Bauhaus 1919-1933

Bauhaus logo

Bauhaus was one of the most definitive design movements of the modern age, reaching it's peak between both world wars. The Bauhaus was located in three different locations along Germany (Weimar, Dessau and Berlin). The word Bauhaus, is translated in German language, which means 'construction house' or 'building house'; even though there was no architecture as such within the first years of its existence. Bauhaus was a new type of art and design school. Historically, the  European art academies thought each design subject separately. The Bauhaus offered foundation training in many design disciplines, which they believed in verity. Understanding mass production was part of the curriculum and the school sought to develop students with art and craft whilst embracing new technologies. It was also the beginning of the art school as an alternative way of life. 

The first Bauhaus located in Weimar.

Art piece from De Stijl
Movement. 

Bauhaus initial idea was to reject the idea of decorative art and replace it with minimalism in mass production. The Bauhaus was influenced by Modernism including: Arts and Craft Movement - following the footsteps of William Morris, Art Nouveau - following the footsteps of Henry Van De Velde, Cubism, Constructivism, and the main inspiration came from De Stijl Movement which was founded by Theo Van Doesburg. The characteristics of De Stijl were the use of primary colours, horizontal and vertical lines and rectangular forms. 

  

The Bauhaus school was during the great depression right before World War 2. At that time Berlin was declared as a republic while Weinmar was Neutral politically and it was also the cultural heart of the nation. At that time Germany was a rather conservative place.

Some highlights throughout the Bauhaus history

1919 – Bauhaus founded in Weinmar, Germany under the influence of Walter Gropius.

1921 – Theo Van Doesburg, the founder of De Stijl had visited the school and thought them ideas from futurism, constructivism, surrealism and also dada. Bauhaus also starts to offer more varied courses. Women were also allowed to enroll.

1923- Johannes Itten was replaced by Moholy-Nagy who introduced typography.

1924- Bauhaus moved to Dessau because of funding problems.

1926- The Bauhaus at Dessau was finished being built.

1928- Walter Gropius has resigned along with Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Herbert Bayer. Hannes Meyer became the director of Bauhaus.

1930- Ludwig Meis Van Der Rohe took over Meyer's and became the director of the school.

1931-1933 - Van Der Rohe dismissed things from the curriculum. Due to lack of funds the Dessau Bauhaus was closed. Van Der Rohe moved the school to Berlin and it only lasted for a short period of time.

1933- The Nazis closed the school.

1933-onwards) – Moholy-Nagy established the Bauhaus in Chicago which is now called the The Institute of Design.

The Bauhaus focused on intense form, absolute clarity, and also distinctive visual identity. The Bauhaus characteristics are:

• Geometric, Functional and modern.
• Order, asymmetry.
• Rectangular grid structure.
• Circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, bars, and rules to unify or separate elements versus being used for decoration.
• Horizontals and verticals lines were dominant.
• Typography without capitals - San Serif.
• Introduction of flush left - rag right typography.
• Copy rotated 90 degrees.
• Only structurally essential components used.
• Elementary forms and the use of black plus one bright hue.

Some important designers within the Bauhaus movement

Joost Schmidt (1893 - 1948)

Joost Schmidt was a teacher at Bauhaus Dessau, all his students were required to attend two semesters of lettering design. Schmidt explored the structure of letters – circle, square and rectangle – and then their flexibility in terms of shape, size as well as the treatment of colour and surface. Through his teachings he drove to reform letters, which then became validated and standardized internationally.

This is a asymmetrical poster of an Exhibition for Bauhaus done in 1923 by Joost Schmidt. Probably, this is one of the best known pieces that Schmidt did. It is inspired heavily by Constructivism and De Stijl. It has vivid colours, upper case fonts in sans serif and the use of geometrical shapes. Such typography is placed at an angle and wrapping like. 

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895 - 1946)

“Typography is a tool of communication. It must be communication in its most intense form. The emphasis must be on absolute clarity.” 

