Here is my process writing link
Katherine McCoy and her Post Modernism Influence • Draft 3.5
Introduction
First woman president of IDSA. Leader of post-modernism. Cactus lover. Born in Decatur, Illinois, 1945, Katherine discovered design on a family trip to the New York Museum of Modern Art. There, she learned about the Bauhaus movement, which planted the seed of design in her heart. In 1967, she satisfyingly graduated with a degree in industrial design from Michigan State University.
A design practitioner
After graduation, she started her career by working in nationally renowned design agencies, such as Unimark International, Omnigraphics and Design & Partners. There, she met designers who influenced her philosophies on design and encouraged her to find her style.
Unimark International
She began her career with Unimark International, a graphic design firm headed by Swiss style masters such as Herbert Bayer, Mildred Constantine, Massimo Vignelli and Jay Doblin. She was surrounded by Swiss style typography, and the training became the basis of her understanding of typography, and the corner stone for her future exploration in graphic and information design. In her spare time, she avidly read books written by Josef Muller-Brockman, Karl Gerstner and Armin Hoffman. Following the rigorous rules imposed by Massimo Vignelli, Katherine faithfully created the Swiss style design for American corporations.
Omnigraphics
Shortly after leaving Unimark International, she went to work for Omnigraphics, an advertising agency in Boston. There, she had the opportunity to work on projects with MIT Press and design guru, Muriel Cooper. Muriel Cooper was a pioneer in information design and information architecture. Her works inspired Katherine to enter this field of study.
Fun fact: Dan Boyarski won 1999 Muriel Cooper Prize, go Dan.
Design & Partners
While working at Design & Partners, Katherine met Edward Fella, who was known for his idiosyncratic collage and stylized typography. She was fascinated by his work, and was inspired by the expressive design he made. His sketchy, doodle-like, fun handwritten typefaces inspired Katherine to explore design styles beyond Swiss design.
A design educator
From 1971 to 1995, Katherine was appointed as Head of the 2D design program at Cranbrook Academy of Art. In the span of 24 years, she made her most influential and notable works.
Post modernism Experiments
After coming to Cranbrook, she experimented with various expressive means to communicate through graphic design other than Swiss style or Modernism, which she found rather limiting. She openly rejected their sterile,
“scientifically predictable transmission of meaning”,
and she encouraged her students to conduct design experiments that expanded design vocabulary.
In many ways, her evolution in design philosophy and that of Cranbrook’s design are very similar. Both started with Bauhaus philosophy, and slowly transcended in search of graphic design approaches that more richly communicate ideas. Cranbrook is known for its collaging style graphic design, which Katherine picked up during her stay.
Katherine looked to linguistics and literary theories for inspiration. She was greatly influenced by semiotics, or the study of signs and their meanings. It is consisted of three parts: semantics (the meaning of symbols), pragmatics(the structural relationship between signs), and syntactics(the relationship between sign carrier / agents and their environment). She believes that properly composing the three elements will produce a piece of information rich in meaning.
She believes that design is a language. Its vocabulary consists of forms, graphics and colors. For her, Swiss style is a language that has a small vocabulary. Thus, she believes it is necessary to bring back graphic elements that have been sterilely stripped away: the ornamental, stylistic, vernacular design. The vernacular elements, a pop art photo for example, are especially accentuated by Katherine since it helps audience understand the context. To use the information from vernacular elements to enrich the communications inspires reactions from the audiences.
The evolution of Katherine’s experiments are reflected in the works her students produce. As years go on, her students have begun to employ more expressive rhetoric devices to deliver their messages, such as analogies and metaphors. The layers students add in their pieces have become more intricate and well composed, inviting their audiences to interpret their designs in more ways, opening up more conversations. Katherine’s philosophy has also been adopted by students from other design disciplines. The furniture design students have started to experiment with semiotics by exploring the relationship between furniture, figure and space. They aim to use the form of their furniture to convey not only what it is but also what it means in their users’ lives.
