Minimalism

The minimalist art movement was popularized in the 1960s, and then particularly in the 1980s. This movement is concerned with abstract works containing minimal personal expression. Minimalism makes use of simple geometry and iconography, and clear colour palettes. As well as the use of industrial style and prefabricated materials. This seeks to remove personal expression from the art and design forms.

The central principle of minimalist design is the medium and materials the work is made from, as well as a realistic interpretation of the subject matter. For the viewer to have an immediate response to the use of colour, form and materials.

Paul Rand is an influential minimalist artist and designer. Rand designed advertising, editorial, corporate logos, packaging, posters and books. In his design he employed the standards of the minimalist style; using basic forms, simple colour palettes and plain mass-produced materials.

This book cover was designed by Paul Rand in 1955. It is an example of the simple minimalist design in its use of form and colour. The forms used are mostly varying sizes of similar shapes, the use of block colours in the shapes makes the cover eye catching and easy to interpret.

Rand designed this book cover in 1957. Again, this design uses only two bold colours with black grabbing the viewers attention. While the forms used in this deign are simple geometric shapes, the typography is quite detailed. The typeface used in this design looks hand written, contrasting against the sharp edges of the other shapes.

SOURCES:
MOMA, MINIMALISM, https://www.moma.org/collection/details.php?theme_id=10459
ART MOVEMENTS, MINIMALISM, http://www.artmovements.co.uk/minimalism.htm
UNDERSTANDING MINIMALISM, INTRODUCTION TO MINIMAL ART, http://understandingminimalism.com/introduction-to-minimal-art/

IMAGES:
http://www.paul-rand.com/foundation/books/

Op Art

Op art is the abbreviation for the term optical art. This refers to paintings and sculptures that explore illusions or optical effects. This movement originated in the early 1960s. The optical illusion in op art was achieved through the manipulation of shapes and colours.

While op art is related to other forms of abstract art such as constructivism and futurism, op artists purposefully manipulated the formal relationships between colours and shapes to evoke perceptual illusions in the vision of the viewer. The simple forms that op artists used to create these visual effects included parallel lines, checkerboard patterns and concentric circles along with the juxtaposition of complementary colours.

This book cover was designed in 1969 by op artist and graphic designer Toshihiro Katayama. This design uses the two major forms used by op artists to create visual illusion. It uses layered concentric circles and complementary colours to create the illusion that the circles are three dimensional shapes and where the different colours overlap there is also a sense of movement.

This book cover design is from 1965. While the colours used in this design are not complementary they are still in keeping with the op art style. This design makes use of parallel lines running at different angles across the page to create the illusion of movement and depth.

SOURCES:
MOMA, OP ART, https://www.moma.org/collection/details.php?theme_id=10139
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, OP ART, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/429533/Op-art

IMAGES:
INFORMATION, MECHANISM AND MEANING, http://bookworship.com/index.php?s=mit+press&paged=2
ESSAYS IN EXISTENTIALISM, http://bookworship.com/?p=1878

Pop Art

Pop art takes familiar everyday objects, often sourced from mass media and popular culture, and presents them out of their usual context. This art movement is most commonly associated with artists in 1960s in New York City. Some of the features of pop art are the use of bright colours, flat imagery inspired by newspaper photographs and comic book prints, and recognizable imagery.

The most iconic pop artist is usually identified as Andy Warhol. Warhol's typical works are of celebrities, everyday objects and macabre scenes. He worked in New York City making mostly silk screen prints and movies.

This book cover for Anthony Burgess's 'A Clockwork Orange' is typical of the pop art style. It features bright, primary colours and the flat imagery comic books, which typifies the pop art style.

This is a modern interpretation of pop art in a restyling of the iconic 1960 book 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Haper Lee. This of pop art book cover uses colour to interpret themes of the book along with the simple comic book style in representing characters. The pattern on the mockingbird also introduces a hint of op art.

