Deconstruction arrose from Post- modernism and Post- structuralism, it was something that became visually interpreted in Graphic design. Deconstruction was not a style as such, it was more of an approach about questionning the hidden assumptions in life, unpicking hidden structures.
500 word analysis on Lupton, E (2008) 'Thinking with type'
Lupton talks about type in a very different way compared to contemporary theorists. The first points that he makes about type in his writing 'Thinking with type' is that text is not just there to be read, ' it can be viewed as a thing- a sound and sturdy object- or a fluid poured into the containers of a page or screen. Text can be solid or liquid, body or blood.' The point he makes about text not just being text is very important in contemporary design, when a designer sets about formatting a piece of text they need to do it in a way that makes it different from others and interesting, the layout and design of the text should reflect on its content. It should make the reader feel something and it should make them think about the text 'design' and not just the content they are 'reading'.
Next he talks about the way in which designers layout text on a page and how it can be indented and broken up so that the reader can find ways to read the parts that they need to rather than reading the whole text of which half may not be relevant to their readings. The designers job is to make reading an easier and quicker process, Lupton says ' although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design's most humane function is, in actuality, to help readers avoid reading'. The techniques that are used to make readers reading experience easier actually diverts them from reading hardly anything at all.
Errors and ownership became very important around the 1960's. When handwritten documents were reproduced, before printing was invented, they were riddled with errors. The copies were copied from copies so each reproduced piece had its own glitches or gaps. After the invention of new ways of printing, proof copies were proof read before a mass was reproduced, so thay any mistakes could be justified and corrected. But again as technology evolved, text became downloadable from online and users could then reformatt the text.
In an essay 'From work to text' written by French critic Roland Barthes, he talks about linearity ( meaning the property, quality or state of being linear) and the two opposing models of writing: ' the closed, fixed "work" versus the open, unstable "text". The work was a tidy, neatly packaged object, all proof read and perfect where as the text was the complete opposite, it was impossible to contain. The text was something that was very different, it could be a jumble of references, recieved ideas, echoes and cultural languages.He then goes on to talk about the attack on linearity, new devices that were being used in writing were providing means of escape and entrance from the one way stream of discourse. Meaning that writing occupies space as well as time and typography's most urgent tasks was to now liberate readers from the bonds of linearity.
He then goes on to talk about the importance of the author within a piece of text. When a reader reads a piece of text, whose voice is in their head whilst reading, is it their own, the author's or the voice of a character in the text. And if it is their own voice then do they still interpret the piece of wrting as it was meant to be interpreted by the author, or does it change by the way the reader reads or sees words. Is it now the death of the author, do they simply write and then all the power falls into how it is displayed by typography and how the reader interprets.
Katherine McCoy, a designer talks about how typography is not only read but also seen and much like images and pictures, they can be read like text, the way in which we read and see things is changing all the tie and this is through the evolution and change within type design and layout, it is a constant battle of what is more important, the text or what they mean.
Examples of Deconstruction in Graphic Design:
David Carson is a well known Graphic Designer who uses deconstructive techniques in some of his work, a prime example is his designs for Ray Gun magazine. The way he used typography went against traditional graphic design 'rules', there is no form of layout or grid, everything seems as though it had just been thrown on a page. Type overlaps and becomes illegible, again going against the purposes of good graphic design.
David Carson, Ray Gun magazine
David Carson, Ray Gun magazine
