What does it mean?

What is the purpose?
Purpose of art?

• to record and inspire the viewer
• to be expressive

purpose of graphic design?

• to visually convey a message using graphic elements

purpose of fashion?

• to express identity
• to be worn (functional)

purpose of 3D design?

• functionality and aesthetically pleasing
• meet the needs of the audience

(Re)presentation = presenting again

representing:

• the self - artist
• people
• companies and organisations
• cliques and social aspects
• ideas and concepts - emotions

Value...

the importance of artwork for:

• the viewer?
• the artist / designer?
• the industry?
• the traditions of design and whether they are broken or fulfilled

What does it MEAN! 

• working out the meaning is hard as it requires an opinion which is subjective.
• consider the historical context of the work - the impact of social change
• some pieces are purely abstract.
• artwork is appreciated, even if it is unlike by yourself.

Interpretations

• story
• aesthetics
• history
• emotional
• representational

Tracey Emin "My Bed" 

• Portrait - artists life
• Showing her secrets
• 'readymade' style similar to Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain'
• Insight into artist's mind
• Relation to society?

Why it was made?

commenting on mental health in general as well as referring to wider society.

Umberto Boccioni "The City Rises"

• example of futurist art - technology and movement
• abstract image - different points of interest merged into one image
• praising the industrial revolution
• qualitative content - angry / noisy / active
• tension in the image 
• red and yellow colours show energy and fire

David Carson "Hanging At Carmine Street"

David Carson’s piece is revolutionary for a typographical poster as it does not stick by the rules you would usually be expecting to see, the piece use’s a minimalistic approach on colours which are a rather solemn mixture of grey and black this also relates to the images within the piece as they are black and white photographs. The type face had been placed all around the image some which are upside down and others in different font sizes could be seen as messy but was actually done with precision without the Bauhaus grid system.  This was about to start the ‘Grunge’ movement which appealed to Carson and welcomed individuality.

Describing Art

Subjective / Objective

subjective - influenced by opinion or feelings

• personal opinion

objective - not influenced by opinions or feelings

• based upon facts
• avoid saying; in my opinion... or i think...

Formal elements

• line
• tone
• texture
• shape 
• pattern
• form / composition

Describe the shape

• square: geometric / outline / hollow
• blob: natural / organic / irregular / uneven

Visual content

• this is what is depicted from the image 
• formal elements create visual content
• typography is also visual content

'The Old Guitarist' Pablo Picasso

• Tones - dark and dull with contrast is places
• Composition - the main focal point of the image is the guitarist.
• Visual Content - frail, ill, poor as he has no clothing in this image.
• 
  
• Qualitative - sorrow / despair- because of his expression and how his body is somewhat dis coloured and tense.

Suzanne Mooney magazine review

• Written based upon facts
• Very descriptive

Kandinsky’s 60^th

Kandinsky’s birthday invitation was created by Bauhaus. The colour scheme in this image shows the information on the invitation in a minimalist style using a little amount of text as well as showing it in basic colours black and red this causes a contrast and displays the information in an obvious way. The positioning of the information being shown at an angle is another characteristic of the work of Bauhaus. The angle that the information is shown, works alongside the blocks colour as they create partitions between the information. The type size varies from the relevance of the information such as ‘KANDINSKY’ is shown in a larger font than other pieces of information.

Contextual studies year 2

Logos and posters

what should be considered in a logo and poster:

• what the poster has been created for?
• what the poster is communicating?
• who the target audience is?
• how it engages the audience?

Amnesty logo

• Barbed wire - shows protection as well as control and oppression in a aggressive style.
• Typography - the type face used is simple yet effective as it had been written in a bold recognizable font.
• Legible - as this logo is very bold the text works well alongside it, this creates a strong contrast between the image and text making it legible.
• Candle - represents human life.
• Ubiquitous - appearing and found all over.

Shelter logo

• Image as type - his made to look like a roof on a house.
• Legible text - the text is only altered slightly which maintains the legibility.
• Logo - both image and text are married into one image.
• Colour - the red can be seen to represent anger but in this case i believe it is used to show compassion and love.

Amnesty poster

• Clear and simple - hands inside hand.
• Reaching up shows the message of hope.
• Out stretched arms - suggests the feeling of giving help and aid.
• Interesting layout takes advantage of the negative space on the poster.

WWF poster

• Headline - dark humor that works alongside the image
• Strap-line - use of a provocative statement that is personal to the audience. 
• Metaphor - the use of an analogy.
• Message - requires a second look and thought to be put in to it.

Amnesty billboard  

• The billboard is made look like it has been placed with another advert to show a gritty message but still work together.
• Contrast - there is a lot of style difference between the two designs as one is in black and white and the other in bright colours.
• Lower image - striped down to reality.
• Colour - draws the eye to the to image then down to the second image below.