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Home , Herbert Bayer

The life and works of:

Herbert

1900–1985 Bayer Text and Images adapted from: 4–5 Victory Type Co. http://www.type.nu/bayer/index.html Pre-Bauhaus The Cultural Landscape Foundation able of Contents• Life before attending the http://www.tclf.org/pioneers/profiles/ T — Apprentice bayer/index.html

Art Directory • Photo-Montage http://www.herbert-bayer.com

Bauhaus 1919–1933 Bauhaus Archiv Magdelena Droste 6–7 Teaching at the Bauhaus Rainer K. Wick Duration-Bauhaus Hatje Cantz • Life through the duration of time at the Bauhaus History A Critical Guide — Academic Johanna Drucker — Educator Emily McVarish

• Works while at the Bauhaus

8–9 Post-Bauhaus

• Life after the Bauhaus — Environmentalist

• Works after the Bauhaus — Award Winning Designer photo-montage

1 Self Portrait Before a Mirror Throughout his life, Herbert Bayer (1932) experimented with photomontage.

2 In Search of Times Past Whether it was professionally or (1959) PRE unprofessionaly, as a student or not a 3 The Lonely Metropolitan student; Bayer thoroughly enjoyed artistic 1900–1921 (1932) expression involved with photomontage.

BauhausThe apprentice HERBERT BAYER

1 2 3 Herbert Bayer was born in the hamlet of local architecture and decorative arts The Darmstadt Artists’ Colony refers both to Haag, Austria, on April 5, 1900. His father, studio of Georg Schmidthammer, where a group of artists as well as to the buildings a government revenue officer, and mother young Bayer gained valuable skills in graphic in Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt in which encouraged young Herbert’s interest in design, drafting, and production. While these artists lived and worked. The artists nature and art, allowing him to roam into the studying in Schmidthammer’s workshop were largely financed by patrons and worked hills and mountains near his childhood home Bayer designed letterheads, posters and ad- together with other members of the group in with his sketchbook. Although Bayer vertisements. The next year, Bayer left the who ideally had concordant artistic tastes. had aspired to attend art school in Vienna, workshop in Linz and went to the German While there, Bayer was trained in the Art his father’s early, unexpected death dashed city of Darmstadt where he worked in the Nouveau styles and began to gain an interest those plans. Instead, at age 19, Bayer took a position as an apprentice in the workshop of Viennese architect Emmanuel in Gropius’ book Bauhaus-Manifest. Margold at the Darmstadt Artists Colony.

2 3 Academic HERBERT BAYER & Educator As head of the typography workshop (1923–1928), Bayer developed his own vi- After leaving Darmstadt in 1921, Bayer was 1925 was possibly Bayer’s busiest year. In sion of graphic design. Few designs apply the rules of a system in strict allegiance interviewed by (Architect and October, he instituted the lowercase alpha- Universal typeface to modern principles of reductive func- designed by Bayer for the Bauhaus (1925) founder of the Bauhaus) in Weimar. Bayer bet as the style for all Bauhaus printing. To tionalism to the same degree as Bayer’s was accepted to the Bauhaus and during accompany this, Bayer founded “universal”, design for a universal typeface. Derived the next four years Bayer studied under the a geometric sans-serif font. This year Bayer from a fixed set of streamlined elements, the face was meant to serve any and all German political and economic vicis- guidance of the school’s great professors. also designed signage for the Bauhaus’ purposes. The letters reain their elegance situes of the 1920s involved tremendous As a student at the Bauhaus, Bayer also new building complex in Dessau, and the and consistency throughout. inflation. Herbert Bayer was given the task of designing currency in large studied mural painting under Oskar Schlem- Bauhaus workshops descriptive product denominations. This design makes use mer and Kandinsky. After passing his final catalogue. It is during this year that Bayer, of Bayer’s preferred black and red ink, examination, the journeyman’s exam, Bayer while on a vacation in Paris, gained an appre- rule, and sans serif type, overprinted in was appointed by Gropius to direct the new ciation for the art of photography and began bold orthogonal arrangements. This, strikingly modern, design without “Druck und Reklame” (printing and advertis- to experiment with his camera. German inflation cur- rency designed by Bayer portraits and extraneous information (1923) ing) workshop to open when the Bauhaus leaves only the base of value and identi- moved to the city of Dessau in April, 1925. fication of the issuing authority. Bayer’s simple design prevents the bills from be- Photo of Bayer during his time at the Bauhaus The functionalist aesthetic that coming useless in times of major politcal characterizes modern design is exempli- change, with no attatchment to a politcal fied by the approach developed at the figures or parties. Bauhaus. This poster was designed by Bayer, while teaching at the school, for an exhibition of the modern abstract painter . Kandinsky aspired to a graphic mode that would be analogous to musical composition: rhythm, tone and harmony. The formalist, geometric graph- ics of the 1910s and 1920s came to be Poster for Wassily Kan- dinsky’s exhibition and completely identified with their period. 60th Birthday designed Bayer’s design expresses a similar sen- by Bayer (1926) sibility. All of the elements are geomet- ric, except for the photograph which is machine-made. Bayer’s approach shows modernism in a mature phase of develop- 1921–1928 ment. The bold formalism of rule, type, and blocks sets up an active dialogue with the sheet’s edge at every point that registers an angle.

