Re: [Madad-Senior] response

[Jacob Berlow]

Key takeaway: When the general public has been conditioned to prefer a standard convention of creatve output, those on fringe trying to innovate are often under-appreciated. 

Before comparing the author's struggle to issues with graphic design, it should be noted that the professional musician's task almost always differs in a seminal way from the task of the graphic designer (in the same way that a painter's task differs), if you take the position that "design" has to "work" and that "art" does not. That being said, you do not have to take that position, and one could argue that art and music also have to work (to communicate and create an emotional reaction) and that even in the realm of client services, there is creative freedom and the opportunity (or as some might suggest, obligation) to push boundaries.

 So assuming art equals graphic design, it's interesting to look at how deep the divide is between convention and avante garde. Just taking the taking the traditional example of the poster, there is an insane gap between this poster for a harold and kumar vs this Poster by 2x4 listing some events scheduling. 

An interesting development to note is that to some extent, the more innovate an boundary pushing work actually follows more closely the standards of "traditional" bauhaus design rules. 

This totally carries over to interface design, but the players are somewhat less expected. In this case, Appleis design team, which used be considered a renegade, is guilty using design techniques that try to appeal to the masses to a degree that sometimes approaches vulgarity (see the completely unnecessary and gaudy microphone graphic in iphone voice memo app).  Microsoft has surprisingly hired a ex-nike design talent to design the windows phone 7 ui which makes iOS look like a Norman Rockwell painting next to Mondrian.  Andy Mangold in a recent discussion of Apple's use of cheesiness went as far as to talk it an "opiate of the people."  

Surely accessibility has its upsides, and it's   not really any wonder why conventions are in place. Comare this spread from super super magazine to this spread from popular science.  I could see how the person who designed this super super issue feels like they are playing "a special music in an alien and inapposite world."  Michael beirut in an article from a couple years ago used the phrase "new ugly" to describe this style. It will be interesting to see how this style might over time make its way into the mainstream. Some examples of ways in which at least the stripped down reaction to bevel and emboss has made its way into the spotlight can be seen in most work done for the fashion industry, Kanye West's website, and work by studios like Open eg, the design of Good magazine.

On Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 10:34 PM, Jessica Mazur <jessic...@gmail.com> wrote:

As I read through this essay I flash back to a handful of time that i
have had the opportunity to listen to traditional music being
conducted. When i think about those times I remember liking the music
being played but not fully appreciating it as a professional would. In
the passage In the passage related to  "part from the often highly
sophisticated and complex constructive methods of any one composition
or group of compositions, the very minimal properties characterizing
this body of music are the sources of its "difficulty,"
"unintelligibility," and- isolation. What stuck with me is that even
when most people listen or hear composed music they do not understand
it just like i didn't fully appreciate or understand it when i heard
it several times.

I think that in music just like in design there are ways to make an
audience listen and understand the message you wish to express. "Along
with this increase of meaningful pitch materials, the number of
functions associated with each component of the musical event also has
been multiplied. In the simplest possible terms. Each such "atomic"
event is located in a five-dimensional musical space determined by
pitch-class, register, dynamic, duration, and timbre." These five
"tools" are used by the composer to grab the listeners attention. Just
like a composer uses duration or timbre a designer uses color or
typography to convay a message to a viewer.

On Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Noah <nre...@pratt.edu> wrote:
> “Then a shrieking voice joins in. It sounds like a Muppet being
> strangled,” (1) this somewhat dated pop-culture reference pulled me
> into the piece right off the bat. I immediately began to ponder what
> kind of person could mix such a relatively light reference with such a
> bluntly crude title. As I read on, I found myself intrigued with the
> overall concept of the password of metal being something as
> rudimentary as a logo, and yet it was the epicenter of what metal was
> protected by. Upon reaching Simulacrum, I was at first confused as to
> how Captcha could relate to metal logos in any way, other than being
> damn hard to read. Not only did it soon become clear to me how the two
> were related, but I was pulled into yet another realm of curiosity
> when “the age of individualization” was brought into the picture.
> Immediately thoughts flew through my head, consisting of my
> conflicting opinions of who our generation really is, whether we are
> moving towards being individual, or, in a much less appearent way,
> moving back towards conforment.
>
> As I pulled my thoughts back to the overall concept of a logo as a
> password, I recalled an idea van der Velden brought up that began to
> shed some light on the question of why. He presents this core idea
> through a series of descriptions of who these metal band members
> percieved themselves to be. By relying on perception, there needs to
> be an element of mystery as well, to support the people should
> perception begin to fall through. This mystery that came with the logo
> was that support. As metal became more widespread, bands moved away
> from the illegible and instead conformed in a sense to black letter, a
> completely clear and accessible font that had connotations these bands
> were interested in affiliating themselves with. It seemed odd to me
> that they would go from complete secrecy to such a bold statement, but
> they found a way to use pre-existing stereotypes to make their message
> concise in a quick fashion, while giving themselves a name that
> unaffiliated them with the Nazis, and yet they made it clear that they
> wanted to be affiliated with “evil”. Though perplexing to those whose
> brains don’t work in the same realm that theirs did, this technique
> was brilliant, as it created a space for people who identified with
> the metal scene, and the connotations that came with it. van der
> Velden concludes this piece with a quick historical time lapse of
> society’s perception of what is affiliated with metal. The way that
> van der Velden concludes was brilliant. Though  this writing was
> incredibly clear for the most part, van der Velden uses his last few
> sentences to tie all the loose ends together, making it difficult to
> doubt many of his points by the end.
>
> Throughout my life, I have attempted to represent myself in the best
> light possible, but over time it has become clear to me that often I
> am not percieved in that way. When there is a situation in which I get
> angry, it doesn’t come out of nowhere. Though in many instances it is
> difficult for other people to fully comprehend why I react the way
> that I do, it stems from a place in my head where every possible
> outcome has been calculated and considered. When I get angry, and
> others have no clue where I am coming from, it is difficult to back
> track and calmly explain how and why I got to the thought process that
> I did, so instead I yell, which more often then not scares people away
> as opposed to gaining their help and respect. I could further attempt
> at explaining the concept of my brain, but this element of my anger is
> one that I am beginning to completely grasp and deconstruct. The
> element of mystery that lies within my brain can be most easily summed
> up with a final quote from van der Velden’s piece, “Just like a good
> restaurant in Rome is not to be found, the logo of an unknown black
> metal band is illegible; it is a symmetrical maze of jagged
> forms.” (1)
>
>
>