Modernism

Week 3 – Modernism

Modernism

Modernism is a design movement that was popularised in the twentieth century. The Modern movement came as response to many world events that were happening at the time, as well as in response to the industrial revolution. Whereas design in the nineteenth century had been in direct response to the industrial revolution, Modernism was seen as a design movement to move past the industrial age.

World War 1

During the beginning of the twentieth century the First World War had a large impact on the nature of design as well as design becoming a major part of communicating information.

Because governments needed to convey important information to a mass majority on both sides of the war effort, propaganda posters were one of the first forms of visual communication design. Many of these posters started to make use of visual metaphor and symbolism in order to effectively convey information. The subjects of these posters included everything from how to stay safe during an air raid, how to identify a plane flying overhead, to helping the government encourage civilians to give to the war effort through war bonds. The image featured below shows a recruitment poster where the aim is to guilt an individual into signing up to the war effort.

© IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/27750

Propaganda posters were one of the first times that illustration was seen as more than just to be displayed in galleries. It was now realised to be a tool that could reach the masses in a way that couldn’t be done in many other forms at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Modern Movement

The Modern Movement saw designers trying to move from the ornamental aesthetic that was common at the end of the nineteenth century. Many designer’s saw this as a way of disguising problems in production of goods. They wanted to move to a more simplistic design style, often called a ‘machine age’ aesthetic. The modern movement was especially prominent in architecture.

Aspects of the Modern Movement are still prominent today as it is one of the longest lasting movements. There are many reasons for this including political, production and availability. (Woodner, Twentieth Century Design)

The moral and political connotations of Modernism contributed to it’s longevity in the Western World especially as its major opponents were the leaders of repressive regimes in Germany and Russia. Both Hitler and Stalin were vocal opponents of many of the features of Modernism which helped contribute to the depiction of them by Western leaders.

It is also important to note that during the twentieth century art and design became much more readily available to the public. Museums such as MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York which opened in 1929 allowed the public to enjoy art and design like never before. This therefore contributed to many peoples association of Modernism as the start of art and design as something they could enjoy.

Many of the artistic features of the Modern Movement, such as neatness, cleanliness and purity were linked with healthiness (Woodner, Twentieth Century Design, p. 33) which many people linked with the promotion of these actions in society. This helped further the movement as people saw it in this wholesome light.

Modernism directly links with World events and has been one of the art movements with the most longevity for the reasons above. Modernism greatly influences many of today’s designs.