Until the 1950s, Atlases were mostly comprised of maps that simply show space and place. However in 1953, the World Geo-Graphic Atlas, published by Walter Paepcke’s Container Corporation of America (CCA) with Herbert Bayer, changed people’s notion of what maps look like and what information they contain. Bayer believed, that maps were “a record of time and perhaps even a tool of prognostication.” By the use of Isotypes (International System of Typographic Picture Education), Bayer created an atlas that is universal, therefore allowed viewers to understand complex data more clearly and easily.
Born in Haag, Austria, in 1900, Herbert Bayer grew up in the period of the fast changing environment and technologically revolutionary years. After serving in the Austrian Army, he started studying architecture under Professor Schmidthammer in Linz, but in 1921, he enrolled as a student at the Bauhaus in Weimar, where he studied mural painting with Wassily Kandinsky. Bayer was later appointed by Walter Gropius to head the first printing and advertising workshop in Dessau. “Under Bayer’s charge, the newly installed workshop developed into a professional studio for graphic design and commercial art. The study of the communicative potential of letterforms and typographic layout was part of a basic curriculum in the mechanics of visual education. Such innovations as the elimination of capital letters, and the replacement of the archaic Gothic alphabet used in German printing by a modern “cosmopolitan” font, and the concept of composition based on strong geometrical elements and expressive values of colors, testify to a move away from individually handcrafted and traditionally shaped goods towards objects meeting functional requirements suitabl...
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...dynamic design of Moholy-Nagy. The color keys include green for agriculture, blue for mining, red for manufacturing, and brown for exports and imports. Mineral symbols were based on chemical elements.
Drawing on Bauhaus methods, Bayer supported the concept of a total work of art and the unity – painting, typography, and information design were all connected to each other. In addition, every element in design was there for a purpose – to inspire, inform, or both. The atlas was “an example of how Americans had adapted Bauhaus design principles to communicate simply, directly and possible forcefulness. Atlases of world resources produced before Bayer’s publication hardly utilized a modernist graphic language. This would change with environmentally informed atlases of the 1970s that borrowed extensively from Bayer in their integration of color, graphic and symbols.”
Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
Ken Jennings was a map nerd from a young age himself, you will not be surprised to learn, even sleeping with an old creased atlas at the side of his pillow, most kids his age were cuddling with a trusted blanket- Jennings was not. As he travels the world meeting people of kindred spirits--map librarians, publishers, geocachers, and the engineers behind google maps. Now that technology and geographic unknowing is increasingly insulting us from the space and land around us, we are going to be needing these people more than ever. Mapheads are the ones who always know exactly where they are and...
Two debates formed in German design around this time; tradition versus modernity. “Black-letter” or “gothic” letter was used only in Germany for the first half of the 20th century. Later the debate came between Gothic and roman type, this was an important debate for Renner as well as other artists of the applied arts. The second debate was on the most important aspect of the era, technology. Technology was highly influential from everywhere around the world. At first Renner was at the conservative side of the debate, but later Renner slowly moved towards the idea of roman type, tec...
This paper will argue that the industrial revolution allowed for the proliferation of fonts in the 19th century for two main reasons. First, there was an unprecedented need for new and eye-catching lettering to grab the attention of consumers a new variety of choices on the market. Secondly, the creation of new fonts was more affordable than ever due to the advancements in technology during the industrial revolution.
Bayer, Herbert, Walter Gropius, and Ise Gropius. Bauhaus, 1919-1928. Boston: Charles T. Branford, 1952. Print.
Bauhaus is a German term meaning the house of construction and commonly understood by many as the school of building and operates from the year 1919 to the end of 1933 . The institution was founded by Walter Gropius and was located in Weimar. This paper shall critically analyze whether Bauhaus succeeded in merging art with mass production and technology what challenges they went through and if at all their ideals were limited to design for an elite.
Founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, the Bauhaus was a German art school that initiated the combination of art and crafts innovatively to produce goods for everyday use, which influenced and shaped modern life. The Bauhaus value is still effective today since we can still see the impact of the Bauhaus. For example, contemporary furniture are mostly minimalist, which is one of the values from the Bauhaus. This essay will discuss the failure of the Bauhaus in achieving its mass-produce ideal through examining three Bauhaus production, the Wassily Chair, the chess set and Model No. MT49 tea infuser. Through the aspects of artistry and utility, the Bauhaus pursued to generate reasonably priced mass-production by taking the forms and materials into
Art Deco and Bauhaus are two of the most influential art styles that influenced modern America today. From the avant-garde decorations and design that is still present in Los Angeles, to the flat roof design and simplicity of houses and shops that can be seen almost anywhere, these two designs are still present in our communities. The two movements do have some comparative similarities, but are also very different in design and concept. One should now be able to distinguish the similarities and differences between Art Deco and
Since the beginning of humankind, the study of geography has captured the imagination of the people. In ancient times, geography books extolled tales of distant lands and dreamed of treasures. The ancient Greeks created the word "geography" from the roots "ge" for earth and "grapho" for "to write." These people experienced many adventures and needed a way to explain and communicate the differences between various lands. Today, researchers in the field of geography still focus on people and cultures (cultural geography), and the planet earth (physical geography).
Historical geographer JB Harley wrote an essay on Map Deconstruction in 1989, in which Harley argues that a map is more than just a geographical representation of an area, his theory is that we need to look at a map not just as a geographical image but in its entire context. Harley points out that by an examination of the social structures that have influenced map making, that we may gain more knowledge about the world. The maps social construction is made from debate about what it should show. Harley broke away from the traditional argument about maps and examined the biases that govern the map and the map makers, by looking at what the maps included or excluded. Harley’s “basic argument within this essay is that we should encourage an epistemological shift in the way we interpret the nature of cartography.” Therefore Harley’s aim within his essay on ‘Deconstructing the Map’ was to break down the assumed ideas of a map being a purely scientific creation.
In the 19th century, Creativity and manufacturing started drifting apart, and as a result the Bauhaus aimed to unite them one more time, bringing back to design for everyday life. The school had for initiative to resuscitate every single aspect of art that started to fade away; everything that contributes to the beauty of art and gives it its
In the following essay I will discuss how the Bauhaus changed the way design was thought forever. Educators such as Johannes Itten, Gerhard Marcks and Hannes Meyers were significant in the shaping of the Bauhaus’s education system. Although their attitudes towards education differed, they worked together to bring a change to the world. I will also discuss the graduates; Josef Albers and Annie Albers, their work and how the Bauhaus influenced them.
The claim being discussed here is that the only way a map or a way of representing things can be useful is if it simplifies the knowledge that the actual territory gives, that is, if it reduces the salient i...
There were two main art schools in Switzerland that produced artist who would establish Swiss design style. These two schools were he Zurich School of Arts and Krafts and the Basel School of Design. Armin Hofmann taught at the Basel School of Design in 1947. As a designer, Hofmann liked visuals that were simple and structured. A lot of his work can fit into grids and his typography of choice is almost any sans-serif font. Hofmann’s main forms of print work are posters as visual communication. Colors used in his posters are monochromatic meaning, black, white, or gray. Geometric shapes and abstract visual forms are two other stylistic techniques that Hofmann used. Typography is a huge part of graphic design and Hofmann can be largely credited with the creation of new typography styles. The International Typography style is what Hofmann’s work is considered to be part of; Sans-serif fonts were his choice typography style and specifically the Helvetica font style came out of the Swiss art movement. Hofmann’s Basel Theatre Poster created in 1959 is a piece of work that really captures the Swiss or International Typography style. It is black and white in color and only uses san serif fonts. All elements are laid out organized in a grid form. There is a photograph used in this poster and it is designed to be abstract to the viewer, lacking visual detail and only simple forms and shapes. Another famous poster of Hofmann’s
Although the Bauhaus died in Germany, due to the dangerous years of World War II many of its key figures spread out into the free world predominantly the United States, and birthed the ideas of the Bauhaus (Kentgens-Craig, 1999). Here the Bauhaus idea had more potential than ever, as the American city became the architectural proving ground for the industrialized world (Kentgens-Craig, 1999), which inspired all facets of design and contemporary design. For example Alain Silberstein Bauhaus 2 Titan watch (image 5) displays the use of the primary colour and simple shapes, a clear influence from the Bauhaus preliminary theory course, and of Piet Mondrian’s De Stijl movement.