Bauhaus

History History of of Design Design The

Bauhaus and the New Typography

It is obvious that the machine is here to stay. Whole armies of William Morrises and Tolstoys could not expel it. . . .Let us then exploit them to create beauty while we are about it. Aldous Huxley, 1928

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Herbert Bayer Cover Design 1919-23

History History of of Design Design The

Bauhaus and the New Typography

In 1914 Walter Gropius took over the directorship of the Weiman Arts and Crafts School. The Previous director was Henri van de Velde, was an art nouveau architect. The school remained closed all during World War I. Upon the end of the war, Gropius was officially made the director of the school. Johannes Auerbach, First Bauhaus seal, 1919

History History of of Design Design The

Bauhaus and the New Typography

Gropius was premitted to rename the school, Das Staatliches Bauhaus. (The State Home for Building) After the war, the age of the Kaiser was over and their was a quest to construct a new social order.

Lyonel Feininger, Cathedral, woodcut 1919

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

The Bauhaus Manifesto

The complete building is the ultimate aim of all the visual arts. Once the noblest function of the fine arts was to embellish buildings; they were indispensable components of great architecture. Today the arts exist in isolation. . . .Architects, painters, and sculptors must learn anew the composite character of the building as an entity. . . .the artist is an exalted

craftsman. In rare moments of inspiration, transcending his conscious will, the grace of heaven may cause his work to blosom into art. But proficiency in his craft is essential to every artist. there in lies the prime source of creative imagination.

Oscar Schlemmer, Late Bauhaus seal 1922

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Gropius sought to bring together a new generation of artist both applied and fine “to breath new life into the dead products of the machine.” Gropius served as an apprentice to Peter Behrens for three years starting in 1907. Van de Velde was also an inspiration calling for the logical use of new technologies and materials of science: reinforced concrete, steel, aluminum and linoleum. Joost Schmidt, Bauhaus exhibition poster, 1923

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

The Bauhaus at Weimar

The Bauhaus was located in Weimar from 1919-1924. The new Bauhaus sought to bring together artists and craftsmen from many different disciplines such as woodworking, stained glass and metal. They sought to bring a new spirituality to design through the integration of architecture, sculpture, painting and crafts. Herbert Bayer, c over design 1919-23

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Bauhaus and the New Typography The Bauhaus at Weimar

Johannes Itten established the core of the schools education program with the preliminary course. This preliminary course was the beginning of what we call foundation in many art programs today. In 1919, Lyonel Feininger discovered the deStijl and introduced it to the Bauhaus. In 1920 van Doesburg established contact with the Bauhaus. Joost Schmidt, Offset poster, 1926

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Bauhaus and the New Typography The Bauhaus at Weimar

Gropius opposed van Doesburgs influence on the students. Van Doesburg met with students off campus. In 1923 the government forced the Bauhaus to stage an exhibition. It was internationally acclaimed and showed the schools shifting focus away from medievalism and expressionism and towards applied-design. Gropius rewrote the slogan to read, “Art and Technology a New Unity.” Bauhaus Exhibition, 1923

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

In 1923 the Hungarian constructivist, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy took over for Itten as the head of the preliminary course. With him came new materials such as acrylic, resin and plastic, as well as added interest in photography and film. Moholy-Nagy and Gropius together edited the calalog for the 1923 exhibition.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, title page 1923

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy believed in the clarity of typography with the emphasis on legibility. He wanted to create a new language of typography. He also believed in the separation of concept and execution in the production of art. In 1922-23 he ordered three paintings to be produced from his sketches by a sign painting company. Lazslo Moholy-Nagy titlepage for Broom, 1923

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s interest in photography and typography led to the invention of his typophoto where type was manipulated by photographic process. These experimental posters were a precursor to the photoprocesses that dominated graphic design during most of the 20th century until the advent of computer generated graphic design. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy tire poster, 1923

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy felt that the combination of photography and typography could free the viewer of another person’s interpretation. This new “visual literature” promoted the absolute clarity of communication without preconceived aesthetic notions. 

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Photogram 1922

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy used the camera as a tool for design. He used unconventional compositions. He experimented with the point of view. Declared the victory over painting by photography.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Chairs at Margate 1935

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Photoplastics were Laszlo MoholyNagy’s photomontages that combined images to create more than mere imitative photography.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, The World Foundation, 1927

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

The Bauhaus at Dessau

Walter Gropius, Dessau Bauhaus Building, 1925-26

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Bauhaus at Dessau

On December 26, 1924, the tension with the government in Weimar was at its peak. The Director and Masters at the Bauhaus resigned signing a letter making their resignations active on April 1, 1925. Gropius and the Mayor of Dessau moved the school to the small provincial town The new building opened in the Fall of 1926. Herbert Bayer, Bauhaus Magazine cover, 1928

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Bauhaus at Dessau

At Dessau, the identity and philosophy of the Bauhaus came to full fruition. The de Stijl and constructivist influences became obvious.