When Katherine published her student’s works, the design world responded with great passion. Some condemned her work, and some praised her efforts. Massimo Vignelli commented:
“Cranbrook Academy of Art is the most dangerous school in the world”.
Designing based off theories has little practical uses but they spark designers to think about what is next for the design world. Katherine realized the importance of spreading her sparks and started publishing her experiments. Through her writing, she became a distinctive voice in the design community, feeding new ideas to others. Soon, many designers resonated with her thinking. Slowly, she was recognized as a leader of a new movement, Post-Modernism.
Post Cranbrook & Current Works
In 1991, with the help of her most talented students, she published her seminal: Cranbrook Design: A New Discourse. In 1995, Katherine retired from the faculty position and left a valuable legacy. Afterwards, she taught in several other institutions such as Illinois Instititue of Technology and Royal College of Arts in London.
In 2004, Katherine and her husband semi-retires to a resort in Colorado. In their studio home, they hold workshops for professional designers both to inspire and provoke conversations on the current design trend. Her current work studies the life of Herbert Bayer, a designer she admires and believes to be undermentioned.
Advice friends and professors gave me:
1.Shorten the introduction. It reads like a resume right now.
2.Explain how her family trip inspires her to become a designer. Get rid of unnecessary facts.
3.Create sub-sections for my biography, design practitioners → use different companies’ names as sub-categories of information.
4.How did designers she met influence her and lead to the development of her design philosophy?
7.Restructure my biography:
Introduction
1.a few outstanding accomplishments. Childhood and early life, why design.
Katherine as a design practitioner
1.Unimark international, learn typography, meet Swiss Design tycoons.
2.Ominnigraphics, meet Muriel Cooper, collaborate on MIT press. Muriel’s infographic design interest influenced Katherine.
3.Design & Partner, met Ed Fella, influenced by his personal typography style.
Katherine as a design educator:
Practice of design theories:
1.Literal visual translation of words into images (connotation)
2.middle place
3.visceral, more visceral translation (denotation)
Design theory focus:
Semiotics
Key projects:
1.essays — reinterpret everything in the essay to achieve higher meanings — I can use that approach in the my spreads
2..Example, voicemail design, first, just like a mailbox, second add elements that remind people about mailbox, third phasse, imbed the design in the wall.
Personal and current work
Katherine McCoy and her Post Modernism Influence • Draft 3.0
Introduction
First woman president of IDSA. Leader of post-modernism. Cactus lover. Born in Decatur, Illinois, 1945, Katherine discovered design on a family trip to the New York Museum of Modern Art. There, she learned about the Bauhaus movement, which planted the seed of design in her heart. In 1967, she satisfyingly graduated with a degree in industrial design from Michigan State University.
A design practitioner
After graduation, she started her career by working in nationally renowned design agencies, such as Unimark International, Omnigraphics and Design & Partners. There, she met designers who influenced her philosophies on design and encouraged her to find her style.
Unimark International
She began her career with Unimark International, a graphic design firm headed by Swiss style masters such as Herbert Bayer, Mildred Constantine, Massimo Vignelli and Jay Doblin. She was surrounded by Swiss style typography, and the training became the basis of her understanding of typography, and the corner stone for her future exploration in graphic and information design. In her spare time, she avidly read books written by Josef Muller-Brockman, Karl Gerstner and Armin Hoffman. Following the rigorous rules imposed by Massimo Vignelli, Katherine faithfully created the Swiss style design for American corporations.
Omnigraphics
Shortly after leaving Unimark International, she went to work for Omnigraphics, an advertising agency in Boston. There, she had the opportunity to work on projects with MIT Press and design guru, Muriel Cooper. Muriel Cooper was a pioneer in information design and information architecture. Her works inspired Katherine to enter this field of study.
Fun fact: Dan Boyarski won 1999 Muriel Cooper Prize, go Dan.
