Early design movements from the mid 1700’s up to the first few decades of the 20th Century, were generally opposed to the use of machinery. There was a belief that the craftsman put his soul into the work he did; that it was unique and special for being hand-crafted.

The pre-modernists were not against the machine in principle but rather the low quality of the items produced by mechanisation.

** They never referred to themselves as ‘pre-modernist’ as modernism had not been established at that point.

Early movements sought to find shapes, symbols and patterns that were the opposite of mechanisation and the obvious influence was nature. Earthy colours and natural forms such as flowers, plants, birds etc. were prominent in this era and two main movements were established during the mid 1800’s.

Our study begins at the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace, London; an exhibition intended to show Britain how great industry was and how it would shape our future.

A summary of Art Nouveau:

• A late development of Arts and Crafts with a similar resistance to technology.

• The style became increasingly explicit/graphic (for the time).

• The style retains natural elements but became more organic and introduced more Oriental and Celtic symbolism.

• It is a style the encompassed all forms of design.

• This was the end of pre-modernism and crossed the Victorian and Edwardian era.

• Prominent materials were Hardwoods and Metal (Iron and Brass), marble and stone, fabric etc.

• Like Arts and Crafts it was founded on religious beliefs.

• Still a very ornamental and ‘busy’ style reflecting medieval values where ornament signified wealth.

Following from the Art Nouveau period and its continued rejection of mechanisation, design movements in Europe gradually began to accept mechanisation. Rather than designing objects that looked natural they began to experiment with the forms that are more easily made by machines and these were more geometric and angular.

Movements like the Weiner Werkstatte which focused on the work of artists and designers, were more interested in developing style rather than resisting progress, and this attitude in Europe would develop into some of the first modernist movements.

Essentially, they were more interested in exploring style and there was an inevitable acceptance of the machine and mechanization.

The amount of machinery developed and deployed during the Great War (1914-1918) further advanced the acceptance of the industrial machine age.

The 1920’s and 1930’s are often referred to as the International Style; a period of early modernism where the simple functional approach to design and architecture was adopted around the world.

This ‘umbrella’ title encompasses styles such as De Stijl, Bauhaus, Functionalism, Streamlining and Art Deco, all of which were developing in different countries around the same period.

It was during this period that Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered and the exotic and highly decorated contents soon influenced the world of design. Metals such as Gold, Silver, and Copper soon became common place along with rich hardwoods, stones and gems.

When we think of the Art Deco period we think of adventure and travel, fictional figures such as Indiana Jones and Poirot and those old Hollywood movie theatres, some of which are still running to this day.

It was the last major design period before the war and is considered to be the last great decorative design periods.

Key names include Clarice Cliff

Streamlining (1930’s onwards)