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CONTENT THE BAUHAUS The Bauhaus school’s core objective was a radical concept: to reimagine the material world to reflect the unity of all the arts. PAGE 4
RODIGO CASTELLARI This guy made a flabbergasting campaign for Nike and work for SAATCHI & SATTCHI. PAGE 10
WENDY VAN SANTEN You could say Wendy Van Santen’s photography is adorably quirky, possibly sassy, and maybe even reminiscent of bubble gum pop. PAGE 12
DE DESIGNPOLITIE A graphic design studio that makes, next to their commissioned work, are the initiators of Gorilla, a visual column on current affairs. PAGE 16
CONTENT
CONENT
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THE BAUHAUS
What is The Bauhaus? The Bauhaus was the most influential modernist art school of the 20th century, one whose approach to teaching, and understanding art’s relationship to society and technology, had a major impact both in Europe and the United States long after it closed. It was shaped by the 19th and early 20th centuries trends such as Arts and Crafts movement, which had sought to level the distinction between fine and applied arts, and to reunite creativity and manufacturing. This is reflected in the romantic medievalism of the school’s early years, in which it pictured itself as a kind of medieval crafts guild. But in the mid 1920s the medievalism gave way to a stress on uniting art and industrial design, and it was this which ultimately proved to be its most original and important achievement. The school is also renowned for its faculty, which included artists Wassily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Paul Klee and Johannes Itten, architects Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and designer Marcel Breuer. Why were they so speciel? The Bauhaus combined elements of both fine arts and design education. The curriculum commenced with a preliminary course that immersed the students, who came from a diverse range of social and educational backgrounds, in the study of materials, color theory, and formal relationships in preparation for more specialized studies. This preliminary course was often taught by visual artists, including Paul Klee (1987.455.16), Vasily Kandinsky (1866–1944), and Josef Albers (59.160), among others. What did they do? Following their immersion in Bauhaus theory, students entered specialized workshops, which included metalworking, cabinetmaking, weaving, pottery, typography, and wall painting. Although Gropius’ initial aim was a unification of the arts through craft, aspects of this approach proved financially impractical. While maintaining the emphasis on craft, he repositioned the goals of the Bauhaus in 1923, stressing the importance of designing for mass production. It was at this time that the school adopted the slogan “Art into Industry.”
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THE BAUHAUS
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THE BAUHAUS
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The Bauhaus was founded at a time when the German zeitgeist had turned from emotional Expressionism to the matter-of-fact New Objectivity. An entire group of working architects, including Erich Mendelsohn, Bruno Taut and Hans Poelzig, turned away from fanciful experimentation, and turned toward rational, functional, sometimes standardized building. Beyond the Bauhaus, many other significant German-speaking architects in the 1920s responded to the same aesthetic issues and material possibilities as the school. They also responded to the promise of a “minimal dwelling” written into the new Weimar Constitution. Ernst May, Bruno Taut, and Martin Wagner, among others, built large housing blocks in Frankfurt and Berlin. The acceptance of modernist design into everyday life was the subject of publicity campaigns, well-attended public exhibitions like the Weissenhof Estate, films, and sometimes fierce public debate. Germany’s defeat in World War I, the fall of the German monarchy and the abolition of censorship under the new, liberal Weimar Republic allowed an upsurge of radical experimentation in all the arts, previously suppressed by the old regime. Many Germans of left-wing views were influenced by the cultural experimentation that followed the Russian Revolution, such as constructivism. Such influences can be overstated: Gropius did not share these radical views, and said that Bauhaus was entirely apolitical. Just as important was the influence of the 19th century English designer William Morris, who had argued that art should meet the needs of society and that there should be no distinction between
KEY IDEAS OF BAUHAUS Uniting design The motivations behind the creation of the Bauhaus lay in the 19th century, in anxieties about the soullessness of manufacturing and its products, and in fears about art’s loss of purpose in society. Creativity and manufacturing were drifting apart, and the Bauhaus aimed to unite them once again, rejuvenating design for everyday life. From fizzle classic to original Although the Bauhaus abandoned much of the ethos of the old academic tradition of fine art education, it maintained a stress on intellectual and theoretical pursuits, and linked these to an emphasis on practical skills, crafts and techniques that was more reminiscent of the medieval guild system. Fine art and craft were brought together
with the goal of problem solving for a modern industrial society. In so doing, the Bauhaus effectively leveled the old hierarchy of the arts, placing crafts on par with fine arts such as sculpture and painting, and paving the way for many of the ideas that have inspired artists in the late 20th century. The birth of visual arts The stress on experiment and problem solving at the Bauhaus has proved enormously influential for the approaches to education in the arts. It has led to the ‘fine arts’ being rethought as the ‘visual arts’, and art considered less as an adjunct of the humanities, like literature or history, and more as a kind of research science.
