Movements & Styles

I found this online. It's a poster for Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the year 2007. It was a bauhaus exhibition and clearly shows an example in the format of the poster, from the lettering to the diagonal style. For Bauhaus typography, not only serifs were unnecessary, but there was no need for upper and lower case lettering. The aim for Bauhaus typography is communication that is shown in the 'universal' type.  I was attracted to this piece because I love how the same format was used and reintroduced in this poster for 2007.

American Kitsch

American Kitsch is simply known as '50's art' and is prevalent in this picture of the City Center Motel that is located in Las Vegas 'Neon Boneyard'. I was attracted to this piece because I thought that Las Vegas art is very artistic and creative...even though it can look extremely tacky at times. You can tell the casual script of this neon sign. This sign is very representational of Kitsch because it seems very tacky, witty, artistic, brash and tasteless. It must have looked really neat when it was lit!!

Late Modern

The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia is a great example of late modernism. I found it on a tourism website. Late modern artists applied the non decorative approach of modern to their designs, but without all the hype. There was a new simplicity that was formed and is shown in this structure. You can see the merge of natural curves in this structure and it attracted me because it is beautiful and it displays function dictating form!

Swiss/International

I found this posted on a blog livinglive.posterous.com/ and what immediately attracted me to the piece was the design! Swiss style works reveal a strong attention of graphic designers to uniform design elements and strong geometric shapes. You can see the strong geometric shapes in this example with the background grid and the player outline itself. Their visuals are abstract and seem to clearly convey their purpose in a remarkable way. Just these simple pictures were even used in Olympic photography. So simple, yet to the point!

Contemporary Design

I found this chair on zeospot.com...It's obvious why I chose this design. It looked so comfortable to sit in! "Ivy Chair" will make you feel comfortable as if you were surrounded by trees and flowers. By sitting in this amazing contemporary chair, it will give you the signal to think about nature over the function of the chair. It clearly shows contemporary design because it is simple, clean, and offers an uncluttered look. This design is opposite of traditional.

Psychedelic Design

This is an album cover from the band 'Kay Kay'. You can definitely tell the psychedelic approach on this piece and once I discovered this cd in my brother's collection, I had to take a picture! This psychedelic cover really depicts this design because it includes a 'sensory stimulation' as if you were on something! Everything is pictured as opposite and shows that sensory deprivation. It's as if you were experiencing hallucinations, changes of perception, and an altered state of awareness. This movement appealed to a younger generation.

Postmodern Design

I found this picture on dornob.com. It was shown as a 'what if' these were created. Since postmodern design was during a time of 'funny' design, I thought this picture was great! You wouldn't just be able to buy just one though...there could be a story created with them all 'interacting'...Postmodernism reestablished interest in ornamentation, symbolism and visual wit! Postmodernism deliberately violated the Bauhaus tenet that form must follow function...and it is clearly shown with these lamps!

Digital Design

I stumbled on this website and thought it was really neat what they were trying to accomplish. This is a photo of a digitally mediated environment. The UTSGallery showcased digitally enhanced environments by focusing on digital technologies as creative and critical tools for artists and designers. I think it's amazing what digital design can do and how far it can be taken! I don't think of it as lowering design standards, but enhancing it!

Paste Up!

What the print will look like.

Yellow layer

In History class, we were showed how to create our very own paste up...the old school way of creating a digital print!! It was very interesting completing this project at home...It was, in a way, a very tedious process...we had to come up with 4 separate layers, each being it's own color...bottom layer was yellow, third layer was cyan, second layer was magenta and first and final layer was black...CMYK!! We then had to come up with a cover sheet indicating to the printer how much of each color was to be used. The arrows had to be touching that indicated color for the particular layer (it had to be exact).  This assignment was a great way to learn how these digital prints were made and it made me appreciate the process that was dealt with back then, so much more! I love doing these sorts of things...discovering history all over again! It was a great way to understand the History of Graphic Design a little more!

Magenta layer added

Cover sheet with the exact %'s of ink

Cyan and Yellow layers

Rare Prints Gallery!

We took a field trip to Rare Prints Gallery in Downtown Franklin off of Main Street. This was the first time that I went into this shop, so it was nice to discover something new!

The speaker that briefed us on the history of the gallery was very informational. She described how the process of some of the prints were accomplished and also pointed out some great artists such as Audubon! It was very interesting to hear!

There are 20 foot ceilings in this gallery and as you can see, the walls are taken up with these ornithological prints from ceiling to floor. Some of them I thought were pretty intricate and was told that it took a while for the printer to accomplish their design because of how the prints were accomplished. They are very time consuming because each color is done separately.

I absolutely loved staring at these rare prints up close. It was quite amazing how in detail each of them were...You can really appreciate their true art when you actually stop to appreciate their beauty!

It's quite amazing how rare these prints really are...being that they have been restored from the 1500's to the 1900's. Each one being unique in their own way. They have collections from John J. 
Audubon, John Gould, William Curtis and Giovanni Piranesi just t0 name a few. Oh how breathtaking!

