Before Class, Chapter 12: The Genesis of Twentieth Century Design

The twentieth century was a time where genesis' were being produced. Design was changing and times were becoming more modern. Different, inventive forms and spatial relationships were the key design for the new century. Geometric styles and compositions were being produced along with a major boom in sans-serif typography. Different architecture was emerging and street lamps and teapots were some forms of the new industrial design. Below are some of the twentieth century genesis' that made their mark in history and major events that took place:

-Frank Lloyd Wright was was a major influence on twentieth century design. Japanese architecture influenced Wright and he took a deep interest in designs for graphics, furniture, fabrics, and stained-glass windows. He used lots of space and was emerging into the modern movement.

-"The Four" consisted of four students (Charles Mackintosh, J. Herbert McNair, Margaret Macdonald and Frances Macdonald). They developed a style of "lyrical originality and symbolic complexity." Geometric style was also shown throughout their compositions. Also throughout their designs were symbolic imagery that consisted of bold but simple lines that defined color. "The Four" also innovated interior designs that consisted of white walls with light and innovated different designs for objects and chairs. The work produced by "The Four" became a major influence heading into the twentieth century.

-The Vienna Secession became an art movement that boomed in parts of Europe. Exhibition posters were being produced but the major difference that set this movement apart from others was the "love of clean, simple, sans serif lettering, ranging from flat, blocky slabs to fluidly calligraphic form." Ver Sacrum was a magazine that worked as a "design laboratory". Designers that were subscribed to this magazine could discover different text and illustrations. Ver Sacrum covers were very decorative. Most of them consisted of bold line drawings with borders and headpieces. Linear and geometric elements came into play as well in most of the magazine's pages. These elements helped the Vienna Secession evolve.

-Peter Behrens was a German architect, artist, and designer. He basically did it all. He played a huge part and was a major influence for design in the twentieth century. Behrens "sought typographic form, was an early advocate of sans-serif typography, and used a grid system to structure space in design layouts". He was known as the "first industrial designer" of his time. He produced work for AEG and constructed architecture. Again, geometric patterns, spatial divisions, and different dimensions were shown throughout his architecture. After Behrens was appointed as AEG's artistic advisor, he produced the copyright application for AEG which then became their trademark. The trademark was a hexagonal honeycomb containing AEG's "initials that signified mathematical order while functioning as a visual metaphor relating to the complexity and organization of a twentieth century corporation to a beehive". After producing that, Behrens innovated a large series of AEG lamps along with posters. His work during his time at AEG advanced thinking and he "planted seeds for future developments".

-The London underground was a big deal because it was the world's first electric underground railway system. It opened in 1890 and was a huge help in transportation in urban London. Frank Pick helped design posters to promote the London underground. "Underground posters ranged in style from lyrical romanticism to the beginnings of mass-media modernism. Many posters designed for this evolved over time. Edward Johnston was picked to help create a patented typeface with bold letters for the typography used in the poster design. The London underground logo that Johnston also created is still used today.

One thing I learned from this chapter is sans-serif typography was the popular type for that time. It was so popular that ten sans-serifs were designed by the Berthold family.