Design Styles

The Arts and Crafts movement began as a British decorative-arts movement in the second half of the 19th century. 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. The Arts and Crafts movement was based on simple forms, natural patterns and textural materials. It opposed mass production and encouraged the use of hand-crafted design and traditional craftsmanship. Designers focused on domestic items such as kettles, kitchen dressers and curtains.

Arts and Crafts decoration was based on plant forms and the natural rhythm of organic shapes and flowers. Leaf motifs and heart shapes were used regularly to enhance patterns on textiles, including rugs, embroidery and wallpapers. 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.

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. It mainly influenced domestic objects and interiors. The word 'aesthetic' simply means 'purely beautiful'.

Key designers from this era include:

• Aubrey Beardsley

• James Abbott McNeil Whistler.

The beginning of the 20th century was a time of 'new art for a new century'. Art Nouveau is French for 'New Art', and it was 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 when Alphonse Mucha produced a poster for the actress Sarah Bernhardt. This first piece by Mucha was 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 Velde.

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasised and embraced contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technological progress and youth, and objects such as the car, the aeroplane and the industrial city. It was mainly an Italian phenomenon but influenced other European countries. Futurism was inspired by the

development of Cubism, but used repetitive lines and angles in images meant to capture a dimension of time within a frame. Brilliant colours and flowing brush strokes created the illusion of movement.

Futurism explored bold, complex and fragmented typography, shapes and icons. It wasn't unusual to use 20 typefaces with three to four colours on a page. This demonstrated expressive power. It has had a significant influence not only on poetry but also on graphic design and how we look at and treat typography today.

The image in Figure 3.15 captures the sense of movement typical of the Futurism style.

Key designers for this era include:

• Giacomo Balla

• Carlo Carra

• Umberto Boccioni.

Dada, or Dadaism, was a movement within the arts (including performing arts and literature) that began in Zurich, Switzerland. Dada was heavily influenced by other avant- garde movements including Cubism and Constructivism, which are also discussed in this chapter. The style of Dada is documented in literary circles such as poetry, performing arts and the arts - photography, graphic design, sculpture, collage and painting. The movement came to a conclusion with the establishment of Surrealism. The meaning of the word 'dada' in French is 'hobbyhorse'; however, the term also sounds like the early words of a child and in other languages it would mean nothing. The idea was that the group was against conventions and the standards of society, including the very nature of artistic movements. Their anti- authoritarian beliefs included opposing any form of group leadership, especially those associated with World War I.

At Dada's core is a sense of mockery of materialistic and naturalistic attitudes. The artworks produced were not primarily about creating aesthetically pleasing objects and Dada was one of the first art movements that was about producing artworks that questioned the role of the artist, how the art was perceived in society and, ultimately, what was the purpose of art. Dada artists made famous the 'ready-made'; they presented everyday objects with little manipulation as artworks, forcing the viewer to question the very definition of what art is.

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. Graphic design work often incorporated technologies, text and imagery from newspapers, films and advertisements that documented the times. Bravely experimental in their approach, they often used unorthodox materials and techniques including collage and photomontage. Graphic designers used a lot of expressive typography (including lots of different sizes within the one composition), with large areas of white space (ground) and heavy use of photomontages often randomly placed on the one page. movement made a huge impact on the way that typography, form and colour were used in printed and published material.

Dada artists produced works that had a cynical attitude towards social values and were, at the same time, irrational - absurd and playful, emotive and intuitive, and often cryptic. The intention was often to shock. 

Key designers for this era include:

• Marcel Duchamp

• Kurt Schwitters

• Raoul Hausmann.

De Stijl was an artistic movement founded in Amsterdam in 1917 that influenced painters, sculptors and many other areas, including literature, music, architecture, and industrial and graphic design. The name 'De Stijl' means 'the style' in Dutch and was partly a response to World War I and the decorative style of Art Deco. The movement is sometimes defined as abstract with the core elements focused on geometric forms and primary colours. When you at the art and design work produced by this movement, you will notice precision, straight lines, squares, rectangles and

a heavy use of primary colours with black and white. Unlike Art Deco and Art Nouveau, decoration and ornamental design was rejected and the designers of this movement focused on the simplification of forms.

Key designers for this era include:

• Gerrit Rietveld

• Theo van Doesburg

• Vilmos Huszar

• Piet Mondrian.

Constructivism was a movement that was played out in art, design and architecture. Appearing after World War I, artists and designers had a similar belief to that of the Dada movement - a rejection of the idea of art for art's sake and the traditional bourgeois (middle class) society for which art was traditionally created. With their anti-war values and beliefs, the artists of this time wanted to rebuild society as one that opposed war. During this time, graphic design ranged from political posters, logos, book covers and advertisements.

Many of these posters were propaganda posters. Propaganda posters were commonly used in wartime as a means of seeking support or donations of time, or as a means of recruitment.

