Postmodernism - Squarespace · Postmodernism 1 Overview 1 2 Supergraphics 7 ... “By the 1970s, many believed the modern era was drawing to a close in art, design, politics, and

Postmodernism1 Overview 1

2 Supergraphics 7

3 Early Swiss Postmodernism 12

4 New Wave Typography 22

5 Mannerism 44

6 Conclusion 48

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1960’S – 1980’S

Overview

Towards the end of the 1960’s many different artistic styles were being practiced in the field of graphic design, causing a schism of multiple sub-genres, collectively referred to as postmodernism.

“In design, postmodernism designated the work of architects

and designers who were breaking with the international style

so prevalent since the Bauhaus. ”

– M EG G S

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1970’S – 1990’S

PostmodernismEncompasses a wide-ranging collection of design ideologies

• Reprioritization of Modernist values

• Legibility is sacrificed

• Complexity of form

“By the 1970s, many believed the modern era was drawing to a close in art,

design, politics, and literature. The cultural norms of Western society were

being scrutinized, and the authority of traditional institutions was being

questioned.”

– M EG G S

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1970’S – 1990’S


• Dynamic visual organization

• Dismissal of gridded alignment

• Variety and inclusion

• Gestural mark-making

“Historical references, decoration,

and the vernacular were disdained by

modernists, while postmodern designers

drew upon these resources to expand the

range of design possibilities.”

– M EG G S


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1970’S – 1990’S


• Emphasis on personal expression

• Niche demographics

• Subcultural appeal

“Postmodern designers place a form

in space because it “feels” right

rather than to fulfill a rational

communicative need.”

– M EG G S


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1960’S – 1980’S


• Style as content

• Authorship of the designer

• Reassertion of artistic values

“Postmodern design ... is often

subjective and even eccentric;

the designer becomes an artist

performing before an audience

with the bravura of a street

musician, and the audience either

responds or passes on.”

– M EG G S


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1960’S – 1980’S

PostmodernismFive major currents

1. International Typographic Style Early extensions, late 1960’s

2. New-wave Typography Basel, Switzerland, 1970’s

3. Mannerism The Memphis Group and San Francisco style, 1980’s

4. Retro and Vernacular Re-imaginings of earlier movements and referential design, 1980’s–1990’s

5. Digital Revolution Macintosh, late 1980s

“Postmodern graphic design can be loosely

categorized as moving in several major

directions...”

– M EG G S


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1960’S

Supergraphics

An early outgrowth of the International Style, large colorful typographic graphics were applied to architectural spaces and termed supergraphics.

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LATE 1960’S

Supergraphics• Bold geometric shapes of bright color

• Giant sans serif letterforms

• Huge pictographs

• Scale changes relative to the architecture

• Full integration into the built environment

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The whole idea of supergraphics is to knock

down walls with paint. That’s what a growing

group of young architects and designers are

trying to do—change the apparent shape of

rooms, bring order to rambling space, break

up boxlike confines—all by applying outsize

designs to floors, walls and ceilings.

– l i F E M AGA Z i N E, M AY 3 , 1968

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lATE 1960’S

Early Swiss Postmodernism

The first outbursts of dissent came from practitioners working within the confines of the International Style itself.

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LATE 1960’S

Rosmarie Tissi

“One of the earliest

indications that a younger

generation of graphic

designers was starting

to enlarge its range of

possibilities in the 1960s

was the 1964 advertisement

for the printer E. Lutz

& Company by Rosmarie

Tissi.”

–M EG G S

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LATE 1960’S

Siegfried Odermatt• Started a studio with Rosmarie Tissi

in 1968.

• Early example of legibility sacrifice for conceptual advancement


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1968 – 1980’S

Odermatt & Tissi


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LATE 1960’S

Steff Geissbuhler• Zofingen, Switzerland

• Basel School of Art and Design, 1958

• Studied under Armin Hofmann and Emil Ruder

• 1975 joined Chermayeff & Geismar Associates as an Associate Partner and from 1979 to 2005

• Founded geissbühler:design, an independent design consultancy, in 2011


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New Wave Typography1970’S

A further extention of the Swiss style, New Wave Typography (or Swiss Punk) is a complete indulgence in formal experimentation and chance discovery.

