Art Deco

Art Deco is known as Jazz Moderne or just moderne and it originated in France in the 1920s. It continued to develop in Western Europe and the United States throughout the 1930s. The name was established from the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Industriels Modernes which was held in Paris in 1925, where the style was first exhibited. Art Deco used fashion to portray modernism and this was observed in the mass production of luxurious clothes that showed an anti tradition fashion that symbolized wealth and sophistication.

Art Deco was influenced from the traditions of Art and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau. In early 1915 there was a sentiment of a need to change however this was stalled due to World War 1. After the World War 1, France experienced a return to order and this was manifested in the new ‘less decorative style’.

Inspiration of Art Deco designs included:

·         Ancient Egyptian

·         Tribal art

·         Surrealism

·         Futurism/Cubism/Constructivism

·         Neo Classicism

·         Geometrical Abstraction

Well known artists within the Art Deco movement included Tamara de Lempicka, Erte (a fashion illustrator), Rene Lalique (glass artist) and Cassandre a graphic designer.

Art Deco in graphic design

 Adolphe Mouron Cassandre

Famous graphic designer of art deco movement is Adolphe Mouron Cassandre. He was a painter, a commercial poster artist and a typeface designer. His graphic techniques show influences of Surrealism and Cubism. During the 1930’s his style became very popular in Europe and the US.

This is one of Cassandre’s posters “L’Atlantique”. One can see that the cruise liner is represented by a giant rectangle. The ship looks almost entirely made up of the hulking geometric shape and with just few extras elements to transform it into an ocean liner. “L’Atlantique” reminds about the golden age of the luxury cruise liners.

Art Deco has made an impact on typography. Cassandre created a typeface which is called ‘Bifur typeface’, composed of thick base forms which were decorated with thin filler lines.  

Bifur typeface

 

Nowadays, the art deco movement still has an impact on graphic design. It makes frequent appearances in the world of logo design. In these three designs (below) one can see the use of typefaces, the sunbursts and the airbrush effects. 

Logos

References

lask, D. (2014). A.M. Cassandre : Design Is History. [online] Designishistory.com. Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/am-cassandre/ [Accessed 22 Dec. 2014].

Vam.ac.uk, (2014). Art Deco - Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/a/art-deco/ [Accessed 22 Dec. 2014].

Bauhaus

“Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.” - Walter Gropius

In 1919, a school of design, applied arts and architecture was founded by the architect Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany which was known as Bauhaus that means ‘building houses’. Until 1925, the school was based in Weimar. But in 1932 it was moved to Dessau than finally Berlin. In 1933, Bauhaus was forced to closed down because of the under pressure from the Nazi political party. Bauhaus favored the simplified forms, the rationality, the functionality and the idea that the mass production could live in harmony with artistic spirit of individuality.

Beside Walter Gropius, there were other designers who assist Gropius, such as Laszlo Moholy- Nagy and Herbert Bayer, which they made important contributions to the development of graphic design.

Herbert Bayer

Herbert Bayer was a student which he studied under Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy and later was a teacher at the Bauhaus. He worked in so many subjects including sculpture, painting, typography, advertising and architecture. He created the Geometric ‘universal’ alphabet in 1925 which proposed the abolition of capitals. He became the head of the new typography of the new typography department within Bauhaus. Late in the 1920’s he became the director for the Vogue Magazine.

His designs show:

• Direct and simple typography
• Non-decorative
• Strong horizontals and verticals
• Clarity

Bauhaus movement Influence

  

Nico Schrier poster

The Bauhaus school left a huge impact especially after World War 1 on a number of graphic designers even in the political sphere. Nico Schrier is one of the examples that was influenced by the Bauhaus as he designed a poster for the 1933 Netherlands' election in which a man was depicted calling his soldiers or comrades to vote red which stands for 'The Netherland's Social Democratic Workers' Party.

Obama Berlin Poster

Many contemporary designers which were influenced from the Bauhaus maintained the same designs that were produced in the 1920s and the 1930s by the Bauhaus. This can be seen in this design (left) as similarities can be observed in the bold sans-serif typefaces and also in the diagonal lines and lettering. These variances that were present in the Bauhaus works and now in the works of those inspired designers tend to increase the dynamism of the composition.

References 

Designhistory.org, (2014). The Three Bauhaus Locations. [online] Available at: http://www.designhistory.org/Bauhaus_pages/BauhausOrigins.html [Accessed 6 Dec. 2014].

Flask, D. (2014). Herbert Bayer : Design Is History. [online] Designishistory.com. Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/herbert-bayer/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2014].

Flask, D. (2014). The Bauhaus : Design Is History. [online] Designishistory.com. Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/the-bauhaus/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2014].