New Typography

The spread of Modernism: New Typography

Jan Tschichold (1902-74) was a typographer, book designer, teacher and writer born in germany but also lived in the later of his life. Tschichold had converted to modernist principles in 1923 after visiting the first weimar house exhibition, at the Bauhaus. Prior to the Bauhaus Tschichold wasn’t developing clean, geometric san serif rich design.He was mightily impressed by Maximillian Grotesk, a very German black letter and would use his calligraphic skills on ads for which he was commissioned.

However, post 1923 his typefaces he wanted them to be universal, to have order and unity because they make simple things beautiful. His layouts also changed to have rigorous structure and composition, favouring non centred design, an a-symetrical layout, diagonals and use of space. The form of the book - he worked for penguin in London and wrote out his own rules for layout and book design.

The first sans serif font was create way before Helvetica in 1896 - called Akzidenz Grotesk, Helvetica was not made until 1957.

In the 1950's a battle line was drawn and conflict played out in type, photography and layout. Whilst some people favoured the new, simplistic modernist view - others felt it had no personality, it was robotic.

1957 - frutiger produced universal type

Max Meidinger produces Helvetica

Conclusions:

lasting influence of objective photography on advertising and art direction.

Linked to modernism and the internationalism of its designers and their faith in industry.

Designers

Herbert Matter

Matter (1907-84) was a swiss born American photographer and graphic designer. He is best known for his pioneering work with photomontage within commercial art and design. He went to the United States in 1936 and was hired by legendary art director Alexey Brodovich. Work for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and other magazines followed. From 1946 to 1966 he was design consultant with Knoll Associates.

Walter Herdeg

Herdeg (born 1908-95) in Zurich Studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich under Ernst Keller. From 1938 onwards: Grafisches Atelier und Werbeberatung Amstutz & Herderg in Zurich. From 1942 onwards: editor and designer for “Graphis” magazine and from 1952 for “Graphis Annual” and further publications on applied design. 1986 he was presented with awards by Parson’s School of Design and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).

His work is known for use of structure, repetition, strong diagonals, page structure, Brochures/ magazines. He also experimented with colour photography. Herderg’s legacy is now recognized as the basis for contempory publisher. . He was a better publsher than designer.

Spread of Modernism / Typo-graphics

Typo-graphics

Within advertising and new modern movement - designers were increasingly using photography and typography together. They felt that photography provided a substitute world, reality and adds information and explanation. Therefore designers combined typography and photographs, typo-foto being the main way to communicate, with underlying grid structures and proportion to create a sense of beauty.

Spread of Modernism/ New Photography

'Old photography' was painterly, quaint. 'New photography' was using photography as an effective visual statistic. It was very much linked to advertising and art direction. They were used to give visual direction, the look or feel of a campaign or magazine. Within advertising the products were also being made to look more glamorous using women to sell the products. The product was the foreground, with the factual information and few or no words. Photographs were used in journals : Walter Cyliaz (1933)

Hans Neuberg (1904-1983) was a swiss modernist designer. With the piece above from the 1960's where it shows woman being used as the product, using beauty to sell. Neuberg is also one of the pioneers of the International style, along with Brockmann.

1930's onwards:

Was the golden age of photographic Illustration. Techniques of a new vision were employed by designers, use of a single and centred images. De-familiarisation.

Designers

Bill/Ballmer

Characteristics of the designers work of this time was a focus on constructivism, building blocks, grids, squares and circles. Designers felt that they could create beauty through proportion and geometric form.

"The grid is a proportional regulator, creating beauty through proportions' - Walter Herdeg (ran an advertising agency)

Theo Ballmer

Theo Ballmer (1902-65) was best known for his posters, but also worked as a photographer, typographer, teacher and lettering designer. He left switzerland to go to the Bauahuas, but only once he was established as a designer. One of his professors was Ernst Keller, while he studied at Zurich Kunstgerbertschule.

Max Bill

Bill (1908-94) was a Swiss architect, painter, typographer and graphic designer who studied at the Bauhaus until the late 1920's when he moved to Zurich to become a teacher and prime member of the Allianz group of Graphic designers

Modernism and Swiss Photographics

Systems/ Grids and Creative Methodologies

Above are two posters by Josef Muller-Brockmann 1960

Covered in this lecture was the spread of modernism in photography and design. The rise of art for industry and the golden age of photographic illustration.

