josef muller brockmann

 

 

Brockmann

Josef Muller Brockmann Swiss Graphic Design

Josef Muller-Brockmann (1914-1996) in between that dash Brockmann accomplished a great number of beneficial things but mostly he is known as a Swiss graphic designer who used the grid system as well as wrote books about the grid system. Brockmann was born in 1914 and at 16 he started an apprenticeship as a graphic designer in Zurich. He never got to far away from schooling and when he broke off his apprenticeship in 1932 he went to audit as a student under Ernst Keller and Alfred Willimann at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts. Keller influenced Brockmann’s work and in 1957 Brockmann was given the job of a graphic design teacher at the same school Keller taught while Brockmann audited the class; The Zurich School of Arts and Crafts.

Brockmann worked in all kinds of media including computer art, posters, mailing cards and others. Brockmann had a background in photography, was a lieutenant in the Swiss army for 6 years, yet we remember him for his graphic design elements influencing what is now known as the Neue Grafik. Swiss style, Swiss typography, New Swiss style, or Neue Grafik, all names for the style Brockmann is given credit to influencing.

Brockmann was a Swiss graphic designer and has a style that is simple yet very complex at the same time. It doesn’t matter what you call this movement in time, the Swiss’s influenced our outlook on simple design based around the photograph doing the communicating and having minimal text keeping things simple and easy to look at. He seems to use simple shapes such as rectangles and circles while interlocking them in a unique style giving balance to the piece. At first glance to almost any of his pieces of work you can see movement even while all the elements included are stationary. Implied line is a huge part of his work and color choices add to the movement of the shapes. Brockmann organized in a manner that keeps order yet is open to personal interpretation. He was aware of his boarders but from what I see his main focus was keeping the viewers attention on the center of his work; ironically a majority of the time there wasn’t a specific element in the center but the boarders and rings around would draw your eye exactly where he wanted; usually a companies logo.

He uses simple styled photographs which tell a story and require little text to get the message across. Knowing the rules before you can break them is an important design element in all graphic design work. Most of Brockmann’s work is influenced by a grid type of layout with structure but some of his projects defy this; that’s what I refer to when you need to know the rules to be able to break them effectively. Clearly his choice in color and size are effective in offsetting the eyes need to balance a page while keeping the viewer informed with simple text. A majority of his published projects follow a pattern and you can see movement even if the elements are stationary which stimulates the eye and consequently has the viewer craving more.

Advertising is what brought part of the movement into existence and this was a way to communicate with a large crowd getting their attention and promoting what ever produce they were promoting. Some of the products Brockmann was promoting were as simple as posters for musical companies playing a show to car companies promoting their new and improved vehicles such as VW and other well known German manufacturers.

            The Swiss movement was important from debatably 1920 to 1961 but the style can still be seen today in things such as billboards and advertising with the use of simple photos and minimal text. The grid system set up is a well known system in the web design industry and can be applied to not only web design but to flyers, posters, post cards, billboards and in any application order for text and picture layouts is needed. The grid system is indeed important but what is more important to a designer is to be flexible and over come challenges as they arrive meaning don’t be to rigid and only be set on using one certain font, color, size etc… This approach is easy with modern programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator just the click of a button and fonts can change instantly but Brockmann designed pre-Photoshop with making decisions beforehand seeing in his head or using a quick sketch how the end result would look before starting. Brockmann’s process started with the grid system and he adapted as needed to either accept or decline the use of the rules for each project.

Paul Rand

            Paul Rand was an american logo making specialist. His art was focused on the commercial side of life, appealing to the world through business symbols. He greatly influenced graphic designers throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s. He believed the rapid changes of the way people lived after the industrial revolution put artists in a unique position; the quick pace of life changed the way people viewed art.

            He believed a lot in company logos. He himself designed logos for large name brand companies including IBM and UPS. His philosophy on logos were as follow:

            -A logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon.

            -A logo doesn’t sell (directly), it identifies.

            -A logo is rarely a description of a business.

            -A logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around.

            -A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it means is more important than what it looks like.

(Originally published in 1991 by AIGA, the professional association for design.)

 

            He believed the effectiveness of a logo depended on seven attributes; it depends on it’s distinctiveness, visibility, useability, memorability, universality, durability, and timelessness. “Ultimately, the only thing mandatory, it seems, is that a logo be attractive, reproducible in one color and in exceedingly small sizes.”

