The Genesis of Twentieth-Century Design

In the ending of the 19th century and in the very beginning of the 20th century, different types of designers started to search for a new way to express their art. Designers who were into an architecture, fashion, graphics, and product design all wanted a fresh look, it was as if they were completely rebranded themselves. Art Nouveau was more so focused on creating invented forms while the Victorian era was focused on the historical models. When the 20th century finally came about, it came to a lot of new inspiration. The 20th century took a full turn of design and broke all the barriers.

 

Some of the artists who was a big part of this change are Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie and Margaret (Macdonald) Mackintosh, Josef Hoffmann, and Peter Behrens. They brought a huge change and are influenced by different designers til this day.  Frank Lloyd Wright was known for his underlying geometric structure which showed a strong order. A prime example of this was the title page of The House Beautiful, the title page of the book had all these elements. This element made reading please to the eye because of the clear hierarchy and the balance between the design and legibility.

 

This was always accepted by everyone, in France, Germany and England there was a conflict with embracing this near concept. They were stuck between keeping it traditional and new ideas. Their thoughts were also that the new artist was being more out there constantly. The geometric style of compassion, adapted floral and curvilinear elements with a strong rectilinear structure was developed by a group of artist who was Scottish. They were a group from Glasgow School, they also played a huge role in the new type of design style. They were constantly finding new ways to break the transition and make design something new to look out.

 

Finally, comes The Vienna Secession, which was a movement that was “anti-Art Nouveau. In this movement things such as Greek methodology, this was a first and these images had an important meaning behind it. The goal of this artwork was to evoke feelings and express a message.

 

Many barriers had to be broken for this to start but it ended up being worth it. This was the start of being able to see an image and have a message behind it. The figures were in geometric planes and the transitions were broken. It takes a brave designer to do this because not everyone will be on board, you must have confidence in your work.