New Graphic Design

form follows function an exploration of modernism and postmodernismGeorgia Stubbs u1260528

new graphic design.

m o d e r n i s m

Term used to embrace a diverse range of art movements and ideas that emerged during the first half of the 20th Century and profoundly influenced the subsequent development of art, architecture and design. There was also a widespread utopian belief that mechanization and technology if properly used could produce a better less divided society.

Design movement that evolved in the mid 60’s as a critical response to the dominance and perceived sterility of Modernism. Embracing art, architecture and design. It re established interest in ornament, symbolism and visual wit. Unconstrained by dogma, post-modern designers rejected modernism’s obsession with progress and challenged the fundamental tenets of order and discipline espoused by the Bauhaus.

p o s t m o d e r n i s m

W a l t e r D e x e lWalter Dexel is one of the outstanding exponents of 1920s Constructivism. As a painter Dexel was an autodidact. He studied art history under Heinrich Wölfflin and Fritz Burger in Munich from 1910 to 1914. At the same time he received private drawing classes from H. Gröber. In 1916 Walter Dexel graduated from university with a doctorate under Botho Gräf.

In 1912/13 he produced his first pictures during a study trip to Italy. His early pictures were influenced by Cézanne’s landscapes, with his later work being influenced by Cubism and Expressionism.

In 1914 Dexel held his first individual exhibition with Cubist pictures at the “Galerie Dietzel” in Munich.

In 1918 Walter Dexel became head of exhibitions in Jena, where he organised first exhibitions with Campendonk and later with Bauhaus artists like Moholy-Nagy. In the early 1920s Dexel’s work moves on to Constructivism, which he approaches in a comprehensive way.

Walter Dexel was not restricted to panel paintings but also worked as a typographer, an advertising designer and designed interiors and stage settings. In 1928 he wrote a book entitled “Das Wohnhaus von Heute” together with his wife Grete Dexel, which reflects the artist’s interest in the issues of modern living, which the artist showed from an early age.

E l L i s s i t z k yEl Lissitzky was a Russian painter, typographer, architect and designer. Born in Polshinok and grew up in Vitebsk he studied architecture at the Polytechnic in Darmstadt 1909 to 1914, then returned to Moscow where he began to work in an architect’s office. In 1917 he began to illustrate Jewish books for children, at first in a style influenced by Chagall and popular prints. In 1919 he was an appointed professor of architecture and applied art at the art school in Vitebsk. He began to make abstract pictures which he called Prouns, as ‘the

interchange station between painting and architecture’. Sent to Berlin in 1921 to establish contacts between artists in the USSR and Germany, he met Schwitters, Moholy-Nagy, van Doesburg and many others, and had his first one-man exhibition at the Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, in 1923. L issitzky Lissitzky designed books and periodicals with radical innovations in typography and photo-montage. Later on he did no further painting, but devoted himself mainly to designing periodicals and exhibition displays, including

an exhibition room for the Landesmuseum, Hanover, and the Soviet pavilions for several international exhibitions.

His work greatly influenced the Bauhaus and constructivist movements, experimenting with production techniques and stylistic devices that would go on to dominate 20th-century graphic design.

kurtschwit ters

Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitterswas a German painter who was born in Hanover, Germany.

Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design,typography and what came to be known as installation art. He is most famous for his collages, called Merz Pictures.

As the First World War progressed his work became darker, gradually developing a distinctive expressionist tone.

In 1918, his art was to change dramatically as a direct consequence of Germany’s economic, political and military collapse at the end of the First World War.

“In the war, things were in terrible turmoil. What I had learned at the academy was of no use to me and the

useful new ideas were still unready…. Everything had broken down and new things had to be made out of the fragments; and this is Merz. It was like a revolution within me, not as it was, but as it should have been.”

As the political climate in Germany became more liberal and stable, Schwitters’ work became less influenced by Cubism and Expressionism.

His work in this period became increasingly Modernist in spirit, with far less overtly political context and a cleaner style, in keeping with contemporary work by Hans Arp and Piet Mondrian. His friendship around this time with El Lissitzky proved particularly influential, and Merz pictures in this period show the direct influence of Constructivism.

Many artists have cited Schwitters as a major influence, including Ed Ruscha, Robert

Rauschenberg, Damien Hirst, Al Hansen, and Arman.

“The language of Merz now finds common acceptance and today there is scarcely an artist working with materials other than paint who does not refer to Schwitters in some way. In his bold and wide-ranging experiments he can be seen as the grandfather of Pop Art, Happenings, Concept Art, Fluxus, multimedia art and post-modernism.” - Gwendolyn Webste

The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised

2004, originally published 1999, p. 115

Materials : Cut-and-pasted colored and printed paper, cloth, wood, metal, cork, oil, pencil, and ink on paperboard

This highly animated picture is dominated by rectangular pieces of paper that cover the surface of the work. Schwitters created the illusion of depth by placing those papers with darker components behind those that are lighter in aspect. The brightest piece of paper, in the center of the composition, shows an eye-catching cluster of red cherries and the printed German and French words for the fruit.

In the winter of 1918–19 Schwitters had collected bits of newspaper, candy wrappers, and other debris, and began making the collages and assemblages for which he is best known today. The Cherry Picture belongs to a group of these works he called Merz, a nonsensical word that he made up by cutting a scrap from a newspaper: the second syllable of the German word Kommerz, or commerce.

Graphic design is a wide field in which Crouwel mainly focused on type. He works quite constructive, constructs type, and works on grids. Crouwel is especially admired for his systematic approach and his creative handling of the shape of letters. His work was influenced by the pre-war Werkmann and post-war Sandberg, an individualistic generation of typographers who dared to juggle with letters.

wim crouwel

Van abbe museumIn 1954 Crouwel designed the catalogues and posters for the Van Abbe Museum. He took the position that the design of a catalogue or poster must not be an interpretation of the artist’s ideas. It should merely provide relevant information to the reader, without ornaments or styling as this would only lead to confusion. The catalogue should not refer to the artist as an individual, but to the museum and its range of activities. The development of the programme as a whole is more important than creating the best poster ever for each new project.

