Context, Chronologies and Analysis

The term modern is not a neutral term, it suggests novelty and improvement. 

Modernity: (1750-1960) - Social and culture experience 

Modernism: The range of ideas and styles that sprung from modernity 

Postmodernism - attitudes of questioning conventions ( especially Modernism ) 

Postmodern aesthetics - multiplicity of styles and approaches

Modernist graphic design

Joseph Muller Brockmann 

I feel this image is modernist because of the simplicity of the design and the clean crisp layout. Unlike the postmodernist designs this piece of work has moved away from the realistic way of depicting Beethoven ie a picture of him or a musical instrument. Instead it relies on using signs and symbols which is very sterotypical of modernism work. I think this poster works really well, despite its simplicity with only 2 colours and the use of a few shapes it is still possible to tell what is being advertised. 

Joseph Muller Brockmann

I feel this work by Joesph Muller Brockmann is modernist because again the simplicity of the design, there is a clean crisp layout. Although there is a extremely small amount of writing on the poster it is still clear what is being advertised. This style is typical of Joseph Muller Brockmann and the typical modernist Swiss designer. Again like the previous poster there is only 2 colours used, contrasting the post modern design where any number of colours can be used. It has been successful because it has used a very small amount of information with both type and image but the message is clear.  

Armin Hofmann

Armin Hofmann is again a Swiss designer, Swiss designers were at the forefront of modernist design producing modern design that wouldn't look out of place in the 21st century. This poster is again very simple, the big bold type takes your eyes from the top of the poster to the bottom, this also then takes the onlooker to the top paragraph and then the bottom paragraphs, giving you all the information need from a simple layout.  

Andrea Gallo

I consider this to be modernist design because the poster is so simple, there is a small amount of writing that tells you what the poster is about. Also the image is of a building that has been extremely simplified, this is very stereotypical of not on Swiss design but also modern day design, an example of this is the simplified sports symbols for the olympics. The poster is very successful because if you look at the image that has been created with a few shapes it represents it perfectly. 

Comparing these 2 magazines covers from modernist and post modernist it is clear to see the difference in the 2 eras. The modernist magazine has a simple layout, only two colours have been used or one colour and stock. The hierarchy of text has also been taken into account, with your eye being taken from the large text at the top to the number one and then on to the content of the magazine. This is in complete contrast to the post modernist where there is a lot going on, there is a huge amount of text that is overlapped and not been considered in terms of readability and legibility. The hierarchy of the type also hasn't been taken into account, this then doesn't allow the viewer to logically follow what the most important information is down to the least important information. The post modernist magazine cover has no simple shapes or type so makes it very confusing unlike the simple clean crisp modernist magazine. 

Postmodernist 

David Carson 

Jamie Reid 

I consider this to be post modern because the harsh colours that have been used and the almost cut and stick aspect to the type and image, this is very typical of the post modern era. The work doesnt tend to take into account the hierarchy of text and there is a lot going on in post modernist design. I feel this poster is okay, although it has a slap dash look to it, like the images have almost been randomly placed, also the colour green doesn't go right to the edges, again contrasting the modernist design which is clean and crisp. 

David Carson 

David Carson is a very influential post modernist designer, he tried to ignore rules and create design that went against the grain of Graphic Design.  

'What David Carson committed himself to was reading culture as it existed in technological frameworks that altered visual communication and short-circuited longstanding traditions of design and typography in order to fuse them to new and indifferent mediums that were no less effective in making their points.' 

This shows how David Carson goes about creating his designs, in some cases he doesn't put much time into creating a design and just randomly places type and image on a page till he sees something he finds visually interesting. As shown above where there is a picture with a lot going on and then some text placed on top, which in some parts is hard to read. 

April Greiman 

This again is a typical post modern graphic design, this is because there is a huge number of bold bright colours used that are placed anywhere on the poster. There is also a lot of layering of different shapes. The poster doesn't fit any kind of natural structure, with the price one side of the image and 2 barcodes both on there sides, most the text is the same size as well, not taking into account the hierarchy of text. I feel this doesn't work very well as there is too much going on, making it very confusing, it is also hard to find information because its randomly placed all over the page. Therefore straying away from a fundamental rule of graphic design, to communicate. 

Terry Jones, Eye  

I consider this to be post modern because there is again a vast amount of bright bold colours that are layered on top of each other, creating a gaudy looking image. Also the layout doesn't follow any grid system, creating a chaotic confusing image. I again don't feel this works very well, because of what i said before, a very confusing chaotic image that has way too many colours that are harsh on the eye, these colours also don't work well with the type making them less legible.