Final Marks

Theme analysis

War

Conflict
Tactics
Geography
Ideals
Discontent
Revolution
Soldier
Weapon
Strategy
Attack
Defense
Flank
Ordinance
Armour
General
Navy
Army
Logistics
Valor
Front




Government                                                  

Democracy
Oligarchy
Tyranny
Dictatorship
Ideals
Leadership
Efficiency
People
Revolution
Justice
Order
Few
Many
Law
Court
Legistlature
Leader
Ruler
Rebellion
Influence

Font Study of Futura

There. done.






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Ok, ok I'm just kidding. But it does give a pretty textbook definition of the font.

The font I chose in my project and in this post is Futura, a Geometric Sans Serif font created by Paul Renner in the 1920s that counters many more traditional forms of type that emphasize a calligraphic feel from previous eras.  By the category alone we should be able to point out a few of the more obvious characteristics of this typeface.  It is Sans Serif meaning of course....NO SERIFS.  This contributes to the geometric feel of the type by creating those crisp corners.  Those crisp forms are continued everywhere on the type. For example on the capital letter "P" that I'm working on the counter can scarcely be called a "counter" at all, with its form reflected in the overall form with the same sharp corners and machine precision. While many typefaces have a bowl that conveys some sort of weight to it by connecting by using spurs, Futura's capital P has a bowl that is tipped exactly sideways to make a perfect semicircle. the stem and bowl are seemingly exactly the same in width making the whole shape uniform in strokes, making the letter P have NO stress whatsoever.

Overall the font has a beautiful simplicity to it. It could easily be stenciled and comes across as a mechanically manufactured sort of design.  Its logical and in its parented form fairly calm and unemotional.  What interesting to me is how well the balance is used and how even the slightest change in it can impart tremendous feeling and/or intensity. This has been reflected in the variation spun off of the parent type such as Futura Condensed or Bold

Zombies and Graphic Design - My Choice for Contemporary Graphic Design

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

I've been obsessed with zombie films since I was about ten...just look at my movie collection and you'll see a envy worthy assortment of blood, guts, gore and the undead.  Few of them really have cool posters associated with them, at least not in the sense of a design. Most of them have the run-of-the-mill cheesy illustration of the walking dead or the heroes on the cover. One however has always stood apart from the others....so much so that I keep a poster of it on my wall

George Romero's original Dawn of the Dead was in my opinion the most cerebral of the initial "Dead" trilogy and worked very clever social commentary into the fabric of the film, but I'm going to stop myself from distracting myself with my own film geekery. My point is this: It is very appropriate that it has the most subtle and intelligent of the posters designs in the series

Its main element is a sense of continuation used to draw the viewer closer the the perceived threat of the poster, a stylized eyes only portrait of a zombie (within the film no less ). The wounding adds a touch of asymmetry to what would almost be a very logical and symmetrical design from its center alignment and corresponds to the different red hues throughout the poster. This lends a bit more to the feeling of unease to the  whole piece.

For a horror poster, this image uses very subtle tools to convey the feeling of dread and foreboding  that Romero and the other filmmakers wanted to portray in the film

Herbert, Meggs, and Sagmeister

All three of them had their own piece to say about the role and nature of graphic design work.  Stefan Sagmeister, an Austrian born graphic design with an important firm in New York, advocates being bold (or "having guts" in his words) when designing, suggesting that risk-taking and passion will help a designer prevail more times then not.  Meggs and Herbert approached the subject with a more analytical approach talking at great length about the universal language and hybrid qualities of design.  Herbert specifically mused on the delicate balance between style and substance.


I believe completely in what Sagmeister had to say, and have always felt that boldness is a vital part of truly excellent design or just artistry in general.  Standing out is very important to get the attention of those you're trying to get the message across to.  But also designers have to keep in mind that communication is the main point of a design and cannot get bogged down in the aesthetics. Meggs and Herbery both have excellent points on the careful considerations of our craft.

"What is Graphic Design?" - A Power To Wield

When I was building my artistic skills in high school and community college, I always seemed to encounter the same problem.  I would paint, and draw,  and do other more free-form art methods, but i never seemed to be satisfied on a whole.  I didn't really have any goals when I worked on art, which while relaxing, meant that I would always feel as if I wasn't accomplishing anything of particular worth.  Sure, I had painted a beautiful image, learned to render models faithfully and otherwise flourish in traditional art, but otherwise my world was virtually unaffected by what I had done.

I looked to Graphic Design and saw something different: while it still was definitely expressive and artistic, It DID have goals that could be applied in a practical manner. Not only could I produce a piece that moved people aesthetically, but also change the way they thought and felt in a very surgical sense.  There's much more power with that in my mind, then with most traditional art.  It helps me feel like I am doing my part to improve and shape society to pursue graphic design

Painting's a good hobby for me, Graphic Design's a good purpose