- By the turn of the twentieth century,
young artists began looking beyond the complex forms
of Victorian design, Art Nouveau, and Arts and Crafts.
The ideas in the air at the start of a brand new century
were about new and fresh approaches.
For these young artists the world of medieval poetry
and complex patterns had no place in this brave new world.
Lucian Bernhard was fifteen years old when he
attended an exhibition in Munich of work that
moved away from the drab tones and clutter of Victorian era.
He was, as he said, "walking drunk
"with color through the exhibition."
He went home and painted every wall and
all the furniture in his room with
these new bright and vibrant colors.
His father kicked him out of the house but he
made the giant leap into realizing that
design could be minimal and clear.
Bernhard's poster for Priester Matches is a perfect example.
His original solution had dancing girls,
a cigar, table, and a tablecloth, but one by one,
he took each item away, determined to get to the core
of the communication which was simply matches.
This solution is the beginning of
modern graphic design today that relies on
symbols and shapes rather than
literal illustration to promote an idea.
This school of work is known as Plakatstil or poster style.
Other German artists such as Ludwig Hohlwein
working in the poster medium were also
exploring simple shape and minimal decoration.
The use of implied form with negative space is an
incredible way to make the viewer work.
This is a good approach: the more a
viewer tries to understand the visual,
the better he or she will remember it.
The typography was created by hand
as part of the illustration and was also
reduced to the most basic message.
Strong vivid colors, abstract and flat pattern,
and a rejection of anything decorative are
the hallmarks of the German poster movement.
These artists without knowing it also were the
first to work with modern corporate identity.
The idea of a logo today is a simple icon and name.
This can be traced back to that original Priester poster.
The effects of the German poster period are with
us in modern identity design, minimal posters,
and the basic concept of less is more.
It was gathering momentum and becoming a major force
but as we'll see next the movement
was derailed in 1914 by world war one.