Crouwel is a modernist and impressed by a typeface like Helvetica, which was more neutral than any other typeface. Besides printwork Crouwel has designed several font sets, of which the New Alphabet (1967) is best known. This typefaces was developed after seeing the first digital typesetters at a print exhibition in Germany. The digital production of the Garamond, as presented on this exhibition looked horrible to him.

In his work Crouwel chose sans-serif faces that allowed numerous combinations. The essential information was set in one returning typeface and the title of the exhibition slightly reflected the feel of the exhibition. He looked at the work of the artist, got an impression and tried to translate it typographically. An example of this way of working is found in the exhibition about Leger. Leger’s work could be recognized by its heavy lines around the images. This influenced him to create the word Leger with thick black lines so it would dominate the poster. Crouwel always searched for the abstract, something that would strike the eye.

A face shouldn’t have a meaning in itself, the

meaning should be in the content of the text.

“

Jan tschicholdJan Tschichold was a typographer, book designer, teacher and writer.

After the election of Hitler in Germany, all designers had to register with the Ministry of Culture, and all teaching posts were threatened for anyone who was sympathetic to communism. After Tschichold took up a teaching post in Munich at the behest of Paul Renner, both he and Tschichold were denounced as “cultural Bolshevists”. Ten days after the Nazis surged to power in March 1933, Tschichold and his wife were arrested.

During the arrest, Soviet posters were found in his flat, casting him under suspicion of collaboration with communists.

Tschichold had converted to Modernist design principles in 1923 after visiting the first Weimar Bauhaus exhibition. He became a leading advocate of Modernist design: first with an influential 1925 magazine supplement; then a 1927 personal exhibition; then with his most noted work Die neue Typographie. This book was a manifesto of modern design, in which he condemned all

typefaces but sans-serif (called Grotesk in Germany). He also favored non-centered design (e.g., on title pages), and codified many other Modernist design rules. He advocated the use of standardised paper sizes for all printed matter, and made some of the first clear explanations of the effective use of different sizes and weights of type in order to quickly and easily convey information. This book was followed with a series of practical manuals on the principles of Modernist typography which had a wide influence among ordinary workers and printers in Germany.

i n F l u e n c e sJan Tschichold revolutionised modern typography through his bold, asymmetrical designs and use of sanserif typography. He was both strongly inspired by the work of the Bauhaus and Soviet Constructivism, especially the work of designer El Lissitzky. Greatly inspired by the Bauhaus exhibition he went on to create and publish the books ‘Elementary Typography’ in 1925 and ‘The New Typography’ in 1928 which was greatly influenced by the modernist movement.

The Van de Graaf canon used in book design to divide a page in pleasing proportions, was popularized by Jan Tschichold in his book The Form of the Book.

The Van de Graaf canon is used in book design to divide a page in pleasing proportions. This canon is also known as the “secret canon” used in many medieval manuscripts and incunabula. The page proportions vary, but most commonly used is the 2:3 proportion. In this canon the text area and page size are of same proportions, and the height of the text area equals the page width.

paul rennerPaul Renner was born 1878 in Germany. He was a graphic designer, typographer, type designer, painter, and teacher. Renner had a strict Protestant upbringing, being educated in a 19th century Gymnasium. He was brought up to have a very German sense of leadership, of duty and responsibility. He was suspicious of abstract art and disliked many forms of modern culture, such as jazz, cinema, and dancing. But equally, he admired the functionalist strain in modernism. Renner can be seen as a bridge between the traditional (19th century) and the modern (20th century). He attempted to fuse the Gothic and the roman typefaces.

The truly Modern, that is, the undistorted expression of an objective zeitgeist, is only what we hold today to be time-lessly perfect. This is not the same in all periods, because the insight into the timelessly valid changes from generation to generation.The truly Modern, that is, the undistorted expression of an objective zeitgeist, is only what we hold today to be time-lessly perfect. This is not the same in all periods, because the insight into the timelessly valid changes from generation to generation.

the truly modern, that is, the undistorted expression oF an obJectiVe zeitgeist, is only what we hold today to be timelessly perFect. this is not the same in all periods, because the insight into the timelessly Valid changes From generation to generation.

renner and tschicholdFrom 1908 to 1917 Renner designed books for a living for the Münich publishing trade. While he was never directly affiliated with the Bauhaus movement, in the early 1920s he became an advocate of its aims and principles and became a leading proponent of the “New Typography”. In 1926 Paul Renner became the principal of the Printing Trade School in Münich, and he was also the co-founder and Director of the Master School for Germany’s Printers.

Although Renner was not associated with the Bauhaus, he shared many of its idioms and believed that a modern typeface should express modern models, rather than be a revival of a previous design. Renner’s initial design included several geometrically constructed alternative characters and ranging (old-style) figures, which can be found in the typeface Architype Renner.

Another noted member of his staff at the school was Jan Tschichold. While never a Communist,

Tschichold had openly sympathized with the Bolshevik Revolution. In March 1933, only a few months after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Tschichold was arrested by the Nazis and held for four weeks in what was called “protective custody.” Protesting Tschichold’s arrest, Renner served only to focus attention on his own activities-particularly his outspoken essay on Kultur-bolschewismus (cultural Bolshevism), published a year earlier, in which he had inveighed against the anti-Semitic and anti-Communist propaganda of the National Socialists. Less than a month after Tschichold’s arrest and only seven days before the Bauhaus was raided, Renner was also taken into custody (and then released the following day after the intervention of Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess, a friend of Renner’s family). Soon after, the Nazis denounced Renner as “nationally untrustworthy.” At 55, he was dismissed from his teaching post and forbidden to work at a regular job for the rest of his life.

Abstract photgrams by László Moholy-Nagy

it is not the person ignorant oF writing but the one ignorant oF photography who will be the illiterate oF the Future.

“

Moholy-Nagy was born in Bácsborsód to a Jewish-Hungarian family. He was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.

