Graphic Design

This article discusses Western narrative paintings composed in different eras by four artists and relates them to the contemporary situation in a very different place, that is to say, the Middle East. My selected examples are Masaccio’s The Tribute Money (1426–1427); Pieter Bruegel’s The Parable of the Blind (1568); Jacques-Louis David’s The Oath of the Horatti (1784) and Thomas Couture’s The Romans of the Decadence (1847). What these four paintings have in common is indirect narrative. The artists use many facets of meaning which I shall relate to social, economic, moral and political aspects in the Middle East.
The Middle East has been living through one of the worst and weakest eras in its history. Its cultures, religions, traditions, ancient civilizations and educational system are found questionable by many Western politicians. In the twenty-first century, freedom of expression is celebrated everywhere except in the Middle East where people cannot speak out. I add my voice to Masaccio’s, Bruegel’s, David’s and Couture’s in order to communicate locally with my people by sending them the same messages that were indirectly sent to different peoples centuries ago. Because of religious and political restrictions in the past, some Western artists had also to convey their personal opinions indirectly.
      Re-reading these selected paintings today may remind Middle Eastern people of their economic, political and ethical weakness, offer reasons for it and to think of solutions. Arabs are walking ‘backwards’ for many reasons: one is that institutional corruption infects people and augments their idleness. Local media either present the history of past victories or junk entertainment, but nothing to build up creative confidence today; the result is stagnant citizens.
      A systematic corruption in the Middle East has become the norm rather than the exception. The problem of corruption in the region is not a side effect or unintended consequence of governance, but rather is an instrument of governance.

Documenting victory and defeat today does not need months of painting or sculpting art works anymore. Contemporary
means of communication such as movies, television shows and photos sent via newspapers, mobile phones and internet
have become faster and more influential than traditional art forms. When Saddam Hussein was hung, both recording
the incident and sending the MPEG file to the world via Bluetooth and GPRS took few minutes. Documenting torture and
abuse of Iraqis in every humiliating position in Abu Ghraib prison by means of photography showed how proudly some
soldiers deal with victory. It is interesting to ask, if the artists of Narmer Palette and Arch of Titus were alive today, would
they have documented Bush’s victory by a memorial relief or a new triumphal arch? Do satellite television channels and
World Wide Web substitute traditional art forms in documenting war and alternate galleries and museums? With the accelerating
development of new media technologies visual art seems to lose its documentation and propagation functions. The
paper discusses three historical artworks from nineteenth and twentieth- century that documented wars; Goya’s The Third
of May 1808, Delacroix’s Massacre at Chios and Picasso’s Guernica. Another kind of abuse is documented in old relieves,
Baptism of Moors and Conversion of the Moor from sixteenth-century Spain and The Spoils of Jerusalem from first-Century
Rome. The paper concludes in some contemporary journalistic photos that show the influence of technological advances
in covering wars.

This paper is a comparative study of the style as a dialectic in two French artifacts in different media created in the nineteenth century. One is a literary work entitled The Symphony in White Major, 1849, a poem by Theophile Gautier; the other is a visual work entitled The Romans of the Decadence, 1847, a painting by Thomas Couture.
Both art works share the Romantic style, adopt some ancient Classical traditions, and include some Realistic presentations. My primary sources are the art works themselves and poet-art critic of the same painting, Gautier. Both artists learned from history and mythology reflecting their own perception.
The art works are formally analyzed for their structure and contents to introduce the different styles. They are not only clear examples of the dialectic between the styles, but of the transformation of the visual, verbal, expressive, and poetic images.