            His books are still used today for popular discussion.

 

 

Van doesburg

 

            A simple style of art known as De Stijl, lasted between 1917 and 1931. it’s a dutch neoplasticism style that focused on straight lines and primary colors. It was heavily influenced by mathematical thought and focused on the purity of horizontal and vertical lines. In this style, artists would create squares and rectangles with a bit of red, yellow, and blue somewhere in it. They also did not restrict themselves from using blacks, whites, and grays as well. Later in the 20’s their style began to shift, adapting bits of constructivism. They incorporated diagonal lines, proposing that it was a vital part of their ideology. 

            The primary artists of this style included the painters Theo Van Doesburg1883–1931),  Piet Mondrian (1872–1944), Vilmos Huszàr (1884–1960), and Bart van der Leck (1876–1958), and the architects Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964), Robert van ‘t Hoff (1887–1979), and J.J.P. Oud (1890–1963). They also had one composer who tried to emulated his music in a De Stijl style, Jakob van Domselaer. He was a close friend to Mondrian.

            The basis behind this movement was due to the Netherlands’ neutrality during world war 1. The artists were not allowed to leave and couldn’t experience the art in other parts of the world. This lead Doesburg to start the journal called De Stijl in an attempt to start an art movement. They published works throughout the 20’s but when Doesburg died in 1931, the movement died with him. Without a coordinating figure, the group dissipated, reverting to other styles with a few exceptions. De Stijl works can still be viewed throughout the world today at museums such as the Gemeentemuseum at The Hague.

World Champion boxer Kassim “The Dream” Ouma

http://www.kassimthedream.com/

            Kassim Ouma with a very difficult childhood was able to overcome all odds and make a successful life for himself with lots of sacrifices along the way. Now living the American Dream Kassim is training for another World Championship Title. Boxing came to Kassim while he was a soldier in the rebel army he found he was good at it and eventually it became his ticket to freedom. 12 years fighting in the war as a soldier was enough for Kassim so he made a break for America leaving his family and country not to be able to return again. Kassim was considered a deserter with a punishment of death if he returned to his native country. America was a big cultural shock for Kassim yet he managed to pull through with a boxing visa as his ticket to survival. “A crack hotel was better than Africa” is a direct quote from the trailer on Kassim’s website. Nicknamed “The Dream” is a perfect phrase for the world champion boxer who in early childhood was kidnapped and forced to be a soldier yet ultimately made a World Champion of himself.

            Kassim remembers being in a situation where it was either him or me to die and its amazing Kassim is still here to tell about it but he is. He put his faith in God to forgive him and guide him and this is how Kassim managed to survive while being a soldier. God has been a large inspiration to Kassim and when he needed him he provided. Being a boxer your opponent voluntarily steps into the ring to fight but on the streets and jungle his victims didn’t have a choice. Kassim now has lots of choices and opportunities available to him but he worked hard for them. As a World Champion he promotes products such as Audi cars, shoe companies, and other large manufacturers.

            He finally got a pardon and allowed to visit his family and this was an incredibly emotional time for him and he couldn’t wait to visit. Even though he had bad memories of Uganda it was still a very powerful time in Kassim’s life to return and not be punished with death but be welcomed with open arms, being a champion boxer has a way of turning people’s thoughts around.

            Kassim now has his own family, mortgage and couldn’t have done it without his passion boxing. In the ring his fighting style is like his life, he has an aggressive stance and isn’t afraid to go for it. Twenty three wins, two losses and one draw speak for themselves on how good Kassim is but he also has 15 KO’s on record. In all the interviews and certainly in the documentary its clear Kassim puts his faith in God to help him through and asks for forgiveness for his sins which were committed while he was young and didn’t know any better.

Sharon Daniel Public Secrets and Blood Sugar

            The two sites Sharon Daniel introduced on April 12, 2010 were Public Secrets and Blood Sugar. The first, Public Secrets, was designed around the relationship between the state, the guards, multi million dollar companies benefiting from incarcerated inmates labor, and even the companies which provide food to the inmates but the main focus was the voices of incarcerated women in Southern California’s Chowchilla which house three prisons, two of which are the largest women’s prisons in the world. The second, Blood Sugar, site was originated around addicts who were apart of a needle exchange facility.

