OUGD401 Modernism and Post Modernism

MODERNISM.

One of the questions we have been given for our possible essay is based around Modernism. The question is 'To what extent have Modernist design principles influenced contemporary Graphic Design?' To help us get an idea of how we could go about answering this question, we were given a seminar with a brief introduction into Modernism and an introduction into some of the graphic design that has been a strong influence in this movement.

We were given some books that could be useful for further exploration of the topic, one being Rejection of ornament (Adolf Loos, (1908) Ornament & Crime) and also Form Follows Function (Louis Sullivan (1896) 'The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered').

According to the modern age, no font other than Grotesk fits the movement, however this is critiqued by Tschischold. Modernism is an internation typographic style. It uses a lot of grids and rules to create the perfect display and generally abandoned the use of drawn illustration in favour of photography. There are a few graphic designers that I already know a little about that used modernism, such as Wim Crouwel, who I looked at in college, who created the 'new alphabet', which I thought was really interesting as the letterforms, although highly different, were still readable.

POSTMODERNISM.

Another question that we have been given the opportunity to write an essay about is Postmodernism. The question is 'How did Postmodernism impact on Graphic Design practice?' Postmodernism is characterised by exhaustion, pluralism, pessimism and disillusion with the idea of absolute knowledge, however some principles do overlap. Postmodernism started around the 1960s and was dominant in the 1980s and 1990s. I have also looked into an artist that was highly respected, whos work was created using the postmodernist method. His name is David Carson, who has a very bold and abstract way of working. 

After learning a little about the two, I am not so sure that I would like to base my essay and practical work around either of them, especially postmodernism as, although I really enjoy some of the posters, the way the work is created seems very cluttered and makes me feel a bit on edge. I wouldn't really like to look more into modernism, as I find the topic quite challenging, and I think I would be more successful creating a body of work and essay on something that I find incredibly interesting, instead of just a little bit of interest.