The selection from Pioneers of Modern Typography by Herbert Spencer was a fascinating read that walked through the Futurism, Suprematism, Dadaism, De Stijl, and Bauhaus movements and acknowledged their roots in Cubism. I appreciated how the author pointed out the culture of printing in the years before these movements emerged. In the 1870s until the 1910s, printing was primarily for artistic and elite purposes with elaborate ornamentation. With these new movements, printing was reclaimed as a means of conveying ideas and information that was less removed from the realities of contemporary society.
I also found it interesting to see how much of our modern graphic design principles and tendencies, such as asymmetry, contrast, color as a design element, and sans-serif typefaces, were developed in the period of time when these movements emerged.
It was cool to be able to see how the movements inspired and spurred one another on, whether because the principles were adopted or because they were changed to match a different agenda. There are lots of formal and conceptual similarities and differences. For example, Dadaist and Futurist work looks very similar, but the Dada movement came out of disillusionment with war and a revolt "against the establishment," so to speak. The Futurists also wanted to break with the past, but they were much more nationalistic. While Dadaists saw war and all the ideas that led to it absurd, Futurists championed speed and technology and saw war as cleansing. I find these two movements most fascinating; I'll probably choose between the two as I move forward in my research.
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