Graphic Design

by Ellen Lupton

  Letterscapes In these interactive graphics by Peter Cho, the letters dance, bounce, unravel, and otherwise transform themselves in response to mouse input. Peter Cho, 2002.

  Type Me Again Simple pie shapes rotate and repeat to create the letters of the alphabet when users type in letters on their keyboards. Peter Cho, 2000.

  Unnatural Growth Created in Processing, this work by C. E. B. Reas resembles an organic process. The forms are created in response to rules governing the behavior of an initial set of points. The work builds over time as the program runs through its iterations. C. E. B. Reas. Process 6 (Image 3), 2005 (detail).

  Rules and Randomness

  The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. Sol LeWitt

  Designers create rules as well as finished pieces. A magazine designer, for example, works with a grid and a typographic hierarchy that is interpreted in different ways, page after page, issue after issue. If the rules are well planned, other designers will be able to interpret them to produce their own unique and unexpected layouts. Rules create a framework for design without determining the end results.

  Style sheets employed in print and web publishing (CSS) are rules for displaying the different parts of a document. By adjusting a style sheet, the designer can change the appearance of an entire book or website. Style sheets are used to reconfigure a single body of content for output in different media, from printed pages to the screen of a mobile phone.

  Rules can be used to generate form as well as organize content. In the 1920s, the Bauhaus artist and designer László Moholy-Nagy created a painting by telephoning a set of instructions to a sign painter. In the 1960s, the minimalist artist Sol LeWitt created drawings based on simple instructions; the drawings could be executed on a wall or other surface anywhere in the world by following the directions. Complex webs of lines often resulted from seemingly simple verbal instructions.

  Designers produce rules in computer code as well as natural language. C. E. B. Reas, who co-authored the software language Processing, creates rich digital drawings and interactive works that evolve from instructions and variables. Reas alters the outcome by changing the variables. He explains, “Sometimes I set strict rules, follow them, and then observe the results. More frequently, I begin with a core software behavior, implement it, and then observe the results. I then allow the piece to flow intuitively from there.”1 Reas and other contemporary artists are using software as a medium unto itself rather than as a tool supporting the design process.

  Designing rules and instructions is an intrinsic part of the design process. Increasingly, designers are asked to create systems that other people will implement and that will change over time. This chapter looks at ways to use rule-based processes to generate unexpected visual results.

  Cell Phone Symphony In the project shown here, students were given a list of phone numbers from which to generate visual imagery for a poster. The posters promote a “cell phone symphony,” featuring music composed via interaction among the audience’s cell phones.

  Each poster suggests auditory experience as well as ideas of social and technological interaction. The students took numerous different approaches, from turning each phone number into a linear graph to using the digits to set the size and color of objects in a grid.

  Designing the system is part of the creative process. The visual results have an organic quality that comes from random input to the system. The designer controls and manipulates the system itself rather than the final outcome. Graphic Design II. Ellen Lupton, faculty.

  Numbers are replaced with icons from different symbol fonts. Marleen Kuijf.

  Strange hieroglyphs are created by doubling and flipping each numeral. Katie Evans.

  Numbers are used to set the color and size of dots on a grid. Hayley Griffin.

  Each ten-digit number is a linear graph. Martina Novakova.

  Each phone number is a twig that sprouts marks for its digits. Martina Novakova.

  Computer code is used to create a spiraling path for each number. Jonnie Hallman.

  Audio Waves Captured from an audio editing program, the lines represent different voices speaking a list of phone numbers. Sisi Recht.

  Photoshop Actions To create this series of posters, the designer recorded actions in Photoshop. Each time the action runs using different parameters, the system generates different results. Lolo Zhang, DesignLanguage Studio. Kiel Mutschelknaus, faculty.

  Motion Prompt How can time and motion be represented on a flat surface? Designers created a series of “gesture studies” in InDesign based on provided templates and using fifty-five frames from an animated shapes project they were already working on. Each template contained a prompt (such as morph, deface, contain, clone, pulverize), a series of constraints (such as copy, paste, cut, and position), and a time limit (one minute to several minutes). Each designer sought to capture the spirit of the prompt within the set constraints. They were asked to embrace motion graphics software not just as a way to generate animations, but as a way to generate material for developing two-dimensional imagery. Graphic Design III. Jason Gottleib and Kristian Bjørnard, faculty.

  Moultrie Tisdale

  Rene Arvizu

  Michael Auer

  Nick Fogarty

  Jeff Mills

  Haeun Ro

  Repeat and Rotate

  Repeating and rotating forms are universal principles of pattern design. The designs shown here were created in the Processing software language. By altering the input to a set of digital instructions, the designer can quickly see numerous variations of a single design. Changing the typeface, type size, type alignment, color, transparency, and the number and degree of rotations yields different results.

  for(int i=0;i<12;i++){

  fill(0,0,0);

  textAlign(CENTER);

  pushMatrix();

  rotate(PI*i/6);

  text(“F”,0,0);

  popMatrix();

  }

  }

  Similar effects can be achieved by rotating and repeating characters in standard graphics programs such as Illustrator. Working in Processing or other code languages allows the designer to test and manipulate different variables while grasping the logic and mathematics behind pattern design.