Key designers for this era include:

• Alexander Rodchenko

• El Lissitzky.

Art Deco replaced Art Nouveau after World War I as the major international decorative style, and continued until World War II. 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. Design elements from the 'exotic' cultures of Egypt, Assyria and Persia were also used.

Simplification and abstraction were the hallmarks of Art Deco; its style was used in architecture, interior design, industrial design, fashion design and graphic arts.

Some of the more obvious style concepts included using themes to represent the emerging Machine Age. These themes 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, sunburst motifs, geometric curves including zigzag design and fountain shapes were typical characteristics of Art Deco design. Some of these motifs are so famous that they are significantly distinctive in skylines around the world. The top of the Chrysler building in New York is an example. Sometimes modern designers use these motifs to create an Art Deco feel in their work.

Art Deco was an opulent style, and its lavishness was a reaction to the hardship of World War I. Its rich and festive style was used in building interiors and exteriors, cinemas, ocean liners such as the Queen Mary, train stations, cars and trains. Many objects were influenced by this design style, including radios, the Kodak Brownie camera, mirrors, shoes and fashion.

The posters in Figure 3.24 represent the true Art Deco style and demonstrate many of the characteristics associated with the style. The posters display extensive use of geometric shapes and line as dominant design elements. The apparent 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. 

Key designers for this era include:

• Adolphe Mouron (known as Cassandre)

•  Frank Lloyd Wright

• Eileen Gray.

Modernism is a term used by art historians to describe a succession of eras or movements from the 1950s onwards. In reference to art and design, it is a term used to describe an era of Western art and literature that began around 1850. The belief or attitude of many artists and designers of this period was to reject all styles of the past and to focus upon new and innovative styles that explored different techniques and use of materials and media.
Some of the developments or styles that appear under the heading of Modernism include:

• Minimalism

• Abstract Expressionism

• Surrealism

• Dada

• De Stijl

• Constructivism

• Cubism

• Fauvism

• Post-impressionism.

Modernism was also a response to technological change, and artists and designers moved away from including decorative elements as found in eras like Art Deco. Specifically, designers believed that form should follow function and therefore put great emphasis on the style and aesthetics of good form. They aimed for high-functioning design and, with at times a limited colour palette, producing objects that fitted in with a modern lifestyle.

The boom period for graphic design was after World War II, especially in the United States. World economies were recovering and this increased the demand for advertisements and packaging. Printing technology and the availability of media and materials to enhance designs led to a boom in visual communications and design concepts. People in Western countries had more money to spend, so product advertising was significant. To promote the idea of modernity, simple appliances became affordable and new products such as razors, aerosol cans and cars were being advertised.

This movement refers to a group of architects and designers (around the world) who’s ought to create functional designs incorporating stylised geometric forms, similar to the aesthetics of the Bauhaus. The name came from an important exhibition held in New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in 1932 titled ‘International Style: architecture since 1922’. Architects and designers incorporated aspects of Modernism into their work.

Along with this movement came the International Typographic Style also known as the Swiss Style. During this period there became a clear distinction between fine arts and design with new directions in design such as the use of grids (a mathematical approach to designing layout of information) and the arrival of some of the most famous and influential typographers.

Key designers for this era include:

• Adrian Frutiger and his typeface ‘Univers’

• Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann and ‘Helvetica’

• Ernst Keller

• Josef Müller-Brockmann

• Saul Bass.

Graphic design grew during this period because of new developments in printing technology and photography. Design style was influenced by social, cultural and political movements, such as the peace movement in the 1960s and 'flower power'. Visual communications were reaching more people through magazines, album covers, newspapers and photography.

The development in printing and subsequent improvement in colour printing allowed for bolder and more creative design styles. Design styles were influenced by the fine arts movements of Pop Art and Op Art. Op Art employed optical illusions based upon abstract patterns commonly produced in black and white. The style took off and was used in fashion and the media. For many, the style was a perfect fit for an age where technology and science were advancing (aerospace, computing and television), though art critics thought it all a bit gimmicky. Some suggested it was an abstract version of Pop Art.

Fashion design was the dominant expression of this style, but it also affected graphic design. Swirling colours, paisley patterns, flowers and love were part of the hippie culture, and this influenced the way that visual communications developed in the 1960s. The 1970s utilised swirls, bright contrasting colours and interesting textures to create a specific look. These bold patterns were used on wallpaper, fabrics, furnishings and furniture, and extended into all types of visual communications: album cover designs, advertising, packaging, fashion design and interior design.

Original artwork was an inspiration for visual communication and design work. The work of Andy Warhol spawned the development of advertising and logo design in the style of the art movement at the time.

Key designers for this era include:

• Andy Warhol

• Roy Lichtenstein

• Heinz Edelmann.