Design & Partners
While working at Design & Partners, Katherine met Edward Fella, who was known for his idiosyncratic collage and stylized typography. She was fascinated by his work, and was inspired by the expressive design he made. His sketchy, doodle-like, fun handwritten typefaces inspired Katherine to explore design styles beyond Swiss design.
A design educator
From 1971 to 1995, Katherine was appointed as Head of the 2D design program at Cranbrook Academy of Art. In the span of 24 years, she made her most influential and notable works.
Post modernism Experiments
After coming to Cranbrook, she experimented with various expressive means to communicate through graphic design other than Swiss style or Modernism, which she found rather limiting. She openly rejected their sterile,
“scientifically predictable transmission of meaning”,
and she encouraged her students to conduct design experiments that expanded design vocabulary.
In many ways, her evolution in design philosophy and that of Cranbrook’s design are very similar. Both started with Bauhaus philosophy, and slowly transcended in search of graphic design approaches that more richly communicate ideas. Cranbrook is known for its collaging style graphic design, which Katherine picked up during her stay.
Katherine looked to linguistics and literary theories for inspiration. She was greatly influenced by semiotics, or the study of signs and their meanings. It is consisted of three parts: semantics (the meaning of symbols), pragmatics(the structural relationship between signs), and syntactics(the relationship between sign carrier / agents and their environment). She believes that properly composing the three elements will produce a piece of information rich in meaning.
She believes that design is a language. Its vocabulary consists of forms, graphics and colors. For her, Swiss style is a language that has a small vocabulary. Thus, she believes it is necessary to bring back graphic elements that have been sterilely stripped away: the ornamental, stylistic, vernacular design. The vernacular elements, a pop art photo for example, are especially accentuated by Katherine since it helps audience understand the context. To use the information from vernacular elements to enrich the communications inspires reactions from the audiences.
The evolution of Katherine’s experiments are reflected in the works her students produce. As years go on, her students have begun to employ more expressive rhetoric devices to deliver their messages, such as analogies and metaphors. The layers students add in their pieces have become more intricate and well composed, inviting their audiences to interpret their designs in more ways, opening up more conversations. Katherine’s philosophy has also been adopted by students from other design disciplines. The furniture design students have started to experiment with semiotics by exploring the relationship between furniture, figure and space. They aim to use the form of their furniture to convey not only what it is but also what it means in their users’ lives.
Studying theories and experiments were the daily norms of Katherine’s students. The theories they study were not only design theories but also literary theories. Many of Katherine’s inspirations come from 2 french literary theories: post-structuralism and deconstruction, . One of Katherine’s most known experiment is with french deconstruction, in which students write up an essay and then express semiotics of each word. As a result, the kerning goes back and forth and line spacing fluctuates (show examples). The word starts to break from the structural grid in playful expressions. When Katherine published her student’s works, the design world responded with great passion. Some condemned her work, and some praised her efforts. Massimo Vignelli condemned the works by saying
“Cranbrook Academy of Art is the most dangerous school in the world”.
Designing based off theories has little practical uses but they are the sparks that fuel designers to think about what is next for the design world. Katherine realized the importance of spreading her sparks and started publish her experiments. Through her writing, she became a distinctive voice in the design community, feeding new ideas to others. Soon, many designers resonated with her thinking. Slowly, people recognized her position as a leader of a new movement of what is now called post-modernism.
Post Cranbrook
In 1991, with the help of her most talented students, she published her experiments along with her students’ works as Cranbrook Design: A New Discourse. The book is remarked as her most important contribution to the design community. In 1995, Katherine retired from the faculty position and left a valuable legacy. Afterwards, she taught in several other institutions such as Illinois Instititue of Technology, and Royal College of Arts in London.
Current works & Whereabouts
In 2004, Katherine and her husband semi-retired to a resort in Colorado. In their studio homes, they held workshops for professional designers both to inspire and provoke conversations on the current design subjects. Katherine also took up a personal project to study the life of Herbert Bayer, a designer she admired and believe to be undermentioned.
