Helen's Writings

       Viewing surrealism in literal and broad terms--by the layman’s vernacular, rather than through the lens of history or art criticism--it represents a freedom in how the world is explored, an abandoning of the shackles of reality. Mario references the real world in passing: Yoshi, a lizard creature, lays eggs, Mario is an Italian plumber, Princess Peach presides over a kingdom.        These more recognizable motifs offer a frame of reference for the viewer, while still taking them on a visual journey through a strange and wonderful world, distinct from their own while still drawing on familiar symbols to inspire images of America, nature, and modern life. This design process is exemplified in the character of Yoshi, a small dinosaur character whom Mario may ride occasionally. This is strange, but not too strange to the point of surrealism, as dinosaurs are accepted images in pop culture. Yoshi als...

        The World Wide Web, as it’s called (and not called anymore by anyone below 30), was invented in 1990, and opened the world to a new, parallel world: one which doesn’t exist in the physical space, and which operates primarily through unseen forces and faceless users.        In such a subspace, few people have face-to-face conversations, and in this social struggle was born a new solution: images and lines which convey a meaning all their own, only understood by the initiated. With the rise of social media, this need for a more robust symbology to convey emotions difficult to describe in casual settings, as well as a desire to separate users into “in” groups and “out” groups, caused memes to explode.        In this way, memes almost serve as a social litmus test. Cruel as it is, a young child may not recognize or understand the meaning behind certain meme reactio...

       Without early photographic processes and experimentation, modern photography would not have existed. However, without the development of computer technology, modern photography would maintain many more traditional processes (perhaps without so much poisoning, however.)        Halftone screen is only one of several forays into the technology of developing, saving and sharing photographs. It differs in appearance and tone from many modern photographs, even with the use of digital editing. It remains, even to today, as a staple of printing processes, and into the digital realm it continues to be used to both achieve a certain effect and as a method of shading with ink.

Thesis Statement: Chinese Woodcuts mirror the development of modern printing techniques, however they were developed in different time periods and within different cultures. ITEM #1 Topic Sentence: Chinese Woodcuts Different Features #1 Topic Sentence: Reason: Chinese woodcuts were developed in order to reproduce text in a way which was quicker and more efficient than hand-lettering. However, this method utilized a non-Roman alphabet, which presented unique challenges in that there were many more distinct characters in a given block of text than the woodcut’s Western counterpart in modern printing presses. Evidence to Support: Han characters do not adhere to a singular system of character generation, such as in the case of Korean, and so each woodcut must be made to suit the text at hand, rather than pulled from a pre-existing pool of letters. ITEM #2 Topic Sentence: Modern Printing Press Different Features #2 Topic Sentence: The modern printing press utilizes the Roma...

Thesis Statement: While the East created the well-known writing forms of today, the West perfected typography through the creation of the printing press, a tool which almost necessitates an alphabet with as few words as possible. ITEM #1 Topic Sentence: European Type Different Features #1 Topic Sentence: European type exists within the confines of the Roman alphabet, which has allowed for an easier advancement into movable type. Reason: The Roman alphabet is far more limited and short-form, allowing for only a few letters at a time, as opposed to many at once, all unique in form and stroke. Evidence to Support: Gutenberg’s movable type included a limited number of letterforms and blocks. ITEM #2 Topic Sentence: Asian Type Different Features #2 Topic Sentence: Non-European printed type came about after European printing. Reason: Asian/non-European type uses a broader variety of alphabets, based in cuneiform and pictographic lettering, among other sources. Evid...

         Cuneiform has existed since before 35 BC, when it was altered from the pictographic lettering of previous iterations. Blackletter, however, is far younger, having come into use around 1400 with the advent of Gutenberg’s revolutionary printing press. Both typefaces have evolved since then, branching off into styles and histories of their own, more storied with each passing year. Cuneiform began as a series of animals, everyday objects, and pictographic actions. This is to be expected, as such abstract concepts as letters without universal context to them could be seen as just as alien as introducing a young reader to War and Peace before you hand them a picture book. The transition to letters, however, occurred naturally, as surrounding cultures and nations developed their own systems of writing and perfected them. Cuneiform faced a problem of efficiency--an issue not necessarily shared with Blackletter. Blackletter is efficient when it is print...

          Something which immediately confused me once I’d heard of its distinction was the difference between ideograms and pictograms. Upon further review, it seems the difference is simpler and more straightforward than I’d first assumed. To begin, pictograms represent objects or images in a simplified way. These can be symbols, illustrations, or otherwise simply literal interpretations of a tangible item which exists in the physical world. The more complicated of the two, an ideogram represents a concept which does not necessarily exist in the physical world. It displays a concept, such as “no”, “turn”, or “park”. Some ideograms include a pictogram, but this rule does not apply in reverse, for an ideogram to a pictogram. I believe this has to do with the nature of an ideogram: if a sign should read “no dogs allowed”, it might include an image of a dog with a red cross over it. The ideogram, in my opinion, is the older of the two, having ser...

One of the earliest forms of writing is believed to have been created by the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia, the land from which all recorded history is believed to have originated. Pictograms were carved on stone tablets to relay messages between Sumerians, or to record information. In modern day New York City, every corner, street, and sewer tunnel is covered in words and letters. The pictogram, while perhaps a bit passe in those contexts, still thrives in one of many alternative forms: the comic book. In a sense, comic books do not often contain pictograms. They are mostly written with letters and illustrated. However, the images associated with their accompanying words become like pictograms in the reader’s mind: when Superman appears, he needs no introduction to a familiar reader: he represents Truth, Justice, and Heroism. Wonder Woman, quite powerfully, represents Female Empowerment, Hope, and Honor. The characters of comic books become pictograms unto themselves, ...

     Mucha and his lithographs are considered among the earliest examples of modern graphic design. Graphic design is a product of capitalism, made necessary by the growing competition among businesses in similar fields, seeking to make themselves stand out to the consumers. Capitalism, as a whole, can coexist alongside art, and, similar to the process of the free market, has improved art overall through competition and the free trade of ideas.     I will be focusing my thesis around one of Mucha’s more famous commercial works; a commission piece for JOB cigarette papers, completed in 1898:      This piece, while ornate and almost ethereal in its beauty, nonetheless may remind the viewer of similar compositions found in modern cigarette advertisements, or even any advertisements at all: the image of a beautiful woman, pleased beyond reason at the feeling of using whatever product or consumable is being sold. The colors are bright and inviti...