Herbert Bayer Logo for Kraus Glass 1923

The Bauhaus Corporation was founded to sell the prototypes of the Bauhaus workshops were sold to industry. Ideas from the Bauhaus influenced products from industry that were found in every day life. Herbert Bayer, Trolly Station, 1924

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Bauhaus at Dessau

In Dessau the medieval system of master/journeyman/apprentice was abandoned. The masters became known as professors. The Bauhaus Magazine began publication along with a series of 14 books. These influential publications were written, edited and designed by Kandinsky, Klee, Gropius, Mondrian, Moholy-Nagy and van Doesburg.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, brochure cover, Bauhaus Books, 1929

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Bauhaus at Dessau

Five former students were named to professors. Josef Albers taught systematic preliminary courses investigating the constructive quality of materials. Marcel Breuer headed the furniture workshop and invented tubular-steel furniture. Herbert Bayer became a professor in the new typography and graphic design workshop.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, dust jackets, Bauhaus Books, 192430

History History of of Design Design The

Bauhaus and the New Typography Bauhaus at Dessau

Herbert Bayer, banknote, 1923

Bayer ‘s workshop came up with innovative typographic designs that were functional and constructivist.

Bayer solicited private commissions from community business to help finance the workshop’s activities.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Bauhaus at Dessau

Bayer designed a typeface consistent with Gropius’s advocacy of forms following function. He did away with capital letters. Experimented with flush left type that was unjustified on the right. Sizes and weights were used to establish informational hierarchies. Bars, rules, points and squares were used to subdivide space. Herbert Bayer, universal typeface, 1925

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Bauhaus at Dessau

The poster for Kandinsky’s sixtieth birthday exhibition clearly displays the use of hierarchal systems, the use of squares, rules, points and bars. The composition was finally tilted on an angle to give the contents a dynamic yet unified effect.

Herbert Bayer, Kandinsky Poster, 1926

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

The final years of the Bauhaus

In 1928 Walter Gropius resigned to join private practice. In 1928 Bayer and Moholy-Nagy both left for Berlin. Joost Schmidt took Bayers place as master of graphic design. In 1930 Mies van der Rohe, a prominent Berlin architect, became the director. Van der Rohe’s motto was “less is more.” Joost Schmidt, Bauhaus cover, 1929

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Final Years of the Bauhaus

When Joost Schmidt took over for Bayer, there was increased interest in exhibition design. Schmidt instituted systems of panels and grids to bring functionality, versitility and unity to exhibition design.

Joost Schmidt, exhibition design for canned goods, 1930

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Final Years of the Bauhaus

In 1931 the Nazis canceled faculty contracts at the Bauhaus. Mies van der Rohe tried to run the school from an empty telephone factory in Berlin-Steglitz. The Nazi Gestapo demanded the removal of “Cultural Bolsheviks” from the school and replace them with Nazi sympathizers. On August 10, 1933 the faculty voted to close the school.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography Final Years of the Bauhaus

During the fourteen years of the Bauhaus, there were 33 faculty members and 1250 students. The Bauhaus created a viable modern movement including architecture, product design, and visual communications. The Bauhaus brought design forward as a vehicle for social change. They had profound effects on the future of education in both the fine and applied arts.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tischichold and the New Typography Much of the progress and innovation in typography in the 20th century came about as a result of the modern art movements and the Bauhaus. Jan Tischichold brought these principles to everyday practice and use. He evangelized these approaches to printers, typesetters and designers. At 21 in 1923, he attended the Bauhaus Exhibition at Weimar and was greatly impressed.

Jan Tischichold, hand lettered ad for Leipzig Fair, 1924

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

Jan Tishcichold applied the experience he received at the 1923 exhibition to his own design. He was influenced by both the Bauhaus and the Russian constructivists.

