JAN TSCHICHOLD (1902–74)

The first two decades of the twentieth century saw a big leap in innovation for graphic design due to the explorations of modern art movements such as the Bauhaus.  But the general audience however didn’t understand it very much and its audience was very limited.  The person that brought the change and popularity around and applied them to everyday design was Jan Tschichold. 

                       

Born in Leipzig, Germany, the son of a designer and sign painter.  He took interest early on in calligraphy and joined the design house of Insel Verlag as a traditional calligrapher. At the age of 21 in 1923 Tschichold went to his first Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar which impressed him very much and converted him to Modernist design principles. He took ideas from the Bauhaus and the Russian constructivists and incorporated them into his work becoming a practitioner of die neue Typographie (the new typography), making him a leading figure which advocated the Modernist design.

Most of the German printing at first still utilized medieval textura and symmetrical layout.  This is where Jan Tschichold created a 24 page insert for a magazine which explained his enthusiasm and this new approach of asymmetrical grid layouts in 1925.  Then a few years later in 1927 he had a personal exhibition and his book posed as a manifesto of modern design, in which condemned all typefaces except for sans-serif which at that time was called Grotest in Germany.  His favouritism to the non-centered design when it came to to titles for example also took to show. His objective was also that of functional design by the most straightforward means. Tschichold stated that the aim of every typographic work was to deliver a message in the shortest, most efficient manner. He emphasized the nature of machine composition and its impact on the design process and product.

Functionalism, however, is not completely synonymous with the new typography; Tschichold observed that although plain utilitarianism and modern design had much in common, the modern movement sought spiritual content and a beauty more closely bound to the materials used, “but whose horizons lie far beyond.”

In March 1933, armed Nazis raided his flat in Munich and arrested him and his wife.  He was accused of being a “cultural Bolshevik” and creating “un-German” typography, he was denied a teaching position in Munich. During the arrest, Soviet posters were found in his flat, casting him under suspicion of collaboration with communists. All copies of Tschichold's books were seized by the Gestapo "for the protection of the German people". After six weeks of “protective custody” Tschichold was released and immediately took his wife and four-year-old son to Switzerland, where he worked primarily as a book designer. In Switzerland, he began to turn away from the new typography and to use roman, Egyptian, and script styles in his designs. The new typography had been a reaction against the chaos and anarchy in German (and Swiss) typography around 1923, and he now felt that it had reached a point where further development was not possible.

Apart from two longer stays in England in 1937–1937, and 1947–1949 (at the invitation of Ruari McLean, the British typographer, with whom he worked on the design of Penguin Books), Tschichold lived in Switzerland for the rest of his life. Jan Tschichold died in the hospital at Locarno in 1974.

Bibliography
Meggs, P. B., & Purvis, A. W. (2012). Meggs’ History of Graphic Design (Fifth ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Wikipedia, t. f. (2014, October 29). Jan Tschichold. Retrieved January 24, 2015, from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Tschichold

SWISS DESIGN

Known by several different names; Swiss Design, International Style or International Typographic Style, originated in Switzerland in the 1940s & 50s.   This is a graphic design style which emphasis readability, neutrality and also cleanliness. Characteristics of the style are asymmetric layouts, the use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces like Akzidenz Grotesk, flush left and ragged right text.  The style was led by designers Josef Müller-Brockmann at the Zurich School of Arts and Krafts and Armin Hofmann at the Basel School of Design.

Another characteristic was the preference given to photography rather than illustration or drawings. They combined typography and photography as it was seen to be the most effective means of visual communication.

To outline other characteristics of Swiss Design we can recap as follows:

The pioneers of the Swiss Grid Style believed that the visual appearance of the work is not as important as the integrity of its philosophical tenets whereby; 

• Design is a socially worthwhile and serious vocation.
• Within design there is no room for eccentricity. Design should be grounded on universal artistic principles, and using a scientific approach should provide a well-defined solution to a problem.
• The designer is a visual communicator and not an artist. The designer acts as an objective and reliable transmitter of important information between members of society.
• The ideal of design is to achieve clarity and order.

At the School of Applied Arts Ernst Keller who was a professor there began to develop a graphic design course which included typography.  His was of teaching was to transcend a philosophy of style that dictated “ the solution to the design problem should emerge from its content”.  His students learnt the simple uses of geometric forms, vibrant colours to further clarify the meaning behind every design. 

