After WW1 designers and artists alike set out to seek a new style, a new culture. They did so in effort to forget their history. This new approach was modernism, modernism was a global movement, influencing evreything from film, art, literature and music. It sought to promote simple design that rejected traditional art but instead focused on primary colours, geometric shapes and sans serif typefaces.
Tshcichold so of a sign painter began working with typography from a very early age. Raised in Germany but soon fled to Switzerland during the rise of the Nazi party in which they seized a lot of his work. Tschichold condemned all typefaces that were not sans-serifs and advocating for guidelines for establishing a type hierarchy when using type in design. He is often regarded as the most powerful influence of 20th century typography.
He is well known for his work with penguin books that you can see here.
Bass best known for his design of film posters and opening sequences was a prominent modernist designer. He also created some iconic corporate logo’s amongst his work with film.
Bass, who some consider the greatest graphic designer of the 20th Century, focused on creating work that was comprised of simple geometric shapes combined typically with some kind of symbolism. Often a single small image will convey a powerful message in Bass’s work.
The influence of Saul Bass’s work seems to know no bounds, spreading to every corner of the world. There is no arguing with Bass’s status as it is well earned through beautiful and functional design. You can see some of his work attached.
Pop Art was a movement brought about in the 1950’s in both the US and the UK.
Pop Art often featured everyday objects, such as a can of soup, or a coca cola bottle. The movement is defined by it’s bold, simple and vibrant block colours. It is said that Pop Art is both a celebration and a critique of Pop culture at the time.
Some notable artists of the movement are Andy Warhol, Roy Lichenstein and Claes Oldenburg.
You can see some examples of their work below.
This week was cool and I learnt about some artists I had never heard of. I was intrigued by Saul Bass as I feel like I see his work all the time but never connected the dots that they were made by the same person. I recognise the font he uses from so many movies. His impact is huge and really impressive for it being the work of one man.