Jan Tishcichold, display poster for publisher, 1924

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

In October of 1925 Jan Tishcichold produced a supplement to the Tyoegraphische Mitteilungen called elementare typographie. His insert was highly influencial to the print industry that up until this time still held symmetrical medieval models as a standard. Elementrare typographie demonstrated asymmetrical layout. Jan Tischichold, cover for “elementare typographie,” 1925

History History of of Design Design The

Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

Jan Tischichold, “elementare typographie” 1925

History History of of Design Design The

Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

Jan Tischichold, “elementare typographie” 1925

History History of of Design Design The

Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

Tischichold’s book Die Neue Typographie advocated new ideas. He sought to start a clean style based on asymmetrical typography that was more expressive. Typography was to deliver the message in the shortest and most efficient manner. He rejected decoration for rational design planned for communication. Jan Tischichold, brochure for Die Neue Typographie, 1928

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

He argued that a dymanic force should be present in each design. He declared that type should be elementary forms without embellishment. The san serif fonts were declared the modern type. Designs were constructed on an underlying horizontal and vertical structure.

Jan Tischichold, advertisement, 1932

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

Space was given a new role as interval and structural element. Rules, bars, and boxes were often used for emphasis. The precision of photography was preferred over illustration. The new typography was to develop form from the functions of the text. In 1933 the Nazis arrested Tischichold and his wife as cultural Bolsheviks. Jan Tischichold, cinema poster for Die Hose, 1927

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

He was accused of producing unGerman typography. He remained in custody for six weeks before his release.Tischichold took his wife and son to Basel, Switzerland. In Switzerland Tischichold worked primarily as a book designer.

Jan Tischichold, Konstructivism poster, 1937

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

Tischichold began to turn away from the new typography and returned to classic fonts like roman, Egyptian and script styles. He felt that here was little room left for innovation and development.

Jan Tischichold, brochure cover, 1947

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

He felt that the new typography was a product that may have been more in line with the German attitudes that led to the war. Tischichold felt that graphic design should work in a humanist tradition that drew from the knowledge of the master typographers of the past. He felt that the new typography had its place in publicizing art and architecture; however, not suitable for some forms of publishing. Jan Tischichold, paperback book cover, 1950

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Typeface design in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Eric Gill, former student of Edward Johnston, was inspired by Johnston’s Railway Type. He created his Gill Sans series issued between 1928 and 1930. Gill Sans did not seem mechanical because it was based on roman proportions.

Eric Gill, typeface Gill Sans, 1928-30

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Typeface design in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Gills knowledge was broad and included the classic forms as well as the new typography. His first typeface for the Monotype Corporation, Perpetua, was inspired by the lettering on the Column of Trajan. His layout for The Four Gospels shows his transcendent style that combined Old Style and Transitional qualities in a strikingly modern design. Eric Gill, page from The Four Gospels, 1931

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Typeface design in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

In his Essay on Typography, Gill argued that the problems created by uneven line length was of less concern than the uneven word spacing forced with fully justified text. Gill worked at Hague and Gill, Printers using hand presses, hand-set type, handmade paper with type he created for the press. This was a public press not a private press, taking in orders from clients. Eric Gill, Essay on Typography, 1931

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Typeface design in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Starting with Bayer’s universal alphabet, there were many san serif faces designed during the 20’s. Paul Renner designed the Futura Family for the Bauer Foundry in Germany Futura contained fifteen alphabets including four italics and two unusual display fonts.

Paul Renner , Futura folder, 1927

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Typeface design in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Futura became the first widely used sans serif font used. Renner believed that each generation should find its own ways to solve graphic problems instead of looking to the past.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Typeface design in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Mystical medievalist, Rudolf Koch deisgned a very popular typeface named Kabel.

Rudolf Koch, Kabel light, 1932

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Typeface design in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Stanley Morison, typographer and advisor to the British Monotype Corporation supervised the design of the Times of London. The font, Times New Roman is to this day one of the most widely used fonts in the world. Times New Roman is standard on almost all computer desktop systems.

Stanley Morison, The London Times, 1932

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

The Isotype Movement

The Isotype movement sought to create a world visual language without words. The Isotype concept involved the creation of pictograms to convey information.

Otto Neurath, Births and Deaths in Vienna, c. 1928

Otto Neurath, the originator, was a Vienna sociologist.

books, he felt Isotypes could deliver clear communications.

Inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphs and illustrations and diagrams from

His designs were completely functional and void of decoration.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography The Isotype Movement

The name Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education) was originally called the Vienna Method. The name changed when Neurath moved to Holland in 1934. Most of the groups pictographs were designed by a woodcut artist, Gerd Arntz. By the time the group fled to England in 1940, they had an inventory of 1,140 pictographs.

Gerd Arntz, pictographs for isotypes, early 1930s

In America, Rudolf Modley, a former assistant to Neurath started the Pictorial Statistics, which eventually became, The Pictographic Corporation, a branch of the Isotype movement.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Prototype of the Modern Map

The London Underground System map produced by Henry C. Beck set forth a diagrammatic system for wayfinding. The map used a grid of horizontal, vertical and 45 degree angle lines combined with a color coding system. Henry C. Beck, map for the London Underground, 1933

The new map was found to be extremely functional. by the public.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands The influence of the modern movement and the new typography brought out personal and original in a group of new designers in the Nethlands. Dutch designer Piet Zwart created a synthesis of contradictory movements, the Dada and the de Stijl.