In Public Secrets out of the 500+ women interviewed they all had the same problems and needed to be heard. Initially Sharon didn’t want to have her own voice and experiences a part of the site but having heard her presentation I think it was a great introduction and gave a first hand point of view which wouldn’t have otherwise been as informative. The intro of Sharon’s voice over gives you an introduction into what visitors have to go through to visit inmates and the long road she had to go through to get the audio present in the interactive site. The Razor wire, the guards with guns and the dogs are only the beginning. The nice part about the prison is the perfectly cut grass and visiting rooms which only visitors are privileged with seeing; none of the inmates have access to this view even though it is only a few yard outside of their grasp. After going through all the electronically locked doors and guards Sharon was allowed to visit with the inmates and recorded their sessions. The only way Sharon was allowed a recording device to accompany her was if it was considered a legal visit not just a friends or family visit. Justice now was the organization that gave her the opportunity to be a legal voice not just a single person seeking a story.

The way the inmates were chosen for interviews was interesting because word of mouth was a large contributor. Initially Sharon interviewed women on the board but then one thing led to another and women were referring other inmates to Sharon saying you should do this interview it’s a great way to be heard. With the exception of 2 participants each one wanted their full name to be joined with their comments. New Media was the category this site falls into and required the viewer’s participation to interact with it giving a feel that you are a part of this world momentarily.

            The second site introduced by Sharon was titled Blood Sugar. This site had a similar look, to public secrets, in it was composed primarily of audio. The audio in Blood Sugar is composed of clients who Sharon was introduced to while working at a needle exchange facility. Sharon made this point clear that this website was not intended to convey the thoughts and feeling of all needle using persons but specifically the local group she interacted with directly at the needle exchange; yet at the same time the problem is a global problem which needs to be addressed and these people need help. Addiction is a disease according to society yet they seem to think willpower is the key to overcoming addiction. This is a huge contradiction society overlooks because they don’t want to be confronted with the problem. Is addiction a biological thing that can be medically treated or a mental psychological problem that needs to be fixed from the inside? The website itself was very interactive in fact it needed the viewers participation to navigate through while providing these interesting commentaries which were accompanied by moving text on screen.

Neither Public Secret nor Blood Sugar had pictures incorporated into the website it was mainly audio with text of what the audio you heard, hearing, or going to hear if you didn’t change to another location. No pictures goes against the saying a picture is worth a thousand words yet the impact of the site would not be as great if it was composed with pictures of malnourished, unclean people in prison cloths or unsanitary street cloths for Blood Sugar. The women in Public Secret were willing to have video but due to financial hardship this wasn’t possible for this project. Most participants in the Blood Sugar weren’t willing to have video because they didn’t want people knowing their identities; it was hard enough having them give consent to having their names go with the audio comments and text.

Both the sites have a common goal in using media to alert the first world (public) about the remote third world problems existing here on our soil in prison and in needle using drug addicts.

The end of both sites have a contact list as well as a how you can help section which make it possible for ordinary people to volunteer personally in writing letters and knowing who and what they should address to help the problem.

Race on the Track not on the Streets

Street racing has been around for years and years predating the TV however the results occurring after street racing have definitely changed over the years. Street racing has been accelerated due to movies such as Fast and the Furious but it is not to say they cause street racing. Local promoters for legal racing facilities consist of Qualcomm racing on Friday nights, GT2 and moto racing and they try to promote as much as they can but unfortunately budgets limit their exposure. For some street racers illegal street racing is a life style not just a simple act of a felony.

The consequences of street racing consist of, but are not limited to, destruction of property, imprisonment time, lose of license, and rarely but occasionally death. When the police take a car from a street race it ends up in impound yards and most of them are in one piece but sometimes if the driver loses control they need to be towed away in pieces. Inexperience is a key factor to why young drivers lose control and potentially injure themselves and others. The age for most violators is young yet there are those who like the adrenaline of running from the cops and keep racing well into their 50’s, 60’s +. There is a law which makes it illegal to watch, not just participants of illegal street racing and video equipment is taken away and confiscated while the spectator is arrested onsite. Spectators are discouraged to attend street races because without proper safety barriers’ between the vehicles and themselves there is the potential for an injury or death. No one wants to get the phone call that their child was killed, especially when it could have been prevented via using the right safety precautions at a legal race track. 

