The Core Principles of Modernism
Modernism as a whole can be broken down into separate key movements, by simply looking at certain catalytic events. Initially the idea began with the turning of the Century, in the early 19 hundred’s new mass production methods such as lithography turned many to reject ‘old fashioned principles’. As a result movements sprung up all over the world, for instance the Wiener Werkstatte, Cubism, and Futurism. Futurism’s called for people to ‘embrace modern technology, speed, the machine, and war[1]’.
Design was not the only thing to be inspired towards change by the new era, politics also shifted a great deal, and parties such as Communism needed strong identities. Graphics played a major role in the war of Propaganda. Mussolini favoured the futurism manifesto which stated ‘there can be no nostalgia’ [2]in 1909 for his Fascist Party.
Modernism will always be associated with clean lines and tidy arrangements, and Swiss Graphic Design upholds these ideas. Jan Tschichold was influenced by the Weimar Bauhaus school, and their methodology that form must always follow function. He produced in 1928 his book ‘Die Neue Typographie’[3]. Tschichold believed ‘Types should be elementary in form without embellishment[4]’. However like many modernist waves, this alternative method of working soon became the norm’ and types such as Helvetica soon became clichéd, giving way to yet another modernist episode.
Alternative culture and the 1960’s brought about a counter culture. Jack Kerouac’s novel ‘On the Road’ summed up the energy and determination of the generation. The 1949 record ‘The Birth of Cool’ by Miles Davis, and the creation of Blue Notes records by Alfred Lion in 1951 could be seen as a spark for this explosion of freedom. 10” records became the new favored format; meaning record sleeves presented a completely new format for design. For Blue Note Records ‘packaging was a key tool for attracting the mass market’[5]. At the same time, many aspects of culture were going ‘underground’. Comics, newspaper and magazines were being produced in small batches. Zap proved to be one of the most popular, many feeling that ‘(zap’s)… revolutionary style became a rallying call for a scene waiting to happen’[6].
Naturally Modernism was followed by Post modernism, which started because of the economic prosperity people were experiencing during the 1980’s. Like most movement’s over the past century, post modernism was yet again a rejection of the ideas that came before it, and was similarly a result of the economic, political and social happenings around it.
[1] Aynsley, J. (2004) Pioneers of Modern Graphic Design. London. Mitchell Beazley Publishers
[2] Heller, S. (2008) Iron Fists – Branding the Totalitarian State. New York. Phaidon.
[3] Tschichold, J. (1928) Die Neue Typographie – Ein Handbuch fur Zeitgemass Schaffende. Berlin. Brinkman and Bose.
[4] Meggs, P, B. (1998) A History of Graphic Design. New Jersey. John Wiley & Sons.
[5] Aynsley, J. (2001) A Century of Graphic Design. New York. Barrows Educational Series.
[6] Sabin, R. (2001) Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels – A History of Comic Art. New York. Phaidon.