Toward Toward Toward Toward a New a New a New a New Typography Typography Typography Typography The Origins of the International Typographic Style Jennifer M. Dyer The International Typographic Style, technology, science, and psychology The paradoxes that defined life in the “Significant departures from also known as Swiss design, culmi- that it seemed human suffering could early 20th century are refl ected in the use of conventional typo- nated from a progression of artistic be eradicated. The discovery of the contemporary artistic expression. graphic forms occurred in ideas that had developed over the structure of DNA, the harnessing of Many artistic movements intermingled Europe at the beginning of the course of nearly a century. Character - atomic energy, the development of as artists synthesized a new under- 20th century. During this ized by a clean appearance ordered theories about the space-time con- standing of the world in their work activist period, experimenta- by a mathematical grid, the use of tinuum, the advent of space travel, and developed a new syntax for tion in all the visual and per- sans serif typefaces and a color and exploration of the human psyche artistic expression. Artists felt that forming arts was affected by palette limited to red, black, and suggested that humanity was on the they must reject the styles of history potent social and philosoph- white, the International Typographic verge of understanding life itself. Yet, and develop a mode of expression ical changes, industrial and Style achieved its greatest infl uence during these same years, two world appropriate for the modern era. technological developments, in the 1970s. It evolved from many wars began and ended, leaving Although many new developments and new attitudes about aes- stylistic infl uences that desired to countries politically, economically, occurred in both fine and applied thetics and modern civiliza- break from the past, address the and physically decimated. Revolu - arts, the styles of these decades are tion. Typographic design was needs of the present age, and look to tions and other political confl icts also nevertheless closely knit to the work pulled into this artistic revolu- the future. caused untold human suffering. Polit - of earlier artists. tion as poets and visual ical parties came into, and fell from, artists realized that both Artistic expression during the power. Political leaders proved them- The roots of the International Typo - meaning and form could be decades that preceded the Interna - selves capable of unfathomable graphic Style can be found in the intensified in typographic tional Style refl ected a world of tur- depths of inhumanity. Forced to con- work of William Morris (1834–1896) communications.” (Carter 68) moil, unprecedented technological front such extremes, artists sought a and the Arts and Crafts Movement advancement, and doubt. Humanity means of expressing and responding (c. 1860–c. 1898). Characterized by was making such strides in medicine, to them. simplicity, functionality, and high- Morris claimed to seek simplicity, but his work became increasingly ornate. He designed and illustrated this page from The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, 1896. Morris’s ideology, rather than its formal expression, had a legacy in the Inter national Style. quality workmanship and materials, modern, forward-looking aesthetic. students were Walter Gropius, the ideals that Morris espoused were The inclination toward abstraction founder of the Bauhaus; Le a reaction to the ornate style of the and the idea that artists’ work should Corbusier, inventor of modular archi- Victorian Era, which lasted until about be socially pertinent are marks of the tecture; and Ludwig Mies van der The design of Peter Behrens’ AEG Turbine 1903. Unlike the International Typo - modern aesthetic. The work of Peter Rohe, a later director of the Bauhaus Hall, 1909, foreshadows the Bauhaus style. graphic Style and the styles from Behrens (1868 –1940) helped define and highly infl uential architect and With little exterior decoration—only the this new role for the artist. His ideas designer. “The three giants of 20th- company logo and the building’s name— which it evolved, the Arts and Crafts the factory relies on its structural elements Movement was based in the past; it about the functionality of art estab- century design,” all were central to for aesthetic harmony. The grid pattern of represented a desire to return to clas- lished the ideal of applied and fine the development of a modern aes- windows, the arrangement of bricks in sical values. arts united toward a common end. thetic (Ferebee 65). layers that correspond to the windows, the geometric construction, and the grid-like In developing a modern aesthetic, Behrens’ infl uence on the develop- Behrens became a leading figure in rhythm of structural supports suggest the functionality, simplicity, and organization of artists chose not to draw on the past ment