Stephen Heller: Was born in 1950. He is American art director, journalist, critic, author, and editor who specializes on topics related to graphic design. Photo
Rudy VanderLans: Was born 1955, Voorburg and is a Dutch type and graphic designer and the co-founder of Emigre, an independent type foundry. Photo
Emigre: Is a digital type foundry, publisher and distributor of graphic design related software and printed materials based in Northern California.
The Cult of the Ugly is a big deal because "Heller argued against the then-popular but now so passé style of deconstructed visuals." "In the early 1990s Steven Heller takes on the word ugly as he sees it applied to graphic design and design education. En route, his views of art history, pop culture and recent design trends are considered in his essay about style and meaning in design."
The History Part One:
Dada: The style and techniques of a group of artists, writers, etc., of the early 20th century who exploited accidental and incongruous effects in their work and who programmatically challenged established canons of art, thought, morality, etc.
Key people in this movement: Hugo Ball, George Grosz, Sophie Täuber
Examples: One, Two, Three
Futurists: Is a follower of futurism, esp. an artist or writer.
Key people in this movement: Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini
Examples of work: One, Two, Three
Constructivists: People who follow Constructivism. Constructivism is a nonrepresentational style of art developed by a group of Russian artists principally in the early 20th century, characterized chiefly by a severely formal organization of mass, volume, and space, and by the employment of modern industrial materials.
Key people in the movement: Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky
Examples: One, Two, Three
Bauhaus: Pertaining to the concepts, ideas, or styles developed at the Bauhaus, characterized chiefly by an emphasis on functional design in architecture and the applied arts.
Key people in the movement: Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe
Examples: One, Two, Three
The History Part Two:
English Punk: A raw expression of youth frustration manifested through shocking dress, music and art.
Swiss Design: Is a graphic design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950s that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity. Relation to The Cult of The Ugly: This article talks about how society thinks that 'ugly' is something needed in everyday life, that it is something that is looked at as an honorable companion. "Or in the wake of earlier, more serious experimentation, has ugliness simply been assimilated into popular culture and become a stylish conceit? Swiss Punk – which in comparison with the gridlocked Swiss International Style was menacingly chaotic, though rooted in its own logic – was born in the mecca of rationalism, Basel, during the late 1970s. For the elders who were threatened (and offended) by the onslaught to criticise Swiss Punk was attacked not so much because of its appearance as because it symbolised the demise of Modernist hegemony."
Dutch Design: Dutch design is simple and powerful. "The Dutch have the ability to make fun of themselves. Also it's a matter of combining things that usually don't combine at all. Dutch designers are good in using materials that look worthless. The designers give them a new value."
New Wave: refers to an approach to typography that actively defies strict grid-based organizing conventions. Characteristics include inconsistent letterspacing, varying typeweights within single words and type set at unusual angles.
The Beautiful:
Paul Rand: Thinks beauty is ‘the separation of form and function, of concept and execution, in not likely to produce objects of aesthetical value." He was a well-known American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs. Armin Hoffman: Is a Swiss graphic designer. He is well known for his posters, which emphasised economical use of colour and fonts. Willi Kunz: He was born in Switzerland and immigrated to the United States. Kunz describes his design process in this way: "Developing authentic and original ideas demands careful observation of, and response to, technological, social, and environmental changes. It also requires independent thinking that is attuned to evolving attitudes and fresh experiences rather than cursory glances through history books and design annuals." Why is this type of work considered beautiful?
Rand: "Rand's paragraphs pack an eloquent punch on behalf of aesthetic values. . . . Even a casual observer of graphic landmarks will be rewarded by this thoroughly engaging and beautifully designed book."
Vignelli: He states. " I like design to be semantically correct, syntactically consistent, and pragmatically understandable. I like it to be visually powerful, intellectually elegant, and above all timeless."
Hoffman: "Hofmann's work is a clear and beautiful expression of the design process, at its most basic."
Kunz: "Kunz breaks down micro-aesthetic quality of letters, numbers, and punctuation; and the macro-aesthetics of typography and design elements working as a whole."
The Ugly:
"The ugly excesses – or Frankenstein’s little monsters like Output – are often exhibited in public to promulgate “the new design discourse”. In fact, they merely further the cause of ambiguity and ugliness. Since graduate school hothouses push their work into the real world, some of what is purely experimental is accepted by neophytes as a viable model, and students, being students, will inevitably misuse it. Who can blame them if their mentors are doing so, too?"
Summary:
The word "ugly" is applied to graphic design and design education. I feel that this article is stating that designers are intentionally making their work ugly to make a point and stand out from other designers. It is interesting to see the view of how failures should be considered moving forward in the world of design as well as those who succeed. I think that this is a different yet more positive out look. Most work is created by experiment... therefore it is most of the time ugly. The thing people are not understanding is that just because it is ugly does not mean that it is not good. There are many different movements that can be considered as movements that provide and demonstrate ugliness. These include the Futurists, where the viewer need to accept non-traditional formats, which sometimes result in confusion. Then there is the English Punk, which expresses raw expression of youth frustration manifested through crazy dressing, music and art. This movement bounces off of the Dada and Futurist movement. What is also considered to be ugly is the Swiss Punk. It was noticed and 'attacked' because not only of its appearance but 'because of symbolized the demise of Modernist hegemony." This shows how those designers who wished to make their work ugly are getting the attention and focus that they want from the viewer. It is just another way to approach the situation, in my opinion. It is a way to create alternative standards. Basically, “Rarely has beauty been an end in itself,” wrote Paul Rand in Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art. And it is equally mistaken to treat ugliness as an end result in itself." Overall, what Heller is trying to get across is that ugliness is OK. It is actually good and used to represent cultures and ideas. People need to take into consideration that creating 'ugly' work is not for just anyone. As Heller concludes, "Ugliness as a tool, a weapon, even as a code is not a problem when it is a result of form following function. But ugliness as its own virtue – or as a knee-jerk reaction to the status quo – diminishes all design."
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