Comments regarding the MCHS 1961-62 class logos

In a separate post I have posted the MCHS 1961-62 class logos.

In this post I will share some comments about them.

Graphic Design of 1961-62 classroom logos

I have much enjoyed studying the design work demonstrated by these logos.

I have a strong interest in the use of analog (non-digital) preliminary, pencil-on-paper sketches as a design step in the field of data visualization. I like to read about the use of sketchbooks and doodling in many creative field including architecture, graphic design, and data visualization.

With regard to the 1961-62 class logos, I like how the gestural qualities of the linework – as when parallel lines are used to create tonal gradations – are retained in the published image. As well, it’s interesting to study each image, and to determine how the distinction between figure and ground has been approached. For example, does lettering stand out from the background or does it merge with it? Also: How has negative space, as an active element in design, been approached?

Similarly, I enjoy seeing the lack of uniformity in linework – for example, in the outlines of letters. That’s a quality of pen-and-ink work that strongly appeals to me.

The class logos bring to mind, as well, the history of graphic design. I am reminded, in this context, of a December 19, 2014 article at Guelphmercury.com entitled: “In Spanish cave art, a universal language.” A May 20, 2015 CBC article comes to mind as well, entitled: “Did early humans communicate with cave signs?: University of Victoria anthropologists studying caves in Europe.”

Disney Cartoons

When I think of graphic design, of pen-and-ink drawings, I think also of the fact that in 1928, Mickey Mouse first appeared on the scene, and then proceeded to lead a successful Walt Disney effort to colonize the mind of the entire planet with Walk Disney imagery, successfully presented on-screen by the original crew of Walk Disney animators, as I have highlighted in a magazine article from the 1970s entitled: Mental imagery, as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston explain in their 1978 talk in Toronto, played a key role in the portrayal of Walt Disney’s animated characters