The International Typographic Style in the 1950s saw the coming together of various san-serif font families such as Univers which then went to pave the way for Max Miedinger and Edourad Hoffman (his colleague) to create the font Neue Haas Grotesk, which we more commonly refer to as Helvetica.
Taking into consideration what was happening at the time, after World War II, there was an increase of trade between countries and typography and design were essential in the process of helping with clarity, objectivity, region-less glyphs and symbols which where an must when it came to communication between international partners.  

The International Typographic Style later then found itself main use in being essential for communication and expanded its borders further out to America and one of the first American designers to integrate the International Typographic Style was Rudolph de Harak and predominantly used on book jacket designs for McGraw-Hill publishers in the 1960s. The Swiss design in America started to find its way more and more throughout infrastructure and public places.  As Helvetica it became one of the most famous fonts around and still is prominently and vastly used today as a Sans Serif of choice. 

Bibliography
Flask, D. (2009). http://www.designishistory.com/home/swiss/. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from Design is History : http://www.designishistory.com/home/swiss/
Novin, G. (n.d.). Swiss Grade Style . Retrieved Jan 23, 2015, from guity-novin.blogspot.com: http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2011/07/chapter-42-swiss-grade-style-and-dutch.html
Wikipedia, t. f. (3, December 2014). International Typographic Style . Retrieved January 2015, 23, from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Typographic_Style

DE STIJL

Launched in the Netherlands in 1917 by its founder Theo van Doesburg. De Stijl artists sought universal laws of balance and synergy for art which could the guide for a new social order. The De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a nutshell, the term De Stijl is used to refer to a group of work spanning from 1917 to 1931.  

Theo van Doesburg

Alongside Van Doesburg, we find the painters Piet Mondrian, Vilmos Huszár, and Bart van der Leck. Also the architects Gerrit Rietveld, Robert van 't Hoff, and J. J. P. being the groups principal members.  The artistic philosophy that formed a basis for the group's work is known as neoplasticism — the new plastic art. 

De Stijl promoted pure abstraction and universality by reducing elements to the essentials. Form and colour was simplified and also visual compositions to the vertical and horizontal directions. The use of only primary colours and black and white.  De Stijl artists wanted to render an expression of the mathematical structure of the universe and the universal harmony of nature. They were greatly worried of the spiritual and intellectual climate of their time and wished to express the “general consciousness of their age.” For them the war at that time was of an obsolete age and that it was science and technology alongside political developments with would bring about a new era of collectivism and objectivity.   De Stijl adherents believed beauty arose from the absolute purity of the work. They sought to purify art by banning naturalistic representation, external values, and  subjective expression. The content of their work was to be universal harmony, the order that pervades the universe. Mondrain believed this possible and represented it with a body of paintings where he used incomparable spiritual and formal quality. His compositions of asymmetrical balance, tension between elements, achieved this absolute harmony.   

De Stijl became a natural vehicle for expressing the movement’s principles in graphic design. Huszár designed a logo for De Stijl with letters constructed from an open grid of squares and rectangles

When it came to typography and posters, Van Doesburg used horizontal and vertical structure to letterforms and the overall format of the layout 

Curved lines were removed and sans serif typefaces were put to use.   The type was mostly composed within tight rectangular blocks. Square shape was used as a thorough module for letterform design. In this way harmony of form was achieved, but removing curved and diagonal lines reduced character uniqueness and legibility. Asymmetrically balanced layouts were composed on an open implied grid.

Van Doesburg felt there was some odd similarities or better compliments between Dada and De Stijl.  He felt that Dada could remove the old order where as De Stijl could rebuild a new order upon the site of the pre war culture.  He experimented with this and also took to congress Constructivists and Dadaists in Weimar.  

However  Van Doesburg, who was a person of infinite  energy and

vast creativity passed away at the age of 47 in 1931 and with him also the De Stijl slowly after him, although some other kept using elements as time pressed on. 

Bibliography

Meggs, P. B., & Purvis, A. W. (2012). Meggs’ History of Graphic Design (Fifth ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Wikipedia, t. f. (18, January 2015). De Stijl. Retrieved January 2015, 22, from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl

ART DECO

Art Deco is the ‘Fashionable’ style of European and American design (also known as the Style Moderne) that superseded Art Nouveau immediately before and after the 1914–18 war. 

Art Deco is a form of Modernism that flourished in the United States and Europe following the Universal Exposition of 1900. Leaders of this movement believed in the importance of France’s decorative arts and marketing their achievements for business purposes. Interestingly, the ‘Decorative Artists Society’ led by Hector Guimard (1867-1942) inspired the name “Art Deco,” but the term did not become popular until the publication of “Art Deco of the 20’s and 30’s” by Bevis Hillier in 1968.

