Graphic Design History- Part 2

ART DECO

The art deco style emerged around 1919 and continued until the 1920s and 1930s, although the name ‘Art Deco’ emerged much later. WWI had put an end to the previous Art Nouveau style. The romantic, optimistic style no longer appealed and people considered it to be in appropriate.  However, as the war ended, people were again looking for something fresh to mark a new era. It was about luxury and opulence and it emphasised a change in the world. The movement affected arts, fashion and had a massive influence on graphic design which still continues today.  The Art deco style was particularly popular in America.

Like Art Nouveau it was influenced by the rest of the world, for example archaeological digs (Egyptian art) and Aztec and Mexican art.  Art deco was much more geometric in design, unlike the sweeping lines of the Art Nouveau movement.  The influence of Chinese and Japanese art was also seen in the art style as it had been previously.  African influences could also be seen in the style as people wanted to portray themselves as well traveled.  The style was youthful, featuring bold, bright colours, zigzag lines and patterns.  It responded well to the requirements of mass production.  There were major cultural shifts at this time that were reflected in the style. In this period women were given the vote in many countries and there was a new era of freedom and liberation for women. Women cut their heart, shortened their skirts, went out drinking and they wanted to be seen as more masculine.  The famous ‘flapper’ style emerged on the fashion scene.

This period was also an age of machinery and as the economy flourished, so did the luxury goods market and glamorous lifestyle. There was also growth of Hollywood and the popularity of celebrities, which influenced people’s spending and lifestyle goals. Improved industrial technology also made mass production easier and design assessable to all.

One major development of the era was the invention of the printing press in the 1920s, making it easy to mass produce books and magazines and this saw major growth in advertising. The advertising agency also emerged in this period. Adverts became stylised and began to reflect an ideal.  The use of imagery of beautiful women emerged in packaging design, something we still see today.  Art deco style travel posters are common because people began to have more leisure time again and began travelling abroad. The suntan became fashionable for the first time.  Because Art deco relied heavily on people having wealth, the coming of the great depression saw the beginning of the decline of the Art Deco style.  The optimism that had fueled the art deco movement began to fall apart. Also designers began to feel that what they were doing was no longer fresh.  Also with WWII looming people felt that the extravagant opulence of the movement was no longer appropriate and Art Deco died out with the outbreak of WWII in 1939.  Art Deco style still influences a lot of design today, for example geometric typography which is still widely used today. 

BAUHAUS

Bauhaus emerged at the same time as Art Deco. While Art Deco was a global global movement, it didn’t have a definitive style, unlike Bauhaus.

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 in Germany. The objective was to be more democratic and to combine all the different fields of art. It was a revolutionary school which had an extensive curriculum where students could explore all different crafts and materials.  The workshop style of learning was revolutionary at the time. Craft skills were taught by master crafts men while design was taught by artists.  It attracted a certain kind of politically radical student.

Key events such as the German revolution (1918-1919), the signing of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the Kapp Putsch rebellion (1920), hyperinflation (1923) and pressure on the Bauhaus school from the Nazis, are influenced the emergence and style of the Bauhaus movement. At a time when Germany was struggling, Bauhaus wanted to make design accessible and functional to all.

At this time people didn’t want decoration but functionality. The designers were influenced by Art Deco, Modernism and Deutscher Werkbund (German designers organisation). Bauhaus designs are simple in style, stripped back but still aesthetically pleasing. Primary colours were used heavily and mass production methods were utilised.  Like Art Deco, Bauhous was also about simplicity and geometric shapes. Furniture was engineered and Metals replaced wood. Photography was seen as a means to communication not just as an art form. The influence of Bauhaus is still seen today in architecture and simple functional interiors.

The Bauhaus school was eventually crushed by the Nazi regime because they disliked the ideology and ideals that were emerging from it. The persecution of the Bauhaus by the Nazis actually aided the spread of the Bauhaus style, especially in places like Chicago in USA.

COMPARISON

The Bauhaus and Art Deco movements were opposing in their theories, styles, materials and methods of design. Art deco made luxury items for a small privileged clientele, while the Bauhaus designed for the mass market. The Bauhaus sought to get rid of class divisions that existed between the craftsman and the artists, uniting them together. In its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour and exuberance, while Bauhaus focused on functionality and simplicity.  The Art Deco style was decorative and ornate, drawing inspiration from the former Art Nouveau movement, while the Bauhaus style was minimalistic, simple and design was dictated by the function of the piece.

There are however, some similarities between the two movements. Both used traditional craft skills but embraced modern production methods. There are also some similarities in design features, such as the use of bold bright colours, geometric shapes, sans serif typefaces and streamline simple forms.

I would argue that the Bauhaus movement had the biggest impact on modern design because many of the ideologies of the movement are what informs designers of today. For example, designers of today are much more aware of user experience, sustainability and innovation in the design process. Modern design is not just about aesthetics but much more about functionality and suitability of design for mass production. This revolution in design originated in the Bauhaus school. The design of road signs and furniture were heavily influenced by the Bauhaus and are still used today because of their functionality. The 'Ikea' brand is one of the biggest examples of a modern day empire that followed the Bauhaus legacy, specialising in simple, affordable flat-packed furniture. Another way that I believe that Bauhaus impacted modern design is in its revolutionary teaching methods, combining different fields of arts and crafts. In many artist establishments today, students still cover many areas of art and design before specialising in a particular one, just as in the Bauhaus school.