Historical Context

To put this new era of design in its historical context, it was a time when things were being produced to be efficient and effective within industry. From the 1920's onwards there was arise in the industrial process. Everything was being produced in parts, cars, objects, machinery in order to be economically cost effective. It was rapidly becoming a mechanical culture.

Designers were focused on precision, efficiency in the use of time and space, systems" typographic and photographic, grids, objectivity and Taylorism. The work was not hand-rendered and pictorial but modernist, scientific and objective. It was around this time it was decided that paper was to be standardised.

The opposition to this however, was that people were becoming to controlled. That everything was becoming robotic and similar, there was no natural, pictorial elements that made work more personal.

great website for extra research : swiss grafik

Bauhaus

The Bauhaus is something which i researched into for my art foundation in detail and own a few books covering the subject. It was founded by architect Walter Gropius in 1919 and formed the bases of how art schools should work and is also where the model of an 'art foundation' was originally derived from.

The school was focused on certain design principles and wanted their students to be socially useful. What can you do for society? The first ever fitted kitchen came out of the Bauhaus; they thought that art was for industry, that designers should be productive artists.

The visuals were very much based on white space, geometric lines, being dynamic, a-symmetrical layout and constructivist ideas. It also encouraged cross-disciplines.

The brochure was designed by Herbert Bayer, who is also known for his Universal typeface and use of San Serif. When the Nazi's came to power however, the school was shut down in 1929. Bayer promoted the use of the photographic image as this was seen as being more modern.

El Lissitszy, Neville Brody and Moholy Nagy.

Lissitsky, (first image the constructor 1925) used photography as a means of creating a new image. 'I am a photographer, these are my tools, when you construct, you build'. He was very much interested in finding basic elements and bringing these together. He was a revolutionary, wanting to change things who wanted to used advertising to speak to people. His work is recognised for its strong graphic shapes and basic use of colour (red, white and black) such as in his piece 'beat the whites with the red wedge'.

'to design advertising means to be a social artist'. - El lissitsky

Neville Brody

Another pieces is by Neville Brody (the face 1984) which distinctively draws influence from the constructivist style of Lissitzsy - black and red, use of basic shape and reduced down elements.

Moholy Nagy

Moholy-Nagy - a hugarian born artist (1923-28) was an artist associated with the Bauhaus - which i shall cover later, of which he taught the metal workshops. During this time however, the Nazi's in Berlin were killing the Jews and subsequently in 1934, he left Germany for Amsterdam and the following year moved to London before coming in 1937 to the United States where he would found schools in Chicago based on Bauhaus principles.

His work was very much focused on geometry, perspectives and viewpoints. Around that the time of the new regimes, he was also interested revelution meant to artists and designers and how we can use design to create a better place.

Modernist

A word used alot to describe the new wave around this time was modernist, to be modernist was to have a new vision. The aim was to forge a new future, to be true with your own materials and to explore. Such as artists like Lissitzy and Nagy, experimenting with the use of photography, light and photograms. It was a period focused on technology and mechanical precision. A graphic economoy, keep it simple.

European Design

Although im currently into the fourth lecture so far, i feel i need to backlog all my previous sessions - incase i need to look back at other designers and to keep a sense of consistency running throughout.

The Bauhaus/ Constructivism and the Graphic Diaspora

The era covered during this session was mainly around the 1910/ 1920's.
Constructivism was based around Russia & Europe
The Bauhaus in America and Germany (Berlin)
Diaspora = a movement of, settling of people that may not only move them selves, but spreading there culture.

In context:

In the 1920's there was a big cafe culture where urban intellectuals would gather. A fall of the old regime and people gathering to discuss changes - the aristocracy loosing power. Cities were the new place to be.

There was a rise in new regimes (weimer) and social transformation. A sense of wanting to change the world (internationalism). Capitalism, Marxism and socialism.

Contents

So, to run alongside my theoretical studies - i've decided to create a blog which will record my notes and thoughts/ artists biographies and general information that i find interesting; in addition to artists/ designers images which have been shown throughout the lecture. My other blog will be a more generalised journal, looking at artists/ designers that i find particular inspiring during my own research, as well as documenting bits of my own work here and there.