Design through the Ages
Unit 1 Outcome 3
• Our ancestors who drew on cave walls,
often depicting hunting scenes.
• The first known use of graphic symbols for
communication was by the Sumerians in
Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), around
3500 BC.
• early symbol - pictograph form,
considered the origin of written language.
The ancient Egyptians developed their
own system of visual communication
known as hieroglyphics - pictograph form.
• Map making/cartography is as old as
civilisation. Early forms of maps were
scratched into rocks. The ancient Greek
civilisation developed mathematical ways
of mapping the earth.
One significant attempt at
arranging images for communication was the
handwritten copy of the bible, called the Book
of Kells, which was created by Irish monks in
800#AD.
It is a good example of how images were used
with written words to convey messages and
bible stories.
Printing technology was developed in the
fourteenth century by Johannes Gutenberg. He
invented the Gutenberg printing press, which
allowed individual letters and decorative images
to be re-used. The Gutenberg press produced the
first printed book.
In the nineteenth century, the graphic design
evolution was boosted through book publishing
and the distinction between fine art and visual
communication design evolved.
The twentieth century produced many design
styles and eras that still influence modern
design today. Many of today’s designers use
characteristics and features from past eras in
their work. Understanding design history can help
develop skills in analysing visual communications,
provide a research starting point for a design brief,
influence the way we use elements and principles
in our own work and assist in creating our own
design style, which may be influenced by a
favourite design era or designer within that era.
Key Design Eras
Arts and Crafts 1850–1914
- a movement based on simple forms, patterns and textures. Designers
focused on domestic items and used simple plant forms and organic
shapes in their designs.
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It was heavily influenced by the writing of
John Ruskin as a reaction to the mechanical
style of the industrial revolution and also to
the intricate and elaborate style of the
Victorian era.
decoration was based on plant forms,
natural rhythm of organic shapes and
flowers.
Leaf motifs and heart shapes
Some Australian designers including
furniture makers embraced this
style and used Australian timbers in their
designs.
Key designers from this era include:
William Morris
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Frank Lloyd Wright
Aesthetic Movement – “purely beautiful”
The Aesthetic movement was heavily inspired
by Japanese culture and the art form of Japanese
woodcuts. The movement was focused on the
natural, and the beautiful mixing of Anglo and
Japanese style.
Key designers from this era include:
- Aubrey Beardsley
- James Abbott McNeil Whistler
Art Nouveau c. 1890 – 1910
- The beginning of the twentieth century was a
time of ‘new art for a new century’.
- a style of decoration and architecture
characterised by the flowing depiction
of leaves and flowers. It started in Paris in the
1890s and continued through to World War I. Art
Nouveau was inspired by natural forms and
structures, not
only in flowers and plants, but also in curved
lines.
- The flowery, ornate style developed overnight
in 1894 by Alphonse Mucha who produced a poster
for the actress Sarah Bernhardt.
- the original masterpiece of Art Nouveau
poster design: with its decoration, swirls and ornate
design, it was a reaction against Modernist ideals.
- The poster art craze spread to America and around
Europe, and although local in style the distinct
characteristics of the era remained.
Decorative motifs, formed by dynamic flowing lines,
were the characteristics of this period. Art Nouveau
was applied to architectural forms, painting, poster
art, sculpture and other design forms.
Key designers from this era include:
- Charles Rennie Mackintosh
- Victor Horta
- Alphonse Mucha
- Hector Guimard
- Aubrey Beardsley
- Bram Van der Velde
Modernism:
Modernism is a design aesthetic that developed in the early part of the
20th century. It reflected the “Zeitgeist” or ‘spirit of its age’. Rising from
the bleakness of wars modernism was optimistically underpinned by the
utopian social ideals. Modernists rejected decorative motifs in favour of
clean, functional forms. Surface decoration was minimally used.
Modernism was characterised by the use of modern materials such as
steel and glass, the application of abstract forms, the manipulation of
space and a conservative colour palette. Dominated by whites, greys and
black.
“Less is More”
Futurism 1909 - 1930
- an artistic and social movement originated in Italy in the early twentieth century.
- It emphasised contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technological
progress and youth, and objects such as the car, the aeroplane and the
industrial city.
