I found this book in the University Library and found it to be a brilliant resource for this project. The book gives really great detail about the rise of American Modernism and how it influenced America as well as the move away from Modernism. I intend to use this book for a lot of my research due to how comprehensive it is for my chosen movement.
The modernism movement sought to move away from the illustrative and ornate designs of Art Nouveau and similar movements. Modernism focussed on abstract expression, bold type, primary colours and geometric shapes. Modernism is seen more as an idea rather than a specific style, which is evident by the how varied the work associated with the movement is. The design styles that proceeded modernism where largely used just to be aesthetically pleasing and was considered “art for arts sake”, however modernism aimed to use design to evoke thoughts and emotions from its’ viewers. This quote from Paul Rand sums up the idea of modernism well; "To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order or even to edit: it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatise, to persuade and perhaps even to amuse. To design is to transform prose into poetry.”
The main influence of Modernism in America came from the Bauhaus school. The Nazi party’s rise to power led to the closure of Bauhaus in 1933 due to it being considered “degenerate art”. This caused a lot of the artists from the Bauhaus school to emigrate to America. When the European designers arrived in America, it was during the great depression. In a time of great instability, the change from traditionalist American design to modernist, thought provoking design was a welcomed change.
As the new wave of European designers began to make their mark on America, we begin to see the transition from the traditional American design to the new Modern style. The transition can be clearly seen in commercial design during this time. Magazine covers see a big implementation of bold typefaces with minimal text and more graphic images and shapes while still retaining some of the illustrative qualities of traditionalist design. These new covers also see the use of the full page, with images and text being able to be printed right to the edge and even off the page. Towards the later end of this decade, Modernism has fully implemented itself into America. The commercial design seen here often uses bold shapes and colours and innovative typography like the covers of PM magazine by Lester Beall. By this point, Modernism has also spread to the US Government where they utilised it for the Rural Electrification Administration posters.
With the Second World War underway, propaganda became a major part of design. The strong, bold colours and shapes of Modernist Design were a perfect fit for presenting America as a powerful force in the war. Red, white, and blue were seen in almost all propaganda posters as unify the American people which also gives a distinct style to this decade of design. America provided industry for the allied forces, so a lot of industrial imagery can be seen in the propaganda. Machinery, tools, and weapons are key imagery which define this decade along with simple, bold type with the aim to keep the people motivated.
Post war American design continues to favour Modernism, with this decade having a major focus on corporate design. The end of the war allowed to Americans to look forward to the future and rebuild society. Corporate identity became a necessity and the modernist design allowed companies to appear progression and innovative. This is really were we begin to see the beginning of the style of corporate design we zee today. Bold logos with variants featuring both type and no type allowed for even wider recognisability which contributed to the style of design we still see today.