Pop Art

Pop Art was an art movement which had the sense of optimism during the post war of the 1950s and 1960s. Pop Art is meant to be brash, young and fun.  A British critic, Lawrence Allowy invented the word ‘POP’ in 1954 to describe a new art that was influenced by the imagery of popular culture. Allowy and together with two other artists Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi created a group which is known as the Independent Group. In this group there are a collective of artists, architectures and writers where they explored radical approaches to contemporary visual culture during their meeting at ICA in London. The Independent group was the first designers for the British Pop Art.  

Pop art in America was slightly different from the British pop art. American Pop art was created to replace the abstract Expressionism because by the mid 1950s many felt that this movement had become too serious. In order to change the latter trend, pop art in America was evolved in order to re introduce the image as a structural device in painting, to pull art back from the obscurity of abstraction into the real world again. This was tried and tested before by Picasso where forty years ago he tried to collaged the ‘real world’ printed images onto his still life because he feared that his art will become too abstract.  Around 1955, two artists Jasper John and Robert Rauschenberg were the leaders of the American Pop art.

Andy Warhol
An artist who personifies Pop art more than any other artists is Andy Warhol. He was the most successful commercial illustrator in New York who had become a leading artist of the 60s Pop art movement. He was best known for his industrial silkscreen process where he used the same image constantly. He used this technique for the Campbell’s soup cans and on the coca cola bottles.

Nowadays…
Today Pop art movement is still popular. One can still see Pop art artworks printed on products such as T shirts, bags among others.

Here some examples of posters and advertisement:

Chanel

References:

Artyfactory.com, (2015). Pop Art - the art of popular culture. [online] Available at: http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/pop_art.htm [Accessed 29 Jan. 2015].

Biography.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875#artistic-career [Accessed 29 Jan. 2015].

Streamlining/Brand Identity

Introduction

·         1929: Economic Depression

o   Poverty/unemployment

o   High rate of suicide

o   Bankruptcy companies

·         Companies tried to find a way how to get back on their feet

o   Tried to change the image of both the companies and their products

·         Example of  companies that tried to change their image during the economic depression

o   Walt Disney Production 

·         1930s: Great Depression

◦      A new style was created known as Streamlining

◦      To help make products feel modern and rekindle the consumerism attitude

◦      It started with transport: road, rail, air

◦      Developed to: fans, chairs, etc

◦      Includes: Architecture and Graphic Design

·         Raymond Loewy

o   Helped in restoring the image of companies and products with the use of Streamlining

o   He is considered as ‘the father of Streamlining’

o   He was assisted by other designers: Henry Dreyfuss, Norman Bel Geddes, among others

o   Influences: Art Deco

o   Streamlining was simplified and became more flexible

·         Characteristics

o   Simplicity

o   Teardrops

o   Aerodynamic

o   Curves

·         Brand Identity: Peter Behrens

o   Designed the first logo of a company : AEG  (1907)

Raymond Loewy

·         Raymond Loewy (November 5, 1893 - July 14, 1986).

·         Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States, where he influenced many aspects of American life.

·         Loewy was hired by Jersey Standard Oil Company to find a new name and design a
new logo for its Esso brand.
 

 

1940 lucky strike pack

 

·         The transformation of the package included:

o   Changing the background from green to white. 

o   Making both sides of the pack identical by featuring the logo on both sides.

o   Sharpening up the typography. 

Peter Behrens

·         Studied in Karlsruhe, Dusseldorf and Munich.

·         Designed the AEG factory.

·         1890-worked as a painter and graphic artist.

·         Founder of modern objective industrial architecture and modern industrial design.

·         AEG-included: logos, packaging, PR and advertising materials.

·         Behrens combined functionality with elegance.

·         He was an architect then became a painter and Art Nouveau designer of decorative and graphic art.

·         Some of his earliest works in jugendstil-ornament drawings and Japanese art.

·         Well-knowned artists who followed Behrens-Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Jean Kramer and Adolf Meyer.

·         Inspirations from Behrens

o   Water treatment-2009

o   Water filtration and purification

o   Design on products and packaging

o   Line of telecommunication products-The DECT phone, Cromo and Fono.

Contemporary Works

 

 

Refernces:

—   raymod loewy logos. March 2002.  [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy.html. [Accessed 22 December 2014].

—  The history of the Shell logo - Shell Global. Unknown. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/who-we-are/our-history/history-of-pecten.html. [Accessed 12 January 2015].

—  Shell logo design evolution | Logo Design Love. APR 30, 2008. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.logodesignlove.com/shell-logo-design-evolution. [Accessed 22 December 2014].

—  Raymond Loewy designs | Art and design | The Guardian. Unknown. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2013/nov/05/raymond-loewy-timeless-designs-in-pictures. [Accessed 12 January 2015].

—  Flyer Goodness: Vintage Lucky Strike Cigarette Packaging. 7-25-2012. [ONLINE] Available at: http://flyergoodness.blogspot.com/2012/07/vintage-lucky-strike-cigarette-packaging.html. [Accessed 22 December 2014].

—  Brand New: Lucky Strike/s Out. Unknown. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/lucky_strikes_out.php#.VLFZLivF9PI. [Accessed 27 December 2014].

—  Ldc Logo. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/ASultany/ldc-logo. [Accessed 27 December 2014].

—  iconic logo designers. Unknown. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.logosdesigners.com/. [Accessed 27 December 2014].

—  Shell logo design evolution | Logo Design Love. APR 30, 2008. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.logodesignlove.com/shell-logo-design-evolution. [Accessed 1 January 2015].

—  la Lucky Strike électronique du Nouvel Obs - Arrêt sur images. Unknown. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.arretsurimages.net/breves/2013-05-30/la-Lucky-Strike-electronique-du-Nouvel-Obs-id15616. [Accessed 1 January 2015]

—  Raymond Loewy chiama, Design risponde | BalenaLab. 28 OTTOBRE 2014. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.balenalab.com/raymond-loewy-chiama-design-risponde/. [Accessed 1 January 2015].

—  Raymond Loewy Fundation/The Designer Raymond Loewy ”Never leave well enough alone”. Unknown. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.raymondloewyfoundation.com/fileadmin/pdf/raymond_loewy/About_R._Loewy.pdf. [Accessed 2 January 2015]. 

—  Peter Behrens | Design History Research. 2015. Peter Behrens | Design History Research. [ONLINE] Available at: https://designhistoryresearch.wordpress.com/category/peter-behrens/. [Accessed 12 January 2015].

—  Peter Behrens: Biography of German Modernist Architect. 2015. Peter Behrens: Biography of German Modernist Architect. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/architecture/peter-behrens.htm. [Accessed 12 January 2015].