THE BAUHAUS
that art should meet the needs of society and that there should be no distinction between form and function.
form and function.Thus, the Bauhaus style, also known as the International Style, was marked by the absence of ornamentation and by harmony between the function of an object or a building and its design. However, the most important influence on Bauhaus was modernism, a cultural movement whose origins lay as early as the 1880s, and which had already made its presence felt in Germany before the World War, despite the prevailing conservatism. The design innovations commonly associated with Gropius and the Bauhaus—the radically simplified forms, the rationality and functionality, and the idea that mass-production was reconcilable with the individual artistic spirit—were already partly developed in Germany before the Bauhaus was founded. The German national designers’ organization Deutscher Werkbund was formed in 1907 by Hermann Muthesius to harness the new potentials of mass production, with a mind towards preserving Germany’s economic competitiveness with England. In its first seven years, the Werkbund came to be regarded as the authoritative body on questions of design in Germany, and was copied in other countries. Many fundamental questions of craftsmanship versus mass production, the relationship of usefulness and beauty, the practical purpose of formal beauty in a commonplace object, and whether or not a single proper form could exist, were argued out among its 1,870 members (by 1914).
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THE BAUHAUS
01 The two-meter-wide Yellow – red – blue (1925) consists of several main forms: a vertical yellow rectangle, an inclined red cross and a large dark blue circle; a multitude of straight (or sinuous) black lines, circular arcs, monochromatic circles and scattered, coloured checkerboards contribute to its delicate complexity. This simple visual identification of forms and the main coloured masses present on the canvas is only a first approach to the inner reality of the work, whose appreciation necessitates deeper observation—not only of forms and colours involved in the painting but their relationship, their absolute and relative positions on the canvas and their harmony.
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01 Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting one of the first purely abstract works. In 1896 Kandinsky settled in Munich, studying at Anton Ažbe’s private school and then at the Academy of Fine Arts. He returned to Moscow in 1914, after the outbreak of World War I. Kandinsky was unsympathetic to the official theories on art in Communist Moscow, and returned to Germany in 1921. There, he taught at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture from 1922 until the Nazis closed it in 1933.
01 Sharp angle, by Kandinsky is an aggressive angle, there for an angle of 30˚ best matches the color yellow. Straight angle 90˚ is red (remember the figure square for red). As more dull is goes, it turns into bluer (for 150˚), as it has less aggression, and eventually turns into black horizontal line (180˚). White line by Wassily Wassilyevich is positioned vertically, an opposite to black (horizontal).
THE STORY OF KANDINSKY Kandinsky taught the basic design class for beginners and the course on advanced theory at the Bauhaus; he also conducted painting classes and a workshop in which he augmented his colour theory with new elements of form psychology. The development of his works on forms study, particularly on points and line forms, led to the publication of his second theoretical book (Point and Line to Plane) in 1926. His examinations of the effects of forces on straight lines, leading to the contrasting tones of curved and angled lines, coincided with the research of Gestalt psychologists, whose work was also discussed at the Bauhaus. Geometrical elements and colour Geometrical elements took on increasing importance in both his teaching and painting—particularly the circle, half-circle, the angle, straight lines and curves. This period was intensely productive. This freedom is characterised in his works by the treatment of planes rich in colours and gradations—as in Yellow – red – blue (1925), where Kandinsky illustrates his distance from the constructivism and suprematism movements influential at the time.