There are many reason people choose Illegal Street racing as a (statistically shown) Friday, Saturday night event. One reason for racing is people spend lots of money modifying their vehicles and want to feel better about their investment; consequently gambling and placing bets on races provoke them to race on the street and dignifying the cost with hopefully a win. Investment into a vehicle can be a positive thing as well and racing can be done at a legal race track as well with timing lights and safety crew on stand by yet some still choose to race on the streets. Everyone’s reason for street racing illegally is different but for some the adrenaline of doing something against the law is the reason to run on the streets. Initially it would look cheaper to race on the street and make money but if all things are considered it isn’t.

The cost of racing is something to consider before stepping out your door. First time offenders can be fined up to xxx and spend xxx amount of time in jail. At a Qualcomm race legal event spectators have a $8 entry fee and don’t run the risk of having their camera equipment or videos confiscated. A $30 entry fee to racers to run all night at a local race track is well worth the anti aggravation you get from running on the streets and possibility of ending the night in jail or the morgue. This is not to say injury or death can’t occur at the track, IT CAN, it has; There is always an ambulance standing by on site if an accident should occur, this is one of the reason auto racing is such an expensive sport. The insurance policy needed for an event such as racing or drifting events have to enforce a 1 to 5 million dollar policies to be in effect and sometimes insurance for special events and larger venues is even more.

Law enforcement agencies try to promote kids to go out and race at the track and discourage racing on the street with personal appearances as well as channeling through other popular television shows and movies. One example of how legal drag racing is promoted through television is an episode of drag race high had a team from local El Camino High and Ramona High schools competing and racing at a legal local race track. Broadcasting on Speed-Vision this could be seen nation wide. The kids on that show were enlisted in high school automotive classes therefore there interested in the industry and will become better prepared to enter the working world with the knowledge that racing needs to be done on the track not the streets.

It doesn’t matter if you have a $80K viper or your moms used Honda civic worth $500 if you get caught racing you will be arrested, your car impounded and you will suffer the consequences. Different budgets are considered when it comes to street racers and the most important is kids these days are getting faster cars than we would dream of back in the day for a fraction of the cost. Young drivers in high school as well as just out of high school want to upgrade their performance cars and can do it a lot cheaper than the old hot-rod days of the 50’s and 60’s. It is cheaper for manufacturers and produce over seas and import parts in to be sold here in the states and because of this the consumer benefits from a lower price per part. Parts coming from over seas are cheaper to manufacture and produce a similar product as built here in the United States. The other aspect to consider is other countries such as Japan have a different standard for smog therefore engines are made available with more horsepower. Japan is the manufacturing heart of a lot of the imported cars we see here in States and because they are a major manufacturer the people over there buy new vehicles more often then here. Recycling the 10 year old vehicles and making cleaner burning vehicles is the norm over there. It cost a lot of money to insure an older vehicle in Japan and consequently it doesn’t seem economically correct to keep an old vehicle because you are going to pay more in insurance then to purchase a new vehicle in the short and long run as well as the technology makes newer vehicles burn cleaner. Since here a 5 year old vehicle is considered just being broken in we gladly accept the engines and transmissions to transplant into US chassis. Registration gets tricky though, if the engine you put in is newer than the one coming out and was originally offered here in the states you can legally do the swap if you incorporate all the smog equipment. Because the smog rules are different Japan offers engines with power adders which are not street legal here in the US such as turbo chargers for certain models. Since Japan doesn’t need the old engines some of them are shipped over here and can be installed into track only vehicles and sometimes these vehicles are found out at the illegal street races. 

 Japan manufactures a large portion of the imported cars we find here in the United States and with the smog regulations less effective. There are most times required to have a different engine and electrical system.

 There are different degrees of street racing and first time offenders who are caught are treated differently then multi time offenders but the general rule of thumb is arrest on site ask questions later.

Professionals will say “consistency is the key to being a good drag racer” and that includes car, track and driver. The track offers consistent conditions you can adjust your vehicle to compensate for such as heat and air pressure so you can achieve the ultimate challenge of putting your engines power to the ground efficiently. On the streets there are never consistent conditions, potholes and oils contaminate the roads giving unpredictable conditions causing traction loss and possibly loss of control of the vehicle. You can have the most powerful car in the world but unless you get traction and can put that power to the road the power is useless, you’ll just sit there and spin tires.

            The biggest reason not to street race is because of the outcome that can occur. Keep things within the law especially when there are organizations out there willing to help promote safe driving courses the general public can observe and participate in. The automotive community is open to new drivers (figure of speech to outsiders) and more than willing to help promote track days to keep safety at its highest. More people should take that opportunity and stop racing on the street potentially injuring themselves or worse someone else.

