What is New Media?

New media is based on the belief that we are currently living in a “Post-digital” age, but as I discussed in the post about this weeks reading, I do not believe we are “, but I will discuss this era, as it is still a major development in the timeline of graphic design

Examples of new media are:

• Forums and Chat Rooms
• Email
• Social Networking Sites
• Content Aggregators
• Virtual Reality
• Online Gaming
• Blogs
• Portals
• Social News Sites

So What Counts as Post-Digital?

Personally, I am not too sure of this answer, even with further online research, it is hard to narrow down, but I believe it starts around the time when smartphones were created. This was the start of putting screens and/or internet capabilities on everything, as discussed in the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT believes that everything that can be connected to the internet will be connected to the internet, and with recent advancements, such as the Smart Lights that can be controlled by an app and refrigerators that tell you when food is about to go off, this statement could not be more true.

https://www.mesh-net.co.uk/what-is-the-internet-of-things-iot/internet-of-things-graph/

Example of The Internet of Things (Going too Far)

The Smalt Shaker, as implied by its name, is a smart salt shaker that uses an app on ones phone to play music, set the colour of the shaker, and most importantly, dispense precise amounts of salt. It is currently a project being funded on Indigogo (as of 2017) and has 51 supporters. All jokes aside, I did chose this for not only comedic purposes, but also to convey the how accurate The Internet of Things theory is, showing that even something as menial as a salt shaker can be digital.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/8/3/16088526/smalt-smart-salt-shaker-app-alexa-smartphone

 

Pre-Graphic Design

Before computers, graphic design consisted of physically using templates and sticking letters and images onto a page. These pages would then be used to chemically expose a printing plate for mass printing. Although this method was accurate, it was tedious and like Gutenberg’s printing press, each letter had to be placed one by one. This was completely changed when computers were involved.

Computers

When it comes to graphic design, the change from analogue to digital was quite sudden. Since the first commercial computers were aimed at math and word processing, it did not take long for graphic designers to discover the ability to create a page layout, even with their simple green text on a black screen set-up. This would use commands to change styles types of fonts, and rely on the designers ability of imagining what this should look like printed.

https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/graphic-design/this-documentary-reveaks-graphic-design-before-computers/

The Macintosh

The Macintosh computer was one of the most influential devices in the history of graphic design, as it allowed the user to see what they were creating as they were creating it. Released in 1984 it only took one year for a commercial technology not far off of  InDesign to be developed for the use of page layout, and this software was called Aldus PageMaker. Like InDesign, PageMaker could layout text and images onto a page using template and what ever fonts were available. This revolutionised the graphic design industry, and was made more useful, with the release of the Macintosh Plus, which supported colour.

Computer: https://www.macworld.com/article/2090545/the-mac-at-30-the-next-30-years.html

Software: http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Software/Pagemaker.html

Technological developments from devices and software, such as what is mentioned above were the stepping stones for the design tools that we know and love today.

What is Visual Identity?

Visual identity relates to what aspects of a brand make it stand out from the rest, (kind of like if a brand was a person, who would they be? What would they wear? etc.). In this case of design, we are mainly focusing on the visual aspects and their relation to what the brand creates or provides. This can be explored in the development of the McDonald’s logo, as it shows how overtime, as brands become more famous they require less context, and so-forth the logo design becomes similar.

https://www.izeyodiase.com/psychology-of-color-branding-in-logos/

As seen above, what started as a simple barbecue restaurant turned into the multi-billion dollar franchise it is today. Some of the major changes include, the use of colour in the 1953, showing how the red became iconic in branding from an early age. Then in 1961, the addition of the yellow arches appear, which have become the most iconic aspect of any McDonald’s branding .  Then as time progressed the “McDonald’s” typeface became simplistic, up until the point where it was separated from the logo entirely. Now that McDonald’s is so mainstream, like Nike, the single of the golden arches in “M” is enough for most of the worlds population to understand that this is “McDonald’s”.

Along with McDonald’s other examples include

• Apple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibeH2T7Qclg

• Pepsi

https://www.logolynx.com/topic/pepsi#&gid=1&pid=3

• The Rolling Stones

https://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/musica/noticias/8001076/12/16/Los-Rolling-Stones-publican-su-primer-album-de-estudio-en-una-decada.html

The Effects of Colour

There is also a belief that certain colours have certain effects on branding too. This has been questioned with McDonald’s, as some people speculate that the psychology of the colour yellow grabs the attention of the viewer, while also improving their mood, likewise of being in sunlight. While the red encourages appetite and evokes the user to take action. I believe some aspects of this may be true, as many of the most popular food brands seem to theme some form of red in their branding design, such as Domino’s, KFC and Coca-Cola.

Due to this reasoning, I feel that visual identity is key in any kind of successful branding use.

The Repercussions of the Camera

The invention of the camera brought upon many possibilities for both documentation and art purposes, but due to its accuracy in capturing pictures, some painters felt threatened by the invention of this new technology, while some conformed to this new technology and began learning photography, others used this as a way to strike out amongst the construct of normality, creating surrealism.

Surrealism

Surrealism was created in the early 1920’s and known for representing dream or hallucinogenic like paintings. This can be seen in one of the most iconic pieces form the surrealist movement, The Persistence of Memory (1931), by Salvador Dali.

https://www.art.co.uk/products/p5991468465-sa-i781458/salvador-dali-the-persistence-of-memory-c-1931.htm

This work conceptually nonsensical, yet it is this randomness that makes the work so interesting in the first place. Even though the work is so famous, to this day, we still do not know what the meaning of this work is. “Why are the clocks melting?”, “What is the meaning of the half face?”, “Why does the water break off into a tile?” and many other questions are asked when looking at the strange features of this landscape.

Social Commentary

Along with the development of portable cameras, came the realisation of their use in Social Justice. In this context, Social Justice is the act of bringing to light the mistreatment and struggle of the under-privileged and and abused.

Public Domain

This photograph from 1908 shows children working at a glass works and is part of the National Child Labor Committee. Pictures such as this were beginning to spread around the late 1800’s to early 1900’s inspiring the public opinion on the morality of sending children to work in such dangerous conditions. This would eventually lead to strict rules in the worker rights.

This style of photography is still used today, whether it is in the form of charity foundations building sympathy to encourage donations or to report on the effects of natural disasters on the less fortunate. I personally feel this is an okay practice, as long as it is done in a way that is faithful to the truth.