In 1923, Moholy-Nagy began as an instructor at the foundation course at the Bauhaus. This effectively marked the end of the school’s expressionistic leanings and moved it closer towards its original aims as a school of design and industrial integration. The Bauhaus became known for the versatility of its artists, and Moholy-Nagy was no exception. Throughout his career,

he became proficient and innovative in the fields of photography, typography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and industrial design. One of his main focuses was photography. He coined the term “the New Vision” for his belief that photography could create a whole new way of seeing the outside world that the human eye could not. His theory of art and teaching is summed up in the book The New Vision, from Material to Architecture. He experimented with the photographic process of exposing light sensitive paper with objects overlain on top of it, called photogram. While studying at the Bauhaus, Moholy’s teaching in diverse media — including painting, sculpture, photography, photomontage and metal.

the enemy oF photography is the conVention, the Fixed rules oF ‘how to do’. the salVation oF photography comes From the experiment.

Joost schmidtJoost Schmidt was a teacher or master at the Bauhaus and later a professor at the College of Visual Arts, Berlin. He was a visionary typographer and graphic designer who is best known for designing the famous poster for the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar, Germany. Joost Schmidt began his studies in 1910 at the Großherzoglich-Sächsische Hochschule für bildende Kunst (Grand Ducal Saxonian school of arts) in Weimar and subsequently became a master student of Max Thedy. In the winter semester of 1913/14, he received his diploma in painting. After military service and a period as a prisoner of war, he returned to Germany in 1918.

Schmidt then took up another course of studies at the Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar. From 1919 to 1924/25, he trained in the workshop for stone and wood sculpture under Johannes Itten and Oskar Schlemmer. In 1921/22, his projects included the design and completion of carvings for the Sommerfeld House in Berlin and the design of a poster for the Bauhaus exhibition of 1923 in Weimar. He also developed a pantomime for this event, which was performed at the municipal theatre in Jena. His involvement in theatre was to lead in 1925 to his design for a mechanical stage. In 1925,

having signed an option with Otto Bartning, the director of the Staatliche Bauhochschule Weimar (state school of architecture Weimar) who had planned to employ him as head of the sculpture workshop and head of the sculpture workshop and typographic department, Schmidt instead accepted an offer from Walter Gropius to become a junior master at the Bauhaus Dessau after passing the journeyman’s examination of the Chamber of Crafts Weimar.

That same year, Schmidt married the Bauhaus student Helene Nonné. At the Bauhaus Dessau, Joost taught calligraphy for the preliminary course (1925 to 1932) and directed the sculpture workshop (1928–1930), and the advertising, typography and printing workshop and the affiliated photography department (1928–1932). From 1929 to 1930, he was also a life-drawing teacher, teaching life and figure drawing for the upper semesters from 1930. In addition, Joost Schmidt was responsible for the technical setup of the studio stage. Schmidt did not work at the Bauhaus Berlin.

In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Gropius, Schmidt designed the “non-iron metals” section of the propaganda exhibition Deutsches Volk – Deutsche Arbeit (German

people – German work). He opened a studio in Berlin in the same year and also worked as a draughtsman/illustrator of maps. In 1935, he accepted a teaching position at the private art school Kunst und Werk (formerly the Reimann-Schule), directed by Hugo Häring. However, he was soon prevented from practicing his profession due to his past affiliation with the Bauhaus. He subsequently worked as a typographer for the publishers Alfred Metzner Verlag and others. After the war, Max Taut appointed him as a professor at the Hochschule für bildende Künste (school of art) in Berlin where he took over the preliminary course for architects. In 1946, he collaborated with other members of the Bauhaus on the design of the exhibition Berlin plant/Erster Bericht, the first exhibition on the city’s plans for reconstruction, held in the Berlin City Palace. In 1947/48, he received an offer from the USA Exhibition Center to design exhibitions. Prior to his death in 1948, he was working on another Bauhaus exhibition and the publication of a Bauhaus book.

JoseF müller-brockmannJosef Müller-Brockmann was a Swiss graphic designer and teacher. He studied architecture, design and history of art at both the University and Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. In 1936 he opened his Zurich studio specialising in graphic design, exhibition design and photography. From 1951 he produced concert posters for the Tonhalle in Zurich. In 1958 he became a founding editor of New Graphic Design along with R.P. Lohse, C. Vivarelli, and H. Neuburg. Müller-Brockman was author of the 1961 publications The Graphic Artist and his Design Problems, Grid Systems in Graphic Design where he advocates use of the grid for page structure, and the

1971 publications History of the Poster and A History of Visual Communication.

He is recognised for his simple designs and his clean use of typography, notably Akzidenz-Grotesk, shapes and colours which inspires many graphic designers in the 21st century.

When considering the time of his career, which included the Second World War, the Cold War and the growing influence of a Europe on the mend from destruction and fear, he certainly influenced not only a design style that influenced designers on a global scale. It was a time of rebirth for many nations that lay in ruins, rebuilding and

rethinking centuries of tradition that were forced to change due to the brutality of war and cruelty.

Müller-Brockmann was more than just a man who sought to form what is now labeled the Swiss School; Constructivism, De Still, Suprematism and the Bauhaus, all of which pushed his designs in a new direction that opened doors for creative expressions in graphic design, influenced him. Among his peers he is probably the most easily recognized when looking at that period.

“Order was always wishful thinking for me. For 60 years I have produced disorder in files, correspondence and books. In my work, however, I have always aspired to a distinct arrangement of typographic and pictorial elements, the clear identification of priorities. The formal organization of the surface by means of the grid, a knowledge of the rules that govern legibility (line length, word and letter spacing and so on) and the meaningful use of color are among the tools a designer must master in order to complete his or her task in a rational and economic manner.”

Here are the first posters Brockmann created for Zurich Tonhalle. On them you can see the influence of Bauhaus design. Typefaces which are used on them are condensed, it is one of the essential characteristics of Bauhaus design. This tendency of these typefaces are well seen on works of Jan Tschichold.

layoutAfter World War II, a number of graphic designers, including Max Bill, Emil Ruder, and Josef Müller-Brockmann, influenced by the modernist ideas of Jan Tschichold’s Die neue Typographie (The New Typography), began to question the relevance of the conventional page layout of the time. They began to devise a flexible system able to help

designers achieve coherency in organizing the page. The result was the modern typographic grid that became associated with the International Typographic Style. The seminal work on the subject, Grid systems in graphic design by Müller-Brockmann, helped propagate the use of the grid, first in Europe, and later in North America.