Draft 2.0 • Katherine McCoy: A female avant-guard of the post-modernism movement
Introduction
An AIGA medalist, AIGA director and the first woman president of IDSA. A wife, a mother and a teacher, also a cactus lover. A student of Swiss Style design and also a leader of troublemakers against the Swiss Style dominated world. The list can go on and on, and they all describe one person, Katherine McCoy.
Born in Decatur, Illinois,1945, Katherine was born Katherine Jarden Braden. She discovered design on a family trip to the New York Museum of Modern Art. The trip exposed her to the Bauhaus movements and the profession of design. However, before graduating from Michigan State University in 1967 with a degree in industrial design, she also considered becoming an architect and a librarian.
Katherine and her contributions
Even though renowned for her experiments on typography and information design, Katherine was baptized in Swiss style typographies in her early years. Employed by Unimark International, a design agency that was headed by big Swiss style designers such as Herbert Bayer, Mildred Constantine, Massimo Vignelli and Jay Doblin. It is the first time she ever touched typography and she hungrily read typography bibles written by Josef Muller-Brockman, Karl Gerstner and Armin Hoffman. She also followed the rigorous rules imposed by Massimo Vignelli, and faithfully created the Swiss style design for American corporations.
After leaving Unimark, Katherine went to Boston and worked for Omnigraphics, a Boston based advertising agency. There, she had the opportunity to collaborate with MIT Press and another design guru of the time, Muriel Cooper
Fun fact: Dan Boyarski won 1999 Muriel Cooper Prize, go Dan
Another great designer she befriended was Edward Fella, who was a colleague of Katherine at Design & Partners, an advertising agency. After working for various ads agencies, Katherine became tired of the split between advertising strategies and design thinking. She went on to found her own design agency, McCoy & McCoy with her husband, Michael McCoy. As they were building their company, both of them were invited to teach in Cranbrook Academy of Art, an art school residing in the suburb of Detroit.
Cranbrook Academy of Art has a rich history in design. The campus is designed by Eliel Saarinen, who appointed Charles and Ray Eames as some of the first faculties in the history of the school. The school also produced many talented designers, among whom is Florence Schust (the founder of Knoll, who Herbert Bayer worked for).
Katherine was appointed 2D design chair, and Michael 3D design chair. Katherine’s appointment in Cranbrook lasted from 1971 to 1995. In the span of 24 years, she made her most influences and notable works in the design community. As an educator, Katherine is not satisfied with the daily design practice of modernism and decided to lead her students to new territories. Influenced by the education principles of Eliel Saarinen, who said that
“the best learning situation was a supportive studio environment where a great diversity of philosophies and ideas could flourish”.
Therefore, Katherine decided to give her students the most amount of freedom. She took away the academics of the program completely. There was no assignments, no deadlines and no grades. The only things students have to do for the school are a self-assessment and a final show.
The first step Katherine took to break away from the Swiss style is to emphasize on semiotics in design. Semiotics is the study of signs and their meanings. Semiotics can be broken into three parts: Semantics, Pragmatics and Syntactics. Semantics is the study on the meaning of signs. Syntactics is the study on the structural relationship between signs. Pragmatics is the study on the relationship between sign carrier / agents and their environment. Concentrating on semiotics means bringing back the graphic design elements that Swiss style has stripped away sterilely: the ornamental, stylistic, vernacular design language. Katherine believes they can enrich communications by expressing the meaning of a word or a sign (semantics) as well as incite human emotions (pragmatics). In order to enforce students’ understanding of Semiotics, Katherine encourages her students to read deeply and broadly in the design history, theories and the history of the world in general.
Studying theories and experimenting were the daily norms of Katherine’s students. The theories they study were not only design theories but also literary theories. Many of Katherine’s inspirations come from post-structuralism and deconstruction, both of which are french literary theories. One of Katherine’s most known experiment is with french deconstruction, in which students write up an essay and then express semiotics of each word. As a result, the kerning goes back and forth and line spacing fluctuates (show examples). The word starts to break from the structural grid in playful expressions. When Katherine published her student’s works, the design world responded with great passion. Some condemned her work, and some praised her efforts. Massimo Vignelli condemned the works by saying that
“Cranbrook Academy of Art is the most dangerous school in the world”.
