The video we watched on Milton Glaser on Wednesday was definitely interesting and full of insight I had never considered with design or even art in general. As a photography major, design is still very important though in different regards but without any 'thought' during shoots and during post-processing, you're simply "firing til something hits", which is generally inefficient when it comes to practical photography.
Glaser's thoughts on art was that it was a representation of what is 'now'. He believed it was an expression of what was going on around him in his time and that art shouldn't be institutionalized or crystallized into some kind of rigid structure. His designs reflected this ideology while still keeping the finished product simple but direct (for instance, the "I <3 NY" logo). He used whatever medium he had available to him to solve problems, ranging from simple to experimental. He loved to inform and delight his viewers, wanted them to think a little when they looked on his designs because it would likely stay with them when they had to process it.
He also believed that art was not finite, that there will always be more. One must take it far as they possible can, and when they can no longer do so, they leave it to the next person. In my short time in the art field, I can believe this as the new generation creates art that the previous generation did not simply imagine back then, simply because we simply live in a different time with different influences.
In our book, we read about the Psychedelic posters created during postmodernism era. These posters were created as a means to 'break' the rigid rules that the industry had been using for designs. Posters like Youngbloods and Flying Eyeball played very loose with the rules, and often were influenced by drugs like LCD that induced psychedelic trips. With the crazy designs, the often shifting texts, and wide range of colors, one could be convinced that this was a typical sight to drug users. These designs appealed to the young consumers who experienced these 'enlightening' images.
Push Pin Studio (whom Milton Glaser was a part of) focused on using and embracing styles that were seen as cliche or obsolete. They wished to have it's viewers see these archaic styles in a new light. Many like Push Pin Studios sought to go beyond the fine arts and use materials not considered standard or 'frowned upon' by traditional designers in order to show a new way of presenting images, posters, or messages to their viewers.