                                   

                                  - Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Lazlo Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian designer  and one of the Bauhaus masters mostly associated with modern graphic design. He had a belief that art should be seen a whole, and in any means of art and crafts (sculptures, painting, architecture and poster design) should be influenced by all of the disciplines. He was fascinated with the modern age allowing him to focus on experimentation within poster design and typography.

His fascination with space and time lead him to focus on photography, leading to the theory of typophoto (combination of photography and type) which is now constantly used within advertising today.

This type of work is called typogram. Moholy-nagy made this image without a camera by placing his hand, a paintbrush, and other objects on a sheet of photographic paper by exposing it to light. He suggested that photography may incorporate and even transcend, painting as the most vital medium of artistic expression in the modern age.

This is a typophoto which is a combination of photography and type. In this case there is a combination of photography, photogram  and typography.  Initially, the contrast in colour is what catches the eye, leading to the typography. One can easily notice that the horizontal type which is place in this  poster has become a signature style within Bauhaus. The strong primary colours used contrast with the photographical elements bringing the image to life.

Herbert Bayer (1900-1985)

Within the Bauhaus, Herbert Bayer was the first master of typography. He had designed banknotes as a student at Bauhaus. Then later he became teaching at the school  and his participation led to his invention of the Bauhaus style typeface called ‘Universal’. In the late 1920s he became the director for the vogue magazine.

During the rapid inflation of the German Reichsmark in 1918 till 1924. Bayer devised a simplified banknote in which the figures could easily be adapted. Most strikingly for its time, the typeface was Venus sans-serif, where as all the other banknotes were produced in German Fraktur.

The simplicity of this typeface (Universal) is supported the ideals of the Bauhaus. Characterized by sans-serifs type, it is perfectly in line with the entire idea of ‘form follow function’.  As such typeface is made in absolute clarity it can be easily read and it is practical for the use of the whole society. 

The Bauhaus at Dessau

Bauhaus was one of the greatest design schools throughout history, where they combined art and design for everyday use. They produced multiple 3D works for mass production along with some very important breakthroughs within graphic design. One good example of this, was that they replaced decorative art with simple forms. The school contained many teachers and students alike who changed art and design history.

The Bauhaus had inspired a new movement called the ‘New Typography’. Some characteristics of this new movement were:

• Dynamic force should be present within each design.
• Asymmetrical design.
• Contrasting elements.
• No establishment, rejected decoration.
• Sans serif type in a range of weights and proportions allowed for an expressive abstract design.
• Use of negative space.
• Grid design based on underlying vertical and horizontal elements.
• Rules Bars and boxes used for structure balance and emphasis.h

In 1923 Jan Tchichold he attended an exhibition in the Bauhaus and quickly picked up the theory of functionalism in typography.

Till this day, Bauhaus movement still inspires designers toward their work. 

The traditional blue and red that Obama’s campaign materials are known for, are understated in the Berlin's poster, and a few symmetrical forms were added to help to balance out the poster and create additional visual appeal. The way the text in the poster is displayed is true to Bauhaus form, with the words being displayed in capital letters. Words are angled to form an X across the center of the page, with additional writing displayed horizontally at the bottom of the poster. The poster is a simple design that is pleasing to the eye.

This poster is created by Android, which is an operating system that is mainly used in smartphones and tablets. The poster contains bright colours, and the word 'android' is displayed at an angle, with the lines of each letter stretching to the ends of the poster. The android icon is displayed in alignment with the rest of the text and that make is it simpler and yet visually appealing modern form.

Reference

Design Schools Spawned by the Bauhaus. 2014. Design Schools Spawned by the Bauhaus. [online]  Available at: <http://www.designhistory.org/Bauhaus_pages/BauhausWomen.html> [Accessed November 2013].

Meggs, P.B., Purvis, A.W.,2006. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. 4th ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Beazley, M., Aynsley, J., eds., 2004. Pioneers of Modern Graphic Design: A Complete History. London: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.

Whitford, F., 1984. Bauhaus (world of art). London: The Thames & Hudson.

Livingston, A. I., 2003. Graphic Design and Designers. London: The Thames & Hudson.