SOURCES:
POP ART MOVEMENT, http://www.theartstory.org/movement-pop-art.htm
POP ART - ART HISTORY 101 BASICS, http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/Pop-Art-Art-History-101-Basics.htm
ARTIST PROFILE: ANDY WARHOL, http://arthistory.about.com/cs/namesww/p/warhol.htm

IMAGES:
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-509102.html
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, https://www.behance.net/gallery/16133867/To-Kill-a-Mockingbird-Book-Cover

Swiss style

The Swiss style, also known as the International style, originated in Switzerland in the 1940s and 1950s. The style favors simplicity, legibility and objectivity largely through the use of sans serif typefaces, grid structure and asymmetrical layouts. The Swiss style is concerned with ease of communication, stressing the combination of typography and photography as visual communication. Colour is used to emphasize and assist communication.

This book cover demonstrates the Swiss style through the use of the sans serif typeface, There is minimal use of colour to emphaize the title and year. The grid system is turned on it's side in this design, which creates a more visually interesting look. The list of smaller type on the left hand side creates an asymmetrical design.

This book cover uses the minimalism of the Swiss style to create emphasis. The layout grid is also employed in this design to hold the more complex elements ordered together.

SOURCES:

DESIGN IS HISTORY, SWISS DESIGN, http://www.designishistory.com/home/swiss/

SMASHING MAGAZINE, LESSONS FROM SWISS GRAPHIC DESIGN, http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/17/lessons-from-swiss-style-graphic-design/

IMAGES:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/17/lessons-from-swiss-style-graphic-design/

De Stijl

The De Stijl movement was founded by two abstract artists in 1917. De Stijl means The Style in Dutch. The movement favored simplicity and abstraction communicating harmony and order. This was established through elements being reduced to more simple geometric forms and primary colours. This movement had a great influence on the development of abstract art, furniture design, modern architecture and design.

The design of this book cover uses the simplicity and abstraction of the De Stijl movement. Simplicity is created in this design through the use of only simple geometric shapes and only black print. The positioning of the typography across the page and overlapping the shapes brings in an element of abstraction.

SOURCES:

TATE MUSEUM, DE STIJL, http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/de-stijl

DESIGN IS HISTORY, DE STIJL, http://www.designishistory.com/1920/de-stijl/

IMAGES:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/dc/b6/eb/dcb6eb90cd5d9fcb8afb450f5a1f7698.jpg

Bauhaus - the Face of the Twentieth Century

1. Avant-garde ideas. Like nothing else at the time

2. Has effected everything from the design of cities to things in our homes

3. Born out of catastrophe as the old world ended

4. Revolution in art education - workshop based training, bringing about a greater link between artist and machine. Learning by actually making things, not just through theory

5. Bringing architecture and art together

6. Invention of the modern art student

7. An early expression of ideas of household management

8. Typography - bright, bold, simple, sans serif

9. Photography as a means of communication

10. 14 years of Bauhaus



Information from documentary 'Bauhaus - the Face of the Twentieth Century'

IMAGE:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/gbc/images/cid_1250959206_bauhaus_P8062363.jpg

Bauhaus

The Bauhaus took avant-garde ideas as the focal point of the movement, it was like nothing else being created at the time. The Bauhaus art school was open in various forms from 1919-1933. This art movement has effected the design of everything in modern life from the design of cities and buildings to the everyday furniture and utensils we use in out homes. The Bauhaus was born out of catastrophe as the 'old world' ended. It was a utopian dream, the spirit of the time immortalised in the art movement and teachings of the Bauhaus school.

Not only did the Bauhaus signify a revolution in the style of art and design, but also in art education. Making use of workshop based training a creating a greater link between machine and artist. Skills were learnt in the Bauhaus through practice, not purely through theory. This is a model of art education that is still widely used today.

This book cover features one of the furniture pieces built in the Bauhaus. This is a child's cot, which features the simple clean lines of geometric shapes and primary colours. This is paired with a simple sans serif typeface that has been stylised in the title, with the ascenders of the 'b' and 'h' extended off the page.

SOURCES:
DVD, BAUHAUS -THE FACE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE BAUHAUS, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm

IMAGES:

http://www.essential-architecture.com/STYLE/STY-M04.htm