{"id":3183,"date":"2019-05-14T12:30:19","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T16:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=3183"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:48:14","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:48:14","slug":"old-masters-design-movements-making-a-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/old-masters-design-movements-making-a-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Masters: Design Movements Making a Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Recorded human civilization is now somewhere around 5000 years old, give-or-take a few centuries. While that means it\u2019s increasingly difficult to create anything truly novel, it also means contemporary artists and designers have an impossibly deep well from which to borrow, remix, and mash-up. Of course, not all eras are created equal\u2014nostalgia tends to be just as cyclical and trendy as anything else in modern culture. But here are three classic design movements that have more than earned their next moment in the sun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bauhaus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re celebrating the Bauhaus school\u2019s 100th birthday this year, so it\u2019s only fitting that the fine arts and design movement\u2019s tenets make a comeback. Founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany, the \u201cStaatliches Bauhaus\u201d was a short-lived school that sought to unify art, craft, and technology. The resulting Bauhaus aesthetic favors an emphasis on functionality, balance, and simple geometric shapes. Consider L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Moholy-Nagy\u2019s Portfolio for Walter Gropius<\/a>, or Gropius and Adolf Meyer\u2019s Fagus-Werk Factory<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today, Bauhaus\u2019 reemerging popularity is seen largely in graphic design. Check out Netherlands-based design studio George&Harrison\u2019s brand identity<\/a> for Eindhoven\u2019s Bunker Tower. As they explain, \u201cThe identity strikes a balance between raw and sophisticated, cultivating a \u2028monumental but classy aesthetic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In celebration of Bauhaus\u2019 centenary year, 99designs<\/a> asked graphic designers to imagine contemporary logos with a Bauhaus twist. Among our favorites, dnk<\/a>\u2019s take on Instagram and Vladimir Nikolic<\/a>\u2019s backdated Apple logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And the movement also lives on in typeface. Pier Francesco Martini\u2019s HAUS Sans<\/a> captures the school\u2019s dedication to minimalism.
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And Viktoryia Makouskaya\u2019s Abstract Alphabet<\/a> typeface embraces Bauhaus abstraction.
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For more on the legacy of Bauhaus, check out Curbed\u2019s interview<\/a> with ten contemporary design leaders about the school\u2019s lasting impact. (And if you need a primer, you can find it here. <\/a>We won’t tell.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8-Bit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t have to delve all that deeply into the past to locate another retro design trend staging a comeback: 8-bit graphics. Of course when the 8-bit aesthetic came to prominence in the 1980s, the design wasn\u2019t so much a question of choice but necessity\u2014computer graphics simply weren\u2019t capable of much better. The classics of that era are likely immediately recognizable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Think of contemporary 8-bit design as a haiku of sorts\u2014the challenge is to create meaning, beauty, and memory within an intensely limited framework. The poor pixel resolution forces images to have a blocky quality, and the color palate is basic at best. In an RGB-color profile, 8-bit images allow for 256 tonal variations for each red, green, and blue; 16-bit images allow for 65,536 tonal variations in each. Despite those challenges, the look is showing up everywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out Canadian designer Erin McGuire\u2019s design for a limited edition set of Space Invaders-themed Coca Cola cans.  
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And it\u2019s not impossible to embrace elegance with the pixelated 8-bit designs either. Loukas Chondros\u2019 mark<\/a> for the Greek candy Ousyra does just that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hell, even Monocle<\/em> is embracing our lo-fi heritage, as seen in this cover from February 2019.
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Check out PBS\u2019 short doc The Evolution of 8-bit Art<\/a> to learn more about the burgeoning movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Art Deco<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like Bauhaus, the art deco movement emerged in the wake of World War I, coming to signify a very modern expression of conspicuous consumption. Forgoing Art Nouveau\u2019s baroque aesthetic and soft curves for a more streamlined appearance, Art Deco favors bold geometric shapes, sharply diagonal typefaces, and a certain industrial fetishization, as seen in A.M. Cassandre\u2019s \u201cNord Express\u201d<\/a> poster and William Van Alen\u2019s Chrysler Building.
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Today Art Deco\u2019s influences can be seen everywhere, from the crest for the Los Angeles Football Club<\/a>\u2026
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…to Mother Design<\/a>\u2019s identity for 30 Park Place<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is an exploration of three historic, classic design movements currently experiencing a new wave of popularity: Bauhaus, Art Deco, and 8-Bit.<\/div>\n

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