During the Renaissance the humanist tomb became a laboratory for the development of a new formal relation between sculpture and architecture, achieved through the sculptor's recourse to classicizing motifs and to common artistic principles embodied in those motifs.
A fifteenth-century humanist tomb, is chosen as a standard for the development. The formal achievement of its sculpture will be defined by comparing it with a representative Medieval tomb project, and with a later Renaissance tomb project.
A formal analysis to the three tombs will be applied. The analysis will be for visual traits, iconography, and visual qualities. Classical elements and motifs are used either modified, developed, or classicized from antique sources.
The barriers between sculpture and architecture melt and instead, there is a structural unity. The pure religious art change to be a human expression, framed by history and morality, philosophy and science, and religion.
This paper studies a humanist tomb, Tomb of leonardo bruni (ca. 1444-1454) in S. Croce, Florence by Bernardo Rosselino as a standard for the development of the new relation between sculpture and architecture. It will be compared with a representative Medieval tomb project Tomb of Guillaume cardinal de Braye (1282) in S. Domenico, Orvieto by Arnolfo di Cambio, and with later Renaissance tomb project Tomb of Pope Paul III (1549-1575) in St. Peters, Rome by Guglielmo della Porta.

Assume your service is bad is what Harry Beckwith advises consultant to improve the performance of their business (1997). Despite official positive statements to hypnotize people, the quality of higher education in Jordan is losing its good reputation; failure has to be admitted. This paper raises important questions concerning graphic design inadequate education in Jordan: do schools prepare the students for future career; teach enough skills, help their critical thinking to develop, encourage them to solve design problems; and efficiently communicate with their community? Some of these questions are answered by former students who are interviewed after graduation between years 2005 and 2010. The paper aims to find out the obstacles trying to suggest solutions. It is a case study depends on many published statistics and facts. Ministry of higher education has to disallow more graphic design departments to establish. Teachers, administrators and curricula planners have to rethink of educational reform by accepting objective suggestion, use international assessments and apply quality assurance standards. The contemporary curriculum of graphic design in Jordan is compared to what is suggested by American bureau of labor statistics showing what the market expects from a graphic designer. The paper elaborates on difficulties in Jordanian educational system.

This paper is a comparative study of two major artistic programs from the Baroque period, which have similar ideas informing their production. On the basis of my analysis I argue for the similar artistic principles common to both programs. The two works are Spring in visual art by Nicolas Poussin The Four Seasons a painting in 1660, and Spring in music by Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Concertos in 1725.
A great interest in nature during the Baroque period emphasized landscape in both art forms. Vivaldi and Poussin landscapes have picturesque and pictorial qualities. There are naturalism, the infinite space, intricacy, ragged texture, broken lines, color and shape contrast, and the picturesque. Both artists used narrative to support their Springs proving the intimate relationship between man & Land.

It is a study of geometrical proportions of the architectural background of Raphael's fresco The School of Athens. The researcher hypothesizes that Raphael applies Euclid's proportion in either geometric or pictograph sense.
In Renaissance period both arts and sciences advance and flourish. It is the time of translating the ancient books of philosophy, arts, poetry, and music. There are three characteristics of the time: the interest in geometric theories, symbolic values, and the sense of history. Idealism in art is classicizing forms and contents. To consider a work of art classic, it must be a model to be followed.
Plato and Aristotle appear in discussion-like pose at the center to show their importance. They are surrounded by different groups of students, artists, and masters, such as Pythagoras, Euclid, Michelangelo, and Raphael. The artist painted himself at the very right end listening to his master, Euclid demonstrating his theory of cosmos. This work combines the ancient and the modern (Renaissance) philosophy. The perfect relationship between the foreground and the background shows an idealized place. The gesture of his figures is very dramatic in a concrete expression. The interest of geometry is not only in the background, but also in the squared fiances, the marble stairs on which Dionysus is laid, the marble block on which Michelangelo leans, and niches which contain gods, and the Greek decoration which frames the work in a semicircle.
The researcher compares Euclid's geometrical proportion that is translated in Renaissance and adapted by Fogliano and d'Etaples to the architectural  background of The School of Athens. There is similarity in proportion. On other words, the perpendicular semicircles around the string - in a vertical position- are similar to the most seen and unseen lines.