Piet Zwart, ad for the Laga Company, 1923

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Zwart was trained as an architect and also designed furniture and interiors prior to taking up his career in graphic design. He designed space as a “field of tension.” Piet Zwart, folder design, 1924

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Zwart’s designs for the Nederlandsche Kabelfabriek (NKF) were dynamic in the spatial relationship of type and images. Without any formal training in graphic design, Zwart was uninhibited by convention and traditional methods.

Piet Zwart, ad for NKF cableworks, 1928

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Realizing the power of the media, Zwart felt that the designer needed a strong sense of social concern for the reader. He knew that twentieth century readers were bombarded with material and need direct communications. Piet Zwart, pages from NKF cableworks catalog, 1928

He used bold type and diagonal lines to attract attention.

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Zwart, being an architect who became a typographic designer, referred to himself as a Typotekt. The typeface was analogous with the materials of construction: glass, steel, and concrete. Piet Zwart, pages from NKF cableworks catalog, 1928

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Information was arranged in a manner as to make easy to isolate primary material from secondary material.

Piet Zwart, pages from NKF cableworks catalog, 1928

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Zwart’s personal logo presents a capital letter P along with a large black square. The name Zwart means black. The logo might also relate to Malevich’s Black Square c. 1913.

Piet Zwart, personal logo, 1928

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Dutch artist H. N. Werkman is famous for his experimentation with type, ink and ink rollers for artistic expression. After World War I Werkman established a small printing firm. He used type, rules, printing ink, brayers adn the small press to produce one-of-a-kind prints called druksels. His press also produced a publication Next Call as a platform for his experiments with type. H. N. Werkman, cover of Next Call 4, 1924

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

He used the printing press as a layout pad, composing directly on the letterpress bed. He used beautiful papers and his collection of wood type to build designs in the creative process of the dadaists.

H. N. Werkman, page from the Next Call 4, 1924

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Like Lissitzky, Werkman explored type as concrete visual form as well as alphabet communication. Just prior to the liberation by the Axis powers, Werkman was murdered by the Nazis. Most of his work was destroyed during the battle.

H. N. Werkman, page from the Next Call 4, 1924

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Paul Schuitema, an educated painter during the first world war. After the war he turned graphic designer for the Berkel Company. He incorporated objective photography into his design. He spent 30 years teaching at the Royal Academy in the Hague.

Paul Schuitema, brochure cover, 1929

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Willem Sandberg a director and designer at Amsterdam museums emerged as a highly original practitioner of the new typography after World War II. While hiding out during the war he created his experimenta typographica, a series of experiments in form and space.

Willem Sandberg, experimenta typographica, 1956

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

Sandberg explored the free arrangement of text on the page. He used powerful contrasts in type to accent emphasis. He rejected symmetry and enjoyed the use of bright primary colors.

Willem Sandberg, experimenta typographica, 1956

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

Independent Voices of the Netherlands

A master of contrasts, Sandberg enjoyed using different textured and colored papers in the same production. He used scale color and edge treatments as seen here on the right.

Willem Sandberg, museum journal, 1963

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Bauhaus and the New Typography

New Approaches to Photography

The camera was seen as a communication machine for making images. Swiss designer/photographer Herbert Matter expanded the camera as a tool. He studied painting in Paris under Fernand Léger and discovered photography during his education. He worked as a photographer and typographer with Deberny and Peignot. Herbert Matter, Swiss tourism poster, 1934

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Bauhaus and the New Typography New Approaches to Photography

Matter also worked with Cassandre in poster design. At the age of 24 he moved to his native Switzerland and began work for the Swiss National Tourism Office. He was well schoolled in modernist approaches to visual organization and its techniques.

Herbert Matter, Swiss tourism poster, 1935

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Bauhaus and the New Typography New Approaches to Photography

His dynamic posters of the 30’s use montage, dynamic scale and effective typography. In his designs he used dynamic changes in scale such as in the Pontresina poster with the large head in the foregound and the small skier in the back.

Herbert Matter, Pontresina poster, 1934

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Bauhaus and the New Typography New Approaches to Photography

Walter Herdeg, Swiss graphic designer, used photography as a major portion of his designs. He went on to found Graphis magazine. Graphis is possibly the most successful and prestigious of the international design journals even to this day.

Walter Herdeg, poster for St. Moritz, 1936