MIlton Glaser- TED convention

http://www.ted.com/talks/milton_glaser_on_using_design_to_make_ideas_new.html

Jobs

http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/377167-253


http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Internship/151795-297


http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Internship/148090-51

Influential Designer- refined thesis

Milton Glaser is the modern day "renaissance man" and is an excellent example of someone who has been successful and innovative in constantly seeking new avenues of design to explore.

In my paper and presentation I want to highlight and explain the amazing designs of Milton Glaser, and go a step further to show how he has not limited himself by sticking to one medium or style. His passionate and hard-working attitude has made him successful and inspirational to all up-coming designers. I really like someone like Milton because he never become complacent and always worked harder. I respect a mind like his because I feel he has really "stretched it" and used all of it. I like how he can't be "pinned down" to one style, but is constantly evolving and unafraid to try new things. I want to relate that because we have "liberal" educations were already have a good start at being designers. We have not focused on only one thing, but hopefully our background will be sources of inspiration.

My sources:

"The Design of Dissent" by Milton Glaser

The Thames and Hudson encyclopaedia of graphic design and designers /
by Livingston, Alan.; Livingston, Isabella.

http://rogallery.com/Glaser_Milton/Glaser-bio.htm

http://www.oswego.edu/graphics-projects/art317/glaser2/pages/bio.html


http://metroartwork.com/milton-glaser-biography-artwork-m-218.html


(I'm needing to find more books, waukegan & carthage library don't seem to have books solely on him)

Influential Designer- Milton Glaser

Milton Glaser is an amazing individual. He is so iconic for numerous reasons. He has become such a respected and well known "renaissance" graphic designer because of his work ethic, his innovation, and curious exploration of new ways to design and express a concept. I think he is the ultimate modern-day "renaissance man" because he has constantly re-invented himself (like Madonna). His designs have been inspired by everything from oriental calligraphy, art nouveau, geometric forms, Persian art, comic books, and contemporary pop. His one-man exhibits have been featured internationally and he has one numerous lifetime achievement awards. This man has never stopped working. Like Geoffry Tory, he has dabbled in nearly every medium. He has been an instructor at the Visual School of Arts in NY since 1961, re-designed supermarket chains, and even designed an educational playground or children. I think he is really a remarkable man, and an inspiration for designers to never get bored with their work and to always look for other places were design can happen. Milton Glaser is a modern-day Renaissance man American's can be proud of.

"You have to be amazingly consistent and persistent. You have to work like hell. You cannot become an excellent practioneer without constantly working hard all your life."- Milton Glaser

Before Class 04/14/10

Corporate Identity

After World War II America's economy was thriving. Important corporations were at the fore front of changing techonology and advancements. The head of these corporations realized as consumerism grew and more people were buying their products than ever before, they would need a way to simply and effectivly relate their company to the consumer through a symbol. The Olivetti corporation did their part in creating a "image" by hiring Giovanni Pintori. He joined the publicity team and was in charge of creating a "systematic design program." This did not meant that they had the same logo on everything, but rather the same feeling or style in their promotions because it was done by one person. CBS television was really the leader in creaitng a corporate identity. More people than ever before had television sets, and they knew they needed to make their company known on all things it accompanied ("from shipping labels to press releases") They did not create a single typeface for the company to use but rather a series of intelligent design. They changed their logo or typeface depending on the medium. "Emphasis was placed on concepts that quickly captured teh essence of each program using the connotative power of signs, symbols, and images."(meggs, 401.) Georg Olden was really the innovator behind this idea at CBS. He was the first African-American to gain recognition as a grahic designer. He eventually designed for the United States Post Office. It was a huge honor as he designed the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Finally, New Haven Railraod created a systematic style and design for their company that began on letter heads and extended to the fabric of the inside of the train cars. They unified their entire company by style, color, design, and typeface. We can definitly recognize this concept in companies today such as the red and white of the target logo and stores. Their logo is red and their stores have red carts, chairs, and check out counters.
Most interesting to me was AT&T design. I like how they took the idea and image of information bits circling the globe.
We can recognize all of these corporate logos but it's interesting to know the thought processes behind them.
I would be curious to know if it is super difficult to change the logos of companies such as CBS and IBM that have been around forever. They risk a lot by changing what people are familiar with.

After Class 04/12/10

New York School

Chuck gave his presentation about the New York School and highlighted the many designers and innovators who changed this modern movement in the 1940's. Paul Rand was an editorial designer who "reduced visual forms to their symbolic essence." He used universal signs that everyone could understand to rely messages. This movement like many others we studied were apart of a series of movements that reduced and simplified the message. Alvin Lustig designed several book covers and used symbols to "capture the essence of the content." He believed form and content were "as one." Bradbury Lustig used recycled resources and typographic expression changing scale and color to rely a message. Saul Bass brought the movement from New York out west to L.A. He reduced images even more to a "singular, all-encompasing image." He was the first to unify print and media for film. Alvin Ersenmann was the first designer to begin a program for graphic design at a major university.
The New York School also experimented with large-format publications, but it was quickly dismissed due to publishing and material costs. The greatest impact we can see this movement had is on magazine covers. New editorial design used one large headline and creative writng in the body of the text. On magazine covers we can see this in "The New Yorker" and "TIME" magazine. They have one headline, or a few at most.
The most interesting thing I learned from the movement was about it's influences on film openings. The combination of text and music can be very powerful and set the mood for the entire film. Sometimes its boring seeing all these people's names pop up on screen who you have no idea who they are, nor care. BUT, when the film has interesting typography and music it makes it much more enjoyable.

