FUNCTIONAL AND AESTHETIC DIMENSIONS OF REDUCTION AND CONDENSATION IN CONTEMPORARY GRAPHIC DESIGN
Research Summary Reduction and condensation represented an important technical diversity in the design processes, which are usually described as complex and overlapping, through which designers try to reach the functional and aesthetic goals of the publication. Book covers are considered a fertile field to show the possibilities that can be highlighted in the field of design, which the current research tried to penetrate its paths on. According to several axes. The first chapter was organized according to themes, the research problem was formulated according to the question: 1- What are the functional and aesthetic outcomes of reduction and condensation in printed cover designs? The importance was determined according to two dimensions: cognitive and applied. And it can provide insights into the mechanisms of reduction and condensation in print design, which will provide the design (environment) with what enhances its development. As for the second, it can enhance the applied aspects in its functional and aesthetic dimensions, which means an expansion of the ability to work within the environment of designing publications and the cover as a model for it. The research objectives also included: 1- Reveal the reality of the use of formal reduction and condensation in the designs of printed covers. The research moved in the following limits of knowledge: A- The objective limit / the use of shorthand and formal condensation in the designs of printed book covers. B - The spatial limit / covers of Iraqi books issued by the House of Cultural Affairs (Baghdad). C - The time limit / 2002 until 2004 AD. Defining terms related to the research procedures were defined, and the second chapter included the axes of the functional dimension, the aesthetic dimension, content and expression through reduction and condensation, then the indicators of the theoretical framework. The sample and the research tool also analyzed samples, which amounted to (3) samples that were analyzed according to a form prepared for this purpose, and reviewed the results, conclusions, recommendations and suggestions, and the results came in: 1. Excessive use of tonal reduction processes for the image used, as in model (2). Where it varies by one color value. This use is for purposes including diversity in the design process or to draw attention to what this kind of move away from the repetition that we find in the uses of images employed in the designs of the covers. 2. General weakness in the designs as in model (1) in terms of balancing events between: shape and space (total area) written patterns and the basic elements forming the design and the color relations adopted in the designs.
Keywords: Contemporary Graphic Design, Functional and Aesthetic Dimensions.