A-level Graphic Products/Edexcel/Unit 3 :Designing for the Future/Design in context/Influences of design history on developments of products

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A timeline of art movements covered by Edexcel in Graphic Products.

Arts and Crafts (1850-1900)[edit | edit source]

Arts and crafts example by William Morris.

Key points:

  • Items need to be fit for purpose (function is important)
  • Arts and Craft designers were against industrialisation.

Style:

  • Simplicity.
  • Made from natural materials, based around nature.
  • Colour and texture. Colour added 'unity' and 'focus.' Only natural textures were used: wood, stone, wool, linen etc.
  • Splendour - They experimented with different materials and techniques, this led to unusual designs.

William Morris (1834-1896)[edit | edit source]

Key points:

  • He was a poet, writer, designer, innovator in the arts and crafts movement and a socialist
  • He help found Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.
  • He worked with stained glass, carving, furniture, wallpaper, carpets and tapestries
  • He had strong socialist viewed which got him arrested once; these view influenced what he created.

Art Nouveau (1890-1905)[edit | edit source]

An example of Art Nouveau by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Key points:

  • Started in France, Paris
  • A form of bridge between Arts and Craft and Modernism; old styles and values sat alongside new ones.
  • The Languid line
  • New aesthetic views for a new urban lifestyle.
  • They were for mass-production
  • Used in architecture, glass, jewellery, fabrics and wallpaper

Style:

  • Curvy lines and flowers
  • Hand-crafted
  • Use of glass and wrought iron
  • Feminine form
  • Influences by other cultures - Japanese, Celtic,[1] Arabian,[2] ancient Greek.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)[edit | edit source]

Key points:

  • He was British, born is Glasgow
  • He was an architect and he studied at Glasgow School of Art
  • He mixed Art Nouveau with Scottish Architecture

Modernism (1900-1930)[edit | edit source]

Key points:

  • Celebrated technology and the mechanised industry.
  • Different variation appeared around Europe: Bauhaus in Germany, De Stijl in the Netherlands, Constructivism in Russia and Futurism in Italy.
  • Liked mass-production

Style:

  • Less is more
  • Machine Aesthetic
  • Rejected the old natural style/aesthetic.

Bauhaus Modernism (1919-1933)[edit | edit source]

An example of Bauhaus
Wassily chair, created by Marcel Breuer

Note: All notes on Bauhaus are inherit all notes from Modernism.

Key points:

  • Created in Germany, just before WW2, after WW1
  • Bauhaus means "House for building."
  • Things need to be functional, highest priority
  • Reduction in decorative frills.

Style:

Marcel Breuer (1902-1981)[edit | edit source]

Key points:

  • He liked the combination of art and technology.
  • He's famously known for his 'Wassily' chair.
  • The 'Wassily' chair was only possible because a German manufacturer had just recently perfected the art of mass-produced bending of metal tubes.
  • He then immigrated to the USA where he obtained a professorship in School of Design at Harvard

Art Deco (1925-1939)[edit | edit source]

An example of Art Deco by Eileen Gray

Key points:

  • Popular modernism
  • It's a reaction to post-war (WW1)
  • In favour of a mechanical modern world.

Style:

  • Symmetry and repetition
  • Zig-zagged geometric patterns
  • Inspired by ancient Egypt.
  • Sharp-edges
  • Bright Colours
  • Use of expensive materials

Eileen Gray (1879-1976)[edit | edit source]

Key Points:

  • Went to Slade school of Fine arts in London.
  • Like Japanese/French art styles at the time.
  • She started with art, then moved onto architecture.
  • Inspired by Marcel Breuer.

Streamlining (1935-1955)[edit | edit source]

A Streamlining example by Raymond Loewy

Key Points:

  • Consumerism and Style
  • New prosperity and widened consumer choice
  • Celebrating speed and efficiency
  • People at the time were hyped about the future, air travel and space exploration.

Style:

  • Aerodynamics
  • Tear-drop shape
  • Futuristic style

Raymond Loewy (1893-1986)[edit | edit source]

  • Born in France, spent most of his time in the USA.
  • Influenced by the American life-style.
  • He likes "Beauty through Simplification."
  • His work mixed Art Deco with Streamlining
  • He worked with a lot of multinational companies like NASA where he was later employed at.
  • He spent time streamlining many items
  • Streamlining allowed for greater speed and less drag.

Post-Modernism - New Design Style (1975-Present)[edit | edit source]

An example of Post-modernism by Philippe Starck

We currently live in a post-modernism world, this means that anything you see that's not based upon a past movement, or from another culture is post-modernism. Key points:

  • Opposes Modernism
  • They think 'More is more' rather than the Modernism 'Less is more', they think 'Less is bore!'

Style:

  • Humour and personality
  • Retro Design
  • Deconstruction

Philippe Starck (1949-Present)[edit | edit source]

Key points:

  • He's a French designer
  • He's all for mass-production, he had chair and toothbrushes mass-produced
  • He's even produced a mouse for Microsoft

References[edit | edit source]