Before Class 04/12/10

Because of the wars over in Europe, many designers fled to safe harbor in New York. While in America, the two cultures and design styles combined. "European design was often theoretical and highly structured; American design was pragmatic, intuitive, and less formal." What emerged was "New York Style." It was influenced by the capitalistic American society, freedom of expression and ideas, and "direct presentation of information." One of the designers who was most influential to this movement was Paul Rand. By the age of twenty-three, he was already working as an editor and designer for magazines. He was a such a good designer because he understood symbols very well. He knew the power and emotion a simple symbol can evoke in people. He was also influenced by the abstract artists Klee and Kandinsky. In his design he combined the freedom of form that a Klee employed, as well as the obvious meaning symbols had. He used collages and montages in his work. He was also one of the first designers to work closely with a copywriter. With Bill Berbach, he could "create a synergistic visual-verbal integreation. Later in life, Rand focused his efforts on trademarks and corporate designs, as the American society evolved into a much more corporate and branding culture. The New York school was about pushing the limit. It was about trying new things, playing with colors, shapes, text, and ultimately creating a symbolically understood message.
Graphic designers of this movement also changed education. Alvin Lustig was the first to develop a graphic design program at Yale University. Finally, the New York school influenced film. Print and media graphic were combined to create unified logos, posters, and film titles. Typography combined with music and the exciting opening of the film was created.
I would be curious to know what city designers flock to now. Is New York still the "hot spot?"

Before Class 04/09/10

The International Typographic style is also known as "Swiss design." Fittingly it began in Switzerland in the 1950's. It can be recognized by it's "asymmetrical organization of the design elements on a mathematically constructed grid." Information is presented in simple, clear, and concise formats. There are no "exaggersted calims of propaganda and commercial advertising." Unlike other artists and designers we read about who believed art should be kept separate from involving itself in public affairs, this movements believed design could be beneficial to social issues. However, they chose to do so in simplified ways without ornate, busy, or complex designs. As the modern times were evolving this design style leaned on the scientific approach to design. "Achieving clarity and order" was the main concern. One of the leaders of this movement was Ernst Keller from Switzerland. He taught at the school in Zurich his own lettering and trademarks. "He established a standard of excellence." His posters were colorful and full of symbolic imagery. The School of Design in Basel had influences from Bauhaus and De Stijl. Theo Ballmer's use of geometric grid design could be seen in his lettering and "formal harmony." Max Bill changed the books were designed. Instead of indented paragraphs h eused a "ragged right margin."
Photographs that were enlarged were used for this modern design as well. Innovations in photography and darkrooms allowed close-up images to be transformed into paintable abstract images.
I would be interested in knowing how design influenced science or vise versa? Did any designers double as scientists? Did they use microscopes? Do any artists today use solely microscopes to find inspiration for design?

Before Class 04/07/10

American Kitsch
The word "kitsch" is from German and means "in bad taste." It began in America around the 1950's. It was influenced by those who weren't "mainstream." It began by rebels like James Dean. The American Youth soon adopted this style of a "creative radical." Laid-back looks of jeans and t-shirts became popular. Futuristic styles were also popular, using curves and lines. Shapes that had round features were favored. Artist Norman Rockwell who designs hundreds of covers for the "The Saturday Evening Post" was also influential in his representations of the "American life." Exaggerated facial expressions and forms were typical of this movement in comic books and advertisements. Pulp fiction books became popular during this period as well. The look had a "hand drawn" feel to it. Lettering on billboards, signs, and posters was often cursive script and casual looking. This movement was colorful, casual, and represented American youth culture during the 1940's-1950's. Now in the present day the style is still present.
I read that this movement is not taught in design schools. Why?

After Class 03/31/10

Today Mark gave a good presentation about the Art Deco movement. The movement has many of nicknames it is known by including: Style Changel, Style Poinet, Skyscraper Style, Vertical Style, NY style, Art Moderne, and Jazz Style. It was influenced by both the Arts & Crafts movement as well as Art Nouveau. In the designs you can see images of Egyptian, Aztec, Assyrian, and Oriental design motifts. When looking at a building, design, or poster you can tell it is Art Deco if it meets these four requirements.
1. Has Geometric & Linear forms.
2. Employs the "less is more" belief.
3. There is a distortion of reality.
4. Is current- Is "representational of the time period."
And finally the typography of the time period used type as imagery, and not just letters. "Broadway" is most representational of using sans-serif typeface. Art Deco style spread to French, Germany, Switzerland, England.