FUTURISM

History

Futurism deals with events that are anticipated to come in the future.
This movement started in the early 20th century and it emphasized  speed, dynamism, energy, the strength of the machine and the vitality, and modernity. 
In this movement, visual arts and poetry were were the most significant (John James White, 2015).
This all started in Italy 1909 when Filippo Tommaso Marinetti published his first manifesto 'Futurist Manifesto.' Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, Giacimo Balla and Carlo Carra were drawn by Marinetti's ideas because of belief of being translated into modern, figurative art which handled and explored features of movement and space(Wolf. J, 2017).


Characteristics
- Futurists had their paintings evoking all kinds of sensations that were not only visible to the   eye.
- Futurism borrowed various aspects of Post-Impressionism, which were Symbolism and         Divisionism adhering working in an eclectic manner hence making it not being identified
  with a distinctive style.
- They used the new visual technology which influenced them in their paintings hence 
  showing movement in painting, and use of abstract art with rhythmic palpitating qualities
  (Wolf. J, 2017).
- Most ideas from this movement where generated through writing  and several manifestos.

Sea Dancer, Gino Severini, 1913

The above painting is called the Sea Dancer, and as seen above it is broken light and colour into series of dots and also geometric forms using a style of divisionism.



Modern painting

Above is a painting of a woman or man sitted in the chair with his or right hand relaxed up the chair.
It is a futurist painting because of the  geometric shapes used the use of colour and the overall painting is more of abstract at first sight but as you look at it closer you get to see understand it.

In conclusion, futurism has helped us to think of the future which today is often seen in movies like Iron man where things shown in a futuristic way hence expressing futurism.



Sources consulted

John James White, 2015, Global Britannica. Online. Available at:

https://global.britannica.com/art/Futurism

Accessed on:30/03/27

Wolf. J, 2017, The Art story: Futurism. Online. Available at:

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-futurism.htm

Accessed on:30/03/27

Colluna, 2017, Design is History. Online. Available at:

http://www.designishistory.com/1850/futurism/
Accessed on:30/03/27

CUBISM

History

In the early 20th century, this movement influenced most visual art styles. The major people who created this movement were Pablo Picasso a Spanish man (1881-1973) and a French man by the names of Georges Braque (1882-1963).

These artists broke the concept that art should copy nature for example they did not adopt or follow the the traditional techniques of perspective (Sabine Rewald, 2004).

Key ideas/ Characteristics.

-In this period, artists broke the traditions of art. These are the rules of perspective that depicted space  since renaissance. 

-The artists explored different types of form for example space would flow through sharp figures and  objects.

-These cubists used non-art materials. These were abstract structures that were produced in paintings.

-Cubism paved way for the non-object of school and sculpture (The Art Story, 2017).

Cubist example 

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1907. (Pablo Picasso.org, 2009)

This painting was done by Pablo Picasso and is the most known example of cubism. Here Picasso broke the traditional representation of art with renaissance period. He portrayed the female bodies in form of distortion and geometric forms in a creative way, which challenged the beliefs of females representation of beauty. In this painting, African art influenced Picasso (Pablo Picasso.org, 2009).

Temporary Art

The boxer by Dylan Jones (Chris Spooner, 2007)

The image above is of a boxer as the title says, it breaks the tradition of art in a way there is no perspective and form especially for his adidas short, it is rectangular. In this image the artist used cool and warm colours to differentiate the front from the back for example, for the legs, red was given to the front one whereas dark green is given to the back one.

Conclusions

To me as a designer, cubism paved a way for me to be able to  do what I want today for example, when I can be able to create an abstract painting or picture and has a meaning or representation hence not following the art tradition.

An example is a logo.

Sources.

