Dada Research

Hannah Höch
And When You Think the Moon is Setting, 1921


Hannah Höch
The Bride, 1933


Hannah Höch
Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany, 1919-20.

Dadaists often used techniques such as collage and photomontage in their work. This is especially true for Hannah Höch. Höch uses parts of other images and sometimes other materials to create a composite picture of her own design.

Art Nouveau Influences in 1960s Psychadelic Poster Design

Aubrey Beardsley
"The Peacock Skirt", illustration for Oscar Wilde's play Salome
1892


Victor Moscoso
Quicksilver Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco
March 1967


Alphonse Mucha
Job, 1897


Alton Kelley, 1966
(In the video game industry, they'd call this a "palette swap" ;-))


Alphonse Mucha
Ad for Moet & Chandon


Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse, 1967

Massimo Vignelli's NYC Subway Diagram

Massimo Vignelli
NYC Subway Diagram, 2008
Massimo Vignelli is an internationally-renowned graphic designer. This diagram is updated from his 1972 design. The simplicity of the design makes for an aesthetically pleasing composition while also seeming to make the transit system appear at least a little less overwhelming! Vignelli likes to use Helvetica in his works and I'd like to use that statement as an opportunity to make an observation about Helvetica. Something about the clean harmony of the letterforms makes me divided about its use in certain settings. In a corporate or mass transit context, it comes across as friendly and affable, but when used in more intimate settings such as the signage for a cozy cafe or a cute little boutique, dare I say it comes across as a little aloof? I'm not sure.
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Lucian Bernhard's Priester Matches Poster

Lucian Bernhard
Priester Matches, 1906
Sachplakat
Lucian Bernhard helped to influence the poster genre known as Sachplakat, or "object poster". Although Sachplakat itself did not achieve widespread use until much later, this design is the epitome of that genre, displaying only the brand name and the product being advertised. I think the economy of the design in both form and color is relevant to designers today because sometimes it is necessary for the purposes of print, logo design or t-shirt design to create something aesthetically pleasing and visually recognizable with that sort of economy, and this poster is a great example of how to do that effectively.
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Taki 183

Taki 183 was one of the first graffiti artists to gain widespread recognition, partly due to the ubiquity of his writing and partly due to the New York Times article written about him in 1971. He inspired a generation of writers to leave their mark on the city, as well as created a template for many future pseudonyms ("Taki" is short for the Greek version of his name and 183 is the street he lived on; some writers mimicked this format).
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Futura typeface by Paul Renner

Paul Renner
Futura Typepace, 1928
Dessau Bauhaus/Deutscher Werkbund
Paul Renner, in addition to being a typographer, also wrote about typography; his work influenced functional modernist design. Futura is an example of this; the unadorned, geometric letterforms echo the shapes of the furniture and architecture of the Bauhaus style and even the De Stijl style. It is such an influential and popular typeface that it is used to this day--even in the hallways of the art department, you're bound to see it from time to time!
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Lisbon Billboard by Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister, Date unknown
Text reads, "Complaining is silly. Either act or forget."
Sagmeister is one of the most sought-after designers in the business. This billboard, utilizing the bleaching power of the sun, is an example of his innovative approach to design media. The way the sun is utilized as a medium interests me personally because I have recently been experimenting with photography and this billboard could be interpreted as an example as the literal meaning of the word "photography" (drawing/writing with light).
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