McLuhans Four Laws of Media

His Laws are the four questions that must be asked to understand the effects that will inevitable result from a new medium.

The Four Laws and the cell phone:

1. What human trait or experience does the medium enhance?

-The cell phone help people communicate. You can have you cell phone practically anywhere and get in touch with practically everyone anywhere in the world.

2. What pre-existing technology, method, system, or medium does this medium obsolesce?

-Pre-existing media that was used before the cell phone was mail (letters), the home phone, and pagers. You don't see pagers anymore, and mail is really used for cards, packages, and bills, not so much communication.

3. What technology, method, system or medium that was previously obsolesced or abandoned does this medium retrieve?

- Cell phones bring back tighter family relationships. People over time lost family connections because it was hard to communicate with family members who lived far away. Cell phones brought family ties back together because even if someone is not home to use there house phone, most likely they have a cell phone near by.

4.When fully utilized or pushed to its extreme, what till the medium reverse into?

-The cell phone was made for communication. It made it easier to find people, and talk to people while doing other things. Things that came from the cell phone on a negative side were addiction, sexting, texting while driving, and cancer.

-People are addicted to there cell phones. They have a lot of features on them that people are attached to and don't know how to live a day with out them.

-Sexting is new in the cell phone world, but it is becoming nationally known! Children as young as 12 are sending "dirty" text messages to each other.

-Texting while driving is dangerous. You have to look down at your key pad to type, so how are you supposed to look at the road at the same time? Its causing many accidents.

-Cancer researchers have new studies coming out saying that having you phone next to your head is causing brain cancer.

Conclusion:

If some of the negatives were looked at before the cell phones were made, maybe they could of changed some features to prevent some of the negative things that are going wrong with cell phones today. As a designer I'm going to think about the negatives in my product so that I can prevent them as much as possible. It could be something small that just needs to be changed the tiniest bit, but can make a huge difference.

March 3, 2010 refection

• Sabon
• Tschichold
• Dutch Modernism
• Paul Shoeterna
• Hendrick N Werkman
• Piet Zwart
• Dada's still here
• Chrysler Building
• Abraham Garmes, Jean Carlu, Herbert Bayer
• Post Cubism
• AM Cassandre
• Bold Designs
• E McNight Kauffer
• Joseph Binder
• Synthetic Cubism
• Schulz Neudamn
• Ludwig Hohlwien
• Hitler
• Propaganda
• Herbert Matter

Tonight's lecture included many instances of propaganda and still included a lot of influence from the DADA movement. One instance I found interesting was the references to the Chrysler building being of Art Deco influence which is powerful to me because graphic design, art, and architecture are very similar in how they evolve through time. Art Deco uses geometric shapes and DADA influence to create strong images that are still used in design today. AM Cassandre was a very prominent designer in the Art Deco time-period using two dimensional iconic symbols and big bold designs which have obvious relation to cubists art work. War propaganda are by far the most powerful examples visual communication through all of human history. These ideas of using text and image to convey a message of hatred or patriotism is astounding. Adolf Hitler regrettably is the most influential person in the history of propaganda with his illustrious images and powerful speeches. He was able to convey messages in a way that people wanted to follow which is key in graphic design, but preferably for good purposes. A lot of propaganda has the connotation of being bad because in most prominent cases it is, however there can be good propaganda like the posters depicting "the new victory bonds". Propagnada in America begins to use slang and racial slurs as a way to push a group of people into doing something negative.

Design Discourse

Looking Close-Critical Witings on Graphic Design

Logos, Flags, and Escutcheon

by Paul Rand

• Consequence of mindless babbling
• Redisgning logos
• instrument of pride
• logo is a flag
• derives meaning from quality
• logo is less important than a product
• audience must be properly conditioned
• simplicity is key
• logos can deceive
• Graphic Design is a two-sided monster

Mcdonalds is a prime example of logo Identification and the flag-like tendencies that can be upheld by a strong logo. it follow

s th

e criteria of being simple, memorable, and has be

come very distinctive over time. Just like Rand mentioned in the article the logo did not build a reputation Mcdonalds built the reputation their logo just hangs high in the sky with the significant yellow and red.

Apple

Not only a computer company but a producer of a very popular cell-phone.

