Saturday 7 January 2012

Overview

Modernism was an attitude towards modern life in favour of universal needs. Reinvent society and redefine human values and ideas, rejecting the past as a model for the art of the present. Geometrical forms, elimination of ornamentation, aesthetics and simplicity are some of the characteristics of a modernist piece. In the Russian Revolution 1917 visual communication became a priority, a tool to speak to people, starting with the propaganda of Constructivism where artists as El Lissitzky began having a responsibility towards society. The dutch movement 'De Stijl' simplified the visual composition to primary colours, black and white and vertical and horizontal directions. The school Bauhaus develop a new approach towards design, combining arts, crafts and design, that traveled across the world, giving importance to functionality, context and content. Bauhaus ideas inspired Jan Tschichold with the book 'Die neue Typographie' limited all fonts but sans-serif and made a kind of Modernist design rules. After Second World War, design became a part of the rebuilt the world somehow. This is the period when high modernism starts. Use of grids and sans-serif typefaces are some characteristics of 'Swiss Style'. Emil Ruder and Armin Hoffman spread around the world this new approach with their manuals. Helvetica emerge in this period becoming the one of the 'modern' typeface, and it is still using a lot in the present time. Wim Crouwel reinterpreting Swiss and Der Stijl ideas found that the designer can solve problems through research and analysis.

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