4 5 From the “Ski In Aspen” “Great Ideas of poster (1946) Western Man” series (1958)

A wa r d HERBERT BAYER W i n n i n g 1928–1985 In 1928, Bayer left the Bauhaus and became Furthermore, Bayer worked as an artistic While with the Container Corporation of Designer the art director of Vogue magazine in consultant for several companies and America, Bayer worked as a consultant to . Until 1938, when he moved to New institutions, including the ‘Container . There he helped create the York City, Bayer worked on the German Corporation of America’, the ‘Atlantic corporations image with the “Great Ideas Herbert Bayer publication “Die neue Linie.” When Bayer Richfield Company’. He was also the design of Western Man” series. The series was a became settled in America he worked in consultant for the Aspen cultural center and daring publicity gamble, which promoted the continued his, already, association with his friend Walter Gropius to member of the art board for the information company without making any real connec- design the exposition “Bauhaus 1918-28” bureau of the of America. tions to the products. The advertisements great career after his at the New York Metropolitan Museum of spoke of an overall theme that mirrored the Modern Art. ideals and philosophies of the corporation. After moving his career in Colorado, Bayer This method fully succeeded and as a result, time at Bauhaus. continued his interest in environmental revolutionized advertising in the 1960’s. In design. He strongly believed that all people 1974 the artist moved to Montecito, Califor- He carried out and should work to improve the natural world nia, where he later died in 1985. around them. With this belief, he worked executed the Bauhaus hard to prove even a graphic designer can use their skills for environmental design. His Herbert Bayer received numerous awards style to perfection in most famous contribution was the landscape and honors, including an honorary doctorate his work for years to design for Mill Creek. Aspen also benefited of the ‘Technische Hochschule Graz’, Above: from Bayer’s work promoting the natural the ‘Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Photo of the environmental beauty of the area. His work created a de- Wissenschaft und Kunst’, the ‘Ambassador’s come. His dedication to the skills developed design for Mill Creek in Colorado. sign culture in Aspen and altered it’s image Award for Excellence in London and the Opposite: Photo of Bayer late in to a popular tourist destination. ‘Kulturpreis für Fotografie’ in Cologne. at Bauhaus allowed him to become one of the his life.

world’s most recognized designers.

6 7 A D e s ig n e r

Throughout his life, Herbert Bayer was educated and trained at an optimal level to become one of the greatest graphic designers of all time. Whether it was an apprentice as a young man, a world class education recieved from one of the world’s most famous design schools (The Bauhaus), or holding claim to an award winning professional career, Herbert Bayer accomplished it all. From graphic design to environmental design, Bayer excelled. Bayer utilized his skills with several mediums to become one of the all-time greats.

Brett Della Santina Introduction to Typography T R 11:00 Problem 4