Art Nouveau

The popularity of the Art Nouveau movement at the turnoff the 19^th century can be traced back to Czech artist, Alphonse Mucha. With a lithographed poster advertising the play Gismonda, that appeared on walls in Paris in1895, Mucha and his distinctive style were in the minds of the French public, and soon the movement spread, though it acquired different names depending on the country. In Prague for example, the style was incorporated into the local architecture and buildings designed in those years are still visibly encrusted with images of leaves and women that swirl across the facades. The movement was influenced by Japanese art, like wood block prints with their curves and use of colours, and similarities can be seen not in style as much as the techniques that were absorbed.

Art Nouveau was a short lived style, succumbing in the years leading up to the first world war, as it was one that explored sexuality as well, and this subversiveness and disregard for morality andsocial structure contributed to its downfall.

Malevich

At first glance the work of Kazimir Malevich seems to be simple, though his black square and black circle for example, are prime examples of suprematist design. Based on basic geometric shapes in various colours, suprematist design, which was founded by Malevich, focused on the “primacy of pure feeling in creative art” rather than the depiction of visual objects. Malevich believed that art could exist on its own without having  anything “to do with the object, as such”.
The simplicity of the forms might seem superficially to be similar to constructivist works, down at the core, their beliefs were in sharp contrast. Suprematism embodied a profoundly anti-materialist, anti-utilitarian philosophy. Reflecting the social changes that were going on in Russia at the time, going from a Tsarist monarchy to the Soviet state run by First Lenin and finally Stalin who restricted the artists of the

time in fear of their power. In Malevich’s self portrait, painted traditionally according to Stalinist cultural policy,  Malevich still signed it with a tiny black on white square defiantly.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

It takes work and talent to create minimalist designs that stand the test of time. One designer capable of such work was German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Now widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern architecture, he began his career as an apprentice in Peter Brehren’s studio, working alongside esteemed modernists Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. After World War 1, he began experimenting with styles of design that were suitable for the industrial age that the world was embracing.

He is most widely known for the design of the German Pavilion for the Barcelona International Exposition in 1929, using simple forms and extravagant materials. It was supposed to reflect the face of the new Germany after the war, culturally progressive, prospering and thoroughly pacifist. The use of space was meant to invite the weary visitors and blurred the distinction between inside and outside space. Unfortunately, since it was never meant to be a permanent installation, it was torn down less than a year later. However, thanks to Copies of the original plans and photographs, a group of Spanish architects have reconstructed it more permanently between 1983 and 1986. It now stands as a testament to the ingenuity and talent of a great modernist designer, always welcoming.

Olly Moss

The wonderful creations of Olly Moss an English artist, graphic designer and illustrator, have been floating around the internet for a while, garnering attention from people with an eye for simple movie posters that encapsulate and capture their essence. Moss is new to the professional graphics scene, having graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2008, but he started designing tshirts for sale while studying and first made a stir when he won a tshirt design contest with a design that spoiled the major plot twists of famous movies.

Since then, he has gone on to design more t-shirts, movie posters and has even had a show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. Paper cuts as it was titled, collected pop culture icons from movies and games as well as comics and reproduced them in the style of Victorian portraiture.  Here and there a splash of colour stands out to emphasize some part of the character, like the smile of the Joker from Batman. Moss’s work has been likened to that of Saul Bass, and he pays homage to him in some pieces, as well as Romek Marber, whose work he has riffed on for some of his video game posters, Justin Ishmael, Mondo’s creative director (who commissioned most of the movie posters) thinks “he has a lot more range. Only Moss does Moss.” (2011)

Banksy

The artist using the pseudonym Banksy is famous for his anti establishment, anti-government stencil street art. His works frequently critique and bring to light the object oriented culture of modern society like in his piece Shop Till You Drop (Sa//y, 2011)

Depicting a woman falling or being dragged down by a shopping cart, it brings to light the rampant consumerism and spending in a time when it is at best questionable due to the economic situation in England.

Another of his works protested the fact that much of the Jubilee and 2012 Olympic memorabilia had been made in sweatshops, often by underpaid and underfed children. This sort of exploitation of the poor in the name of capitalism is nothing new, but in the past when it had come to light, such as with Nike in the 1990's protests were organizes and products had been boycotted until they took a closer look at their manufacturing. In recent times, Apple has come under fire for its factories in China where a number of suicides and terrible working conditions had come to light. The truth is that today, people would rather closet themselves with their gadgets than acknowledge the pain and suffering that is a byproduct and so something to change it. 

Reference

Sa//y. (2011) Shop Till You Drop. Flickr. [Online] Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/salsgallery/6417876715/in/photostream/ (Accessed 12 May 2013)

Dieter Rams

The man that made Braun a household name in the 1950's, Dieter Rams (Desgn Museum, 2009) is a designer that has greatly influenced today's world by way of both his products and his design philosophy.
At the core, Rams' designs are created with one main idea, Less is More. Rams asked himself "is my design a good design?" and the result of reflection on this was his Ten Principles of Good Design.

Good Design
is innovative
makes a product useful
is aesthetic
makes a product understandable
is unobtrusive
is honest
is long lasting
is thorough down to the last detail
is environmentally friendly
is as little design as possible

Rams was dissatisfied with the way product design was progressing in the 1970's and that is why he introduced the ideas of sustainable development and of the manufacturing and design of products to be environmentally friendly. These are ideas that modern designers are still coming to grips with, 40 years later, and not always succeeding.
Rams has acknowledged that Apple are one of the few companies that follow his principles, and he is cited as an influennce both for product design as well as a key influence to their chief designer Sir Jonathan Ive.

Reference

Design Museum 2009 Dieter Rams [Photograph]

Jony Ive

London born designer Sir Jonathan Ive (Dawes, 2012) is one of the names any self respecting design student should know, not only because the products he designs that are used every day, or the many awards and accolades he has won. The way he designs things, with an attention to detail and with the goal of concentrating and simplifying the essential elements of a design without limitations.

Ive's work is the subject of much love and hate, go on any computer forum and take a peek at the flame wars his products create. This reaction from the public as well as his talents mark him as one of the great and influential designers of the 21st century. After all is it not a hope of the designer to spark feelings in the hearts and minds of the people? 

His position as Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple is another thing that sparks hope for the future of design in this world of shoddily assembled products planned with obsolescence in mind.
Apple now being a household name and Ive's association with its rise prove that design is an important part of any process and that companies should take note if they want to be as successful.

Reference

Dawes, M. (2012) Sir Jonathan Ive [Online]. Availoable at: http://marcusdawes.photoshelter.com/image/I00006Ts4_FCMxZI (Accessed 12 May 2013)