Beginning with an understanding of the aesthetic and idealism of modern design, this thesis discusses the interrelationship between culture, technology and graphic design since mid-century. A review of the rise of postmodern critique, particularly as expressed through digital technologies, demonstrates how cultural shifts and developing communications technologies work in tandem to influence the emergence of visual systems. By revealing several underlying premises of modernity, it is shown that the linearity of modern design is a biased and limited theory of vision. This argument is reinforced by contrasting the modern conception of direct communication with alternative design practices that encourage readers to play a more active role in the interpretation of a message. However, the thesis ultimately returns to the fundamental principles of modernism to suggest that certain tenets of modernist thought should not be jettisoned so quickly, simply because digitization encourages open-ended viewing experiences.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.30232 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Zelman, Stephanie. |
| Contributors | Straw, Will (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Graduate Communications Program.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001746307, proquestno: MQ64208, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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