Monday, March 2, 2009

Graphic Design for the Socialist Agenda

During this time period we see graphic design utilized to promote political ideals. Communist visions reject the idea of design as creative expression. The role of art is to oppose old orders and replace conservative visual art. The idea of one vision and equal rights between men and women becomes a repeating theme as well as a revolution and looking forward to a brighter future. Photos were considered more powerful than illustrations and were combined with bold text and colors to draw attention and promote the cause.
Artists working for the greater good called themselves Constructivists. All advertising and packaging were geared toward this social movement as well. The idea of this is sort of scary to me. Political agendas promoted through products used in everyday life sounds like something out of the Orwell classic 1984. All design has a profound influence on the general population and it's unfortunate that it's taken advantage of in this way. I am very interested in the psychology of design and using it in the best possible way so it is interesting to see how this has been done in the past. I suppose all design has a certain degree of manipulation.

2 comments:

  1. your essays are thoughtful-
    good job
    20pts

    The issue seems to be the test- at 35 correct your good work in writing can't pull the average up...
    you got to study harder for test and stay on top of the essays
    don't you think?

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  2. Yes I do. I know I did really poorly on the test. I found it to be very confusing and difficult especially with the paragraphs and the slides. I didn't study as well as I could have and will definitely try to do extremely well on the next one. I have to. Is it still possible for me to get a B in this class?

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