Module 8 Discussion--Due Wed Nov 17, 2021

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Chapter 12: Craft and Design Media

Craft Media

Craft requires the specific skilled use of tools in creating works of art. These tools can take many forms: words, construction tools, a camera, a paintbrush or even a voice. Traditional studio crafts include ceramics, metal and woodworking, weaving and the glass arts. Crafts are distinguished by a high degree of workmanship and finish. Traditional crafts have their roots in utilitarian purposes: furniture, utensils and other everyday accoutrements that are designed for specific uses and reflect the adage that “form follows function”. But human creativity goes beyond simple function to include the aesthetic realm, entered through the doors of embellishment, decoration and an intuitive sense of design. In the two examples below, a homeowner’s yard gate shows off his metal smith skills, becoming a study in ornate symmetry. In another example, a staircase crafted in the Shaker style takes on an elegant form that mirrors the organic spiral shape representing the ‘golden ratio’.

Yard gate; metal, concrete and glass. Image used by permission.

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Shaker style staircase, Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Photo by Jack Boucher, National Parks Service. Image is in the

public domain.

Utility is not the sole purpose of craft. The Persian carpet below has its use as a utilitarian object, but the craftsmanship shown in its pattern and design gives it a separate aesthetic value. The decorative element is visually stimulating, as if the artisan uses the carpet as simply a vehicle for his or her own creative imagination.

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Antique Tabriz Persian carpet. Licensed through Creative Commons

Quilts made in the rural community of Gee's Bend Alabama show a diverse range of individual patterns within a larger design structure of colorful stripes and blocks, and have a basis in graphic textile designs from Africa. Even a small tobacco bag from the Native American Sioux culture (below) becomes a work of art with its intricate beaded patterns and floral designs.

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Tobacco pouch, Sioux Licensed through Creative Commons

The craftsmanship in glass making is one of the most demanding. Working with an extremely fragile medium presents unique challenges. Challenges aside, the delicate nature of glass gives it exceptional visual presence. A blown glass urn dated to first century Rome is an example. The fact that it has survived the ages intact is testament to its ultimate strength and beauty.

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Cinerary Urn, Roman. C. 1st century CE. Blown glass. National Archaeological Museum, Spain. Photo: Luis Garcia

Zaqarbal. Image is in the public domain.

Louis Comfort Tiffany introduced many styles of decorative glass between the late 19th and first part of the 20th centuries. His stained-glass window The Holy City in Baltimore Maryland has intricate details in illustrations influenced by the Art Nouveau style popular at the turn of the 19th century.

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Louis Comfort Tiffany, The Holy City, stained glass window, Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, Baltimore,

Maryland. 1905. Image is in the public domain.

The artist Dale Chihuly has redefined the traditional craft of glass making over the last forty years, moving it towards the mainstream of fine art with single objects and large scale installations involving hundreds of individual pieces.

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Dale Chihuly, Saffron Tower. de Young Museum. San Francisco California. Image by Darren Kumasawa Liscense:

CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Design Media

On any given day, you can look around your surroundings and come in contact with design. Information comes to you in many forms: the graphics on the front of a cereal box, or on the packaging in your cupboards; the information on the billboards and bus shelter posters you pass on your way to work; the graphics on the outside of the cup that holds your double latte; and the printed numbers on the dial of the speedometer in your car. Information is communicated by the numbers on the buttons in an elevator; on the signage hanging in stores; or on the amusing graphics on the front of your friend’s T-shirt. So many items in your life hold an image that is created to convey information. And all of these things are designed by someone.

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Times Square, New York, New York. Image by Terabass License CC BY-SA 3.0

Traditionally referred to as graphic design, communication design is the process by which messages and images are used to convey information to a targeted audience. Design itself is only the first step. It is important when conceiving of a new design that the entire workflow through to production is taken into consideration. And while most modern graphic design is created on computers, using design software such as the Adobe suite of products, the ideas and concepts don’t stay on the computer. To create in-store signage, for instance, the ideas need to be completed in the computer software, then progress to an imaging (traditionally referred to as printing) process. This is a very wide-reaching and varied group of disciplines.

Product Design

Product Design: The dictum “form follows function” represents an organic approach to three- dimensional design. The products and devices we use every day continue to serve the same functions but change in styles. This constant realignment in basic form reflects modern aesthetic considerations and, on a larger scale, become artifacts of the popular culture of a given time period. The two examples below illustrate this idea. Like Tiffany glass, the chair designed by Henry van de Velde in 1895 reflects the Art Nouveau style in its wood construction with organic, stylized lines and curvilinear form. In comparison, the Ant Chair from 1952 retains the basic functional form with more modern design using a triangular leg configuration of tubular steel and a single piece of laminated wood veneer, the cut-out shape suggesting the form of a black ant.

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Henry van de Velde, Chair, 1895. Wood, woven fiber. Image is in the public domain.

Arne Jacobsen, Ant Chair, 1952. Steel and wood. Licensed through Creative Commons.