Art Deco design represented modernism turned into fashion. Its products included both individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced goods, but, in either case, the purpose was to create a sleek and anti conventional elegance that symbolized wealth and sophistication. This helped form the exclusive and diverse style that seamlessly got together the traditional pattern with machine engineered and industrial materials, rich colours, geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation. Art Deco was also heavily influenced by other styles including Cubism, Constructivism, Modernism and Futurism. 

In the United States, during a period of severe economic depression, the Art Deco movement exhibited beauty and strength and extremely influenced a wide range of art and design areas including painting, sculpting, decorative art, product design, furniture design and architecture.

ART DECO IN ART

Art Deco in fine art is characterized by the use of angular, symmetrical geometric forms exhibiting clean lines and vivid colors and combined the simplistic styling that influenced many forms of art. One of the most prominent Art Deco painters was Tamara de Lempicka whose vivid and bold style characterizes the sophisticated feel of the movement. This can be seen in her 1925 iconic piece Auto-Portrait (Tamara in the Green Bugatti). In the field of sculpture, Boris Lovet Lorski’s stunning works are renowned for his sleek styling of female sculptures with narrow hips, broad shoulders and wide spread arms.


ART DECO IN ARCHITECTURE

One of the classic Art Deco subjects is that of 1930s-era skyscrapers such as New York's Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building and Daily News building. The former, designed by architect William Van Alen, is considered to be one of the world's great Art Deco style buildings. 
Other examples are located in Los Angeles such as the Pellissier and Bullocks Wilshire buildings and the Wiltern Theatre where most of this Deco architecture was constructed in the late 1920s and early 1930s during a heavy period of urban renovation.
Perfect examples of many Art Deco buildings are in Miami Beach, Florida. The most remarkable are the thirty or so apartment and hotel blocks constructed between the 1920s and 1940s. Since their formation they have been listed as protected buildings and have undergone substantial restoration projects to make sure they retain their original look and unique pastel colouring.




ART DECO IN PRODUCT DESIGN

Gilbert Rohde (1894–1944), whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to define American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at  Herman Miller Inc. He used elements from Art Deco and Modernism to create wonderful and unique items of furniture that became widely popular and synonymous with the two styles. Inspired by theories of aerodynamics developed for aviation and ballistics, Streamline Moderne applied these principles to a host of products such as automobiles, trains, ships, refrigerators, and other household goods. An example of this is in 1933 whereby the Chrysler Airflow was produced with Streamline styling. To this day the Airflow is considered a truly beautiful car that set a design precedent despite its commercial failure.

The Second World War caused Art Deco to decline in popularity due to the adversities that the war brought along in the economical sector. It was beginning to be perceived too extravagant and therefore America toned down the architectural styling and implemented more basic design with far less evident ornamentation.
Nevertheless, the Art Deco movement and streamline principles continue to inspire designers today. Our very own smart phones and computers use industrial materials combined with cutting edge technology and modern cars continue to emphasize the same aerodynamics and smooth lines that popularized Art Deco.

Bibliography
ArtHistory.net. ( 2013-2014 Bitter Soup LLC). ArtHistory.net. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://www.arthistory.net/artstyles/artdeco/artdeco1.html
Attribution-, C. C. (2014, October 2). Herman Miller (manufacturer). Retrieved January 15, 2015, from Wikimedia Foundation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Miller_%28manufacturer%29
Britannica, T. E. (2014, 11 12). Art Deco - Art Movement. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from Encyclopædia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/36505/Art-Deco
CURL, J. S. (2000). Art Deco- A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from Eencyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/art_deco.aspx
John Malyon/Specifica, I. ( 2014 ). Artists by Movement. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from Art cyclopedia: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/art-deco.html

ART NOUVEAU Part 2:

Inspiration for the style was characterized by organic, flowing lines- forms resembling the stems and blossoms of plants - as well as geometric forms such as squares and rectangles. This unity of flowing, natural forms with sharper lines made for the fashioning of Art Nouveau’s elegant designs. The key elements which composed and differed this style are the Floral and bulbous designs and “whiplash” curves – (forms resembling the stems and blossoms of plants - as well as geometric forms such as squares and rectangles).

