Form Follows Function

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

Form Follows Function

Typography in the Bauhaus

Bauhaus 1919 to 1923. Radical innovations in design education

Bauhaus Archive Berlin Museum of Design

C O N T E N T S

Foreword

This monograph will explore the history of a fundamental Bauhaus design principle - that form follows function. We will explore how that philosophy was applied in typography, and how it impacted the master Joost Schmidt’s work as well as more general work in the Bauhaus throughout the years.

To conclude, we’ll cover Josef Hartwig’s chess set, and how the design of the pieces perfectly encapsulates the concept of letting an objects form lead its function.

Introduction/Background

Design and execution thus took place under one roof; this ‘made it possible to structure the preconditions for a new job description: graphic design According to Max Gebhard there was no teaching in the classroom sense. Instead, Herbert Bayer tirelessly monitored and directed work on the commissions currently under execution. Bayer devoted himself energetically to the emerging science of advertising psychology. His teaching covered topics such as ‘Systematics of advertising’ and ‘Effects on consciousness’. Stylistically speaking, the workshop was now using the ‘new’, ‘elementary typography which Moholy had first introduced at the Bauhaus. Red and black were the dominant colours; other compositional elements included sans-serif type (joined later by futura) and the use of photos and typographical material such as points, rules, bold rules and screens. Arrangement on the plane now respected not the rules of symmetry but the significance of the text and might be angled or vertical.

Herbert Bayer, Universal typeface (1925)

Bauhaus philosophy: Form follows function

Know your design history: the Bauhaus movement

It would be an understatement to say that the current state of the graphic design industry owes a lot to the Bauhaus movement. With modern design’s intrinsic nature as a combination of art and industry, we owe much to this ragtag German design school that persevered throughout a tough time of social and political upheaval to leave one of the biggest stamps on art, architecture and design in the 20th century.

The timeless principles of Bauhaus design still hold up and to this day the iconic Bauhaus style inspires graphic designers all over the world.

The Bauhaus School (literally meaning ‘building house’ in German) was founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius in Weimar, then the capital of post WWI Germany. In this era of change and disillusionment, the movement sought to embrace 20th century machine culture in a way that allowed basic necessities like buildings, furniture, and design, to be completed in a utilitarian but affective way. The school encouraged the embrace of modern technologies in order to succeed in a modern environment.

The most basic tenet of the Bauhaus was form follows function.”

While the Bauhaus school of thought believed that the building itself was the zenith of all design, they had their students focus on artistry and crafts across all mediums of design. Their school followed a regimented syllabus, which focused on the connection between theory and practice.

With their theory of form follows function, the school emphasized a strong understanding of basic design, especially the principles of composition, color theory, and craftsmanship, in a wide array of disciplines.

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Fraktur typeface designer unknown (early 1800s)

Joost Schmidt Bauhaus typography 1927

The Politics & Philosophy of the Bauhaus Design Movement: A Short Introduction

This year marks the centennial of the Bauhaus, the German art-and-design school and movement whose influence now makes itself felt all over the world. The clean lines and clarity of function exhibited by Bauhaus buildings, imagery, and objects — the very definition of what we still describe as “modern” — appeal in a way that transcends not just time and space but culture and tradition, and that’s just as the school’s founder Walter Gropius intended. A forward-looking utopian internationalist, Gropius seized the moment in the Germany left ruined by the First World War to make his ideals clear in the Bauhaus Manifesto: “Together let us call for, devise, and create the construction of the future, comprising everything in one form,” he writes: “architecture, sculpture and painting.”

In about a dozen years, however, a group with very little time for the Bauhaus project would suddenly rise to prominence in Germany: the Nazi party. “Their right-wing ideology called for a return to traditional German values,” says reporter Michael Tapp in the Quartz video above, “and their messaging carried a typeface: Fraktur.” Put forth by the nazis as the “true” German font, Fraktur was “based on Gothic script that had been synonymous with the German national identity for 800 years.” On the other end of the ideological spectrum, the Bauhaus created “a radical new kind of typography,” which Museum of Modern Art curator Barry Bergdoll describes as “politically charged”: “The Germans are probably the only users of the Roman alphabet who had given typescript a nationalist sense. To refuse it and redesign the alphabet completely in the opposite direction is to free it of these national associations.”

Form following function in typography

The typography workshop, while not initially a priority of the Bauhaus, became increasingly important under figures like Moholy-Nagy and the graphic designer Herbert Bayer (2001.392). At the Bauhaus, typography was conceived as both an empirical means of communication and an artistic expression, with visual clarity stressed above all. Concurrently, typography became increasingly connected to corporate identity and advertising. The promotional materials prepared for the Bauhaus at the workshop, with their use of sans serif typefaces and the incorporation of photography as a key graphic element, served as visual symbols of the avant-garde institution. The typography workshop, while not initially a priority of the Bauhaus, became increasingly important under figures like Moholy-Nagy and the graphic designer Herbert Bayer. At the Bauhaus, typography was conceived as both an empirical means of communication and an artistic expression, with visual clarity stressed above all. Concurrently, typography became increasingly connected to corporate identity and advertising. The promotional materials prepared for the Bauhaus at the workshop, with their use of sans serif typefaces and the incorporation of photography as a key graphic element, served as symbols of the avant-garde instittion.