Sabine Rewald, 2004. Cubism. Online. Available at:

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm

Accessed on: 13/03/2017

The Art Story, 2017. Cubism. Online. Available at:

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-cubism.htm

Accessed on: 13/03/2017

Pablo Picasso.org, 2009. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso 1907. Online. Available at:

http://www.pablopicasso.org/avignon.jsp#prettyPhoto

Accessed on: 13/03/2017

Chris Spooner, 2007. 30 Modern Examples of Cubism Style in Digital Art. Online. Available at:

http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/articles/30-modern-examples-of-the-cubism-style-in-digital-art

Accessed on: 13/03/2017

Arts and Crafts Movement

So before we get into this movement, we need to know what 'Arts and Crafts" are.So these are art activities done through use of your own hands for example for example wood carving, knitting, clay modelling among others.

So the Arts and crafts movement is a movement that started in Europe (Britain) approximately 1880 and later on spread to America. It was all about bringing back hand craftsmanship because industries had taken over their jobs. So in 1860s and 70s, artists begun to apply and create new different styles in arts hence forming the "Arts and Crafts movement" (Victoria and Albert Museum,2016).

In this movement, John Ruskin and William Morris  were the most influential people in making it well known to the world.

John Ruskin

Designhistory.org, How the Industrial Revolution Spawned the Arts and Crafts Movement 2011

http://www.designhistory.org/Arts_Crafts_pages/IndustrialRevolution.html

He was a poet, an author and an critic. He theorised that the Industrial Revolution Division was the cause of unhappiness to the poor because their industries had taken over their jobs (Designhistory.org,2011)

William Morris

Southgate Green Association, William Morris, 2017 

http://southgategreen.org.uk/christ-church/william-morris/

William Morris was born in 1834, Walthamstow. Him and his friends were influenced by John Ruskin (Southgate green Association, 2017). He later became the leader in the Arts and the Crafts movement. He applied the principles of art to the production of commercial art. He believed that one had to know the media he used hence spending time learning a variety of techniques (Arty factory, 2017).

Examples of his artwork

Arty factory, William Morris-The Arts & Crafts Movement.2017

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/william_morris.html

Above is the image of William Morris "Windrush" done from 1881-83. In this painting,he used the gothic style and as seen above he spent more time in detail which made painting awesome (Arty factory, 2017).

Contemporary art

F.A.M.E NYC Magazine, ARTS, CRAFTS AND MORE AT THE CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR NYC.

https://famenycmagazine.com/2011/11/19/arts-crafts-and-more-at-the-contemporary-art-fair-nyc/

The image above is one of the modern contemporary art pieces. As seen, the artist used a medieval style on the illustrated lady and mixed it with the modern style especially the blusih waves that go along the painting.

As a graphic designer, William Morris teaches me that the principles of art and design are essential and that we have to spend more time on our projects hence making them effective and appealing to the viewers. this is what makes us different from mechanical art the reason being that we are creative and can adjust from one medium to another.

Sources consulted

Victoria and Albert Museum,  The Arts & Crafts Movement. Online. Available at

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-arts-and-crafts-movement/

Accessed on 12/02/17

Southgate Green Association, William Morris. Online. Available at

http://southgategreen.org.uk/christ-church/william-morris/

Accessed on 12/02/17

Designhistory.org, How the Industrial Revolution Spawned the Arts and Crafts Movement 2011.
Online. Available at
http://www.designhistory.org/Arts_Crafts_pages/IndustrialRevolution.html
Accessed on 12/02/17

Arty factory, William Morris-The Arts & Crafts Movement. Online. Available at
http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/william_morris.html
Accessed on 12/02/17

F.A.M.E NYC Magazine, ARTS, CRAFTS AND MORE AT THE CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR NYC.

Online. Available at

https://famenycmagazine.com/2011/11/19/arts-crafts-and-more-at-the-contemporary-art-fair-nyc/

Accessed on 12/02/17

GRAPHIC HISTORY

Well, this blog as it says is all about the history in Graphic design. As you will see, I will take you through all the modernist movements and break them one by one so that you understand and capture all events that happened and why they did.

This blog is not only for history but to help modern designers understand why designers at those particular periods decided to do what they did, analyse it and maybe learn from them and incorporate it in the modern world hence having knowledge of what we do in our everyday life.

In short, ancient designers in around 10000AD came up with their movements that portrayed what they did, believed the style and so many others. 

So please put your eyes on the blog and witness the power of "Graphics."