Bauhaus
A building school ”Architecture, Interior Design, Graphic Design, Industrial Design & Typography”
Joining fine arts + arts & crafts. Walter Gropius
Philosophy: Push students to explore art and design in new directions
- Absence of Ornamentation (get rid of the things that don’t matter)
- Harmony of Function + Form united
- Harmony of craftsmanship & Mass Production
Bauhaus didn’t keep things simple because it was pretty, they kept things simple because it was a holistic view on the entire production process. Design isn’t something you can add: It’s the whole thing from start to finish.
1933: Ruined by the nazis as many of the artist involved weren’t of German origin and were deported, imprisoned or killed.
Design isn’t how something looks, it’s how something works. (in harmony with its appearance)
De Stijl
Architectural movement and an avant-garde visual art movement. A “Utopian perception of spiritual harmony” Reduction of elements into pure geometric forms and primary colours.
Purely abstract. The paintings were fairly simple. Simple visual compositions consisting primarily of just vertical and horisontal lines. Basic shapes like squares or rectangles in primary colours in additions to black and white.
Van Doesburg moved to Weimar, Germany, with the hope of impressing the director of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius. While Gropius didn’t directly oppose to his ideas, Van Doesburg was not accepted to the Bauhaus faculty. He reacted by opening his studio directly next to the Bauhaus.
Swiss Movements
also referred to as the international style was all about simplicity, legibility and objectivity. It was founded in Germany, Russia and the Netherlands, in the 1920s. It was perhaps best known for combining photography and typography in the 50s. Perfections is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to remove.
The strongest characteristics of the Swiss style typography, is the use of sans-serif typefaces such as Akzidenz Grotesk and Helvetica neue. It showed more attention to detail and the use of grid system. And by combining typography and photography (clear text makes it easy to read and easy to understand the message).
The swiss style can be defined as authentic pursue for simplicity. The principle: Forms follow functions. Most of the swiss style craft is devoted to the minimal of elements of style, such as typography and content layout, rather then textures and illustrations.
The Reflected Journal 