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Design reform was necessary and a long-time coming. During the first few decades of the 1800’s there was unrest amongst the social classes in Britain. The government had to deal with the ever-growing population, workers remained marginalized politically, and tension led to revolt. For whatever reason, likely the idea of potential new clientele, the emerging class of industrialists felt the obligation to fix the inequity throughout Europe through design reform. The motivation towards reform was “tied to reinforcing and shaping the values of a hierarchical social order within a more commercial, complex, and diverse society” (Raizman, 57). Through a standardization of design people of all socioeconomic classes began to be able to own similar looking things and while they owned different stuff, and there was a difference in how much different classes made, it became harder and harder to differentiate the classes. Design reform also attempted to increase the appeal and value of useful goods. It aimed to set standards for taste amongst poor, rich, and everyone inbetween.

Many design reformers in britain wanted design to progress and change in many different ways. Matthew Digby Wyatt strove to find new technology through materials and processes. A.W.N. Pugin chose to ignored varied tastes and motivations of consumers, and instead focused on the overall standardization of design between rich and poor alike. Sir Henry Cole created schools of design in fear of foreign competition. He also fought for museums for the arts as well as informative exhibitions of national and international design. Overall though all reformers had one common goal. “In all cases, however, reformers believed in the existence of a fixed set of standards for design that applied to all, and the need to establish and implement them in the common culture --- standards that they felt ultimately would be the best economic, social, and moral interests of an ever-expanding consuming public” (Raizman, 59). Design reform searched to create a standard design for all consumers.

During this time of standardization came the birth of the Gothic Revival. Gothic style was seen as morally superior to other styles of architecture and art. Not only was it seen in the Churches but also in banks and other official buildings such as Parliament.

In 1850 The Great Exhibition occurred. The Exhibition was held in order to show off the great innovations of the world. Countries from all over came together to show their progression in design and technology. It promoted a standardization and excellence in design and technology across all industries. Designs were elegant yet simple enough for the masses to enjoy, this is to say the pieces were non-discriminatory and everyone of all cultures and statuses could enjoy them. This is credited as the beginning of mass production.

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For the centuries prior to the 1800’s Fine arts and applied arts had been two very different things. Those who made, say, a chair, were not necessarily accredited with making said chair. John Ruskin did not like this, he wanted workers to take pride in what they created. He saw crafts of the middle ages as a vehicle of enlightenment. He thought division of labor deprived workers of the satisfaction of making products from start to finish and from taking pride in what they created (Raizman, 81-82). He blamed industrialism and materialism for helping to create poverty and inequality. He saw labor as the way to avoid sadness and as a valid substitution for happiness. He didn’t have a particular style he liked, but rather wanted the craftsman to create something unique that reflected his skill.

William Morris was a fan of Ruskin’s work and very likeminded. He was critical of materialism and thought there should be some sort of connection between craft and creator. He took his opinion to heart as he furnished his house by building everything from the chairs and the furniture to the stained-glass windows. However, he became disillusioned that he couldn’t promote social change. He became an outspoken socialist and strove for a more equal Britain. Eventually, as he realized very few people would follow his example he began a publishing company in order to spread his ideals, this “brought together his attitudes to art and design with his activities as poet and author” (Raizman, 85). His influence would make it so crafts were seen as a fine art rather than merely as an applied art. Furniture and other household objects became more ornate as those who created became more and more creative and took more pride in their work. These works became known as “Industrial Art.”

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Towards the latter half of the 1800’s the movement of Aestheticism began to happen. The basic premise behind it was creating art for art’s sake. Art didn’t have any meaning other than to be beautiful, nice, and easy to look at. It took influence from Japanese art forms that were simple and focused on flora and nature. It created a strong feeling towards nature. Christopher Dresser is credited with being the father of the movement. He took much of his inspiration from the Japanese arts and used nature and basic geometric shapes as his sole inspiration. Anglo-japanese art became quite relevant too. Aesthetic influences could be seen across all mediums from pots and pans to typeface and book illustrations.

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World War I led to revolution in design. Designs became more radicalized as they aspired to recreate social relations and a society free of so many of its issues, namely conflict and social inequality. Modernism came out of this time period, it was the collection of spiritualism and an emphasis on universal needs. Futurism also came out of this time period.

Futurism, at its core, was work inspired by machine-made environments rather than nature. It was a push to “modernize” art work and design. Artists wanted to visualize the exciting speed of change. For example, Jules Marey began experimenting with time-lapse photography, seen in this piece Bodies Against Time. Painters like Gino Severini and Giacomo Balla had paintings that were wild and seemed to have very little order to demonstrate the speed of the times, as can be seen in Gino’s work Souvenirs de Voyage.

Filipo Tommaso Marinetti even wrote in a sped up fashion in order to capture the speed of the world moving around him.

Marinetti’s word turned into an expressive image in addition to a strong message. He would arrange words in order to create an image or the sensation of a sound. Some artists even took their talents to different fields. Giacomo Balla, a painter, began to design clothing with asymmetrical geometric patterns printed on it.

Advertising took different shapes too. Depero created high-contrast ads with cartoon characters that really stood out and popped in order to sell the product.

Journals, like De Stijl, were published in order to convey the new ideas and styles of the Futuristic movement. The purpose was to show the progression of the movement and to keep readers in tune with what was or wasn’t in style.

