From De Stijl to the Bauhaus and New Typography

De Stijl:

• Primary quality – idea that the drive for universal language of form had been narrowed down to a simple philosophy of horizontal and vertical forms -- shares the same goals as Malevich and the Suprematists.
  
• The universal laws of equilibrium and harmony in art could be a prototype for a new social order.
• Color is a structural element and not decorative or an afterthought, sans serif type favored.
  
• The design artifact was so pure, so new, and so functional; the point is that these things were not made to be used, but made to be looked at.
• Theo van Doesburg – founder and guiding force. Applied de Stijl principles to architecture, sculpture and typography.
• Piet Mondrian’s paintings adopts Malevich and the idea of pure form. Transformed himself from a Cubist to creating horizontal and vertical forms; balancing asymmetrical forms in space, and the meaning being subjective.

The idea of asymmetrical design of type and work, and how things are balanced through unequal equilibrium, is the recipe and playbook for future styles. This is the birth of the analytical system of graphic layout, especially with large amounts of type. Architecturally within de Stijl, buildings are formal and pure -- everything has been reduced to their basic form and cannot be pushed further. This is shown best by Rietveld's Schroeder House (1924), which looks much like a Rubik’s cube.


The Bauhaus (“To solve design problems created by industrialization.”) :

• Mechanism for spreading modernism through the world.
• Universal forms of design; transcend nationality and language, and thus everyone should be able to understand what is being communicated -- Little need for the unique.
• The Bauhaus was the first to tackle the challenge of the "first year experience" -- color, form, motion, and formal invention were all covered in a course, and all students were required to take it so they would understand the basics of design before they applied these basic principles in their later years.
• Moholy Nagy – single-handedly itemizes the applications of the components of the Bauhaus graphic design legacy. Creator of "Photoplastics" in which he experimented with light sources and transparency, as well as trying to figure out how to create movement within a static field.
• Advanced thinking on art theory, architecture, and design: Kandinsky, Klee, Gropius, Mondrian, Moholy Nagy, and van Doesburg were editors or authors in the series of the 14 books of the Bauhaus.
• Herbert Bayer - Architectonic forms establish a foundation for the practice of modern environmental graphics and exhibition design. Takes Bauhaus type and image in new direction – exhibition design and environmental graphics. Discovered that flush-left alignments are the most legible.

Organized after medieval “Bauhutte” apprentice system for Gothic Cathedrals, the Bauhaus was based on a community of master, journeyman, and apprentice; a hierarchy of advancement. No distinction was made between fine arts and applied arts, and nothing was nonsensical - everything was there to send a message or to solve a problem.


The New Typography

• Jan Tschichold was a true engima and thus very unique in the history of graphic design. He single-handedly came up with a way to talk about the strategies of design in a way that all countries could follow. His articulations on all the ideas of new typography were inserted in all printing houses in Europe and, later, America. His strong position on Modernism and New Typography was very interesting considering he later reversed his stance; eventually advocating freedom from modernist dogma. Hew literally began a revival in the 40s looking back past Modernism, and took on the challenge of designing many typefaces while looking at people like Garamond.
  
• The Dutch were masters of the New Typography. Designers in Holland demonstrated their implications of the New Typography as playful expressive forms plus dynamic, organized communication. It became a synthesis between playful DADA, Constructivism, tectonic strategies, and De Stijl’s structure organization for clear communication. Means and methods of commercial reproduction become tools of creativity.
• Paul Shoetema – used objective photography integrated into the total composition, then assembled it on the press bed. This style made uninteresting products and processes look exciting and dramatic for the consumer.
• Hendrick N. Werkman - Used very exploratory techniques; small presses to produce one of a kind compositions he called “druksels”.
• Piet Zwart – Father of modern corporate design who was completely self-taught. He used collage techniques with parts from the typecase and ordered words, rules, and symbols, and manipulated them to find the design. Self-proclaimed "typotecht."

The New Typography demonstrated dynamic interplays between asymmetrical typographic elements to form a field of tension and to lead the viewer through the space, calling attention to the important parts. Diverse elements unified into a design system consistently applied regardless of subject matter.