Blog Post #3 - Ryland Tunney

Personally, this weeks readings were very interesting given their push and pull with American design following the years discussed. France and Switzerland both had a large hand in creating what we as American designers know and are familiar with, particularly, the usage of branding in advertisements. I was struck most by the "Liebig Super Bouillon" created by Anton Stankowski and Hans Neuburg in 1934.
Leibig Super Bouillon
1934, Anton Stankowski and Hans Neuburg
Pg. 80, Graphic Design: A Concise History, Second Edition 

The most relatable idea within this poster, for me, was the repeating "motif of the cube, photographed from below, is printed in black." (Pg. 80, Hollis) This reminisced of the American cigarette posters that came about around this time. This one from Lucky Strike in the 1930s who's artist is unknown, displays a similar technique, where the typeface for the name is used and blown up in the advertisement, and the motif on the cigarette package is used directly on the poster as well. 
Lucky Strike Cigarette Advertisement,
Exact date and artist, unknown.
(https://www.vintag.es/2013/04/bizarre-tobacco-advertising-from-1920s.html)
Secondly, I loved the conversation of Frances' introduction into what we know as Art Deco,  with A.M. Cassandre's "Au Bucheron" in 1923, the world was introduced to what would later be known as the "moderne". A.M. Cassandre's design represented the "machine aesthetic" of the time, with the characteristics being "straight lines, often diagonal, and circles." (pg. 81, Hollis). For the world of poster making, especially in eastern Europe, this style exploded. Most notably, the movie poster for "Metropolis",  designed by German artist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm in 1927. This explosion as well as famous historical usage such as "Metropolis" cemented Frances Art Deco into the world of design forever. 
"Au Bucheron"
A.M. Cassandre, 1923
Pg. 81, Graphic Design: A Concise History, Second Edition; R. Hollis

"Metropolis"
Heinz Schulz-neudamm, 1927
(https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/metropolis-most-expensive-movie-poster)

Comments

  1. Peter DJanuary 29, 2020 at 3:45 PM

    The designs of this time were certainly extraordinarily formative for modern styles, and traits of both styles are certainly quite common today. Standing out particularly within this post are the remarks about the central European style of the last two posters, as they represent strongly moods and harshness throughout artistic expression of the time--where much of the world was booming, France and Germany had suffered catastrophic fallout from WW1, and the stark black and white usage, as well as the angled lines and human forms are common throughout all art of the time, especially cinema (as German expressionism led to numerous noire and horror tropes).

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