Constructivism came around 1925. This movement was artists attempts to be directly involved in the reshaping of Russia after the Bolshevik revolution. It contained a lot of ideas from Futurism, Cubism, and Suprematism. Constructivism focused on the analysis of modern materials and tried to create a means for mass production in Russia. The movement’s focus was on how the materials functioned with one another in terms of construction. It aimed to express modern life in post-revolution Russia.

In 1919 the Bauhaus opened, it was an Academy of Fine Arts and the Arts and Craft school of Weimar, Germany. It was shaped from the Arts and Crafts movement. It is safe to say that it came along in order for German’s to put pride into their work and to boost the pride in the country.

Post WWI led to new typography as well. Sans serif typefaces and more aesthetic looking typefaces began to appear at a more popular level in the late 20’s and early 30’s. New typefaces such as “Gothic” and “Futura” came around in this movement. These new typographies allowed people to express themselves in different ways.

There were tons of artists worldwide that felt art to be revolutionized. The movement touched artists in Russia, Germany, Britain, and other nations. WWI changed people’s views toward the world and their views towards art as well.

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The Art Deco movement originated in Paris in the early 1900’s. It strived to make a form of art that was visually pleasing but not threatening intellectually to those who weren’t necessarily art critics. The style was more symmetrical, geometrical, and aesthetically pleasing, taking a lot of inspiration from the Cubist movement. This was a revolution as common items became more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing for the elites who could afford it. Furniture had very taut and defined curves, the colors contrasted heavily, and had elegant legs for the furniture to stand on. Art Deco made an appearance in decorations such as wallpaper as well.

In 1925 Paris hosted an Exposition of exclusive designs and unique work to demonstrate the progression of design and art itself. It featured mostly luxurious art, as opposed to the The Great Exhibition which had featured art and design for all. There were designs and design plans for furniture, clothing, and even whole rooms featured at the grand exposition. Art Deco provided luxurious furnishings and designs upon what used to be bland furniture. It made furnishings much more luxurious.

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End of WWI

Europe, and the rest of the world, was undergoing economic reconstruction

U.S. played a huge role in economic recovery efforts

Soviet expansion → tensions rising between super powers

Food shortages, extreme need

A response to the war

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Used wartime technology and materials for the common man

Designs had a practicality about them

Designs could belong in any home, rich or poor it didn’t matter

Plastic and fiberglass started to be used in designs

Biomorphic sculptural forms

Organic design

Flexibility

Advertising became more relevant as companies wanted to show off their styles as well as their utility

Designers who had worked to create manuals and machinery in WWII now created and designed for the common man

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Earl Tupper

Tupperware

Created to deal with food shortage

Prevent spoilage and spillage

Henry Dreyfuss

Wall-mounted round thermostat

Lightweight handset for the telephone

Charles and Ray Eames

Created more practical chairs using plywood, fiberglass, and steel

Won the “low-cost furniture” competition

Herbert Matter

Graphic designer

Used white space and simplicity to sell products

Paul Rand

Created advertisements using minimal to no copy

Collages

Presentation over explanation

Suggestive rather than literal

Created logos for many large companies

Alvin Lustig

Designed book and magazine covers

Used photography, color, texture, and typography to create a visual equivalent to the content

Suggestive rather than literal

Sixton Sason

Helped with the design of the Saab

Streamlined and unified appearance

Less geometric

Looks like a shape of an aviation vessel

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End of WWII

Germany had insurmountable debt

US economy was booming post war

Response to the war

Cold War began to unfold

US→ middle and industrial working class growing

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Industrial design using wartime technology in domestic products

Information design and advertising began to advance rapidly as more products entered the market and capitalism began to flourish in ways that it hadn’t

Line between socioeconomic status and products owned became more blurred

No more “high” and “low” art

Increasing interest of personable art for the consumer

“Throwaway culture”

Huge strides of progression in the automotive industry

Resort hotels

Luxury for middle class

Suburbia homes

Built in appliances

Accessibility

Corporate instead of individual designs

Advertising often featured beautiful women marveling at the product

Other fun and new approaches were introduced

Silkscreen, templates, presses and other new means were used in graphic design and art

Drug scene heavily influenced “trippy art”

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Harley Earl

Chief of the styling department at GM

Longer cars with a lower body

Cars of both luxury and economic style

Put fins on the cars similar to those on fighter planes

Started the snowball of car design being low and long and having tail wings

Morris Lapidus

Design retail stores during the war

Wanted to intrigue the imagination

Sweeping curves and recurves

Intricate lighting fixtures

La-Z-boy

Bulked up Eames’ design, eliminated the separate ottoman

Made luxury for the middle class

Mary Quant

Targeted young consumers

Simple and traditional clothes

Bold colors and accessories

Credited with the invention of the miniskirt

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Plywood is an incredibly efficient and effective medium used for just about anything. As a rather cheap material that can be molded into just about any shape or form, it only makes sense that it is a material that is used in so many products. Plywood is also quite durable which makes it useful for all kinds of industrial products. It has been used from home furnishing to transportation.

Used for a sewing machine

Flexible and durable

Used as a transportation system

Tube of plywood pushed through tube plywood

Flexible and durable

Probably taken down because flammable?

Baggage

Lightweight, flexible, durable

Likely became less popular because it isn’t as flexible like fabric luggage is

Many vehicles used plywood to hold shape

Durable and cheap

Pliable, flexible, durable

Aesthetically pleasing

Cheap to make but can be sold for relatively higher prices

Plans that can be applied to any slab of plywood

Durable and pliable

Cheap idea that can be sold for relatively high prices

Skateboards and Surfboards made of plywood

Durable and flexible