Reading Notes
Chapter Six – pgs 174-189
Post-Modernism:
Reading the World as Texts
Postmodernism
questions the powers that be
Postiche – a mixture
of visual references that imitate previous styles or works in a new context; a
fragmented experience.
Bricolage – the construction
of something from a diverse range of things
Postmodern architecture
tends to show the structural skeleton
Post-industrial – an economy
that no longer relies on heavy industry or mechanical production (how is the
U.S. postindustrial?)
Postmodern things
are open to interpretation. They can be ambiguous. “difficult whole” “messy
vitality.” Modern things want one single point of view that’s universal, while
postmodern things could have many meanings.
Postmodernists
used vernacular rather than uppity design lingo that the user didn’t understand
Postmodernists
were inspired by pop artists to look at commercialism and pop culture for
inspiration
Postmodernists
criticized modernists for their delusional universal beliefs when the majority
of their clients don’t understand modernism.
Postmodernists
started the backlash against Helvetica due to the fact that numerous corporations
used it. Helvetica was supposed to be neutral but meanings got attached to it.
I don’t think
that post modernism is very good commercially. You don’t want your audience to
get confused with the subjective meanings. You want the meaning to be clear to
most everyone.