- Inspired by Cubism
- Used repetitive lines and angles in images
meant to capture a dimension of time within
a frame
- Brilliant colour
- Explored bold, complex,
- Fragmented typography, shapes and icons.
Not unusual to use 20 typefaces on a page
and up to 4 colours – demonstrated
expressive power
Key Designers:
Giacomo Bella
Carlo Carra
Umberto Boccioni
Dada 1916 - 23
Dada, or Dadaism, is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during
World War 1. The movement involved visual arts, literature, poetry, art manifestos, art
theory, theatre and graphic design. Dada was intended to provoke an emotional
reaction from the viewer (typically, shock or outrage). The Dadaists influenced
graphic design by creating imagery that was unconventional in composition and included
chance results or accident as a means of production and technique.
Dada artists produced works that had a cynical attitude toward social
values and were, at the same time, irrational — absurd and playful, emotive and
intuitive, and often cryptic.
De Stijl 1917 -1931
De Stijl, which is Dutch for ‘The
Style’, was a Dutch artistic movement
founded in 1917.
- De Stijl sought to express a new ideal of
harmony and order.
- abstraction and minimised design
to the essentials of form and colour;
- simplified visual compositions
by using vertical and horizontal
directions, and used only primary
colours along with black and white.
- Decoration and ornamental design
was rejected and the designers of
this period focused on simplification
of forms. The fundamental principle
of the geometry of the straight line,
the square and the rectangle was
combined with strong asymmetrical
composition
Piet Mondrian
Key designers: Theo van Doesburg, Gerrit Rietveld, Bart Van der Leck, Mondrian
Art Deco 1920 -1939
-an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished
Internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. It is characterised
by streamlined geometric shapes.
Art Deco represented the style of the Machine Age, replacing Art Nouveau’s flowing
floral motifs with streamlined geometric shapes and designs that represented
power, speed and modern technology.
Art Deco took its inspiration from a variety of art movements, including Cubism and
Futurism.
Simplification and abstraction were the hallmarks of Art Deco; its style was used in
architecture, interior design, industrial design, fashion design and graphic arts.
Themes to represent the emerging Machine Age included modern aviation,
electrical lighting, the radio, the ocean liner, the car and the skyscraper. Art Deco is
characterised by the use of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, inlaid wood
and lacquer.
The use of bold stepped forms and the sunburst motif are typical Art Deco features.
Geometric curves including zig zag design and fountain shapes were evident.
Some of these motifs are so famous that they are
significantly distinctive in skylines around the world.
Geometric shapes and line as dominant design elements. The exaggeration of scale
in both posters was a design principle employed to demonstrate the technology
available at the time. Lightning flashes and bold line work were also employed in
these posters to create a sense of power, glitz, glamour and wealth (The Great
Gatsby).Opulent, lavish style, a reaction to the hardships of WW2
Key Designers: Cassandre, Van Alen, Jean Carlu, Legrain, Fortuny, Proctor, Burley
Griffin, Jardine
Bauhaus 1919 – 1933
The Bauhaus movement was one of the most important design movements of the
twentieth century in Germany in the 1920s
and early 1930s. Bauhaus means ‘Building School’, and it was the name of a German
institution that combined crafts and fine arts, and was famous for publicising and
teaching its approach to design. The style of the school was characterised by
functional designs with no ornamentation. It pointed out the benefits of using basic
materials with no decorations. Some of the most important artists and architects of
the school were Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and László Moholy-Nagy, who founded
the Graphic Institute of Chicago and taught using the Bauhaus teaching methods.
The principles of Bauhaus design:
- to provide everything in the
contemporary house, from the most
basic household item to the complete
building.
- designers fascinated with metal, used it in
furniture design to create a new type
of beauty that relied on non-exact
forms and measurements. Steel was a
material that was uniform and precise.
One key aims of the Bauhaus
movement was to unify art, craft
and technology. The machine was
considered to be a positive influence on
architectural design, furniture design,
product design and industrial design.
Key elements of Bauhaus
- ALL caps or All lower case
- Sans serif
- Grid structure and geometric form
- Bold and primary colours