Cover of the feb 201 issue of HUCK magazine.

daVid carsonDavid Carson was born on September 8th, 1954 and is an American graphic designer, art director and surfer. He is best known for his innovative magazine design, and use of experimental typography. He was the art director for the magazine Ray Gun, in which he employed much of the typographic and layout style for which he is known. Carson was perhaps the most influential graphic designer of the 1990s. In particular, his widely imitated aesthetic defined the so-called “grunge typography” era.

Carson, born in Texas in 1952, was raised in New York City and

has been said by Newsweek to have “changed the public face of graphic design” (DCD). He broke free from the modernist ideas of design and designed his pieces in chaotic, broken, disorderly fashions that really pull viewers in and ask them to look and touch. But, just because his work may seem chaotic, doesn’t mean it actually is just pure chaos.

He has successfully directed commercials, and has made print ads for well known brands such as Nike, Levi Strauss & Co, Samsung and Quicksilver. His postmodernist style of distorting type brings emotion into the text that could not

have been brought out if it were put onto the page in an orderly structural manner. By designing with type the way that he does, he has helped to bring this cultural movement about in a very strong and successful manner.

“daVid’s work continues to be subJectiVe and largely driVen by intuition, with an emphasis on reading material beFore designing it” - dcd.

Posters for a sold out tsunami relief benefit event at Bowans Island, South Carolina.

When looking at David Carson’s work there is a coherence a very definite style running throughout his works. His expressive raw use of photography full of texture, colour, vibrance and excitement is masterfully balanced against cool, soft focused images creating visually rich contrast within the design is seductive to the viewer without over complicating the design. Carson’s unconventional design aesthetic may be due to his lack of education in traditional art and design methods, perhaps enabling Carson to be freed from the constraints of traditional composition. This can again be seen in Carson’s layouts. Images are arranged sporadically seeming to be place completely at random relying on intuition to create a successful design. This world of chaos in layout is again tamed by Carson’s heavy use of the horizontal composition holding his images to the page and creating a rigidity within his designs and in some cases framing images.

“it’s not about knowing all the gimmicks and photo tricks. iF you haVen’t got the eye, no program will giVe it to you.”

Carson was selected as “one of the top 50 creative people in America over the past 20 years”, by Creativity Magazine, NYC.2006

Ray Gun is run by founder David Carson. His work breaks modernist constraints, through experimental layout, typography and imagery. This cover has more structure than many of the other edition but still has a very post-modernist feel to it. The title of the magazine itself is only partially visible with the ‘G’ arranged back to front. The other text is partially obscured by the bar code as well as having two types of font layered on top of each other and slightly offset so they are both visible. The photograph also does not fit the page and elements stretched to fit the publication. As with a lot of post-modernist design, the publication has a very hand-made feel to it, emulating the collage effect seen in the other works I have researched.

michael placeMichael C. Place studied Graphic Design at Newcastle College from 1988—1990 and makes no secret of the fact that he left early to follow his dream of designing record sleeves. Michael worked first with Trevor Jackson in London before moving back up North to work with influential graphics studio The Designers

Republic in Sheffield (tDR), where he worked for the best part of 9 years. Whilst there Michael produced some of the best-known & seminal works of tDR that, although always anonymous, became well-known amongst followers of the studio. In 2000 Michael took a break from the design world and

went on a 10-month world trip, returning to set up Build in 2001. Michael features in the 2007 film ‘Helvetica-A Documentary Film’, has spoken at numerous conferences worldwide, & has several times been a judge at the prestigious D&AD global awards. Michael is the Creative Director.

Emil Ruder (1914–1970) was a Swiss typographer and graphic designer, who with Armin Hofmann joined the faculty of the Schule für Gestaltung Basel (Basel School of Design).

Ruder was a contributing writer and editor for Typografische Monatsblätter. Ruder published a basic grammar of typography titled Emil Ruder: Typopgraphy. The text was published in German, English and French, by Swiss publisher Arthur Niggli in 1967. The book helped spread and propagate the Swiss Style,

and became a basic text for graphic design and typography programs in Europe and North America.

In 1962 he helped to found the International Center for the Typographic Arts (ICTA) in New York. The Swiss Style was defined by the use of sans-serif typefaces, and employed a page grid for structure, producing symmetrical layouts.

In 1948 Ruder met the artist-printer Armin Hofmann. Ruder and Hoffman began a long period

of collaboration. Their teaching achieved an international reputation by the mid-1950s. By the mid-1960s their courses were maintaining lengthy waiting lists.

emil ruderVerlag Arthur Niggli AG 5th edition published in 1989.

armin hoFmann Armin Hofmann was one of the pioneers of the International Typographic Style, a new graphic design style that emerged in Switzerland in the 1950s to become the predominant graphic style in the world by the 1970s. Ideally suited to the expanding global postwar marketplace, the style was refined at two design schools in Switzerland, one in Basel under the leadership of Armin Hofmann and Emil Ruder, and the other in Zürich led by Joseph Muller-Brockmann. Hofmann’s work with the Basel school is characterized by stark black-and-white photography, typographic restraint, and a keen awareness of graphic space.

His work is enormously varied, consisting of posters, stage design, logos, typographic work, and three-dimensional designs.

This piece to the left displays all the fundamental modernist design - structure, grids, information, uniformity, geometry, use of negative space and layout. The images are aligned in a grid, with the text information also being aligned into columns. The information and shapes are emphasized through the layout and specifically the use of negative space, drawing focus to certain elements.

Here is another major part of modernist design – photography. The poster’s layout is very structured and simple. The text fits well with the photograph, neither is detracting from the other and the hierarchy highlights the most important information.

This shows the elemental features of modernist design. The layout is very structured, use of negative space focuses on the information, the hierarchy illustrates the most important elements within the design and again the typeface is sans serif.

neVille brody

Neville Brody was born on the 23rd April, 1957 in London and is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director.

Neville Brody is an alumnus of the London College of Printing and Hornsey College of Art, and is known for his work on The Face magazine (1981–1986) and Arena magazine (1987–1990), as well as for designing record covers for artists such as Cabaret Voltaire and Depeche Mode. He created the company Research Studios in 1994 and is a founding member of Fontworks. He is the new Head of the Communication Art & Design department at the Royal College of Art.