It was Moholy-Nagy who introduced the ideas of the New Typography to the Bauhaus starting in 1923. From then on, typography began to play a decisive role in the Bauhaus’s publicity work and in the development of an unmistakable look for the college. At the Bauhaus in Dessau, Moholy-Nagy’s student Herbert Bayer took over the workshop for typography and advertising that was then set up. Within a very short period, he was able to develop it into a professionally working studio for graphic design that increasingly received orders from outside the college. From 1928, his successor Joost Schmidt introduced a systematic course in type design and commercial graphic design, which he also extended to include the field of exhibition design. This led to experimental forms of presentation using architecture, sculpture, photography and typography, which were to decisively shape the image of the Bauhaus at travelling exhibitions and trade fairs.

The Modern Letter - The Best of the Bauhaus Typography

To say that the whole graphic design industry owes its life to the Bauhaus movement would be a serious understatement. The Bauhaus typography is especially credited for the development of modern day graphic and industrial design. There have been numerous articles and studies on the effects of the German school on today’s art world, but today, we are choosing to focus on the Bauhaus typography and bring you the best of the best of this category. But first, let’s look back on what Bauhaus is, and why is it so important. The Bauhaus School was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919. The movement sought to utilize the 20th-century machine culture and create buildings, design, and furniture in a useful way. They encouraged the usage of modern technologies and believed that form follows function and that the artist and the craftsman should be united in one individual, and focused on the productivity instead of the mere beauty of the design. The Bauhaus School taught typography, and they were strong advocates of sans-serif type, as they believed that its simplified geometric form was more appealing and useful than the ornate German standard of blackletter typography. Bauhaus style of typography is effective in conveying the message of the design. Balanced layout, harmonious geometric shapes, vibrant colors, and sans-serif letters in upper case or lower case fonts are simple but strong. Bauhaus layout was not only horizontal and vertical, but angled as well, or wrapped around objects. The influence on the modern day posters and designs is evident, as you can see the legacy of the German school on various book and album covers, as well as political posters and signs. One of the most notable examples is the poster for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, heavily influenced by its German predecessor. So, if you want to see some of the fine examples of Bauhaus typography, scroll down and enjoy the simplicity and power of these works.

Jan Tschichold’s Penguin Books design

Jan Tschichold was a German typographer, designer, teacher, and writer. He had a background in calligraphy and strongly advocated for the sans-serif typefaces, and standardized paper sizes. In his book Die Neue Typographie, he proposed the rules for standardization of type practices. However, the most notable thing he’s done is the design for the Penguin Books covers. He oversaw the production of over 500 books published by between 1947 and 1949.

László Moholy-Nagy’s Title page of: “Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar 1919-1923”

László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian-born artist who taught at the Bauhaus School. He was influenced by constructivism, and interested and proficient in the fields of typography, photography, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and industrial design. His time at the Bauhaus was marked by his advocacy for the implementation of the multidisciplinary approach to design. Moholy-Nagy is famous for his concept of typo-photo, the synthesis between photography and typography, which

can be considered as the inception of the modern-day graphic design. He collaborated with Walter Gropius in the making of a series of fourteen Bauhausbücher (Bauhaus books), that became manifests of the school.

Joost Schmidt’s Poster for the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar

Joost Schmidt produced this poster designed for a competition as a cross comprised of circles and squares. The cross is placed diagonally and includes the Bauhaus logo designed by Oskar Schlemmer. The proposal for the competition required the use of this logo, as well as the information about the exhibition, venue, and the date. The original version of this artwork was used for advertising, and it was placed in 120 railway stations in Germany. Joost Schmidt was a graphic designer and one of the pioneers of Bauhaus typography, and a professor at the College of Visual Arts in Berlin.

Joost Schmidt

Born 1893 in Wunstorf/Hanover. In 1910, began studying at the Grand-Ducal Saxon Academy of Fine Art in Weimar; as a pupil of Max Thedy, awarded master’s diploma for painting. Active service from 1914 to 1918. Student at the Bauhaus from autumn 1919 to April 1925; training in the wood-carving workshop under Itten. and Schlemmer. First typographical works from 1923. Teacher at the Bauhaus from 1925 to October 1932. Head of the sculpture workshop from October 1925 until its closure in April 1930; head of the advertising department as from May 1928. Taught ‘Lettering’ course for first-semester students from 1925, plus life drawing in 1929/30 and ‘Nude and figure drawing’ for senior students from October 1930.