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Conditions and Products of the Industrial Age

Before the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840 in Britain) most aspects of design and all aspects of production were commonly united in the person of the craftsman. The tailor, mason, cobbler, potter, brewer, and any other kind of craftsman integrated their personal design aesthetic into each stage of product development. The Arts & Crafts movement emerged in the second half of the 19th century in reaction to the social, moral, and aesthetic chaos created by the Industrial Revolution. William Morris was its founder and leader. He abhorred the cheap and cheerful products of manufacturing, the terrible working and living conditions of the poor, and the lack of guiding moral principles of the times. Morris “called for a fitness of purpose, truth to the nature of the materials and methods of production, and individual expression by both artist and worker” (Meggs & Purvis, 2011, p. 160). These philosophical points are still pivotal to the expression of design style and practice to this day. Design styles from the Arts & Crafts movement and on have emphasized, in varying degrees, either fitness of purpose and material integrity, or individual expression and the need for visual subjectivity. Morris based his philosophy on the writings of John Ruskin, a critic of the Industrial Age, and a man who felt that society should work toward promoting the happiness and well-being of every one of its members, by creating a union of art and labor in the service of society. Ruskin admired the medieval Gothic style for these qualities, as well as the Italian aesthetic of medieval art because of its direct and uncomplicated depiction of nature.

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William Morris, Trellis. Designed 1862, first produced 1864. Morris & Company. Block-printed Wallpaper. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art. License Public Domain

Many artists, architects, and designers were attracted to Ruskin’s philosophy and began to integrate components of them into their work. Morris, influenced by his upbringing in an agrarian countryside, was profoundly moved by Ruskin’s stance on fusing work and creativity, and became determined to find a way to make it a reality for society. This path became his life’s work.

Roycroft, Reclining Morris Chair. c.1903. Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain

Dedication

In 1860, Morris established an interior design firm with friends based on the knowledge and experiences he had in crafting and building his home. He began transforming not only the look of home interiors but also the design studio. He brought together craftsmen of all kinds under the umbrella of his studio and began to implement Ruskin’s philosophy of combining art and craft. In Morris’s case, this was focused on making beautiful objects for the home. The craftsmen were encouraged to study principles of art and design, not just production, so they could reintegrate

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design principles into the production of their products. The objects they created were made and designed with an integrity a craftsman could feel proud of and find joy in creating, while the eventual owner would consider these products on par with works of art (an existing example is the Morris chair above). The look of the work coming out of the Morris studio was based specifically on an English medieval aesthetic that the British public could connect to. The English look and its integrity of production made Morris’s work very successful and sought after. His organizational innovations and principled approach gained attention with craftsmen and artisans, and became a model for a number of craft guilds and art societies, which eventually changed the British design landscape.

Design and New Technologies

The look of graphic design changed through advancements in photography, typesetting, and printing techniques. Designers felt confident in exploring and experimenting with the new technologies as they were well supported by the expertise of the print industry. Designers began to cut up type and images and compose directly on mechanical boards, which were then photographed and manipulated on the press for color experimentation. As well, illustration was once again prized. Conceptual typography also became a popular form of expression.

Milton Glaser, I Love New York Logo. Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

Milton Glaser, Dylan. 1966. Image by David License

CC BY 2.0

An excellent example of this expansive style can be found in the design output of New York’s Push Pin Studios. Formed by Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast, Push Pin was a studio that created innovative typographic solutions — I♥NY— brand identities, political posters, books, and albums (such Bob Dylan’s album Dylan). It was adept at using and mixing illustration, photography, collage, and typography for unexpected and innovative visual results that were always fresh and interesting as well as for its excellent conceptual solutions. The influence of Push Pin and Late Modern is still alive and has recently experienced a resurgence. Many young designers have adopted this style because of its fresh colors, fine wit, and spontaneous compositions.

Design Today

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Apple Store, Opéra, Paris, France. Image by Florian License: CC BY-SA 2.0

The technological revolution of the 1990s brought the mobile phone and computer to every home and office and changed the structure of our current society much as manufacturing in the 1800s changed Britain and the Western world. As with the Industrial Revolution, the change in technology over the last 20 years has affected us environmentally, socially, and economically. Manufacturing has slowly been moved offshore and replaced with technology-based companies. Data has replaced material as the substance we must understand and use effectively and efficiently. The technological development sectors have also begun to dominate employment and wealth sectors and overtake manufacturing’s dominance. These changes are ongoing and fast- paced. The design community has responded in many novel ways, but usually its response is anchored by a look and strategy that reduce ornament and overt style while focusing on clean lines and concise messaging. The role of design today is often as a way-finder to help people keep abreast of changes, and to provide instruction. Designers are once again relying on established, historic styles and methods like ITS (International Typographic Style) to connect to audiences because the message is being delivered in a complex visual system. Once the technological shifts we are experiencing settle down, and design is no longer adapting to new forms of delivery, it will begin to develop original and unique design approaches that complement and speak to the new urban landscape. License and Attributions