Bauhaus - the marriage of form and function.
To this day, Bauhaus remains one of the most influential design movements of all time, having married functional design with aesthetic pleasure to create a modern art form that could bring beauty to everyday objects and beyond.
It was a revolutionary time for graphic design. Typography, layouts, and use of shape and color were being reimagined in a way that has had a significant impact on graphic design well into the 21st century.
A Timeline of Key Events
1919- Staatliche's Bauhaus school of design founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany. The School was developed under Gropius' leadership.
1925- The Art school moves to Dessau, Germany. Gropius designed the building for the new Bauhaus Dessau himself and oversaw the move of the art school.
1928- Swiss architect Hannes Meyer becomes the director of the school as Gropius leaves the Bauhaus.
1930- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe becomes the director of the school.
1932- The school moves to Berlin.
1933- Bauhaus school closes due to Nazi pressure. However, the ideas continue to be spread by staff and artists.
The Bauhaus movement and its modernist style significantly influenced graphic design, with the experimentation and ideological shifts of the time impacting how we design to this day. There are four key graphic design areas where Bauhaus artists had an impact.
Bauhaus Movement
Typography
This was a period of reimagining typography. Fonts were taken seriously as an essential part of practical and beautiful visual communication.
There was an emphasis on typography in poster and brochure design that emerged from the time, which aligned with the principle of functionality that pervaded the movement.
Experimental Layout
In the spirit of innovation and experimentation, a new approach was taken to layout. Designers played with placing objects in new ways, experimenting with angles and white space, and using typography as the hero of a design layout.
The new approach to layout during this time created a renewed sense of freedom that would affect the future of graphic design for decades to come.
Geometric Shapes
The use of simple geometric shapes was essential in Bauhaus design philosophy, contributing to its themes of functionality and simplicity. As technology and mechanization were significant pieces in the movement, classic geometric shapes visually resembled the technological thinking that pervaded the era.
Squares, circles, triangles, solid angles, and thick lines are definitive of art and design from this period and play an essential role in graphic design today.
Primary Colors and Color Theory
Red, yellow, blue, black, and white dominate design from this period. This again comes back to the foundation of simplicity while still creating a lot of aesthetic value through vibrant colors and contrasting bold colors.
"Colorful is my favorite color," Gropius famously said, and a lot of the design that came out of the movement was strikingly colorful indeed.
Graphic designers to this day are taught about color theory and understand the importance of combining and contrasting colors for visual impact and effective communication.
To this day, Bauhaus remains one of the most influential design movements of all time, having married functional design with aesthetic pleasure to create a modern art form that could bring beauty to everyday objects and beyond.
It was a revolutionary time for graphic design. Typography, layouts, and use of shape and color were being reimagined in a way that has had a significant impact on graphic design well into the 21st century.
A Timeline of Key Events
1919- Staatliche's Bauhaus school of design founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany. The School was developed under Gropius' leadership.
1925- The Art school moves to Dessau, Germany. Gropius designed the building for the new Bauhaus Dessau himself and oversaw the move of the art school.
1928- Swiss architect Hannes Meyer becomes the director of the school as Gropius leaves the Bauhaus.
1930- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe becomes the director of the school.
1932- The school moves to Berlin.
1933- Bauhaus school closes due to Nazi pressure. However, the ideas continue to be spread by staff and artists.
The Bauhaus movement and its modernist style significantly influenced graphic design, with the experimentation and ideological shifts of the time impacting how we design to this day. There are four key graphic design areas where Bauhaus artists had an impact.
Bauhaus Movement
Typography
This was a period of reimagining typography. Fonts were taken seriously as an essential part of practical and beautiful visual communication.
There was an emphasis on typography in poster and brochure design that emerged from the time, which aligned with the principle of functionality that pervaded the movement.
Experimental Layout
In the spirit of innovation and experimentation, a new approach was taken to layout. Designers played with placing objects in new ways, experimenting with angles and white space, and using typography as the hero of a design layout.
The new approach to layout during this time created a renewed sense of freedom that would affect the future of graphic design for decades to come.
Geometric Shapes
The use of simple geometric shapes was essential in Bauhaus design philosophy, contributing to its themes of functionality and simplicity. As technology and mechanization were significant pieces in the movement, classic geometric shapes visually resembled the technological thinking that pervaded the era.
Squares, circles, triangles, solid angles, and thick lines are definitive of art and design from this period and play an essential role in graphic design today.
Primary Colors and Color Theory
Red, yellow, blue, black, and white dominate design from this period. This again comes back to the foundation of simplicity while still creating a lot of aesthetic value through vibrant colors and contrasting bold colors.
"Colorful is my favorite color," Gropius famously said, and a lot of the design that came out of the movement was strikingly colorful indeed.
Graphic designers to this day are taught about color theory and understand the importance of combining and contrasting colors for visual impact and effective communication.
Task:
Create a design in the style of Bauhaus.
This design should include shapes, colors, lines and may include text.
Start with a letter sized page in Illustrator. 8.5"x11", portrait orientation.
Choose ONE of the challenges below as criteria for your design.
Create a design in the style of Bauhaus.
This design should include shapes, colors, lines and may include text.
Start with a letter sized page in Illustrator. 8.5"x11", portrait orientation.
Choose ONE of the challenges below as criteria for your design.
CHALLENGE OPTION CONCEPT:
As an added challenge, consider another German word: ZEITGEIST. Zeitgeist is a word that comes straight from German Zeit means "time" and geist means spirit, and the "spirit of the time" is what's going on culturally, religiously, or intellectually during a certain period. A similar term is ethos. Ethos is a Greek word meaning 'character' that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Wikipedia Create your Bauhaus poster in the style of our (or your) contemporary zeitgeist. Ask yourself, How might "the spirit of our times" be defined or represented visually? Start with a letter sized page in Illustrator. 8.5"x11", portrait orientation. |
CHALLENGE OPTION: FUNCTION
To practice more functional graphic design, create your design to be used as a page in a magazine. Your design may function as an advertisement or as an editorial page. Editorial: You may choose to design a full spread or a single page. Options include laying out an article, designing a section break, or using the style to illustrate a concept as an introduction to a topic. see some examples Advertisements: check out these examples of Bauhaus/Bauhaus influenced advertisements: www.cooperhewitt.org/channel/bayer/ ncsgraphicshannahj2.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/the-bauhaus/ www.pinterest.com/pin/389842911467721197/ |
Guiding principles:
• Consider the basics of the Bauhaus style in your design:
Color, Experimental Layouts, Typography, and Geometric Shapes.
• Form and Function - How it looks and what it does.
Is your design communicating the accurate message? Is the form taking over function, or vice versa?
• Consider the basics of the Bauhaus style in your design:
Color, Experimental Layouts, Typography, and Geometric Shapes.
• Form and Function - How it looks and what it does.
Is your design communicating the accurate message? Is the form taking over function, or vice versa?