Postmodernism, by definition, is a difficult concept to pin to any single definition. Provide an informed definition of Postmodernism and choose a film extract, work of art or piece of design to help illustrate your definition.
"Postmodernism may feel very much like Narcissus" reflection in the water, which disintegrates the moment one reaches out to grasp it"-from Postmodernism by Eleanor Heartney. This is how many people feel about the concept of Postmodernism. Depending from which angle you look at it, the ideas and definitions surrounding Postmodernism change. One of it's main problems are the contradictions between definitions. On one hand the notion of a unilinear history goes against theories of Postmodernism, but on the other, the movement is a direct result and a specific reaction against the Modernism that it seeks to displace. The boundaries between movements are often blurred because it is generally a progression from one movement to the next. We can see by looking at the dictionary definitions of the two terms. The definition of Postmodernism says it "rejected the pre-occupation of Modernism with form and technique rather than content." But if we then look at the Modernism definition we can see a pattern emerging as it says it has "a concern with form and the exploration of technique as apposed to content and narrative". I shall be investigating the way Postmodernism formed out of Modernism through the discipline of Typography. For this I shall look at Swiss International Style, which was a key figure in Modernist graphic design, and the way in which Wolfgang Weingart broke free from this style and formed the rules for the next generation of designers.
In the years following the Second World War, the leading model of modern typography came from Switzerland and was known as Swiss International Style, constructivist design or, more simply stated, Swiss typography. One of the most significant commentators and prominent figures of this movement was Josef Muller-Brockmann.