Quote: Hermann Obrist's wall-hanging Cyclamen (1894) described it as "sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip," (Yamauchi, 2011) 

The Art Nouveau movement was highly committed to giving equal importance to all types and forms of art.   Be it craft-based art – such as silver-smiting or furniture design with paintings and sculpture.  In the German speaking world (where Art Nouveau was referred to a Jugendstil) it was known as Gesamtkunstwerk "total works of the arts". The artists involved in Art Nouveau aimed at reviving good workmanship and raise the level of production.  They sought to avoiding excessively ornamental and frivolous decoration. Thus putting in the forefront that function of the object should dictate its form. This would be crucial for later movements such as modernism and the Bauhaus when it came to inheriting styles.

The Vienna Secession

The word Secession essentially means the unity of a group of individual professionals who get together to give each other more power to change, improve or divert from current situations. In Art Nouveau this was very wide spread and popularised as it was a collective of visual artists, sculptors, architects, designers, decorators, jewellery makers, specialised craftsmen who first combined together in 1897  to promote their work and organise exhibitions.  One of the most resourceful and prominent secessionist was the painter Gustav Klimt, who was one who tapped into early modernism with rhythmical abstractions and elaborate gold and silver leaf decorations in his paintings.  Two very popular works at Hope II and The Kiss (both 1907-08).

Klimt's paintings could very well embody what the movement was not about and perhaps how it also came to its demise. Art Nouveau's influence is evident in Hope II and similar works, but so is the over elaboration that, to many critics, this seemed like a betrayal of the movement's original yearning to match a work's forms to its function.       

As the Art Developed

The movements geographical reach and influence on various types of media was second to none. However, despite its popularity it enjoyed very few moments in which all artistic elements came together as a coherent whole.  This celebration can be most vivid and claimed as comprehensive during the Paris Expo 1900.    

The nearer towards the end of the first decade of the 20^th century, the more its popularity started to be abandoned.  In spite of its doctrine as mentioned previously of “form should follow function” which was central to its ethos, some designers began to break the code and tended to over elaborate its use of decoration. (as seen before with for example with Gustav Klimt). As the style mature any artists began to revert back to the very old habits it had initial scorned.   Ultimately, it had practically reverted back to swapping the old for the superficially new.  This lead to the style going out of fashion and making way to the birth of Art Deco in the 1920’s.

 

A bit about Alfons Mucha: 

“Mucha set the flora motifs moving away for cheret and Toulouse more subtle representations.  His dominant theme was a central female figure surrounded by stylized forms derived from plants and flowers, Moravian folk art, Byzantine mosaics, and even magic and the occult. Exotic and sensuous while retaining an aura of  innocence,they express no specific age, nationality, or historical period. His stylized hair patterns became a hallmark of the era in spite of detractors who dismissed

this aspect of his work as “noodles and spaghetti.”–

The further development of French art nouveau  pg.213 (Meggs & Purvis, 2012)

Bibliography

Meggs, P. B. & Purvis, A. W., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc..

Yamauchi, S., 2011. Art Nouveau Style. [Online]
Available at: http://cefiro.main.jp/Art_Nouveau_Style.html
[Accessed 15 January 2015].

Presentation

Gesamtkunstwerk

[guh-zahmt-koo nst-verk]

(Jugendstil)

"total works of the arts“

- equal importance to all forms of art

- craft-based arts = paintings/sculture

But when did it all start?

•            Some claim Vincent van Gogh

•            Others say perhaps the lithographs of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, such as La Goule at the Moulin Rouge (1891).

However many point to the origins of Art Nouveau at a book cover of Wren’s City Churches by

Arthur Mackmurdo

As seen here in the image below the design depicts serpentine stalks of flowers combining into one large, whiplashed stalk at the bottom of the page. Clearly reminiscent of Japanese Style wood block prints.

The Vienna Secession

•       United in 1897

•       For the means of unity to break free from old traditions and popularise Art Nouveau.

•       A collective of visual artists, decorators, sculptors, architects, crafts person, designers and jewellers.

•       Arguably the most prolific and influential of the secessionists was painter Gustav Klimt.

Gustav Klimt, creator of Hope II and The Kiss (both 1907-08). The elaborate decorations in his paintings, including gold and silver leaf, and rhythmical abstractions, make them some of the most widely revered examples of the style

The World's Fair in Paris -1900

Art Nouveau style was present in all its forms.

Of particular note was the construction and opening of the Grand Palais in 1900, a

building containing an interior glass dome that clearly adopted the Art Nouveau style