Driving from the law has been known to happen for many years. The automotive sport of NASCAR was hatched from the Moon shiners who used to run from cops to make their deliveries. The same is happening today, young adults seem to enjoy running from cops and as a consequence legal street racing places have spawned up. Only with difficulty have legal racing organizations been born but due to financial restraints as well as advertising limitations.

Terrilynn Quick Feb 10 in Arts 342

          Terrilynn graduated from CSUSM some years back and was an inspirational speaker in motivating the art side of the brain to take over. She is a teacher of young children and something she said that caught my attention was young children these days aren’t given artistic opportunities as much as they should be. As an arts and tech major I feel art is important and to learn children are not given the right to experience art but once and a while is a hard thing to accept. The books Terrilynn shared with us were physically transformed books which are in a way different than electronically transformed books or web pages yet they share similar challenges in designing.

Ash Thorp

          Ash definitely has skills. Hearing the stories and background to how he got to where he is today is very motivational and at the same time an eye opener to what it takes to be successful and make it in the art world. Ash designs in multiple media types including drawing, computer aided drawing, web design, video and other such media and he has a great concept of how to connect all of them as needed. Thank you Ash for coming into class and sharing your story with us we really appreciated it.

Linda Zacks http://www.extra-oomph.com/09/about/

          Linda has a unique style which I viewed online and respect because she accomplishes something I cant possibly imagine doing myself. Having clients such as VH1, ebay, adobe, Sony style, and other well known companies speaks highly of her ability to produce quality work. Linda works in multiple media as most of the artists I have researched do and this has brought me to the conclusion that you need to be well rounded as well as open minded to what clients need from you.

Alex Queral

            Phone books become useless once they are outdated however Alex Queral gives them another life. Using a sharp X-ACTO knife he cuts out recognizable face features like an onion being pealed away. A small amount of acrylic is used to enhance the facial features within the sculpture but the pages are still pliable revealing their original identity of a phone book page. In most cases when the piece is finished Alex will cover the whole sculpture in a thin acrylic base to preserve it as well as emphasize the features he has brought out in the work. Alex prefers to make recognizable faces such as celebrities and well known actors but he also does humorous pieces such as aliens and dismembered faces. A face such as Jack Nickelson has distinctive features and makes a powerful looking sculpture.

            Recycling phone books works to his advantage because there are alot of them out there and most people throw them away or use them as a door stops so there isn’t a shortage of materials. Jack Nicholson, Bob Dylan, Spartan Kirk Douglas, James brown, John Wayne, Willie Nelson are a few examples of people he has carved a phone book to represent over his 14 years of this unique style. Not always true but looking into it deeper it would appear the background page used is the letter where the celebrities name would be in the phone book such as Jack Nicholson would have a J, P for Pee Wee Herman etc…

            This tedious work is a true challenge to Alex’s patients and it is amazing he can produce up to 2 new books a month. When he decided on a face to reproduce he first sketches it then turns that into a template and finally draws it on the book itself. The scalpel comes out and Alex goes to work on removing everything that isn’t the face but he has to be careful you can’t reattach it once you cut it off. In the end Alex makes a unique piece and its off to the next one.

Jessica Smith

            Casttoo is a company which design graphics for people with broken bones, or just coming out of surgery. Originally I was looking for a graphic designer who worked with X-ray photographs as their medium and Jessica did one better she printed x-ray images on a cast. If you have ever had a broken bone you know what a bummer it is to have to sit there with your arm in a cast so you start drawing on it making it artistic. If you have the resources some doctors can change it up and add colored tape to the cast but Jessica has the ability to make your cast unique.

            The colorful designs not only look cool but they help the healing process. If you have always wanted to have a tattoo but never wanted it to be 100% permanent this is the answer for you because once the cast comes off so does the tattoo.

            The process of casttooing is relatively simple, its like adding a decal but with heat. Simply remove backing of the decal, place decal where you want, add heat and smooth out to perfection. Now you have a unique cast you will want to show off to friends. The great thing about these is they come in all shapes and sizes according to your needs from a small finger size design to a full leg. If you decide to have a full body cast your not going to be happy about it but casttoo will be willing to design a large graphic to keep your spirits high and help through the healing process.

All comentary is from John McClow IV Spring 2010 but above pictures are taken from other sites.