Brody has designed the front cover of the V&A Magazine dedicated to its new Postmodernism exhibition.

“Neville Brody is a designer whose extraordinary body of work has significantly

informed my idea of what a magazine should be – and the power of a great cover. The cover that Neville has created for us encapsulates the spirit, dynamism and energy of the V&A’s Postmodernism exhibition, but succeeds in being what Postmodern design, famously, rarely is – beautiful, balanced and appropriate.” - Editor in Chief, Thomas Phongsathorn

On his front cover and the postmodernist movement in general Brody notes:

“For me, Post Modernism felt like a kind of facade built to cover over the cracks of a divided world, a surface of plucked effects and stylistic devices emptied of meaning, an extrusion of hollow traces and flat outlines forcing 2D into apparent depth. I was never a Post Modernist, rather a Modernist exploring humanist lines of enquiry in the collapsing world behind a wall of decoration.”

Designed type face named “New Deal” for the Michael Mann film “Pub lic Ene mies”, star ring Johnny Depp and Chris t ian Bale.

The type face is inspired by the 1930’s era typog ra phy but with a mod ern edge and is being used for the one-sheet and film trailer.

studio dumbarStudio Dumbar’s history began in 1977 when Gert Dumbar founded the company in The Hague.

Studio Dunbar in Holland broke new ground in what was acceptable, lead by designers to America who had studied in Switzerland in the 1960s and 70s and pushed the envelope of legibility. This in turn created very eclectic designs of 20s blended with computer and high-tech looks with a lot of kinetic energy. American Punk

was a youth movement expressed through comics and collage. Punk was the child of Psychedelia ten years earlier. Punk started in English music scene (Sex Pistols) and spread to major U.S. music cities like New York, LA and Seattle. The “kidnapper note” look and comic books were among its trademarks. Swiss Punk became New Wave, which was more commercialized than Punk. American Post-Modern reflected an architectural influence in graphic design.

Jamie reidJamie Reid was born in 1947 and is an English artist and anarchist with connections to the Situationists. His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of a ransom note, came close to defining the image of punk rock, particularly in the UK. His best known works include the Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks, and Here’s the Sex Pistols.

Reid’s design for the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the U.K.” poster—a ripped and safety-pinned Union Flag—is regarded as the pivotal work in establishing a distinctive punk visual aesthetic.

This work is contrasting the regulations and limitations of modernism. Although more legible than some postmodern designs, there is no formation or structure to the work. The text is positioned at odd and different angles to each other and there are no clean-cut lines or edges.

human empireThis piece of post-modernist graphic design is an album sleeve designed by Human Empire. Elements that are common within post-modernist design. There is no structure to the image, everything is seemingly placed where it fits and there is no grid format as nothing is aligned. The design has a collage feel to it created through the use of various different processes and mediums all combined to produce the album sleeve.

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art,especially the decorative arts that were most popular during 1890–1910.

The name “Art Nouveau” is French for “new art”. It is known also as Modernisme in Cataloni, with its most notable contributions by the architect Antoni Gaudí. A reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants but also in curved lines. Architects tried to harmonize with the natural environment. It is also considered a philosophy of design of furniture, which was designed according to the whole building and made part of ordinary life.

art nouVeau

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes.

Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th century, influencing major trends such as Bauhaus and the De Stijl movement. Its influence was pervasive, with major impacts upon architecture, graphic and industrial design, theatre, film, dance, fashion and to some extent music.

constructiVismSuprematism was an art movement, focused on basic geometric forms, such as circles, squares, lines, and rectangles, painted in a limited range of colors. It was founded by Kazimir Malevich in Russia, in 1915. The term suprematism refers to an art based upon “the supremacy of pure artistic feeling” rather than on visual depiction of objects.

Kasimir Malevich originated Suprematism when he was an established painter having exhibited with cubo-futurist works. The proliferation of new artistic forms in painting, poetry and theatre as well as a revival of interest in the traditional folk art of Russia provided a rich environment in which a Modernist culture was born.

suprematismcubismCubism is an early 20th-century avant-garde art movement pioneered by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, and later joined by Juan Gris, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay, Henri Le Fauconnier, and Fernand Léger, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture.

Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century. The term is broadly used in association with a wide variety of art produced in Paris and Puteaux during the 1910s to the 1920s. Variants such as Futurism and Constructivism developed in other countries.

dadaismDada was a word, a rallying symbol, an intentionally derisory anti-label. As a provocative slogan it wrong-footed the critics, who habitually pinned pejorative labels on new tendencies, such as Cubism. The tone was set: the Dadaists were not aiming to win over the critics, but to mock them.

Emerging in 1996 from the melting pot of abstract painting and avant-garde poetry, Dada was a crisis in art, a leap outside the ranks of the “isms”, a complete insurrection. Reinventing the mechanisms of creation and thought, a group of young artist fundamentally changed the world’s conception of art. The incandescence and integrity of this individualist revolt were to become the yardstick for all avent-garde art in the future. (DADA: The Revolt Of Art - Marc Dachy)

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city. It was largely an Italian phenomenon, though there were parallel movements in Russia, England and elsewhere.

The Futurists practiced in every medium of art, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, urban design, theatre, film, fashion, textiles, literature, music, architecture and even gastronomy.

Important works include Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurism, as well as Boccioni’s sculpture.

Futurism influenced art movements such as Art Deco, Constructivism, Surrealism, Dada.

FuturismSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to ‘resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality. Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself.

Leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was above all a revolutionary movement.Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities during World War I and the most important center of the movement was Paris. From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the globe, eventually affecting the visual arts, literature, film, and music of many countries and languages, as well as political thought and practice, philosophy, and social theory.

surrealism

maniFesto oF Futurism1.We want to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and rashness.

2.The essential elements of our poetry will be courage, audacity and revolt.

3.Literature has up to now magnified pensive immobility, ecstasy and slumber. We want to exalt movements of aggression, feverish sleeplessness, the double march, the perilous leap, the slap and the blow with the fist.

4.We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing automobile with its bonnet adorned with great tubes like serpents with explosive breath ... a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.

5.We want to sing the man at the wheel, the ideal axis of which crosses the earth, itself hurled along its orbit.