Moved from Dessau to Berlin in 1933. Together with Gropius, designed the Non-Ferrous Metals section of the ‘German Nation, German Work’ exhibition in Berlin in 1934. Rented a studio in Berlin and worked as a cartographer in a publishing house. In 1935, taught at the Reimann school under Hugo Häring. Subsequently banned from teaching; employed on occasional basis. Charlottenburg studio destroyed in 1943. Active service in 1944/ 45. In 1945, appointed professor at the Berlin Academy of Fine Art by Max Taut to teach preliminary course for architects. Together with a group of Bauhäusler, designed the exhibition ‘Berlin plans’ in 1946. In 1947/48, invited by the USA Exhibition Center to design exhibitions. Plans for a Bauhaus exhibition and a Bauhaus book. Died 1948 in Nuremberg.

Notable works:

In 1921/22, his projects included the design and completion of carvings for the Sommerfeld House in Berlin and the design of a poster for the Bauhaus exhibition of 1923 in Weimar.

Main entrance to sommerfeld house (1922)

Carved door in Sommerfeld house (1922)

Poster for the Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar (1923)

Joost Schmidt, Dessau (1930)

Joost Schmidt, cover for Offset magazine (1926)

Schmidt’s use of the circle

Point, circle, disc: circular forms enjoyed Schmidt’s special favour. As a compositional element they generate a gravitational centre that brings the layout’s other elements into balance.

The Bauhaus was also a topic in the popular and trade press; Schmidt’s cover designs for the special issues of Junge Menschen and Offset were once again developed on the basis of the circular form typical of his work.

Joost Schmidt Cover design for Offset magazine (1926)

Joost Schmidt, Das Bauhaus in Dessau postcard (1925)

Schachspiel

In 1924, Joost Schmidt created an advetisment for a chess-set designed by Josef Hartwig

Typography in space: Hartwig’s chess figures indicate how they are to be moved and resemble three-dimensional logos. The advertising postcard integrates them as distinctive visual elements within an otherwise more or less incomplete framework of horizontal and vertical lines of type.

Joost Schmidt, Bauhaus chess set postcard

Joost Schmidt, Schachspiel poster (1923)

Josef Hartwig’s chess set from 1924. Joost Schmidt designed the accompanying advertisement (above). The pieces are composed of simple, stereometric bodies, mostly cubes, whose size and combinations illustrate their moves in the game.

Afterword

How Hartwig’s queen piece embodies form over function

When considering any piece of design, whether it’s a traditional typeface or a chess piece, it’s very easy to overlook the finer details or forget the reasons it’s designed as it is in the first place. We can observe this in everyday objects, whose designs were established long ago and have remained relatively unchanged since- when a design is accepted for long enough, people don’t think to change or improve it, accepting the status-quo.

But the Bauhaus challenged this mentality, asserting that it is not enough to simply accept things as they are because that’s the way they’ve always been, and established that it’s a designer’s job to question why an object is designed the way it is, take a detailed look at what the object needs at its core, and to rebuild it from the ground up, unbiased by preconception - letting the function lead the form.

Bibliography

Printed matter and e-books

Droste, Magdalena. 100 years of Bauhaus. Bauhaus-archiv 2019

bauhaus.typography: 100 works from the Collection of the Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, Bauhaus Archiv 2017

Websites and articles

Lekach, Maya. “Know your design history: the Bauhaus movement”

Marshall, Colin. “The Politics & Philosophy of the Bauhaus Design Movement: A Short Introduction” October 17th, 2019

Griffith, Alexandra. “The Bauhaus, 1919–1933” August 2007

Bauhaus Archiv. The Bauhaus collection. Commercial graphics

Moriarty, Ana. “The Modern Letter - The Best of the Bauhaus Typography” May 29, 2016

Video matter

Architecture, art and design - 100 years of the Bauhaus (2/3) DW Documentary. Jan 20, 2019.

“Bauhaus design is everywhere, but its roots are political.” Quartz. Sep 13, 2019

List of images

Bauhaus building in Dessau

László Moholy-Nagy’s Title page of: “Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar 1919-1923”

Herbert Bayer, Univeral typeface (1925)

Bauhaus masters group photograph, photographer unknown Fraktur typeface designer unknown (early 1800s)

Joost Schmidt

Bauhaus typography 1927

Poster for the Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar (1923)

Joost Schmidt, Dessau (1930)

Jan Tsichold’s penguin book cover design layout

Joost Schmidt, cover for Offset magazine (1926)

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Joost Schmidt, Poster for the Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar (1923)

Joost Schmidt portrait

Main entrance to sommerfeld house (1922)

Carved door in Sommerfeld house (1922)

Joost Schmidt, Das Bauhaus in Dessau postcard (1925)

Joost Schmidt

Cover design for Offset magazine (1926)

Joost Schmidt, Bauhaus chess set postcard

Joost Schmidt, Schachspiel poster (1923)

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Photograph of Josef Hartwig’s chess set in the Bauhaus archive in Berlin. Oscar Meldrum (2023)

Published in 2023

Edited by Oscar Meldrum

for the exhibition “Bauhaus 1919 to 1923. Radical innovations in design education” at the Institute of Art, Design + Technology

Kill Aveneue, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland

Cover Design: Oscar Meldrum

Bauhaus Archive Berlin Museum of Design

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION