01 Medieval 02 Rococo 03 Victorian STYLE 04 Arts & Crafts 05 Minimalism 06 Cubism 07 Futurism 08 Surrealism j aBs o On Ow a lKl a c e 09 Constructivism history of graphic design 10 De Stijl d e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 0 1 11 Art Deco 12 ITS 13 Sixties 14 New Wave 15 Deconstructivism 16 Information Graphics 17 Millennium 18 Beck Map 19 Macrap 20 Propaganda Poster Medieval Advertisement for "disposable absorbent underpants". Characteristics*: Border Carpet page Drop cap Inconsistencies: No dimenuendo * One of the characteristics for period pieces is that it has to be illuminated -- stamped with gold leaf. Due to limitations in modern printing methods, and the value of gold, modern examples of the Medieval style will simply feature an intricate border with pictures of shininess (which this piece unfortunately doesn't have). Page 01 Rococo A little metal tea can that one of my friends has on his desk... Characteristics: Organic contour Intricate, fine lines Thick & thin letterforms Type has some flourishes* Inconsistencies: Symmetrical. True Rococo is asymmetrical. It's not busy enough. * Type is not embellished enough -- too conservative. (...but it's the only thing I could find...) Page 02 Victorian Advertisement for Alias|Wavefront 'Maya' (a $5,000 3D rendering program..) Characteristics: Variety of fonts Decorative letterforms Busy* Undulating baseline Type in a banner Eclectic Inconsistencies: No gradations in text * The definition of 'busy' has changed over the years, and doesn't look all that busy (to me at least). It seems like the designers knew the characteristics of Victorian style, but didn't make it 'too busy' because it would have been more fine art than an informative design piece. Page 03 Arts & Crafts Scenes from the movie "Brazil". Characteristics: Organic plantforms Repeated patterns Borders Simple (no undulating baseline) Soft, muted colors Attention to fine detail Inconsistencies: The philosophies of "truth to materials" and "reviving craftsmanship" are hard to prove since this is a work of fiction. Even in the context of the movie, no character mentions the environment in that detail. Page 04 Minimalism CD cover from Rephlex Records' compilation album "Braindance". Characteristics: Flat background Large simple image Prominent product name Inconsistencies: This doesn't detract from the fact that it's Minimalism, but the weirdness of the image also makes it Surrealism. Page 05 Cubism CD cover from Autechre's album "Confield". Characteristics: Overlapping elements Somewhat flat design Abstracted, stylized planes Muted color Inconsistencies: Since cubism was illustration only (no typography), the type on the cover has Top: inside booklet nothing to do with the rest of the design. Left: cover Also, these images seem to have depth, borders added later but you have to look at them 'just right'.. Page 06 Futurism Right: CD booklet from Underworld's album "dubnobasswithmyheadman" Left: back cover from Kraftwerk's album "The Man Machine" Characteristics (Underworld): Variety of fonts Variety of point sizes Angled lines Asymmetrical layout Characteristics (Kraftwerk): Dynamism (in lines and text) Inconsistencies (Underworld): With all of the chaotic, overlapping forms, this could easily be called Deconstructivism. Also, the text only has horizontal baseline. ° 0 9 d e t a t o r Page 07 Surrealism CD cover from The Orb's album "U.F.Off The Best of The Orb". Characteristics: It is applying an unreal situation to a real object. The title, which sounds like "you F- off" complements the offensiveness of the finger. The title is also a parody of one of The Orb's previous albums, "U.F.Orb". Inconsistencies: Since some cultures do not use the finger as a form of offensive communication, they would not understand the link between the title and the image. To make it more meaningless, some of those cultures don't even have a space program.. Page 08 Constructivism CD cover from Kraftwerk's album "The Man Machine". Characteristics: black, white, and red bars and rules sans serif font Inconsistencies: Constructivism did not use dynamism. The lines would have been horizontal and vertical. Page 09 De Stijl Radio Shack advertisement Characteristics: Black bars Planes of primary colors Asymmetrical Sans serif letters* Inconsistencies: * The letterforms are not squared (block) letters. This font has a more rounded design. The photographic elements and copy have nothing to do with De Stijl. Page 10 Art Deco Brazil pic 1 Scenes from: "Brazil" and "A.I." Characteristics (Brazil): Repeated patterns Rigid geometry Ministry of Cubist-style illustrations Information logo (Brazil) Female form (pic 2) zig-zag pattern Brazil pic 2 concentric circle pattern (top of MOI logo) Characteristics (A.I.): Repeated patterns Pastel Colors waterfall pattern Inconsistencies: A.I. pic 1 ( none ) Page 11 ITS Aphex Twin's CD and video: "Come To Daddy" and "Home Video Item". Characteristics: Helvetica Flush-left, ragged-right Strong grid alignment Void of decoration (except for cover) Top Left: Black and white photo of CD Photos instead of illustrations and video Top Right: back of CD Inconsistencies: Bottom Left: Despite the fact that the cover image is back of video Bottom Right: surreal (everyone looks like Aphex Twin), lyric sheet it's a perfect example! borders added later Page 12 Sixties Cover art for the movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Characteristics: Bright colors (unnaturally) Organic lines (some) Hand lettering* Carpet page?** Inconsistencies: * The title text is not as organic as it could be, and the top and bottom text is not stylized at all. ** It's not completely a carpet page. The smoke fills the space with a wavy contour, but it's not distinct from the sky. Page 13 New Wave The back of a Cap'n Crunch box! Characteristics: violated grid bright colors text in geometric forms variety of type reverse type angled baselines layers demands you kids' attention! Inconsistencies: ( none ) Well, okay.. Nobody has "80's hair".. Page 14 Deconstructivism Top: DVD booklet from "Fight Club" Bottom: DVDs from "Se7en". Characteristics (Fight Club): Chaotic layout* Textures** Variety of fonts (in background) Layers Characteristics (Se7en): Chaotic Layout (better example) Textures** Distressed type Variety of fonts (better example) Inconsistencies: * ..except the images aligned to grid. ** No "faux" textures, instead they are the effects of layered photomanipulation. Page 15 Information Graphics Map & guide for DFW Airport Characteristics: Bold headings Grid alignment Color coded Spot illustrations Flush-left, ragged-right Few fonts (could be variations on a single font) Other graphic elements: bars, rules, text in boxes, and a simple map of the airport It is conveying a vast amount of information in a small amount of space Front Back Inconsistencies: ( none ) Page 16 Millennium Top Left: Warp Records website Top Right: Windows XP default theme Bottom Left: http://www.lycos.com Bottom Right: my DSL modem box Characteristics? / Inconsistencies? Since this style is still under construction, it's difficult to establish characteristics until after we've evolved into another style. Sure, they all share the bright colors, and some rounded elements, but Lycos and Warp Records have an 'angled' scheme (like De Stijl and Information Graphics with 45° angles added). Since Microsoft has a lot of influence over darn near everything, Millennium style might follow whatever they design. Apple is more design comscious, but they are quite protective over their own designs (see: 'look & feel' lawsuits vs. Microsoft in the early 1990's.) Therefore, people aren't as inclined to copy and build on their style. Page 17 Beck Map Chicago Transit Authority Train Map. Characteristics: Color coded Lines: horizontal, vertical, angled No useless decoration (just enough to get the point across) Not to scale Inconsistencies: Trains are really closely related to subways, and since you said "no subway maps" I hope I don't get in too much trouble! http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/rail/rail.html Page 18 Macrap 'lost dog' poster from Wal-Mart Header graphic for an article from "Tom's Hardware Guide" Characteristics (lost dog): They want to get your attention, but why did they use an undulating baseline, drop shadow, and a rock texture? The texture is especially useless in that context -- against a rock background! Characteristics (Tom's Hardware): First, the website is not very orderly: there's two menus, and little chunks of info everywhere. As for that god-awful picture: they want to imply the use of a voltmeter, a knife, some tape, a CPU-identification program, an Athlon CPU itself, and some text, but DAMN! They've abused the drop shadow, the inner bevel, the color red, stretched the type three different ways, and the whole thing is backed-up with a collage of dark, contrasty pictures. And they expect me to want to read the article? Only if it's better than that picture... http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/01q4/011112/index.html Page 19 Propaganda Poster Scenes from the movie "Brazil". Characteristics: Rely on emotion over intellect. In conext with 'Brazil', they help build paranoia in the story. - "Who Can You Trust": Sam (the main character) is suprised to learn two things: his long-time friend Jack is a high-ranking officer in the Ministry of Information, and that Jack is also investigating whether Jill (Sam's love interest) is a bombing terrorist. - "Mind That Parcel: Eagle Eyes Can Save A Life": Sam has followed Jill into a factory to pick up a package. It could be an explosive, or it could be a simple Christmas present... We don't know. Page 20 Dada CD booklet from Orbital's album "In Sides". Characteristics: At first glance, this thing doesn't make sense. It doesn't follow any graphical rules; it's just a collage of normal-looking pictures all thrown together, and when viewed as a whole it looks like a big mess.