Die Blaue Vier Kandinsky was one of Die Blaue Vier (Blue Four), formed in 1923 with Klee, Feininger and von Jawlensky, which lectured and exhibited in the United States in 1924. Due to right-wing hostility, the Bauhaus left Weimar and settled in Dessau in 1925. Following a Nazi smear campaign the Bauhaus left Dessau in 1932 for Berlin, until its dissolution in July 1933.
01 According to Kandinsky a dull shape like a circle deserves a dull color like blue. A shape with intermediate interest like a square deserves an intermediate color like red. A dynamic, interesting shape like a triangle deserves an enegetic, luminous, psychotic color like yellow.
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RODIGO CASTELLARI
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RODIGO CASTELLARI
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Heavy competition in the sports industry has caused organisations like Nike and Adidas to focus on more than just selling sportswear- and equipment. Organisations need to differentiate themselves and focus on both product attributes and brand values when creating brand strategies. The billion-dollar sports industry has over the years developed into being more than just selling sportswear- and equipment. Today, sport has become a lifestyle that puts more emphasis on the values of the organisation as a tool for advertising. This is caused by the heavy competition that organisations face as new, cheaper products constantly seek to gain market shares. Consequently, the flagships of sports equipment have been compelled to modify their advertising strategies to include strategies that focus on the brands’ values opposed to only product attributes. Along with the modified strategies, organisations also need to be personal in their branding in order to create a close relationship between organisation and consumer. What started off as a school assignment in the 1960’s turned out to be one of the biggest sports brands of our time. Phillip Knight’s interest within running resulted in a contact with the Japanese shoe producer Onitsuka. Phillip Knight introduced himself as a representative of “Blue Ribbon Sports” and ordered his first pair of running shoes. This Japanese journey resulted in what later became Nike. Nike’s focus was not only to produce quality shoes for professional athletes – the organisation also put great emphasis on the jogging community and everyday use of sports products. This approach resulted in stealing market shares from German giant Adidas, as well as it increased the organisation’s popularity.
Rodrigo Castellari SAO PAULO - (BRA) Rodigo Castellari is a Brazillian graphic designer, who worked for numerous different agencies, currently at SAATCHI & SAATCHI. www.rodrigocastellari.com
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VASANTENBOLLEURS
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Va n s a n t e n b o l l e u r s
01 Wendy van Santen and Hans Bolleurs are a Dutch creative couple. They work with everyday objects and materials to create conceptual still life images and videos.
Wendy Van Santen Amsterdam (NL)
You could say Wendy Van Santen’s photography is adorably quirky, possibly sassy, and maybe even reminiscent of bubble gum pop. What’s certain is its experimental imagination. Jelly beans in a string bean? Sour belts in a leek? Chicken eggs in a petri dish? They’re far from ordinary, but don’t look as offbeat as they sound in her photography. www. vansantenbolleurs.com
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Wendy Van Santen shows us, through her photography, her world of colour and irony. This Amsterdam based artist is, and we’re aware of that, a perfect example of the aesthetic trend that is now in a peak in every artistic field. Are we going back to witnessing the commonly accepted? Yes, but with people like Van Santen, we might as well! Brands like Tele2, IKEA and Sony music have worked with Wendy Van Santen in the past and her work can be found in newspapers and magazines like the Amsterdam daily Parool, VPRO gids, Volkskrant, LINDA meiden, Esquire and Fast Company.
02 They challenge the viewer to view objects in a different light. To see the world how they see it. Like kids in a supermarket of possibilities. They experiment with textures, colors and shape.
VASANTENBOLLEURS 03 They play with meaning and concepts, juxtaposition, proportion and exaggeration to create colorful images that awaken the inner child in everyone.
