"In the field of art the broad movement in Western art, architecture and design which self-consciously rejected the past as a model for the art of the present. Hence the term modernist or modern art. Modernism gathered pace from about 1850. Modernism proposes new forms of art on the grounds that these are more appropriate to the present time. It is thus characterised by constant innovation. But modern art has often been driven too by various social and political agendas. These were often utopian, and modernism was in general associated with ideal visions of human life and society and a belief in progress. The terms modernism and modern art are generally used to describe the succession of art movements that critics and historians have identified since the Realism of Courbet, culminating in abstract art and its developments up to the 1960s. By that time modernism had become a dominant idea of art, and a particularly narrow theory of modernist painting had been formulated by the highly influential American critic Clement Greenberg. A reaction then took place which was quickly identified as Postmodernism."
Muller, Josef Muller (1955), 'Beethoven'
http://blog.labvc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/815.jpg
The image uses the strict grid patterns that were so influential at the time, it connotes the crisp global style that was evolving at the time. The use of sans serif type again fits with this global style and connotes the ideas of form follows function, the poster design is well thought out with every aesthetic containing a visual reference to the context of the design.
Stepanova, V (1932), 'The Results of the First Five-Year Plan'.
http:farm4.static.flickr.com/3549/3381489212_9fbe65705c.jpg?v=0
This image is another great example of the modernist style but this time from a communist perspective. The method of photomontage was new and exciting at the time, also using this method meant there was no need for text which was so important because many people in society at this time were illiterate. As well as society being illiterate it was very industrial which again is represented through photomontage. The use of colours were also relevant to the time and can be seen through most of the communist modernist design during that era.
Miedinger M, Hoffman H,(1957), 'Helvetica Typeface'
http://www.strangebeautiful.net/muse/helvetica/helvetica_post.gif
Helvetica was a huge turning point for modernist design, the introduction of the sans serif type and ideologies of form follows function gave it a perfect entry point. The space between the counters was calculated and balanced, it was supposedly completely neutral and let the content of the text speak without expressing anything, wether this is true is another debate but that is what it offered and represented at the time. After its name change from Neue Haas Grotesk to helvetica to give it global appeal it spread across the globe and can still be seen in vast amounts of design.
Beck, H (1933), 'London Underground Tube Map'
http://www.forth.fi/underground_beck.jpg
This image shows how modernity introduced ideas of a global language, the use of colour coding and simplified info-graphics to make it easily understandable. Also because the stations were not represented by the physical locations it could be simplified even further to make it easy to read. This piece of design was extremely significant in modernist design and the current design is very similar to this day.
