Peter Behrens- Art Nouveau

Electrolux. 2012. Happy Birthday AEG: ‘Perfekt in Form und Funktion’ for 125 Years. [ONLINE] Available at: http://newsroom.electrolux.com/uk/2012/05/22/happy-birthday-aeg-%E2%80%98perfekt-in-form-und-funktion%E2%80%99-for-125-years/. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Peter Behrens is one of the most outstanding 20th century designers. His designs and work in painting, architecture, graphic design and industrial design have been an influence in all of those fields. He is typically viewed as the founder of both modern, industrial architecture and also industrial design. Originally in the late 19th century he was a founding member of the Munich succession.

He has produced everything from coloured illustrations, book designs, crafts to furniture and even architectural designing. His first design in architecture was his own first house and was called a work of Art in his own country of Germany. Behrens, apart from designing the actual house, he also designed the interior and all the furnishings. The first commission he received was from AEG, an electrical product company in Germany. From originally being commissioned to design their advertising material, he ended up designing their factory building and also their original electrical products.

art directory. no date. Peter Behrens. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.behrens-peter.com/. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Electric Kettle by Peter Behrens

The AEG factory was designed using geometric shapes; even the company's logo followed the form of the same geometric shape. The company was so pleased with the simplicity of the shape, that they decided to unite this shape with everything they made. As electric kettles had appeared in the late 19th century, they were still relatively expensive so AEG tried to produce their own design.  Peter Behrens designed the kettle in 1909, again using the octagonal, geometric shape that he had used for the factory's roof and logo. The kettle looked very modern using the function over beauty factor. 

Even though it was still a bit expensive, small, and slow to heat water, it was made using high quality materials and so it was a popular product with the consumer.

Blogger. 2011. Art Nouveau: Peter Behrens and the corporate type design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://abdulazizfarache.blogspot.com/2011/03/art-nouveau-peter-behrens-and-corporate.html. [Accessed 26 January 14].

MoMA. 2011. the new kitchen. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/counter_space/the_new_kitchen. [Accessed 26 January 14].

The Aluminium Espresso Coffee maker

The geometric, octagonal shape created by Peter Behrens has remained very popular till this day. It has influenced the design of many household products as can be seen in the picture above.

Blogger. 2012. Marylou's news. [ONLINE] Available at: http://meaghangibbons.blogspot.com/2012/04/marylous-news.html. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Art Nouveau

The Art Nouveau era, in my opinion has been the biggest influence on Art and architecture. This new style (image) was completely innovative from the norm. This era, the late19th century, was used to having drab, dull, coloured forms of art. Art Nouveau still used nature and the natural form, but enhanced them with more colourful, bold and intense graphics. The main topics focused on in Art Nouveau were floral inspirations with flowing lines and curves.

Some Art Nouveau styles tended to veer towards the Japanese influence, This Japanese Art, which was called 'Japonisme', was becoming more and more popular in the Western market. The Art Nouveau artists quickly picked up this trend and interlaced it with their own modern ideas. Art Nouveau first came to light near the late 19th century. A Belgian publication called L' Art Moderne had produced a feature on Les Vingt (the twenty). These were twenty painters and sculptors who took it upon themselves to start an artistic revolution by refining the segregation between the fine art and the use of different media in art and craft. They were influenced by the ways and methods of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.

Art Nouveau was considered a very expressive style and became popular with architects and interior designers. Post-Impressionism and Symbolism were comparative to Art Nouveau itself. The Art Nouveau style grew and became immensely popular to the point where an art dealer called Siegfried Bing opened an art gallery specifically for Art Nouveau and called it L' Art Nouveau. With the strength of this gallery Art Nouveau took off and gained momentum over a larger international audience. The Art Nouveau style with its vibrant, bold, block designs, became regarded as the highlight of the aesthetic movement. Many graphic artists developed the Art Nouveau style further, they began to incorporate the female image into their designs. At first they were envisaged as fairies. This is apparent in the jewellery designs of René Lalique, and many other popular artists at the time. The most famous poster from the belle époque society was created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Till this day, this poster is a prime example of women in Art Nouveau style.

[Moulin Rouge original poster by Toulouse-Lautrec] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.catchingwords.com/art-and-advertising-how-creative-geniuses-became-marketers/> [Accessed 17 November 2013].

Art Nouveau is typically French, where it was originally also called various names such as Style Jules Verne, Le Style Métro, Art belle époque, and Art fin de siècle. The highlight for Art Nouveau was its showcase in the grandest fair organised in Paris. Many interior designers began to use this new style in their work. From small commercial entrances to larger scales, incorporating electronic lights into the designs. Even the furnishing sector began to produce Art Nouveau furniture, they used luxurious veneers and gilt edging and mounts.

After its initial showcase, it went on to be exhibited over Europe, including the Glasgow international exhibition and the Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna at Turin. With this exposure many famous artists and designers began to introduce Art Nouveau around Europe. In Spain the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Cathedral by Antoni Gaudi, is a prime example of this style. In London a top firm called Liberty & Co supplied ceramics and textiles in English Art Nouveau. In America a famous glass designer called Louis Comfort Tiffany began producing glassware in Tiffany style. These famous Tiffany lamps have become infamous till this day.

