified into primary orders of signs i.e. indexical, iconic and symbolic, it is then understood that interpretations of semiotics lie deeply rooted in social life and are the operations in the transactions of meaning, as De Saussure says when he refers to semiology as ‘a science that studies the role of signs as part of social life.’

When Roland Barthes looks at the combined significance and meaning of a ‘rose’ and ‘passion’ as being ‘passionified rose’, it combines the tangible with the intangible, conceptual or abstract to create a third meaning that is new, and is an associative meaning.

What then would be our significant contribution towards the systemic and semiotic communication of the future? Does one look at, for example, the sms system as a systemic/semiotic message of our times??  Like for example, Rives’ typographic narrative^[1] or Taryn Simon’s metaphoric images^[2], installation artist Jenny Holzer’s ^[3] projection works that we looked at in GRDS 702 (Methodological Practice) highlighted the inclusion of cultural values applied in design and the use of semiotics and systemic methods of visual communication.

References :

[1] Rives. TED 2008. http://vector.tutsplus.com/articles/inspiration/rives-tells-a-story-of-mixed-emoticons/ Web. Accessed on 25.03.2013.

[2] Simon, Taryn. TED 2009. http://www.ezrasf.com/wplog/2009/10/24/ted-talks-taryn-simon/ Web. Accessed on 25.03.2013.

[3] Holzer, Henny. Projections. http://www.jennyholzer.com/Projections/site/Bregenz2004/ Web. Accessed on 25.03.2013.

What is the most profound thing you have learned about yourself and your creative practices through this course? Have you experienced moments of disruptive wonder? In what ways has your perspective on graphic design practice changed?

In the last three months, I have interacted with methods and processes that have made me uncomfortable as I did not know the outcome. I did not know what was expected of me…there was no definite outcome that was defined….and this is something that threw me off completely… Ever since I have been working with design, there is always a definite, expected outcome… The process of not having one, and letting the journey of the process define what outcome would emerge was an ambiguity that I learnt to deal with by letting go of my inhibitions…. This ambiguous journey took me in directions that I had never thought of ending up with. I also realised that the subjects of my process and invariable outcome would be related to those that deal with empathy in society at large.

I am surprised at the experience in this course because I seem to have taken with me more than just process and disruptive wonder…I seem to have taken with me a way of making my mind think… By the time we were onto the second exploration, I found myself working with relative ease with the ambiguous nature of the process and outcome. I’ve also taken with me the need for working towards sustainable ways to design concepts.

My perspective and the way in which I approach my work has undergone a tremendous change already and I can see it in the way I have been interacting with new ideas for clients at work and with my students, where I teach. All the sleepless nights have been totally worth the wonderful experience to say the least.

My creative process in the past became one where I would end up automatically reacting to a problem with the first solutions that were obvious. With the explorations in the past weeks first with the word play in exploration A and then the exploration B which is still in progress, I have been surprised with the outcome. The creative process that led to the final outcome, was surprising in the twists and turns that it took along the way. And though I am sceptical about the outcome leading towards a moment of disruptive wonder, I see the possibilities of going in directions perhaps I would have never considered before. I am sceptical about disruptive wonder being a learnt process because I feel that the kind of work Kelli Anderson came up with also requires a certain talent and a creative bent which perhaps is not something that can be a learnt process. On the other hand learning new ways of thinking perhaps creates the seeds of new creative processes that lead to moments of disruptive wonder. So, despite my views on the matter, I also am able to see, experience and appreciate learning new ways of working through creative solutions. I already see a difference in the way in which I am working towards problems and the way in which I am seeing things around me. I am looking forward to the future assignments both client as well as self driven, where I hope to be able to create solutions with moments of disruptive wonder.

With so much discussion, interaction, reflection and emphasis on process, I wondered if my thoughts and actions could be random. Perhaps not. Maybe all this talk about processes have left the deepest, emptiest crevasses in my mind filled with processed thoughts… What I thought were random thoughts, images…well anything that came to mind….werent actually random. Is process in design akin to say processed food? Devoid of spontaneity and freshness? Perhaps thats too random an analogy to draw simply because the phrases sound similar with words to match.

Kelli Anderson’s genius with her disruptive wonder, is a bandwagon we would all like to join. Its a comforting thought to consider that perhaps with defined process in place, this is actually possible to be done by anyone. But is it really that simple?

Its much more complex than we think it is. Its a way of thinking which if we manage to implement deep in our psyche, could prove to help us with, in our context, design solutions. Yesterday I was watching the documentary, ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’ the Banksy film, where Thierry Guetta, the self-proclaimed film-maker, originally a clothes store owner, develops this habit of carrying his video camera wherever he goes, filming anything and anyone that he comes across, anywhere and everywhere. He films hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage of street artists and their art in process. And he never watches his footage. It simply goes into a storage box where it is kept in sequence. I found it interesting that his process of filming and storing in this manner came from his childhood experiences, when as a young boy he lost his mother. That she had been ill for the longest time, was an information that was kept away from him. He regrets the moments of time which could have been spent together which was now lost to him forever. So, when he chanced upon the video camera, he began to record every minute of his interaction with life. He did not want to miss out on even a second.