6.The poet must spend himself with warmth, glamour and prodigality to increase the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements.

7.Beauty exists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character. Poetry must be a violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man.

8.We are on the extreme promontory of the centuries! What is the use of looking behind at the moment when we must open the mysterious shutters of the impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We are already living in the absolute, since we have already created eternal, omnipresent speed.

9.We want to glorify war — the only cure for the world — militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas which kill, and contempt for woman.

10.We want to demolish museums and libraries, fight morality, feminism and all opportunist and utilitarian cowardice.

11.We will sing of the great crowds agitated by work, pleasure and revolt; the multi-colored and polyphonic surf of revolutions in modern capitals: the nocturnal vibration of the arsenals and the workshops beneath their violent electric moons: the gluttonous railway stations devouring smoking serpents; factories suspended from the clouds by the thread of their smoke; bridges with the leap of gymnasts flung across the diabolic cutlery of sunny rivers: adventurous steamers sniffing the horizon; great-breasted locomotives, puffing on the rails like enormous steel horses with long tubes for bridle, and the gliding flight of aeroplanes whose propeller sounds like the flapping of a flag and the applause of enthusiastic crowds.

F. T. Marinetti, 1909

the grid systemGrid systems bring visual structure and balance to site design. As a tool grids are useful for organizing and presenting information. Used properly, they can enhance the user experience by creating predictable patterns for users to follow. From designer’s point of view they allow for an organized methodology for planning systematic layouts.

Made popular by the International Typographic Style movement and pioneered by legends like Josef Müller-Brockmann and Wim Crouwel, the grid is the foundation of any solid design. The Grid System is an ever-growing resource where graphic

designers can learn about grid systems, the golden ratio and baseline grids.

Evolution of the modern grid;

After World War II, a number of graphic designers, including Max Bill, Emil Ruder, and Josef Müller-Brockmann, influenced by the modernist ideas of Jan Tschichold’s Die neue Typographie (The New Typography), began to question the relevance of the conventional page layout of the time. They began to devise a flexible system able to help designers achieve coherency in organizing the page. The result was the modern typographic grid

that became associated with the International Typographic Style. The seminal work on the subject, Grid systems in graphic design by Müller-Brockmann, helped propagate the use of the grid, first in Europe, and later in North America.

“The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice.” - Josef Müller-Brockmann

city modernCity Modern, Dwell magazine. New York magazine, 2012.

Logotype, custom typeface and original templates for City Modern

City Modern is a series of events, interviews and house tours celebrating New York architecture and design, hosted by the editors of Dwell and New York magazines

Whilst browsing through a great website called non-format, I found a great set of front covers for City Modern along with its template to see how the magazine cover had been formed. All the covers are examples for the October 2012 issue, and as you can see they all have almost the same layout style.

I found it interesting seeing how they had processed this layout, seeing the template really helped me understand how they designed them around the same grid.

The masthead along with the information beneath all stays in the same place throughout all the

covers, along with the placing of the photograph and the date. This is shown that they stay in the same place on the template. The template shows that the only thing they want moving around is the stamp, and with that it’s only in two places, the bottom of the cover or the left of it.

The template is simple and easy to follow, and gives way with where the stamp compliments the photograph well.

1980’s “the Face” neVille brody

From 1981 to 1986 Neville Brody was art director of the magazine “The Face”, for which he designed a distinctive typographical appearance that inspired magazine designers and other designers worldwide.

While the art director for “The Face” Magazine, he created some of the most memorable covers, many of which inspired other designers working on magazines internationally. His work for The Face put an emphasis on striking photography, the impact of simplicity, and occasionally jarring juxtapositions of text and imagery.

grid Formats

The Face in March, 1982. Design and layout by Neville Brody.

2002 “the Face”

espn magazineESPN The Magazine is a bi-weekly (once every two weeks) sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut in the United States. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998.

Here is an example of a logo staying in the same position on each cover for ever issue. Most of the time ESPN have part of the logo covered up with their large scaled images centered in the magazine, making that their main focal point. Covering up of a masthead can happen and work well only when the logo is well known and established.

Here’s just a small selection of the beautiful, unique layouts used in the ESPN magazine.

logo/mastheadBoth GQ and Rolling Stones have had the same logo for years and have kept it in the same position.

existing mastheads

masthead experimentations

NewGraphicDesignNewGraphicDesign

N E WG R A P H I C D E S I G N

newg r a p h i c d e s i g n

G R A P H I C D E S I G N

N E W

new g r a p h i c d e s i g n

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

newgraphicdesign

newgraphicdesign

newgraphicdesign

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN

newgraphicdesign

newgraphicdesign

newgraphicdesign

new graphicdesign

ngdnew graphic des ign

newgraphicdesignnewgraphicdesignnewgraphicdesignnewgraphicdesignnewgraphicdesignnewgraphicdesign

ngdnew graphic design

new graphicdesign




new graphicdesign




ngdngdngdngdnew graphic design

designnewgraphic

newgraphicgraphicdesigngraphic designnew


designnewgraphic



designnewgraphic



designnewgraphic



designnewgraphic


newgraphicdesign

newgraphicdesign new

graphic

design

newgraphicdesign


graphic

design

newgraphicdesign


graphic

design

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN.

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN

NGD

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN.

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN

NGD

NEWGRAPHICDESIGN.

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN

NGD

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN

NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN.

Experimenting with different mastheads on different kinds of covers. (Busy covers, covers with negative space, etc)

Form Follows FunctionAn exploration of

Modernism and Post Modernism

24th April 2013 Issue 1

Form Follows

FunctionAn exploration of



Form Follows




An exploration of Modernism and

Post Modernism

Issue 124th April

2013

Form Follows Function


Post Modernism

Issue 124th April

2013

Form Follows

Function


Post Modernism

Issue 124th April

2013


Form Follows




Form Follows




An explortation of modernism and post modernism

Issue 124th April

2013


N G D C O N T E N T SForm Follows Function


Post modernism

04/ Artist Typeface

06/ Manifesto

08/ Photography

Contents04 Photography

Influenced by Michael Betts

06 Photographyby László Moholy-Nagy

08 Manifestoby Georgia Stubbs

10 Book Reviewon Bauhaus 1919-1933

12 TypefaceInfluenced by Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky

p h o t o g r a p h y

Inf luenced by Michael Bet ts

NGD//FFF/04

Form follows function is a principle associated with modern architecture and industrial design in the 20th century. The principle is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose.

