Bauhaus Trends
Let’s revisit a moment from last week’s podcast, a conversation between Articles of Interest host Avery Truffleman and fashion writer Derrick Guy:
DG: “Everybody wears Ivy [style] because there's a certain section of Ivy that's just clothes. Flat front chinos is just clothes. An Oxford button down is just a dress shirt. It’s just what people wear.”
AT: “This is why no one calls it Ivy. And no one really uses the word Preppy. Now these clothes are mostly called ‘classics’ or ‘basics.’”
DK: “So these things have become so popular and so consumed by everybody that they are no longer an aesthetic. They're just clothing. So it's difficult to say whether or not Ivy’s going to come back because—”
AT: “It’s just here.”
DG: “Yeah, it's just canon. It’s just what people wear. It’s just clothing.”
This week’s Case Study of Gunta Stözel introduced the origins of Modernism and the Bauhaus school, where artists like Wassily Kandinsky and designers like Marcel Breur united around an interest in geometric forms, inner truth, and the universal importance of design to society.
The influence of the Bauhaus on Twentieth Century art and design is indisputable. Its influence is so pervasive, that it sometimes feels “classic” or default when we’re looking at graphic design. In his book **The Language of New Media,** Lev Manovich suggests that the design principles of the Bauhaus only achieved widespread saturation with the help of digital media. If you look at the interface designs of apps on your phone, or the covers on current best-selling books, is the Bauhaus look just visual **design?
👉 Browse the following collections of work from the Bauhaus:
- Examples of Bauhaus Graphic Design from AIGA
- Bauhaus: Art as Life — in pictures from The Guardian
- Bauhaus Archiv Online
Then find a contemporary work of visual design that exemplifies the Bauhaus style and share an image of it.
Walk around the grocery store with your camera, browse collections of website designs, or take a hard look at some YouTube ads. Examples can be graphic design, product design, architecture, packaging, advertising, video media, fine art, or anything you think applicable.
Include a short analysis of your pick, explaining how it uses Fundamental Concepts in the style of the Bauhaus. Also discuss how it relates to the ideas of the Bauhaus: Does it “unite all creative activity within a single whole?” Does it bring beautiful and efficient design to ordinary people? Does it demonstrate attention to craft?
You are also welcome (encouraged?) to disagree with the premise of the Bauhaus as a default design style.