  Yeohyun Ahn

  Giulia Marconi

  Giulia Marconi

  Rotated Letterforms A simple code structure is used to generate designs with surprising intricacy. New designs can be quickly tested by changing the variables. Graphic Design II. Ellen Lupton and Yeohyun Ahn, faculty.

  Jonnie Hallman

  Jessica Till

  Shin Hyung Choi

  Adam Okrasinski

  Repeat and Random One or two simple elements are repeated using a “for” statement. The transparency, size, or x and y coordinates are randomized to create a sense of natural motion. Graphic Design II. Ellen Lupton and Yeohyun Ahn, faculty.

  Abstract Alphabet The Latin alphabet is an inherently abstract code. To create this minimal typeface, the designer replaced letterforms with dots of varying size. Although rendered illegible, the resulting texts maintain a familiar sense of rhythm. Kirby Matherne, Design Language Studio. Kiel Mutschelknaus, faculty.

  Museum of Insider Art To create a visual brand for an imaginary museum, the designer created a code in Processing that converts alphabetic characters into abstract shapes. The shapes become a private code. Wenjie Lu, MFA Studio.

  1. C. E. B. Reas, “Process/Drawing,” (Statement for the exhibition at the bitforms gallery, New York, March 4–April 2, 2005).

  Bibliography

  Basics

  Arnheim, Rudolf. Visual Thinking. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969.

  Arnston, Amy. Graphic Design Basics. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1988.

  Blauvelt, Andrew and Ellen Lupton, eds. Graphic Design: Now In Production. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2011.

  Booth-Clibborn, Edward, and Daniele Baroni. The Language of Graphics. New York: Harry N. A
brams, 1979.

  Carter, Rob, Ben Day, and Phillip Meggs. Typographic Design: Form and Communication. New York: Wiley, 2002. First published 1985.

  Dondis, Donis. A Primer of Visual Literacy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1973.

  Garland, Ken. Graphics Handbook. New York: Reinhold, 1966.

  Graham, Lisa. Basics of Design: Layout and Typography for Beginners. Florence, KY: Thomson Delmar Learning, 2001.

  Grear, Malcolm. Inside|Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of Design. New York: AIGA and New Riders, 2006.

  Hofmann, Armin. Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice. New York: Reinhold, 1966.

  Kandinsky, Wassily. Point and Line to Plane. New York: Dover, 1979.

  Klee, Paul. Pedagogical Sketchbook. London: Faber and Faber, 1953.

  Koren, Leonard, and R. Wippo Meckler. The Graphic Design Cookbook: Mix and Match Recipes for Faster, Better Layouts. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2001.

  Krause, Jim. Layout Index. Cincinnati, OH: North Light Books, 2001.

  Landa, Robin. Graphic Design Solutions. Florence, KY: OnWord Press, 2000.

  Leborg, Christian. Visual Grammar. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

  Newark, Quentin. What is Graphic Design? East Sussex, UK: RotoVision, 2002.

  Rand, Paul. Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.

  Resnick, Elizabeth. Design for Communication: Conceptual Graphic Design Basics. New York: Wiley, 2003.

  Rüegg, Ruedi. Basic Typography: Design with Letters. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1989.

  Skolos, Nancy, and Thomas Wedell. Type, Image, Message: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2006.

  White, Alex. The Elements of Graphic Design: Space, Unity, Page Architecture, and Type. New York: Allworth Press, 2002.

  Wilde, Richard, and Judith Wilde. Visual Literacy: A Conceptual Approach to Graphic Problem-Solving. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2005.

  Williams, Robin. The Non-Designer’s Design Book. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press, 2003.

  Code

  Dawes, Brendan. Analog In, Digital Out: Brendan Dawes on Interaction Design. Berkeley, CA: New Riders Press, 2006.

  Gerstner, Karl. Designing Programmes. Zurich: ABC Verlag, 1963.

  Maeda, John. Creative Code. London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.

  Reas, Casey, Ben Fry, and John Maeda. Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artist. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007.

  Reas, C. E. B. Process/Drawing. Berlin: DAM, 2005.

  Color

  AdamsMorioka and Terry Stone. Color Design Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Press, 2006.

  Albers, Josef. Interaction of Color. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. First published 1963.

  Krause, Jim. Color Index. Cincinnati: How Design Books, 2002.

  Kuehni, Rolf G., and Andreas Schwarz. Color Ordered: A Survey of Color Order Systems from Antiquity to the Present. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

  Diagram

  Bertin, Jacques. Semiology of Graphics. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1983.