of fine and applied arts in the the Deutscher Werkbund (German Swiss design. but to find their inspiration in a 20th century was pivotal. Among his Association of Craftsmen), which was 2 Behrens shows the first stages of basing graphic designs on a grid. His work draws the infl u- ence of Dutch architect J.L. Mathieu Lauweriks (1864–1932). Behrens’ design for the cover of Mitteil ungen Der Ber liner Elek - tricitaets Werke (Berlin Electric- Works Maga zine), 1908, pro- vides a telling exam ple when compared with grids developed by Lauweriks. founded in 1907 “to promote indus- unfailing good taste.” He also empha- are still artists in the Werkbund and “For the first time, after a long trial design. With its [the Werkbund’s] sized the importance of developing a so long as they exercise some infl u- period of imitation of histor- establishment, the role of the indus- form of creative expression that would ence on its destiny, they will protest ical styles, attempts were… trial designer was officially recog- not imitate styles of the past. He felt against every suggestion for the made to develop an all- nized by German industry.” that German industrial artists must establishment of a canon and for embracing style of the time, (Ferebee 65) produce works that were “the vehi- standardization.” He did not want to the so-called ‘modern style.’ In cles of convincing stylistic expres- see artists restricted to a standard- many countries, there were Two opposing factions emerged from sion” and that could be widely ized form before having explored the painters and architects espe- the Werkbund: One, headed by exported to other countries to pro- potential of the emerging style. He felt cially…who, from a sense of Hermann Muthesius, promoted stan- mote German art. The survival of that Muthesius wanted to impose social conscience and cultural dardization as the key to progress in German arts and crafts would, he felt, standardization prematurely, when engagement, tried to liberate design, and the other, headed by depend on the development of “a uni- the physiognomy should evolve natu- art from its isolation, intro- Henry van de Velde, supported the versal high level of taste” and “the rally from the creative work of artists. duce a synthesis of the arts individual expression of the artist existence of efficient large-scale busi- Also in contrast to Muthesius, van de and contrive a new unity of art (Meggs 232–233). ness concerns with reliable good Velde did not want German artists to and life.” (Rotzler 15) taste.” (Conrads 28–29) design for export without first estab- Muthesius (1861–1927) held that lishing their worth at home. Both did “standardization, to be understood as Van de Velde’s (1863–1957) verbosity agree, however, that German artists the result of a beneficial concentra- and impassioned language reveal a must strive for excellence and “show tion, will alone make possible the different outlook from that of Muthe - the world this native quality.” development of a universally valid, sius. He held that “so long as there (Conrads 29–31) 3 Pablo Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” 1907, marks the first step in the fl attening of the subject. This work reveals the infl uence of African carvings. “Thou shalt comprehend the form and construction of all objects George Braque’s only in the sense of their strict - “Pitcher and Violin,” est, elementary logic and justifi- 1909, is a precursor to cation for their existence. Thou Analytical Cubism. The shalt adapt and subordinate painting alternates between a complex these forms and constructions to three-dimensionality and the essential use of the material fl atness. which thou employest. And if thou art animated by the wish to The infl uence of the Arts and Crafts over individual expression, advocated common approach that manifested beautify these forms and con- Movement on Werkbund ideals is by van de Velde. itself differently. structions, give thyself to the evidenced by the group’s mutual longing for refinement to which emphasis on functional design, elimi- During these same years, a number The Cubists responded to Paul thy aesthetic sensibility or taste nation of ornament, and high-quality of artistic movements developed, sev- Cézanne’s challenge to “treat nature for ornament—of whatever kind production. Van de Velde seemed to eral of which infl uenced the Interna - by the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, it is—shall inspire thee, only so have had a greater penchant than tional Typographic Style significantly. everything in proper perspective so far as thou canst respect and Muthesius for handmade objects, as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque that each side of an object or plane is retain the rights and the essen- well as a distrust for technology. pioneered Cubism; Expressionism directed towards a central point” tial appearance of these forms Muthesius and van de Velde never was nearing the end of its dominance; (Chipp 19).