I found it intriguing how Thierry Guetta had his own personal process which developed from his own personal experiences. Are more of these kind of directions in process out there? Stories of people doing things that they never themselves would analyse as process. However, interesting stories about different ways of approaching process that shed light on the fact that process need not just be about a linear or non-linear process that is listed out in a book or jotted down on a piece of paper or shared on a forum. It can also stem from a personal experience or perhaps, who knows, a cultural tradition….

Jane Dorn in her process book clearly explains the linear process that she follows in her project from input to final outcome. Her process moves from, as she puts it, chaos to clarity and along the way she has encounters with brainstorming, synthesis/actualisation/incubation with a linear narrative leading to her final outcome.

April Biss’ project for dogs on leash, followed a chain of process stages broadly going through observation, thought and finally ‘make’. Her documentation of her process was exhaustive and detailed. She mentioned conceptualisation/gathering information/looking at statistics/conducting interviews/word play/collaborative thinking/mind-mapping/ideating through thumbnails/brainstorming/re-visiting research/going over demographic survey and a complete circular return to thumbnails/ideation/prototype/final outcome.

Jamie Turpin’s project with typefaces mentioned immersion in content/schematic phases in her process. These included brainstorming/inspirational images relating to the design problem/thumbnails/design-looking at form/colour/flow/type-history/materials+textures/working out of ones’ comfort zone to come up with new ideas as she looked at different materials/final outcome.

All three projects followed process in different ways that suited each project individually, taking into account the chosen direction as well as personal journeys. As Jamie Turpin summed it up well in her presentation when she mentioned that essentially all processes have the same basic premises of input-analysis-synthesis-output. Its what one does in between these steps depending on the requirement of each unique individual project, that’s what adds to the richness of the final outcome. She also mentions how important it is to move away from one’s comfort zones to make new choices and new decisions so as to come up with a more fulfilling outcome that works in newer directions.

I can already sense a change in the way I have been approaching process in this semester. I am beginning to appreciate the detailed approach. My favourite way to do this has been to sketch as I love to sketch. I find that when I am on the starting blocks, my mind is a complete blank. However, as I gather information and use illustrated mind-mapping tool as a means to an end, I actually begin to see the order in the chaotic maze of words and images that conjure in my mind from the information gathered. I guess, when the process becomes second nature and one is not looking at specifics of what each stage is named, one can really and truly immerse oneself in the journey of discovery rather than concentrating on reaching the destination.

Jenny Holzer, Rives’s typographic narrative and Taryn SImon’s images left me with thoughts about the many aspects of the inclusion of cultural values in design and how we as designers, shoulder the enormous responsibility of what we convey in our visual communication. Taryn Simon’s work is an apt example of how images alone can be deceiving. However, a narrative can anchor the image with an interesting story that is accompanied with research and fact. Rives’ typographic narration makes use of references in the current context with the verbal narration that accompanies visual symbols that uses current short messaging system symbols to form the story. Jenny Holzer’s views on staying engaged with a single subject and being true to its interpretation is relevant in the context of cultural values.

As we move along the course, I realise the focus on process follows a random yet linear format. And as I make the transition towards the final output, the stages of analysis and synthesis take into account the cultural values of the subject. The approach also requires an understanding and empathy that can possibly bring out the best in the concept. These are exercises in developing an approach that is meaningful and based on ideas with which people can connect at a deeper level with the outcome. When connecting the work at hand with cultural values, it also creates a multiple interaction with its audience, which is why when we came up with ideas for our outcome in the current exploration in Unit 6, we were asked to reflect upon who was our audience, whether the medium and concept that we were working with, connecting with the target audience. In the end, communication is about making that connection with the target audience. And one of the ways to make an effective connect is cultural values.

All That Process

All this discussion, reading, reflection and writing on the importance of process and the different ways in which process can be refined reminds me of the fact that even grief is a process. At least as per Kübler-Ross’ model which defines the process of grieving as the five stages of grief : anger, denial, bargaining, depression and acceptance. It conjures up  in my mind, images of the character of Joe Gideon (Roy Schider) from Bob Fosse’s film, ‘All That Jazz’. 

On reading Hugh Dubberly’s ‘How Do You Design?’, I found it interesting, initially, to see the different diagrams that added steps to create complex patterns for process. Process is not meant to be spontaneous. That I do understand. I also understand the benefits of following process. However, as the book went on to analyse academic approaches and approaches adopted for architecture or engineering projects, it somehow seemed to me that I was viewing design as a definite science. The romance, the accidental eureka moment, the fun seemed to be lost in a maze of very formula oriented approach to solving a design problem. I do understand that the underlying purpose of emphasis on process lies in learning to gather and assess information at hand to come up with the best possible solutions, I just suddenly find that I am missing the spontaneity in design. As my question is, does design have to be always process oriented? If it is not, does it become art? Is that the difference we are looking at?

To see then that grief too has a process…I am left with wondering if we view all aspects of our life as process? I guess I am going through my own process of anger, denial, bargaining, depression and acceptance when dealing with these questions. And I dont have any definite answers.