Today, I’m trying to make the pivotal design movements of western art history a little more, um… digestible.
Glasgow School – Leprechauns? 1890’s Scotland? Close enough. The Glasgow School opened the door to modern design in the UK at the end of the 19th century.
Art Nouveau – In the 19th century, France adopted the simple, decorative style pioneered by prolific artists such as William Morris of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Great Britain. Art Nouveau was made famous by Alphonse Mucha’s designs for Job Cigarettes… and Michael Jordan Wheaties boxes. Oh wait—
Bauhaus – Form follows Froot Loops… I mean function.
Futurism – Speed! Industry! New World Orders! This also applies chocolate frosted corn puffs, right?
Vorticism – A style inspired by Cubism and Futurism that attempted to capture modern movement with bold lines and bright colors to absorb the viewer. Vorticism inspired the design of the short lived BLAST magazine.
Constructivism – Breakfast with a social purpose.
Heroic Realism – Heroic Realists suspected the visual abstraction of their contemporaries. Instead, they chose a style that would communicate clearly and efficiently to the proletariat. But let’s face it, no one needs propaganda to be optimistic about breakfast.
Swiss Modern – In the mid-20th century Swiss Modernism took design functionality to an extreme with an emphasis on clean, simple communication, that can be summed up in their iconic typeface: Helvetica.
Saul Bass – The designer of the most-iconic logos and Hollywood posters of the 50’s and 60’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s go to designer. Fun Fact: Saul Bass designed this early Quaker logo.
1980’s New Technology – “…And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984’.”
