Form Follows Function
An Exploration of Modernism and Postmodernism
April 24th 2013 Issue One
_01
_02
contents _03
The Book Review The Bauhaus Archiv 1919 - 1933
_07
The Personal Manifesto A design student advises her younger self and prepares for the future.
_11
The Typeface A modernist typeface heavily influenced by one of the most iconic artists of the 20th Century.
_03
Ba uh au s
Arc hiv
Th e
_04
Book Review (1919 - 1933)
The Bauhaus Archiv Museum of Design in Berlin holds the most important collection on the Bauhaus today. The book is dedicated to the study of its history and features information regarding the new Bauhaus in Chicago and the Hochschule fur Gestaltung in Ulm; it was written by Magdalena Droste and published by Taschen. Droste covers all areas of the Bauhaus from the very beginning to its unfortunate end and how it influenced the
way art is seen forever. The information is drawn from the Archiv’s extensive collection and follows it’s movement in art and architecture and the many people that helped it gain its fame. The origins of the Bauhaus (pg. 122) can be traced as far back as the 19th Century and starting under horrible circumstances, the Industrial Revolution. John Ruskin was among the first to criticize the inhumanity of the conditions of the working people in England. Among his many admirers was William Morris who went on to turn Ruskin’s ideas into reality with great success; they both shared a
‘hatred for modern civilization’. Morris learnt that his ideas were only reaching a small audience so began creating Academies that specifically targeted ‘arts and crafts’ that have ventured further afield to places such as Vienna, Berlin and Belgium. The many wellknown artists that helped change the future of art at the Bauhaus were Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Vassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. They didn’t just focus on one specific area of art; instead they used many different media such as graphic printing, wood and stone carving, muralpainting, architecture and theatre. From this book you
_05
(Photo from: Noonjes Wordpress)
can clearly understand the development of modernism within the Bauhaus and why they focused so much on creating objects and paintings that are unlike any other. The buildingblock game by Alma Buscher was created in 1924 (pg. 93) and is a strong example of modernism as well as Joost Schmidt’s graphic advertisement for chess (pg. 94); both are very simplistic using the standard colours and shapes. The scene designs (pg. 104) by Kurt Schmidt and Xanti Schawinsky for Theatre at the Weimar Bauhaus are amongst my favourite pieces within this book as the childlike shapes and colours with subtle complexity are a great advertisement of how the Bauhaus’ creativity clock ticks. The Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar (1923) was
the perfect time to publicize their work and put their graphic design talents into luring people in with their bold and simple advertisements. There were multiple adverts made for the exhibition and I believe that Joost Schmidt’s poster in 1923 (pg. 107) was the most iconic for its round and square motifs. As it stands, Joost Schmidt seems to be the most popular graphic artist for their advertising needs and from his work (pg. 134) it is easy to understand the influence he had on the future of graphic design. Still today, we see minimalistic and modern work everywhere we go and notice that more often than not, it has a greater impact on the audience than a highly detailed piece. The printing workshop soon developed into ‘The Printing and Advertising Workshop’ in which a small department was included that primarily used a sansserif script in all type sizes (pg. 148) with a ‘platen press’ and ‘rotary proof press’. All the advertising needs were made from the school’s advertising workshop and were designed by the lecturer Herbert
(Photo from: DieselPunks.org)
_06
Want it? Buy it! The Bauhaus Archiv 1919 - 1933 by Magdalena Droste Amazon, from ÂŁ7
_07
_08
a personal manifesto Heavily influenced by Bruce Mau’s ‘Incomplete Manifesto for Growth’, Graphic Design student Taylor Sim, set about creating her own to represent the way she works and to show others that the past does shape your future.
_09
what’s in you - I know I was!
To my thirteen year old self,
F is for Fashion. Vogue. The Holy Grail. Read it and you’ll never look back. G is for Goals. You have huge goals in life. Don’t be fooled, you’ll have to work hard to achieve them.
I’m writing to you with a little hesitation, a little anxiety and a little hope. Right now you’re a chubby little blonde girl whose world is the size of a football, consisting of only make up, boys and shopping. That’s why I’m here, just to give you a little head’s up on what to expect from the next six years of your life and how big your world is about to get…
H is for Home. It’s where the heart is; it’s where your memories are made. Treasure it. After all, a happy home is a happy mind.
A is for Artistic. Your mum’s artistic. Your brother’s artistic. It’s in your genes so grab that bloody pencil and draw like you’ve never drawn before!
J is for Jump. Crawl, walk, skip, jump, run… as long as you get where you want to be, it doesn’t matter how long it takes you. K is for Kick Ass. Stand up for yourself. Speak up. Be brave and kick some butt!
B is for Beauty. Don’t let the media distort your perception of beauty. End of. C is for Chips. Put the chips on the ground and step away from the food. Find another way to comfort yourself instead of raiding the fridge after school. D is for Design. You’ve tried Architecture. You’ve tried Interior Design. You’ve tried Fashion Design. Don’t worry, you find your way eventually. Cough* Graphic Design *cough. E is for Experimental. Keep going. You’ll be absolutely amazed at
I is for Individuality. You can try all you want but you will never be like everyone else. Learn to be you.
L is for Lists. You develop a love for lists. Your head is that full of ideas, hopes and dreams that if you don’t write them down there’s no room to think of more great ideas! M is for Mother. She might be annoying you right now but don’t give up. She becomes your best friend. N is for New. “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you always got.” - Friday Night Lights. Try new things.
O is for Optimism. Always think of the positive outcomes in everything in life. You get nothing out of thinking negatively, “The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill. P is for Perfectionist. Your mother’s perfectionism wears off on you. It can be quite time consuming (and irritating!) but it does mean you create some great pieces of work. Be proud. Q is for Quintessential. You don’t want to be the quintessential designer. Don’t just think outside of the box, think bigger than the box. Think that far outside the box it becomes a dot to you. Be different. R is for Read. Read as many things as possible – newspapers, books, and magazines… everything is inspiration to you. Escapism is key. S is for Supercalifragilistic. Just because it’s the ultimate word and you love the musical. T is for Thor. God of thunder, lightning, storms and strength. God of the skies and protection of mankind. Be your own Thor and summon the strength to take control of your future. U is for University. You’ve dreamt of going to University since Junior School and now you’re finally there take full advantage of the amazing opportunity you’ve been given.
V is for Voice. Please don’t lose yours. Your opinion counts just as much as everyones. W is for War. You’re fascinated by the war, which in turn has a large influence on your work. Propaganda posters and amazing vintage dresses? What more could a girl want? X is for ________. Because no matter how old and wise you get, there will never be a good word beginning with ‘X’. Y is for Yesterday. Forget about it man. The past is the past and it can’t be changed. It makes you who you are today. Z is for Zen. It’s only a thought and a thought can be changed. The mind is a powerful place. Breathe. So that’s the next 6 years of your life in twenty-six letters. It may not sound much to you right now, but when you get to 19 and you’ve experienced everything for yourself, you’ll understand how important it is that these things happen to you. You have everything to live for so go get it. Work hard and who knows what you can achieve. I wish you all the luck in the world. Have fun. Your dearest friend, The nineteen year old you. xxx
“The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optomist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
- Winston Churchill
_10
_11
Typeface This ultra-modernist typeface was created by young Graphic Design student Taylor Sim, from the University of Huddersfield. With a strong interest in modernism and all it’s sub-movements, she found that she particularly loved the works of Picasso and his great passion for Cubism and the Blue Period. What can you expect from hours of hard research? A beautiful modernist typeface available for you to download now!
_12
_ÂŁ25
Available to buy now!