The 1920s were the most concentrated decade of avant-garde experimentation in the history of graphic design. The Bauhaus, founded in Weimar in 1919 with figures including Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-Nagy, and Oskar Schlemmer working across typography, photography, and exhibition design. In the Soviet Union, Constructivists including El Lissitzky and Alexander Rodchenko were using typography and photography for political communication and in the Netherlands, De Stijl geometric work was made by Theo van Doesburg, while Piet Zwart was developing typo-photography into a new visual language for commercial communication.
Jan Tschichold‘s Die Neue Typographie, published in 1928, codified the principles of the New Typography and in France, Art Deco offered a parallel modernism with poster designers including A.M. Cassandre and Charles Loupot.
The 1920s saw the foundations of modernist graphic design laid across Europe, from the Bauhaus in Weimar to Constructivism in Moscow and De Stijl in the Netherlands. The archive holds printed matter from this decade, including type specimens, catalogues, magazines, and commercial printing that document the birth of the modernist visual language.
Explore designers active in this decade including El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, Piet Zwart, and A.M. Cassandre. See also Bauhaus, Constructivism, and De Stijl.
Membership from £2.49/month unlocks articles researched and inspired by the artefacts in the collection.
Members Only Content, Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles
An article on Valentin Zietara , originally in German, published in Gebrauchsgraphik, 10, 1930, written by H K Frenzel translated by E. T. Scheffauer
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Movements, Advertising Design, Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content
Art Deco graphic design history: its Paris origins, key pioneers Cassandre, Carlu and McKnight Kauffer, and how the style evolved across Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US.
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Design Archive Feature, Design Education, Magazines & Publishing, Members Only Content
Across Europe, industry unions and trade journals shaped the professionalisation of graphic design between 1890 and 1930. Journals such as Typografia, Das Plakat, The Penrose Annual and Typographische Jahrbucher.
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Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Movements, Typography & Type Design
From Jugend and Ver Sacrum to Penrose Annual, an essay on design movements, shaping modernism, and early graphic design.
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Advertising Design, Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content
A 1925 article on Karl Schulpig, originally in German and published in Archiv für Buchgewerbe und Gebrauchsgraphik, March 1925.
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Design Archive Feature, Magazines & Publishing, Members Only Content
The dedication of Gebrauchsgraphiks editors and publishers significantly influenced the spread and impact of graphic design, documenting countless designers who might otherwise have been forgotten over the last century since its first issue hit newsstands. Design magazines play a crucial role in supporting the design profession and remain vital resources for designers and historians alike.
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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Poster Design, Regional Histories
Joseph Binder established his studio, Wiener Graphik, in Vienna. One of the first clients was the City of Vienna’s Music and Theater Festival, followed by many other posters and logos for clients in Austria and beyond.
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Design Archive Feature, Illustration, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
Japan's first foreign film venue, Shochikuza Theatre (1923) is an icon of Modernism. Its Art Deco-influenced advertising, showcased in the 1925 Shochikuza News magazine, offers a glimpse into Japans influences from the West.
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