“The Helvetica typeface is one of the most ubiquitous design classics of all time in 2007 it was their 50th anniversary. ” “Eduard Hoffman and Max Miedinger a feculence designer who had been an employee of the Hass type family in Munchenstein in Switzerland, was commissioned to redesign a typeface called Hass Grotesk.It was already a stripped-down sans serif font. Miedinger’s redesign was first named Neue Haas Grotesk, not Helvetica. That name was attached in 1960, when the companies Stempel and Linotype of Frankfurt, Germany, took over the design and wanted a moniker that would have international appeal. Helvetica refers to Helvetia, the Latin name for Switzerland.
” “Helvetica captured the modernist preference for using clarity and simplicity to suggest greater ideas.The fact that the typeface is clean-cut and simple means that it can be used as a neutral platform in a wide variety of settings – it is the particular context and content of the messages that convey their meaning. ” “Miedinger’s project is inspiring because he broke the moulds of his time. ” Helvetica changed the perception of type and how it could change the feeling you get from example looking at signs logos and advertisements.
The type was rooted in Modernism, verging on Minimalism. Helvetica is the type most identified with the spread of the Swiss style.You see it everywhere: on subway signs in New York, in logos for BMW and American Airlines. Apple installed it on its first computers in 1984; a knockoff called Arial was adopted by Microsoft. The role of typography evolved during the 20th century. “Type is saying things to us all the time, typeface is expressive, a mood, an atmosphere, they give words a certain colouring.
” Type gives us vibes and creates an atmosphere when it is used in different signs, books, posters, logos for example. It helps send a message to us in a visual form. We usually pick certain typefaces to help us feel and visualise for example what signs and logos are about.This is why Helvetica is one of the greatest typefaces of the 20th century it is neutral and is used everywhere. Everywhere we look or go Helvetica is there.
Helvetica is used in a variety of different logos and designs. Helvetica is used in loads of famous logo designs. One of these famous logos is the BMW logo (see Fig1). It is world known and even at the present without the typeface people still recognise what it is and what it represents. The letters are bold and look sleek, elegant and contemporary just like the car. This represents everything that BMW stands for, slim line sleek and modern.
This makes the brand look wealthy and that the makers of this machine spent allot of time perfecting the car to make it one of the best machines ever made. With this typeface I think it will keep the BMW logo contemporary and modern for a very long time along with other logos and designs that use Helvetica. Photography: Leica “The 20th century was a time of social, cultural and technological revolution and change. Inevitably this had an effect on visual communication of the time. ” Photography in the 20th century was a way of keeping of recording important times in the past.
It helps us visualise in the way peopled lived in the past and actually give you a feeling of what it was like to be a viewer of terrible events such as the war. It draws us in as if we were there in person. It is the closest way of actually experiencing what it was like to live in these conditions. One of the key factors in photography that I believe to be central to the development and progression of visual communication in the 20th century is the leica camera.
“It was not until the development of the Leica camera in the 1920’s that the war photographer achieved a state of mobility and speed appropriate to the subject.It helped keep a record of the violent times in the war. Before the Leica, cameras were big and heavy and taking pictures was limited. Due to the invention of the Leica camera photography has changed.
The Leica camera is light compact and you had more freedom and flexibility. You were now able to take photos from all different angles. The Leica was the first 35mm compact camera and was developed and manufactured at the Leitz company by Oskar Barnack. “it had the distinctive size of the Ermanox and a wide aperture on its excellent Leitz lenses, but more important, used a length of 35mm motion picture film.This allowed the sequential shooting of up to 36 exposures, instead of the single image taken in the Ermanox. The impact on professional as well as amateur photography was profound” A man who used the Leica was Alexandr Mikhailovich Rodchenko a painter and a photographer.
“In 1927 Rodchenko bought himself a Leica which, because of its handy format and quick operation, became his preferred tool for his work. This camera enabled him to realize to excess his ideas of unusual camera positions, severe foreshortenings of perspective, and views of surprising details.Increasingly Rodchenko's photography was dominated by the artistic element of the line. He liked to integrate elements such as grids, stairs, or overhead wires in his photographic compositions, converting them into abstract constructivist line structures. Stairs of 1930 and Girl with a Leica 1934 are undoubtedly among the most famous photographs of this kind.
