Postmodern Graphic Designer: Paula Scher

Though the start of the modernisation may trace back to the beginning of Industrial Revolution. “Modernism in the design world did not exist in a fully developed form, until well after First World War.” (Wilk, 2006) Causing the great loss of lives and other countless damage to the world, it reshaped many people’s way of thinking the world. With the inspiration of early avant-garde movement, the modernism began to emerge advocating an utopian future and shared certain core principles by various styles of modernists: rejecting the past and applied ornament; forms follow function, a preference for

As the years have passed Art has come to include expanding subgenres including architecture, murals and memorials (Newspaper Association of America, 2001). However, since the booming of Hip Hop culture, graffiti has also been acknowledged as a form of art in popular culture. “Pop Culture” is a term that includes society’s current collective preferences in music, film, sports, recreation, jokes, fashion and advertising (The Museum of Contemporary Art, 1990). Considering the effects of the international technological revolution

The term postmodernism has been defined in different ways over the past years but it still hasn’t had its official definition. Postmodernism is a daunting subject because of the disagreements between people of how they interrupt texts and art. Postmodernism is a critic of what we assume to be real or a fantasy of what we want to be real. Postmodernism raises an importance of identity. Postmodernism is a style and concept of the arts, architecture and the criticism that shows a break from modernism. Postmodernism highlights ideas and theories. It can include different artistic styles in art. For example, an artist can mix pop art with an icon image such as Marilyn Monroe, or make recycled garbage into new art. Watchmen

According to Hugh Helclo, “Postmodern America” was not just ideas in philosophy and the analysis of culture and society, but an expanded importance of critical thinking associated to a departure for works of literature and traditional architecture. Moreover, about combining technology advancement with a marketing/business geared society that had become accustom to interpretation of industrialization and urbanization through a shift in culture.

Moreover, I explained how each image is an example for the core principles of modernism as mentioned in the overview. In brief, modernist design is innovative. Space, form and structure is based on the functional requirements. Designs became simple and without overwhelming traditional aesthetic concepts. Therefore, technology together with simpler design made the product easy to be mass produced. After the first World War, designers in central Europe intended to change the world for better through art by rejecting ornamentation as it resembled of the past generations whom withstood the unpleasant effects of war and poverty (Smith, 2005). Dormer (1993) writes that:

According to article “Graphic Incognito”, writer Mark Owens says that modernism exported to America through Bauhaus, which was a European movement that came around World War 2. The movement in America took shape in the 1980s with the influence of a new cultural era that was personified in different mediums, especially in music. He argues that certain modernist design tactics were adopted by suburban kids raised during the Reagan era in the early 1980s that were in the post- punk, hardcore, underground music scene. First of all, he begins his essay with a quote from Paul Rand about how “timeless principles” were the only hope to achieve a style of quality in one’s work.

Postmodernism is a term which is highly contested in the sociological world, where it is used to indicate a significant detachment from modernism. It is easier to give the uses of the term; ‘to give a name to the present historical period, to name a specific style in arts and architecture and to name a point of rupture or disjuncture in epistemology’ (Buchanan, 2010). For this,

Postmodernism in a nutshell. When was it created? How did it fail or did it? Is there redemption in postmodernism?

Post Modernism Perspective’s- "According to postmodern perspectives, existing theories have been unsuccessful in explaining social life in contemporary societies that are characterized by post industrialization, consumerism, and global communications (Kendall, 01/2014, p. 29).”Postmodern theories are based on the assumption that the rapid social change that occurs as societies move from modern to postmodern (or postindustrial) conditions has a harmful effect on people. One evident change is the significant decline in the influence of social institutions such as the family, religion, and education on people’s lives. Those who live in postmodern societies typically pursue individual freedom and do not want the structural constraints that are imposed by social institutions (Kendall, 01/2014, p. 29). "Postmodern (or “postindustrial”) societies are characterized by an information explosion and an economy in which large numbers of people either provide or apply information, or they are employed in professional occupations (such as lawyers and physicians) or service jobs (such as fast-food servers and health care workers). (Kendall, 01/2014, pp. 29-30)

To fully appreciate the differences and similarities between Postmodernism and Modernism, it is required to understand exactly what they are. Modernism is the term we give to the accumulated creations and activities of designers in the early 20th century, who had the theory that traditional forms of literature, religion, social organization, and most of all, art and architecture, had become outdated in the new social, political, and economic environment of a fully industrialised world. One of the main characteristics of Modernism is self-consciousness, which typically caused exstensive experimentations of form and function. The creative process of generating work was also explored, forming new techniques in design. Modernism rejected all ideology of realism and prefers to reference and parody works of the past. Postmodernism, on the other hand, is a radical rejection of Modernist design. Taking place in the late 20th century, it is a movement in art, criticism, and architecture that disputes the majority of modernist tendencies. The Postmodernist analysis of society and culture lead to the expansion of critical theory and advanced the works of architecture, literature, and design. This entire re-evaluation of the western value system of popular culture, love, marriage, economy, that took place from the 1950s and 60s, leading to the peak of the Social Revolution in 1968, is commonly referred as Postmodernity which influenced postmodern thought, as opposed to the term

There is often some confusion when people start talking about the post-modernism and modernism in architecture in terms of  their philosophical terminology differences. Modern architecture is known for its minimalism (Linder, 2004); buildings were functional and economical rather than comfortable and beautifully decorated. The post-modernism architecture, however, is called a “neo-eclectic, significantly assuming the role of a regeneration of period styles for designing houses, and a never-ending variety of forms and characteristics, asymmetrical designs for commercial buildings” (Fullerton Heritage, 2008). An example of these two polar opposites, “Less is more” made by Mies van der Rohe in 1928 (Blake, 1976) and "Less is a bore" made by

The main features of a postmodernist are that he or she is overly subjective, sensitive towards the role of ideology in assertion and maintenance of political and economic power. On the other hand, a modernist for example, there exists objective natural reality which is independent of human beings, their practices and relationships (Duignan, 2014). Such realities

The Modernist Period was first a reaction against the previous Victorian culture. Intellectuals and artists of the 20th century believed that the previous era’s way of doing things was a cultural dead end and they wanted to break away from traditions.

In architecture and interior design, Post modernism can be defined as the re-emergence of surface ornamentation that relied heavily on historical decorative forms and made use of curvilinear lines and angles throughout the design. Post modernism was concerned with the ornamentation, symbolism, technology and the combination of present and past architectural style to create a brand new style in its entirety (Jarzombek, 1999: 489).

Postmodernism refers to a broad term used to explain movements in philosophy, art, music and critical theory. Postmodernism is viewed as a reaction to the pioneering modernist movement. In literature and art, postmodernism responds against classical ideas. With respect to post-structuralism and structuralism, there is a great difference between postmodernism