“...legibility is often in conflict with readability.”

– DA N F Ri E D M A N

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1945 – 1995

Dan Friedman• From Cleveland, Ohio

• Studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1963-1967

• Attends Ulm School of design for a year, 1967–68

• Attends Schule fur Gestaltung Basel, under Wolfgang Weingart and Armin Hofmann, 1968

• Taught at Yale University from 1970–1973

• Freelance work in New Haven

• Assistant professor and chairman of the board study in Design, State University of New York, Purchase, 1972-1975

• In 1975, he was hired by Anspach Grosmann Portugal Inc.

• 1979 he became a design director at Pentagram

• In 1994 he became Frank Stanton Professor of Graphic Design at the Cooper Union

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“I tend to favor visual systems that aim toward coherency while

simultaneously suggesting a degree

of spontaneous disruption.”

– DA N F Ri E D M A N


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BORN 1941

Wolfgang Weingart• From Salemertal, Germany

• Attended Merz Akademie in Stuttgart, 1958–1960

• Presented his work to Emil Ruder and Armin Hoffman, 1963

• Studied under Hoffman at Kunstgewerbeschule, Basel, 1964

• Offered typography instructor position by Hoffmann, due to Ruder illness [1968]

• Taught typography in the Advanced Class for Graphics, 1968–1999

• Yale Summer Program in Graphic Design in Brissago, Switzerland (via Hoffman), 1974–1996

“By the mid-1970s Weingart had exhausted the

possibilities of manual typesetting and the

letterpress.”

– M EG G S


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“...From this time onwards he mounted

halftone films to form collages and then

had these printed in offset. He later

tried out the possibilities offered

by the Xerox photocopier and, to some

extent, the Apple Macintosh, which was

introduced in 1984.”

– U N KN OW N


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“I took ‘Swiss Typography’ as my starting point, but then I blew it

apart, never forcing any style upon my students. I never intended to

create a ‘style’. It just happened that the students picked up — and

misinterpreted — a so-called ‘Weingart style’ and spread it around.”

– WO l FGA N G W E i N GA RT


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BORN 1948

April Greiman• Basel School of Design, 1970–1971

• Student of Armin Hofmann, influenced by the International Style

• Also a student of Wolfgang Weingart, who introduced her to the style later known as New Wave


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1975 – 1984

Punk• London / NYC

• Anti-corporate

• DIY ethic

• Independent record labels

• Fan zines


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BORN 1948

Jamie Reid• English artist and anarchist

• Letters cut from newspaper headlines (ransom note)

• Created the defining the imagery of punk rock, particularly in the UK

• Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols and Anarchy in the UK


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1980’S – 1990’S

Mannerism

An explosion of texture, pattern, color, and loose approach to geometry typify the work of Italy’s Memphis Group and counterparts working in San Francisco.

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1980’S – 1990’S

Memphis Group• Milan, Italy

• Architects and designers

• Lead by Ettore Sottsass

• Exhibition of 1981

“The Memphis sensibility embraces

exaggerated geometric forms in

bright (even garish) colors, bold

geometric and organic patterns,

often printed on plastic laminates,

and allusions to earlier cultures,”

– M EG G S

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1980’S – 1990’S

Memphis Group• Milan, Italy

• Architects and designers

• Lead by Ettore Sottsass

• Exhibition of 1981


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1980’S – 1990’S

Nathalie Du Pasquier• Memphis group founder

• Currently reinventing patterns for American Apparel


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Conclusion

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Postmodernism - Squarespace · Postmodernism 1 Overview 1 2 Supergraphics 7 ... “By the 1970s, many believed the modern era was drawing to a close in art, design, politics, and