” Rodchenko’s Girl with Leica (see Fig 2) depicts his interest in line. The shadow in the photograph makes a linear grid effect which is common is his photos. Because of this your eye leads to the women and makes your imagination think.What’s the girl looking at? What’s she waiting for? where is she? , and what is creating this effect?. There is a definite contrast between light and dark which was also one of Rodchenko’s approaches towards photography.
The shadow in this photograph creates a linear grid, which was common in his work. He integrated elements such as stairs, buildings, and overhead wires that created constructivist linear structures. This is not a straight forward picture; the camera manipulates the composition. The subject does not control the photograph, the camera does. There is a definite contrast between light and dark, which was also one of Rodchenko’s approaches towards photography.
Typography: The Macintosh “The 20th century was a time of social, cultural and technological revolution and change. Inevitably this had an effect on visual communication of the time. ” One of the key factors in typography that I believe to be central to the development and progression of visual communication in the 20th century is the Macintosh. The Macintosh would change the world of design and typography. “.
.. People were going to learn more about fonts and typography using the Macintosh than they had since Gutenburg first got his hands inky “The Macintosh was the first personal computer where typefaces mattered.There was a choice of seven, pastiches of existing faces, designed by apple themselves to avoid any licensing costs, and named cities – New York, Geneva and Chicago.
And there would be the capability to italicize, Bolden and apply outlines and drop shadows”. (see Fig 3) “What saved the machine was typography; in the end it all came down to type”. The Macintosh enabled designers to do something revolutionary which couldn’t be done on any other computer and would take an awful long time by hand. The Macintosh gave designers the flexibility and the essential tool to create their designs easily.This lets the designer put more time into creating their design the best it can be and not having to worry about the process that came with hand making it which was very time consuming and meant the designer had to know the tools of creating different styles of design as well as come up with new and creative. Neville Brody Neville Brody has become an international model for the age of computer-based design, and is probably the best known graphic designer of his time.
With the Mac, he played at the margins of visual language and used it to launch a revolution in typeface design.His unique designs have been used in magazines, advertising and consumer-oriented graphics. He brought a new prospective to typography. Instead of ordinary type he changed the sizes and designed them in a way to create an image that has meaning and draws your attention such as this image for Nike runners.
(See Fig 4) “An electrician isn’t an opinion former, but a graphic designer is. My argument is that all graphic designers hold high levels of responsibility in society. We take invisible ideas and make them tangible. That’s our job. ”This is a quote from Neville Brody it shows that graphic designers can twist things to create new designs.Designs don’t just have to be an image and a phrase it can be anything that creates a message in a unique way that captures the viewers attention.
Packaging: Communicating with Imagery. “The 20th century was a time of social, cultural and technological revolution and change. Inevitably this had an effect on visual communication of the time. ” One of the key factors in packaging that I believe to be central to the development and progression of visual communication in the 20th century is communicating with imagery. Different places have different perceptions of imagery.Some cultures such as American “a daisy is a flower that visually communicates springtime, freshness, vitality, and love where as in France this flower communicates mourning, sorrow, and sadness.
” So some cultures might take offence to some imagery so allot of care has to be taken when creating a design. Images have a great effect on the consumer whether it is a photographic or illustrative because the consumers usually notices the image first and draws them in. In that split second they instinctually make a decision whether they like or dislike the product. “a picture is worth a thousand words”.Imagery is all about communicating, communicating to the consumer and capturing their attention. “Ethnic connotations, gender, facial expression, body type, skin colour, shape, size, graphic layout, and design styles-whether expressed photographically or illustratively-all affect the communication.
” Basic design elements such as line, shape, colour, texture and type provide endless design possibilities”. Design can be anything a designer wants it to be as long as it attracts the viewer’s attention and draws them in. This had a major effect in packaging in the 20th century as it had the outline of how to enhance the sale of the product.This is an image for the packaging of green giant green peas.
(see Fig 5) They have used the name of the brand in the illustration. The green is throughout the image including the giant and the giant is standing up smiling. There is a message behind this image that if you eat green peas you will grow up big and strong just like the giant. The fields have crops of peas and gives the viewer a sense that the brand is a natural nutritious brand of vegetable and is very healthy.
This image greatly affects the consumer through colour illustration type and layout.
