Postmodernism equals:
-rejection of the foundationalists, essentialists
-reality is "fragmented" according to postmodernism
-specifics and attention to particular roles
-comes from a long family tree of.. everything else before it that it now rejects.
swiss postmodern = new wave, mid 1970's
dealt with: wide letter spacing, bold stair stepped rules, diagonal type, varying weights & typefaces within words.
I loved the criticts' views of postmodernism, one bloak in particular describing it as images talking with each other. This actually made me wonder if we make these pictures talk for our own entertainment. I recently read also how designers mostly design for themselves, something they are most likely to get- and not everyone else is. But the fact that postmodernism is randomness but forming new connections, it could in a sense be a creative stimulant in the definition and what a piece requires in order to be postmodern. It is just a shame that people believe there is "only" a surface to postmodernism, because i disagree. It's not just because I'm a fan of underlying meanings, i believe in their existence in all things. These are the subconscious connections we draw, and whatever you present as postmodern, I will still try and look for its second layer if it comes not at first. I appreciate its definition as "knowledge for function, not for knowledge sake." It seems the logical and preferred application of whatever knowledge you're talking about. The fact that it is describing knowledge as a practical 'function', overall makes it practical for application for people seeing this and bettering their existence in some way.
The swiss postmodern designers during the 70's became known as "new wave" designers. They seem to have ditched the grid for a set of hang man-type bars, blocking each letterform into its own cubicle. They also explored things that original swiss design did not, varying letterform attributes within words (line, weight, type shifts). Diagonal type seems to have carried over, but they pushed the wide letter spacing.
Overall during this period designers began recognizing and acknowledging the circular trend of recyclable design. So they finally realized how new movements have made themselves happen so far, and out of this stemmed collages and combines of all different (this was experimental) types of type from various movements and different times.
"Image is to be 'read' - Text is to be 'seen'." This is a postmodern design strategy, offering one distinction that can benefit a designer today. Choose whether your work needs to be legible or whether its pure visual talk. I'll keep this in mind, where as so often people feel there should be no distinction between these two, maybe design can be either or. AND.. maybe if i reject postmodernism, i'll reluctantly be considered postmodern.
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I think its silly for a movement of a specific style of creating (design, illustration whatever it may be) to consider itself separate or a step outside of its original state. They're only steps leading to evolved work and ideas. The basic construction of design still seems to be in use. I only see it as a chance for a small "elite" group of artists to grant themselves the privilege of being a part of a "new wave" of thinking or creating by strapping a fancy name to their line of work. We all started somewhere. And no I don't think you are postmodern for rejecting it. Shouldn't you be designing now instead of writing long arbitrary diatribes about your career and passions? Where the videos of monkeys flinging poo. People like that stuff.
ReplyDeleteI also like your search for "the second layer". I agree with the idea that even with creating a piece for the sole purpose of aesthetics, our brain plays silly tricks in throwing in secret agendas! Bastards.
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