- A rebellion against the whole Victorian sensibility.
- Wanted to revolutionalise every aspect of design.
- Direct descendants of the Arts & Crafts Movement.
- Odd blend of art, artifice and practicality.
- 1st commercial art that is utilized for practical reasons.
- Organic, plant-like lines, freed from roots of gravity, waves, "whiplash" style
- Domination of spatial areas and other visual properties such as colour & texture
- Detailed and intricate
- Commonly used: Flowers, Vines, Birds, Human females
Examples:
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Plakatstil
The Poster Style, or "Plakatstil", was begun in 1905 by Lucian Bernhard in Berlin.
For a poster competition sponsored by Priester matches, he did this =>
The stark simplicity of the design won him the competition, and marked a departure from the fussy and decorative Art Nouveau style, which was beginning to lose its vitality.
- Easy to understand
- Cheaper and faster to produce
More examples:
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What I understand about art movements is that they are formed because a certain someone or a group of people with the same ideals decided to go against a culture.
Art Noveau aimed for an art style for the new age, descending from the Arts & Crafts movement which aimed for art that wasn't all about commercialisation, which in turn was formed because it wanted to go against the former Victorian style, which was intricately detailed, took long periods of time to produce, and also costly and highly commercialised.
However, Art Noveau itself, although claiming to be of "new age", had elements of Victorian in its style. Both are just as detailed, albeit Victorian used mostly historic elements, whereas Art Noveau used mostly nature. Fantasy was also prominent in both styles:
Art Noveau & Victorian style fantasy illustrations, respectively.
The Arts & Crafts movement was sort of like a stepping stone towards Art Noveau. Due to industrialisation, machines were used in production processes, replacing the artists. Artists were basically looked down upon and their works deemed a waste of time. With technology, there was a mix of styles and a decline in creativity by engineers who lost aesthetic concern.
Social reformers William Morris and John Ruskin tried to salvage the situation, along with other artists, architects and writers. Ruskin focused on his philosophy that art and labour should be united to serve society, such as in the construction of a medieval Gothic cathedral where the intricate designs of the building are prominent. Morris believed that art & craft should be combined to create beautiful things of all ranges and make art a part of everyday life. He dedicated himself to fight ugliness in all forms.
Thus, with the Arts & Crafts movement, the respect for art is once again restored, allowing the Art Noveau to step in, trying to reform all aspects of design in "preparation for the new age".
Examples of Arts & Crafts style:
Then comes Plakatstil. Its stark simple designs gave the people a break from the intricately detailed, patterned and colourful styles of the Art Noveau. Because of this ultra-big contrast, Plakatstil was revolutionary, and quickly overshadowed the Art Noveau.
At that time, there was this "Modernist" idea in Europe where people prefer designs that are simple and straight to the point. A contrast to the old style of historicism and finely detailed, colourful designs. This was probably why Plakatstil was accepted so quickly. It is also cheaper and faster to produce due to its simplicity. As people become more and more money-minded and business-oriented, Plakatstil was the way to go in order to save money yet bring messages across easily.
Plakatstil's influence continues until today. (In my opinion, it's still because people are money-minded and business-oriented. Because simplicity = easy to recognize and remember = familiarity = trust/reliability = consumers buy product/service = $$$)
Examples of modern Plakatstil:
What I understand about art movements is that they are formed because a certain someone or a group of people with the same ideals decided to go against a culture.
Art Noveau aimed for an art style for the new age, descending from the Arts & Crafts movement which aimed for art that wasn't all about commercialisation, which in turn was formed because it wanted to go against the former Victorian style, which was intricately detailed, took long periods of time to produce, and also costly and highly commercialised.
However, Art Noveau itself, although claiming to be of "new age", had elements of Victorian in its style. Both are just as detailed, albeit Victorian used mostly historic elements, whereas Art Noveau used mostly nature. Fantasy was also prominent in both styles:
Art Noveau & Victorian style fantasy illustrations, respectively.
The Arts & Crafts movement was sort of like a stepping stone towards Art Noveau. Due to industrialisation, machines were used in production processes, replacing the artists. Artists were basically looked down upon and their works deemed a waste of time. With technology, there was a mix of styles and a decline in creativity by engineers who lost aesthetic concern.
Social reformers William Morris and John Ruskin tried to salvage the situation, along with other artists, architects and writers. Ruskin focused on his philosophy that art and labour should be united to serve society, such as in the construction of a medieval Gothic cathedral where the intricate designs of the building are prominent. Morris believed that art & craft should be combined to create beautiful things of all ranges and make art a part of everyday life. He dedicated himself to fight ugliness in all forms.
Thus, with the Arts & Crafts movement, the respect for art is once again restored, allowing the Art Noveau to step in, trying to reform all aspects of design in "preparation for the new age".
Examples of Arts & Crafts style:
Then comes Plakatstil. Its stark simple designs gave the people a break from the intricately detailed, patterned and colourful styles of the Art Noveau. Because of this ultra-big contrast, Plakatstil was revolutionary, and quickly overshadowed the Art Noveau.
At that time, there was this "Modernist" idea in Europe where people prefer designs that are simple and straight to the point. A contrast to the old style of historicism and finely detailed, colourful designs. This was probably why Plakatstil was accepted so quickly. It is also cheaper and faster to produce due to its simplicity. As people become more and more money-minded and business-oriented, Plakatstil was the way to go in order to save money yet bring messages across easily.
Plakatstil's influence continues until today. (In my opinion, it's still because people are money-minded and business-oriented. Because simplicity = easy to recognize and remember = familiarity = trust/reliability = consumers buy product/service = $$$)
Examples of modern Plakatstil:
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My Visual Experimentation:
I did a simple illustration of my character Nucifera, following the Art Noveau style. I only used curved lines, spirals, and different thicknesses of the lines to create a very flowy feel to the illustration. Flower elements are also added. The typography also follows the same flowy style. Overall the illustration looks decorative.
Once again I drew my character Nucifera, but in Plakatstil. It is less detailed, more simple. It looks more like a logo than an illustration. The curved lines are also not as emphasized as the one in Art Noveau style. The typography is more solid and blockish.
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