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TURNING COMPLEX STORIES INTO ICONIC V I S U A L S
•De Designpolitie•
DE DESIGNPOLITIE
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INTERVIEW
BEHIND DE DESIGNPOLITIE • GORILLA De Designpolitie is a graphic design agency based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. They produce communication and identity design for clients in the non-profit and commercial sectors with an emphasis on cultural and social organizations. They combine simplicity, boldness and wit with some critical analysis and fresh thinking. And the final result is always a striking piece with a clear communicative message. What is Gorilla? Next to our commissioned work we are the initiators of Gorilla, a visual column on current affairs, which is published in De Groene Amsterdammer and online. Also we are the initiators, curators and organizers of What Design Can Do, an international event and movement about the impact of design on society. Less is more Our working process is based on this principle: make it simple. In order to send clear and accessible messages, we take a complex problem and turn it into a striking and communicative result. We believe that by getting rid of the clutter we have a better shot at getting the message across. It’s not minimalism for the sake of minimalism
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“Our working process is based on
this principle: make it simple.”
though. Instead we distill the core of the story, build a concept around it and present this in the strongest possible way. The outcome will stand out in the dense visual world on the street and in all media, online and offline. Thus we shape brands, identities and visual communication that people will recognize and remember.
What do you enjoy about designing identities? An identity is not volatile. It stays for years. Advertising and campaigning on the other hand is very volatile. Given your experience, are you able to finalize an identity much quicker than you used to? Ha ha! It depends. Of course after some years you gain experience and often know what works and what doesn’t, but that can also be tricky. How do you share / divide your workload between studio members? It depends. We are a very small studio, so we do a lot together. With what design can do Richard takes the lead, with a lot of designpolitie projects Pepijn is in the lead. The talented and hard working Sara Landeira is also a very important part of our studio.
Richard van der Laken & Pepijn Zurburg Amsterdam (NL)
De Designpolitie was founded by Richard van der Laken and Pepijn Zurburg in 1995 and consists today of a small international team of talented and ambitious designers and producers. A fairly large but close network of specialists is at hand to help us with photography, film, programming, texts etc. www.designpolitie.nl
01 Gorilla is a visual column that comments on current affairs through words and images. In our capacity as designers, we find it important to become involved in social debate.
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DE DESIGNPOLITIE
What mistakes or ‘traps’ should a young designer avoid when working on an identity system? Well, it is very important to make mistakes, to fail. It is the most valuable learning process. When we started our more experienced colleagues warned us for all kinds of things. What are your thoughts on specialization vs generalization? We think that disciplines are merging and we always encourage the cross over, also we do think that as designers we can be of more importance. we can act as problem solver, as translators, but we can also ask new questions and search for ‘new problems’. Do you think it’s important for a graphic designer to be able to draw? Yes. By drawing or sketching you can quickly establish whether an idea is viable. also by drawing you can come across ideas that are more intuitive. Also it drawing helps you to relax and have fun, which is very important if you are trying to come up with a great idea.
INTERVIEW
DE DESIGNPOLITIE
moving. It is not about a logo and a letterhead anymore. Now a lot of identities have a 2.0 look and feel. The danger is that a lot of things on the net start to look the same… The crisis made people anxious and conservative. That makes it difficult for designers to take time and experiment. The economic crisis also caused a crisis in time. How do you think the popularity of online design resources have influenced design being produced today? As mentioned before, there is a certain visual language that goes with online and in time it will develop in a better way we’re sure. We are still in the first years of a huge development. But now a lot of blogs and forums are copycatting each other, in content and in design.
04 What Design Can Do is an international conference about the impact of design. This two-day event aims to show design as a catalyst of change and renewal and a way of addressing the societal questions of our time.
What do you think the most significant developments in identity design have been in recent years? The dramatic change in media and the world wide crisis influenced identity design enormously. The changing media made identity fluid and
02 Gorilla is published every week in De Groene Amsterdammer, Adformatie and on thedailygorilla.nl. (In collaboration with Herman van Bostelen and Lesley Moore). For more than three years, it had been published daily in the cover of the national Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.
03 Gorilla are simple and striking illustrations which are published in various magazines; so far, we have done hundreds of them. There are so many, that sometimes we export it to bigger environments such as exhibitions and workshops.
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“ Think small, act big.”
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