Apple's logo is nothing short of simple th

is is a item that can be international almost everyone understands the shape of an apple. This was one of the concerns that Rand had was that items can hold value and maintain a memorable appearance. The Apple logo is something that can test the limit of time and with the company it's self growing, the logo will keep growing in association and someday be on the level of the Coke logo with the world-wide approval it has gained.

Looking Close

Critical Writings on Graphic Design

Proroganda Persuasion

by Doug Stermer

• Alliterative Title
• Society for the Propogation of the Faith
• Informative
• Rumors
• Politics
• Control
• Singular impact
• Iwo-Jima
• Nazi
• "Cannot beat reality in the battle of heart and mind"

Nazi

The swastika is probably the m

ost prominent symbol when thinking of propaganda . Starting as a religous symbol Adolf Hitler took a symbolwith positive meaning and iverted not only the symbol but the meaning. Like the previous artcle this logo stood as a flag for an entire society however it did not create the holocaust it is only a symbol that repesents it. This symbol will not ever loose the connotation that is attached to it and this is a strong example of the power propoganda can have when mixed with geometric forms.

Uncle Sam

Here is a nother example of propaganda that has held it's ground over time. This poster holds true that it has one singular meaning which is asking for people to join the war and fight in the army. This propaganda works in a visual way with the expression on Uncle Sam's face looking stern as though he will be upset if you don't find a recruiter to join the army. Changing someones emotion can be a strong weapon in the art of persuasion, this poster makes you feel like a trader even if your not.

Feb. 24_LectureBlog

• Modern Design
• DADA
• Kurt Schwitters
• De Stijl
• Peter Oud
• Gerrit Rietveid
• The Bauhaus
• Moholy Nagy
• Herbert Bayer
• El Lissitzky
• Tschichoid

In tonight's class we discussed modernism and the transition into sans-serif typefaces being the basis of modern design. The modern movement was led by the Bauhaus and their inspiration from expressionism and handicraft. The Bauhaus is also the model for most art schools in the 20th century. Type and image play a major roll in modern graphic design and the preliminary colors. Another strong influence was Jan Tschichold and him bringing 20th century graphic design expression into full realization. He also gave whitespce a new roll.

Feb. 24_LectureBlog

• Modern Design
• DADA
• Kurt Schwitters
• De Stijl
• Peter Oud
• Gerrit Rietveid
• The Bauhaus
• Moholy Nagy
• Herbert Bayer
• El Lissitzky
• Tschichoid

In tonight's class we discussed modernism and the transition into sans-serif typefaces being the basis of modern design. The modern movement was led by the Bauhaus and their inspiration from expressionism and handicraft. The Bauhaus is also the model for most art schools in the 20th century. Type and image play a major roll in modern graphic design and the preliminary colors. Another strong influence was Jan Tschichold and him bringing 20th century graphic design expression into full realization. He also gave whitespce a new roll.

unit 2_lecture 2

• Russian suprematism
• Kasimir Malevish
• Constructivism
• Suprematism
• Revolutionary discipline
• Rodchenko
• Kandinsky
• Communism
• Cubism
• El Lissinzky
• Photomontage
• Soviet propaganda
• Film
• Typographic grid
• The Steinberg Brothers
• De Stijl

El Lissizky was probably the most influental designer we have covered yet in this class. From establishing the grids in his work to the photomontage that he addapted from rodchenko. He embodied ideals not only as functions. Also Lissizky used architecture to help structure his designs being that this is what he studied in Darmstadt. Another powerful group was the Steinberg Brothers who brought in a fun characteristic to graphic design and also took a lot of influence from film and the use of a light source.

• Bernhard
• Nazi
• Futerism
• Dada
• Typographic materiality
• Un Coup de Des
• John Heartfield
• Kurt Schwitterl
• Merz
• Salvador Dali - Rene Magritte
• Surrealism

Tonights mostinteresting topics for me would have to be the surrealist movement and the work of salvador Dali. Dali revolutionaized the ability to market Art and for that he is one of the most influential people in the art world. Also Kurt Schwitters with his one man art movement is very impressive. He was able to reject one of the largest graphic design movements and he did it for a non political reason.