WWII and Modernism

An aspect of this lecture which stood out to me was the fact that so much of modern graphic design was caused by immigration due to the Second World War, that despite it being such a horrific event, it brought about development due to the connection made between those affected by it, in their mass immigration to America. For example, Herbert Bayer’s continuation of the Bauhaus in his design work in the USA, such as his architectural work, and corporate art for the company ARCO, for whom he designed their branding and logo.

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Another influential design school influenced by the Bauhaus was the Ulm School of Design in Germany. The closing of the bauhaus by the war was not necessarily the end of their work, but simply allowed them to expand their ideas further by going in their own ways and starting something new from what they had learned there. A member of the school, Otl Aicher, was the lead designer for the Munich Olympic games, for which he took inspiration from Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz’s work on Isotype. he took the principles of Isotype, its simple, streamlined and easily read nature to create a simplistic design for the Olympics, in which there was no confusion, each sport was clearly represented using simple forms, as Neurath specified when he created Isotype. Several members of the Bauhaus were also involved in the school, mainly Max Bill, and also Johannes Itten and Josef Albers.

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Many American designers were also influenced by their peers feeling from Germany, such as the famous designer Paul Rand, known mostly for his work on logos, being one of the first designers in America to work using the Swiss stype, pioneering its use as an internationally renowned style of design.

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