The quality of their pieces are quite brilliant!! For being as old as they are, they have been very well maintained and you can tell how rare they are by their prices!! You need to have a jingle in your pocket in order to afford these rare prints!! There are a few that are $15 and above, small though, but still wonderful! 


As you can see, just picking up a print and holding it was enough satisfaction for me to appreciate how much they really were! I think this one sold for $1200! 


There's a lot of history behind these prints, you wouldn't think so at first, but you can really tell the pride that was placed in each one...They are gorgeous to look at, so you should step in and take a peek.

Breathtaking!

This is a very special journal that my sister gave to me when I moved to Tennessee in June 2010. I think it is the most beautiful book that I own! If you look at the details of this book, it's pretty amazing. I am thinking its a Celtic design because of the obvious cross on the cover. There is also a design in the center of the cross that is really interesting! The art work is breathtaking...I mean, just look at that amazing detail in the center of the cross. There are inscriptions in each corner...I'm not sure what it means or it's significance, but it's definitely something to look into! There are green, gold, red, and blue foil decorations as well that are placed all throughout the design.


The journal opens with a magnetic flap that is designed to be 'hidden' on the cover. What a creative idea. The inner color of the journal is gold, going with the overall look of this masterpiece!


The inside of the journal has blank pages...I have sketched on only one page, but haven't placed anything else in this book...I'm almost afraid I would mess it up. I think the beauty of it is great just the way it is that i'm just nervous to add to it! It is definitely something that I will cherish for a long time!

Hatch!

Went to Hatch on Saturday...took McKenna and Ryan there. Haha...I made McKenna point to the sign out side their door. Hatch Show Print is the oldest working printing press in the United States and is located in downtown Nashville. They design and sell posters for many different companies around the area in and out of Nashville.

Stepping into the shop it seemed a lot smaller than I imagined and seen in the pictures. There isn't much room to walk because the press work area itself took up most of the space.

The walls were filled with posters from every singer such as Patsy Cline to BBKing...this was my favorite part about the shop....it made everything look so colorful and alive!

This photo made me laugh, so I had to post this one!! They have two cats in Hatch Show Print that are apart of their family there among the printers. I had McKenna squat next to one in the shop...she was afraid get close to it...haha.

The shop seems like it's pretty laid back, but you can definitely tell how busy they can get. They seemed pretty busy when we entered with the phone ringing constantly and the chatter and hustle & bustle of printing.

Here are a couple of examples of what they do!! I made Ryan hold up a poster and how appropriate was this one?! I loved it!! I love how this poster is so simple, yet symbolizes what they do through silhouette. All of their posters were pretty amazing!!

I purchased a little notebook from there as well...I thought it was so clever how they incorporated a poster, with many colors and prints and bound it with string to create a book. The pages on the inside are blank, but it's the cover that caught my eye!

I think Hatch Show Print is such a great and amazing company! What they do is amazing and it's wonderful how they keep printing with a press alive and going!!

Speaker, Jim Sherraden from "Hatch Show Print"

Jim Sherraden was a guest speaker to our History of Graphic Design class. He is the head of the oldest/still functioning printers press in America. I've heard of Hatch Show Print, but didn't realize the extent of how great of a place it really was until Jim came in to speak. He talked about the process of what it took create a poster. He discussed the many clients in and around Nashville and the surrounding areas of the United States that used their services. I found it fascinating to hear how everything was ran and put together. He showed a few pictures of Hatch and described it as working in a garage. Even though it seemed really unorganized and messy, you can still find what you need and where everything is placed--if you worked there.

The way his presentation ran was pretty laid back, but very informational at the same time. He showed and passed around many examples of the different posters that they've created. From Taylor Swift, to The Ryman Auditorium posters...everything was hand pressed with the type hand set. It was a pretty amazing sight to see how such a small shop created so much business and also interesting to hear how they have survived for so long in Nashville. Hatch show began to begin making posters for Circus shows and minstrel shows across the U.S. and has grown to tremendous heights with the support of their clients and also the Nashville community.

I really appreciated hearing and learning about Hatch Show Print. I thought that the presentation was well done by Jim and he really made me realize how great of an art poster printing really was!

Mesmerize Me!

So my boyfriend Ryan was in town and stayed at my brother's apartment the weekend he was here. I saw this picture hanging in their living room and just had to take a picture of it!  I loved looking at it the most because there's quite a bit going on! It was definitely "Mesmerizing"!  I noticed the title first. It has a 'Hazard' text feel and thought that it was used rather well because of the overall presentation of the design in the art piece--it goes well with the shape looking DNA strands.






There was another use of text in this piece. It is located in the bottom left corner. It was placed cleverly and also is hidden to a certain extent. The text has been painted over with yellow paint, as to make it transparent.  "Stop Waiting. Start Doing"---this was done in Helvetica type.

I loved the creativity of what the artist used in their piece as well. As you can see, the artist used a Postage sticker for Priority Mail and drew and painted on it. It was an interesting way to incorporate everyday stickers in their design. Not sure what the meaning was, but it looked cool!

Not only did the artist use a Postage sticker, but they also used a name tag sticker as well. This just shows how creative the artist was trying to be and how they wanted their art work to make a successful statement!!