Michael Betts is an extremely contemporary photography, shooting modern buildings at abstract albums. As a fan of his for some time now, I decided to go out and shoot some photographs influenced by him.

Betts explores abstract images through unusual buildings and negative space. Whilst taking the photographs, I always kept in mind the compositional techniques I

wanted to be using, which were camera height and pattern. Although I was in fact shooting modern architecture, I wasn’t shooting whole buildings. I shot the most unique part of the buildings I could find, creating the abstractness.

In order for my images to stay abstract to the viewers eye, I shot clear skies with no clouds. One rule I had in these shots were to keep the sky blue, as I didn’t want to create overly edited, fake looking photographs. I kept the sky, which in most photographs is used for negative space, bright and bold.

Throughout my photographs, there’s dynamic lines, patterns, highlights

and camera angles, keeping them aesthetically pleasing.

I thoroughly enjoyed shooting a set of photographs influenced by him, showing modern architecture in it’s most abstract form today. I especially enjoyed the freedom to explore a lot of areas.

Abstract photgrams by László Moholy-Nagy

it is not the person ignorant oF writing but the one ignorant oF photography who will be the illiterate oF the Future.

“

Moholy-Nagy was born in Bácsborsód to a Jewish-Hungarian family. He was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.

In 1923, Moholy-Nagy began as an instructor at the foundation course at the Bauhaus. This effectively marked the end of the school’s expressionistic leanings and moved it closer towards its original aims as a school of design and industrial integration. The Bauhaus became known for the versatility of its artists, and Moholy-Nagy was no exception. Throughout his career,

he became proficient and innovative in the fields of photography, typography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and industrial design. One of his main focuses was photography. He coined the term “the New Vision” for his belief that photography could create a whole new way of seeing the outside world that the human eye could not. His theory of art and teaching is summed up in the book The New Vision, from Material to Architecture. He experimented with the photographic process of exposing light sensitive paper with objects overlain on top of it, called photogram. While studying at the Bauhaus, Moholy’s teaching in diverse media — including painting, sculpture, photography, photomontage and metal.

Photographs by Georgia Stubbs

NGD//FFF/06

maniFestophotos

Here’s an example of the kind of photographs I could use when laying out my manifesto. As my manifesto is personal to me, yet could still relate to other people, I have tried to chose photographs that are neutral in way. These images show the world and life in general, and my manifesto is about that to a certain degree. I also believe these photographs are all aesthetically pleasing, and just overall pleasant to look at.

(The Disney photograph and baseball one for sports relate to me, personally so perhaps they wouldn’t be the best to use if I want it to be a manifesto relating to anyone.)

Travel. I urge you to travel when you can. Visit that place you’ve always wanted to, go back to where you’ve had all your best childhood memories. There’s a huge world out there that is too beautiful not to see, and there’s so much inspiration.

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”

Take photographs. Carry your camera everywhere with you, and shoot whatever interests you. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Your best photograph has most likely not been captured yet.

Stay inspired. Inspiration is everywhere. Maybe you will see it in the street, maybe it will come from the ones you love, or maybe even on some cliche teens blog. But please stay inspired.

Take a break. Doing something you love too much will always feel like it’s turned into a chore. How many times have you listened to your favourite song on repeat? After a while it’s just not the same, but then it comes on your ipod one day and you remember how much you loved it. And you’re back to square one. It’s okay to take a break from something you love. In fact, it makes you appreciate it even more. Laugh. Every. single. day. Be happy and don’t take life too serious.

“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’ - Kurt Vonnegut

Keep trying. If you’re not good at something, keep practicing until you are.

Commit. Do everything with the intention of finishing it.

Don’t force things. If it’s not working, it’s not working. If you’ve tried and experimented and you still don’t like it, stop.

Be adventuress. Break the rules for once. Stop being so scared of not staying inside the lines. What’s the worst that could happen? Try something new. When you leave your comfort zone, that’s when things start to get interesting.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you always got.” - Tony Dinozzo (NCIS)

Stop procrastinating.Where’s that ever got anyone? Stick to your word. Plan. Stay Organised. Delegate.

m a n i f e s t om a n i f e s t om a n i f e s t o

You are your own critique. Stop being so hard on yourself. It’s ok to be a perfectionist, but step away once in a while and look at the big picture and focus on what can be done, not what can’t be.

Strive. Strive to be better than everyone else. That’s what character is about, it’s in the try.

Play. Life is not just about getting old and having a successful career and doing the same thing day in day out. Have fun. Go to Disney World, play the sport you love…do something fun that you really enjoy as often as you can.

You aren’t your job. It’s okay to enjoy other things.

Don’t wait. Good things don’t come to those who wait, they come to

those who get up and work their asses off.

Stop worrying. Please stop over analysing situations, worrying about every last detail. Can you remember what you were worrying about a year ago today? No.

Be passionate. Be passionate about everything you do, whether it’s cheering on your team, or in your work. If you’re not, what’s the point?

Do good work. Always be proud of the work you’ve developed and be able to say you’ve done the best you could possibly do.

Don’t ever let someone tell you to ‘grow up.’

“Too many people grow up. That’s

the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up.” - Walt Disney

Simplicity is key. I really do agree with the term ‘less is more.’ Abram Games theory of ‘maximum meanings, minimum.’ is true. You don’t always have to fill something for it to be effective. Take away the meaningless for the meaningful.

Be polite. Always be polite to anyone you meet. Wether it be a stranger or one of your customers at work. Be clear whilst you’re talking and don’t be afraid to say no.

Be creative. Be unique. Be yourself.

Enjoy life.

And remember, in the words of Coach Taylor...

NGD//FFF/08

m a n i f e s t o




Stay inspired. Inspiration

is everywhere. Maybe you will see it in the street, maybe it will come from the ones you love, or maybe even on some cliche teens blog. But please stay inspired.