Designing based off theories has little practical uses but they are the sparks that fuel designers to think about what is next for the design world. Katherine realized the importance of spreading her sparks and started publish her experiments. Through her writing, she became a distinctive voice in the design community, feeding new ideas to others. Soon, many designers resonated with her thinking. (I have to keep working on this part, not sure who exactly resonated with her works) Slowly, people recognized her position as a leader of a new movement of what is now called post-modernism.
In 1991, along with the help from some of her most talented students, she published her experiments along with her students’ works as Cranbrook Design: A New Discourse. The book is remarked as her most important contribution to the design community. (reading the book right now, will take some time to finish and update this part :))
Works after Cranrbook
After 1995, Katherine left Cranbrook and went to teach in Illinois Institute of Technology and Royal Art College in London. In 2004, she unofficially retired and retreated to a house in Colorado with her husband. In Colorado, she and her husband founded High Ground, a workshop program that invited professional designers around the world to think about the future of design and critique the ongoing movement. Right now, she is working on a design archival project that aims to document Herbert Bayer (another shout-out to Kevin Gao’s designer), who in her mind is an important but understated figure in design history.
Other than design, Katherine picked up the hobby of horticulture and cactus collecting. She became quite an expert on it and was prized Best Novice Cactus 2014 in Annual Cactus and Succulent show in Colorado.
https://designtraveler.wordpress.com/2015/04/19/katherine-mccoy-thoughts-on-design-writing/
http://www.kcai.edu/sites/default/files/resize/McCoys-219x275.jpg
Designer Biography: Katehrine McCoy
In 2010, I went to Cranbrook Upper School, unaware that my path would cross with another Cranrbooker 6 years later, Katherine McCoy. She co-chaired 2D design program of Cranrbook Art Academy from 1971 to 1995, and she is also the subject of my second project.
Katherine was born in 1945 as Katherine Jane Barden in Decatur, Illinois. She decided to study design after a family trip to New York Museum of Modern Art, which showcased Bauhaus and Industrial Design. After graduating from Michigan State University as an industrial designer in 1971, she worked in Unimark International. The firm, headed by Modernist designers such as Massimo Vignelli and Jon Doblin, baptized her in Swiss/Modernist approach to graphic design and typographies. Afterwards, she went on to work at the Chrysler Branding team, Omnigraphics, Designers & Partners, the Xerox educational group and other advertising agencies. The eclectic work experiences prepared her to not only build McCoy & McCoy with her husband Michael, but also helped her break new grounds in her teaching in Cranbrook in 1971.
During her directorship of 2D design program, Katherine reinvented the discipline. She placed great emphasis on experimentations in the curriculum, giving her students the greatest freedom in explorations. (emphasize on the design philosophy in her education)The 2D design program had no classes, no assignments, no deadlines and no grades. The only requirements are the end of year self-assessments and final shows. In addition to deconstructing the course, she also placed two emphases in her teaching. First of all, she placed great focus on teaching design history and design theories. She encouraged the students to take semiotic interpretations of the typography. Secondly, she allowed her more advanced, abled students to take leads on exploring design theories. As a result, the students made more experimental works that contain vernacular design vocabularies and built on top of their predecessors’ works. They successfully departed from the Modernist/Swiss practice and broke new ground.
Her experimental teaching and designs as well as her student’s works are documented in the book published in 1991: Cranrbook Design: a new discourse. The book wasregarded as one of her greatest contributions to the design community. She left Cranbrook in 1995.
She continued to explore design theories and methodologies in Illinois Institute of Technology and Royal Art College in London. In 2004, her husband and she semi-retired in Colorado, where they invited professional designers to attend their workshops, the High Ground Tools. Her influence to the design world never ceased.
Works Cited
