Art and Design Studies
Essay writing
The structure of either question can usually be answered along lines familiar to you from other subjects. It is best to think of your essay as having three parts:
· Introduction
· Middle
· Conclusion
In your introduction you should make it clear to the marker that you understand what the question is asking you to do. You can do this by rephrasing the question as a statement and including the artists, designers and movements you plan to discuss. In this way you introduce the marker to the focus of your writing. Use the wording of the question to give a brief outline of what you intend to discuss in the middle section of your essay.
Example
“Two examples of designers from different periods are Alphonse Mucha and Herbert Beyer. Mucha is associated with the Art Nouveau period which lasted from 1890 to 1910. The movement began in Belgium and quickly spread to become an international style. Art Nouveau was a highly decorative style, influenced by nature.
Herbert Beyer had worked at the Bauhaus school of design in Weimar, Germany. Bauhaus designers believed in creating with the help of the machine. Both designers had very different approaches and ideas about design.
By comparing the ideas and approaches of each designer, I am going to show how each made an important contribution to the development of graphic design.”
The middle section is the longest part of the essay where you discuss your selected artists or designers and analyse examples of there work to support your discussion. This is where you are most likely to pick up the most marks for showing your understanding of the movements and styles to which the artist or designer belong. In this section you can analyse examples of the work of artists and designers making sure that you always address the main points in the question about working methods, approaches and influences. In this section you can also:
· Use some biographical knowledge
· Write about the characteristics of your selected designers and artists work and the movement/style they belong to.
· Write about the approaches used by artists or designers including the materials, media and methods they use
· Analyse specific examples of there work.
Finally, a conclusion can be used to draw together the ideas that you have discussed in the main body of the essay and explain why your artist/designer was important. If you have selected historically important artists or designers you will have the knowledge of why they are important in their areas of design or movements in the visual arts.
Take a look at the following examples to see how the three part essay structure can help you.
Make clear in the introduction that you understand what the question is asking you to do. Use the wording of the question to give a brief outline of what you intend to discuss in the middle section of your essay.
“Before the industrial revolution, many people designed and made there own products from the idea right through to the finished product. If it was something that lots of people needed then local crafts men could be employed to make the object. The industrial revolution changed this and gave rise to factories, mechanical methods of manufacture. This led to the mass production of products for the benefit of people. I am going to discuss the kettle and the evolution of its design.
The Bauhaus School of Design started in Germany after the First World War. They believed that design should be functional and be made of honest simple materials which emphasised their function.”
Use the middle section to discuss your selected and was artists or designers in detail and analyse examples of their work to support your points.
“The first design is by Marianne Brandt and was designed in 1924. The kettle is an example of Bauhaus design. The second design is the cordless kettle. Both designs were created in response to user needs. Brandt kettle was designed to be mass manufactured with stainless steel. The Seymour kettle was designed to include consideration of user needs and function.
Brandt’s kettle is made from brass. The purpose of the Bauhaus design was to use simple materials to create individual style. This was especially achieved within this kettle where Brandt has uses simple designs to create a stylish simple kettle which is almost ornamental rather than practical. The kettle is made from brass which might make it dangerous to use and would take time as it would have to be boiled on a stove. This would not be practical in today’s society where speed and ease of use are a concern to the user.
The second kettle is Seymour and Powell’s cordless kettle of 1984. This was a revolutionary design cutting the number of steps taken to boil a kettle. The electric kettle was a big advance over the stove mounted one, it didn’t need a source of heat to make it work and it stayed clean and ready for use. The kettle added another feature to improve on existing kettles. It was cordless. The designers solved a major safety issue of an exposed power cable. By adding a power base they made the kettle easier to use.”
Your conclusion should be at least a paragraph long. This is where you draw together the discussion that you have presented in the main part of the essay. You need to include comments about the importance of your selected artists or designers.
“The electric cordless kettle was important because it was a big advance over anything that had gone before. It didn’t need a source of heat to make it work and it stayed clean and ready for use at a moments notice. There was no exposed power cable making it safer than previous designs. The cordless kettle is still in use today in many different varieties of styles.
Bauhaus design was important because it changed the way people thought about design and had a lasting influence on how we produce functional design with inexpensive mass produced materials and machine processes.”