Take a break. Doing something you love too much will always feel like it’s turned into a chore. How many times have you listened to your favourite song on repeat? After a while it’s just not the same, but then it comes on your ipod one day and you remember how much you loved it. And you’re back to square one. It’s okay to take a break from something you love. In fact, it makes you appreciate it even more.

Laugh. Every. Single. Day. Be happy and don’t take life too serious.







Stop procrastinating. Where’s that ever got anyone? Stick to your word. Plan. Stay Organised. Delegate.

You are your own critique. Stop being so hard on yourself. It’s ok to be a

m a n i f e s t o

B y G e o r g i a S t u b b s

perfectionist, but step away once in a while and look at the big picture and focus on what can be done, not what can’t be.



You aren’t your job. It’s okay to enjoy other things.Don’t wait. Good things

don’t come to those who wait, they come to those who get up and work their asses off.



Do good work. Always be proud of the work you’ve developed and be able to say you’ve done the best

you could possibly do.


“Too many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up.” - Walt Disney


Be polite. Always be polite to anyone you meet. Whether it be a stranger

or one of your customers at work. Be clear whilst you’re talking and don’t be afraid to say no.


Enjoy life.

And remember, in the words of Coach Taylor,

“Clear eyes, full heart’s, can’t lose.”

NGD//FFF/08






Laugh. Every. single. day. Be happy and don’t take life too serious.


Keep trying. If you’re not good at something, keep practicing until

you are.





Stop procrastinating. Where’s that

m a n i f e s t o


ever got anyone? Stick to your word. Plan. Stay Organised. Delegate.





Don’t wait. Good things don’t come to those who wait, they come to those who get up and work their asses off.









Enjoy life. And remember, in the words of Coach Taylor...

clear eyes full hearts can’t lose

NGD//FFF/08








Keep trying. If you’re not good at something, keep practicing until

you are.





Stop procrastinating. Where’s that

m a n i f e s t o


ever got anyone? Stick to your word. Plan. Stay Organised. Delegate.














Enjoy life. And remember, in the words of Coach Taylor...

clear eyes, ful l hearts , can’t lose.

NGD//FFF/08













Stop procrastinating. Where’s that ever got anyone? Stick to your word. Plan. Stay Organised.

Delegate.







Be passionate. Be passionate about everything you do, whether

it’s cheering on your team, or in your work. If you’re not, what’s the point?







Enjoy life.

And remember, in the words of Coach Taylor...

clear eyes,full hearts,can’t lose.

m a n i f e s t o


NGD//FFF/08

Clear eyes,full heart’s, can’t lose.

Bauhaus was one of the most important movements in design-

history. Magdalena Drosta describes the ideas, the people, the

work and the spirit of the Bauhaus. The best thing: It is never

boring. The book does not only concentrate on the art taught at

the Bauahaus but also describes its political problems. While

this book offers an excellent collection Bauhaus inspired works

- from architecture to practical objects, it traces the history and

the development of the Bauhaus comprehensively as well.

The start of the book explains the historical origins of the Bauhaus

that are traced right back into the 19th century, beginning with

the tragic consequences of the Industrial Revolution for living

conditions and manufactured products of the artisan and

working class, first in England and later in Germany.

As I progressed through the book, I was drawn to the designs

that are showing throughout. On page 107, there is a large

image of Joosts Schmidt’s famous poster for the 1923 Bauhaus

exhibition in Weimar, with its round and motifs, recalls reliefs by

Oskar Schlemmer. The poster is extremely modern, with only

the use of three colours, lots of negative space, and a variety

of shapes.

On page 115, there’s a piece by Wassily Kandinsky shown, from

the portfolio for Walter Gropius in 1924. On a previous project I

researched Kandinsky, intrigued by his modernism. Kandinsky

was aware of recent scientific developments and the advances

of modern artists who had contributed to radically new ways of

seeing and experiencing the world.

Bauhaus 1919-1933Book Review

Published June 1st 2006 by Taschen (first published 1994)

NGD//FFF/10

Bauhaus was one of the most important movements in design-

history. Magdalena Drosta describes the ideas, the people, the

work and the spirit of the Bauhaus. The best thing: It is never

boring. The book does not only concentrate on the art taught at

the Bauahaus but also describes its political problems. While

this book offers an excellent collection Bauhaus inspired works

- from architecture to practical objects, it traces the history and

the development of the Bauhaus comprehensively as well.

The start of the book explains the historical origins of the Bauhaus

that are traced right back into the 19th century, beginning with

the tragic consequences of the Industrial Revolution for living

conditions and manufactured products of the artisan and

working class, first in England and later in Germany.

As I progressed through the book, I was drawn to the designs

that are showing throughout. On page 107, there is a large

image of Joosts Schmidt’s famous poster for the 1923 Bauhaus

exhibition in Weimar, with its round and motifs, recalls reliefs by

Oskar Schlemmer. The poster is extremely modern, with only

the use of three colours, lots of negative space, and a variety

of shapes.

On page 115, there’s a piece by Wassily Kandinsky shown, from

the portfolio for Walter Gropius in 1924. On a previous project I

researched Kandinsky, intrigued by his modernism. Kandinsky

was aware of recent scientific developments and the advances

of modern artists who had contributed to radically new ways of

seeing and experiencing the world.

Bauhaus 1919-1933Book Review

Published June 1st 2006 by Taschen (first published 1994)

NGD//FFF/10

Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely abstract works. Kandinsky was unsympathetic to the official theories on art in Moscow, and returned to Germany in 1921. There, he taught at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture from 1922 until the Nazis closed it in 1933.

Lissitzky was of the most innovative and proficient designers of the constructivist ideal. He developed visual ideas about balance, space, and form in his paintings, which became the basis for his graphic design and architecture.

Kandinsky inspiredfont

“The organic laws of

construction tangled me

in my desires, and only

with great pain, effort, and

struggle did I break through

these ‘walls around art.’”

I value those artists who embody the expression of their life.

Download the Kandinsky inspired font at www.fonts.com

NGD//FFF/12

All references can be found herehttp://newgraphicdesignproject.tumblr.com

Date post:	23-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	georgia-stubbs
View:	219 times
Download:	0 times

New Graphic Design

Documents