[Tiffany Lampshade] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.tiffany-lamps.de/TIFFANY_LAMP_DOMES/22IN_TRUMPETVINE/A.html> [Accessed 17 November 2013].

Art Nouveau only lasted from late 19th century to early 20th century. This was followed by Art Deco, which became evident in the sleek designs of a new generation of furniture.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Art Nouveau. [online] Available at: <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/artn/hd_artn.htm> [Accessed 17 November 2013].

Sagrada Familia 2013 (Personal record)

Casa Batllo Barcelona 2013 (Personal Record)

Charles Rennie Mackintosh- Arts and Crafts Movement

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

In many of his public lectures on architecture, Charles Rennie Mackintosh had stated his wish that architects and designers would be free to show their artistic and independent creations. He was already experimenting himself with different forms of decorations and furniture including metal work and graphic art. In one building that he designed, The Glasgow Herald Building, he built-in the latest form of technology which included a hydro-pneumatic and fire-resistant concrete floors.

His masterpiece was to be a new design for the Glasgow school of Art. All the interior was dramatically changed, especially the library where he was influenced by Japanese domestic interiors.

Glasgow Mackintosh. no date. Charles Rennie Mackintosh. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.crmsociety.com/crmackintosh.aspx. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Hillhouse Chair by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

bonluxat. no date. Charles Rennie Mackintosh Hillhouse Chair. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bonluxat.com/a/Charles_Rennie_Mackintosh_Hillhouse_Chair.html. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Mackintosh designed this chair in the early 1900s. While other chairs of the time were highly decorative, this chair is very simplistic. The modern, simple design still has decorative lattice work on the back. This chair was never mass produced, it was made and designed specifically for the Hillhouse in Scotland designed by Mackintosh himself.

technology student. 2012. THE FURNITURE OF CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH PRODUCT ANALYSIS - 2. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.technologystudent.com/joints/charles4.html. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Hip Flask inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Designs

Charles Rennie Mackintosh's designs remain an inspiration till this day. This pewter hip flask's design is inspired by the Hilltop chair of Mackintosh himself. The straight lines and lattice design is typical of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Arts and Crafts movement.

buyahipflask.com. 2014. 6oz Charles Rennie Mackintosh Hip Flask. [ONLINE] Available at: http://buyahipflask.com/6oz-charles-rennie-mackintosh-hip-flask. [Accessed 26 January 14].

The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement was one of the most powerful, successful and influential movements in design the design history of the modern era. This movement originated in Britain and hastily reached America and Europe before finally ended up as the Mingei movement in Japan.

The arts and crafts movement was created due to concern to the lack of design which was the result of industrialisation. Traditional craftsmanship was no longer appreciated and ordinary people were creating very cheap designs with no thought or consideration whatsoever.  The invention of mass production resulted in loss of stylistic variety, but then again the products created had very low costs. In Britain, these horrendous effects caused by the Industrial Revolution were noticed in the 1840s, but architects, designers and artists started taking serious action in the 1860s and 1870s. In response to this, the artists and designers who were part of the Arts and Crafts Movement created a new set of rules for design and did their best to make people's homes become a work of art themselves.

The name of this Movement came from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society but it included a number of workshops, manufacturers and artists who had similar ideas, tastes and theories. The artistry in this movement was very innovative for the time, and the great thing about it is that the designers always kept the function of the product in mind, not only the appearance.

This movement was one who remained always true to materials while creating new and unique designs. Their belief was to always keep quality first, then functionality and design. This is where the infamous 'Form follows Function' comes in. The phrase 'Form follows Function' is what makes good design, even in the world we live in today.

The two most dominant people in this movement were the philosopher John Ruskin and the designer, writer and founder William Morris. Ruskin researched thoroughly the relationship between art, humanity and the industry. Morris put Ruskin's beliefs into practice, by taking into consideration of high value of products, the importance of the delight in craftsmanship and the natural beauty lying in organic materials. William Morris was very much inspired by Medieval Art.

In a very short time frame, William Morris became known worldwide as one of the most successful designers and manufacturers at the time. Later federations were inspired by Morris's designs. Artists, designers, sculptors and painters were working hand in hand for the first time and so, high quality and diverse products were being produced for the public.

Victoria and Albert Museum

The world’s greatest museum of art and design, 2013. The Arts and Crafts Movement. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-arts-and-crafts-movement/> [Accessed 19 November 2013].

[Peacock and Dragon woven woollen fabric by William Morris ] 1878. [image online] Available at: <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morris_Peacock_and_Dragon_Fabric_1878_v2.jpg> [Accessed 19 November 2013].

Design's definition...

Design is found wherever you look, anywhere and everywhere, sometimes it’s just too difficult to identify. Design is found from the initial sketchbook ideas to the final product , it's what keeps you warm in winter and cold in summer.

Design helps make sure our lives are easier as they are getting faster. The word 'design' does not have one definition to it, it depends on how you look at it.

I relate to designer Richard Seymour's opinion,  when he states that design is 'making things better for people'. His opinion reflects that design is all about keeping the consumers satisfied and they should always be kept first in the designers eyes.  However design does not specifically include 3D and product design only. Design covers the crucial work of graphic designers, service designers and much more areas.

Finding your own definition of design will help you understand the importance it contains and might also help you find your own unique view of the term.