  Bhaskaran, Lakshmi. Size Matters: Effective Graphic Design for Large Amounts of Information. Mies, Switzerland: RotoVision, 2004.

  Eisner, Will. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008.

  Tufte, Edward R. Beautiful Evidence. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 2006.

  ———. Envisioning Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 1990.

  Grid

  Bosshard, Hans Rudolf. Der Typografische Raster/The Typographic Grid. Sulgen, Switzerland: Verlag Niggli, 2000.

  Elam, Kimberly. Geometry of Design. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2001.

  ———. Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005.

  Jute, André. Grids: The Structure of Graphic Design. Mies, Switzerland: RotoVision, 1996.

  Müller-Brockmann, Josef. Grid Systems in Graphic Design. Santa Monica, CA: RAM Publications, 1996. First published 1961.

  Samara, Timothy. Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2002.

  History and Theory

  Alexander, Christopher. “The City is Not a Tree.” In Architecture Culture, 1943–1968: A Documentary Anthology, edited by Joan Ockman. New York: Rizzoli, 1993, 379–88.

  Arnheim, Rudolf. Art and Visual Perception. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.

  Armstrong, Helen. Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2009.

  Crow, David. Visible Signs. An Introduction to Semiotics in the Visual Arts. Lausanne: AVA Academia, 2010.

  Davis, Meredith. Graphic Design Theory. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012.

  Derrida, Jacques. The Truth in Painting. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Ian McCleod. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

  Fish, Stanley. “Devoid of Content.” New York Times. May 31, 2005, Op-Ed page.

  Franciscono, Marcel. Walter Gropius and the Creation of the Bauhaus. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1971.

  Galloway, Alexander, and Eugene Thacker. “Protocol, Control and Networks.” Grey Room 12 (2004): 6–29.

  Haverkamp, Michael. Synesthetic Design: Handbook for a Multi-Sensory Approach. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2011.

  Heller, Steven, and Véronique Vienne. 100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd., 2012.

  Itten, Johannes. Design and Form: The Basic Course at the Bauhaus and Later. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1975.

  Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter. New York: Penguin, 2005.

  Kepes, Gyorgy. Language of Vision. Chicago: Paul Theobold, 1947.

  Lupton, Ellen and J. Abbott Miller. Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design. London: Phaidon, 1999.

  Manovich, Lev. “Generation Flash.” http://www.manovich.net (accessed May 10, 2006).

  ———. The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.

  Margolin, Victor. The Struggle for Utopia: Rodchenko, Lissitzky, Moholy-Nagy, 1917–1946. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

  McCoy, Katherine. “Hybridity Happens.” Emigre 67 (2004): 38–47.

  ———. “The New Discourse.” In Cranbrook: The New Design Discourse, by Katherine McCoy and Michael McCoy. New York: Rizzoli, 1990.

  ———. “When Designers Create Culture.” Print LVI: III (2002): 26, 181–3.

  Moholy-Nagy, László. Vision in Motion. Chicago: Paul Theobold, 1969. First published 1947.

  Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl. Moholy-Nagy: Experiment in Totality. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1950.

  Naylor, Gillian. The Bauhaus Reassessed. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1985.

  Rowe, Colin, and Robert Slutzky. “Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal (Part 2).” In Architecture Culture, 1943–1968: A Documentary Anthology, edited by Joan Ockman. New York: Rizzoli, 1993, 205–225.

  Weber, Nicholas Fox. Josef + Anni Albers: Designs for Living. London: Merrell Publishers, 2004.

  Weingart, Wolfgang. My Way to Typography. Baden, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers, 2000.

  Wick, Rainer K., and Gabriele D. Grawe. Teaching at the Bauhaus. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2000.

  Wingler, Hans M. The Bauhaus. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.

  Pattern

  Archibald Christie. Traditional Methods of Pattern Designing; An Introduction to the Study of the Decorative Art. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910.

  Hagan, Keith. The Complete Pattern Library. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005.

  Jones, Owen. The Grammar of Ornament. Edited by Maxine Lewis. London: DK Adult, 2001. First published 1856.

  Time and Motion

  Furniss, Maureen. Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. London: John Libbey, 1998.


  Moggridge, Bill. Designing Interactions. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2007.

  Williams, Richard. The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles, and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators. London: Faber and Faber, 2001.

  Woolman, Matt, and Jeff Bellantoni. Moving Type: Designing for Time and Space. Mies, Switzerland: RotoVision, 2000.

  Typography

  Baines, Phil, and Andrew Haslam. Type and Typography. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2002.

  Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Vancouver: Hartley and Marks, 1997.

  Carter, Rob, Ben Day, and Philip Meggs. Typographic Design: Form and Communication. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993.

  Elam, Kimberly. Typographic Systems. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.

  Kane, John. A Type Primer. London: Laurence King, 2002.

  Kunz, Willi. Typography: Formation and Transformation. Sulgen, Switzerland: Verlag Niggli, 2003.