# Bauhaus

> The German school founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 moved from Expressionist craft ideals to a programme of 'art and technology' after 1923, when Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer and Joost Schmidt made its printing and advertising workshops a laboratory for functional communication. Its graphics combine geometric sans-serif and lowercase type, bold rules, primary colours and basic shapes with photography in asymmetric, systematic layouts.

- Period: 1919–1933
- Where: Central Europe
- Origin: Weimar, Dessau and Berlin, Germany
- Branch: Avant-garde
- Also known as: Staatliches Bauhaus, Bauhaus typography
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/bauhaus/

## How it works

- Build compositions from elementary forms (circle, square, triangle) paired with primary colours.
- Set type in sans-serif and, following Bayer, drop capitals wherever possible.
- Use bold rules, bars and dots to structure and direct the eye, never to decorate.
- Prefer photography and 'typophoto', the fusion of type and photograph, over drawn illustration.
- Arrange elements asymmetrically with strong scale contrast on orthogonal or rotated axes.
- Design for industrial production: standard DIN formats, repeatable systems, legibility at a distance.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (defining)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Modular grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/modular-grid/) (occasional)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Geometric sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-sans/) (defining)
- [Lowercase only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lowercase-only/) (characteristic)
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (characteristic)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (characteristic)
- [Flush left, ragged right](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flush-left-ragged-right/) (characteristic)
- [Stencil](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stencil/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Primary triad](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/primary-triad/) (defining)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (defining)
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (characteristic)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Rules & bars](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rules-and-bars/) (defining)
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (characteristic)
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (characteristic)
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (characteristic)
- [Diagram & data](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagram-and-data/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (characteristic)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (characteristic)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rational & objective](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rational-and-objective/) (defining)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (characteristic)
- [Technological & futurist](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/technological-and-futurist/) (characteristic)

Avoids: Floral & vegetal, Abundant decoration, Blackletter, Ornamented display, Script, Central symmetry, Nostalgic & retro

Palette: #f2efe6, #121212, #d7261e, #f2c12e, #1c4f9c, #8f8f8a

Typefaces: Herbert Bayer's Universal alphabet (1925), Josef Albers's stencil and combination alphabets (1926–31), Futura (Paul Renner, 1927)

Known for: Walter Gropius (founder, 1919); László Moholy-Nagy (Bauhausbücher series, 1925–30); Herbert Bayer (Universal alphabet, 1925; Kandinsky 60th-birthday exhibition poster, 1926); Joost Schmidt (Bauhaus exhibition poster, 1923); Josef Albers (stencil lettering, 1926); bauhaus magazine (1926–31)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Russian Constructivism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/constructivism.md) (1917–1934)
- Influenced by: [De Stijl](https://stylogeny.com/styles/de-stijl.md) (1917–1931)
- Influenced by: [Arts & Crafts Movement](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arts-and-crafts.md) (1860–1920)
- Led to: [Die Neue Typographie](https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-typography.md) (1923–1940)
- Led to: [Scandinavian Functionalism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/scandinavian-functionalism.md) (1930–present)
- Led to: [American Mid-Century Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/american-modernism.md) (1940–1970)
- Led to: [HfG Ulm Systematic Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ulm-school.md) (1953–1968)
- Led to: [Op Art Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/op-art.md) (1960–1975)
- Led to: [Casablanca School Graphic Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/casablanca-school.md) (1962–1987)
- Alike in its design choices: [International Typographic Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/swiss-international.md) (1950–1975), 76% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Total Design & Dutch Functionalism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dutch-total-design.md) (1963–1990), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Czech Poetist Book Design (Devětsil)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/czech-poetism.md) (1922–1938), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Brazilian Concrete Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/brazilian-concrete.md) (1951–1975), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Neo-Swiss Revival](https://stylogeny.com/styles/swiss-revival.md) (2005–present), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Di Tella Graphic Design (Instituto Torcuato Di Tella)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/di-tella-graphics.md) (1960–1970), 63% alike

## Real works

- [Postcard for the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar 1923 (geometric forms)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Postkarte_Bauhaus_L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Moholy-Nagy_Geometrische_Formen.jpg): László Moholy-Nagy, 1923, Wikimedia Commons (photograph from a Villa Grisebach auction; holding institution not stated)
- [Offset: Buch und Werbekunst, Heft 7 ('Bauhaus-Heft'), cover](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joost_Schmidt_Bauhausheft_7_1926.jpg): Joost Schmidt (Der Offset-Verlag, Leipzig), 1926, Wikimedia Commons (web scan from widewalls.ch; holding institution not stated)
- [Postcard for the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar 1923 (Roethel 179)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Postkarte_Bauhaus_Wassily_Kandinsky_Postkarte_f%C3%BCr_die_Bauhaus-Ausstellung.jpg): Wassily Kandinsky, 1923, Wikimedia Commons (photograph from a Villa Grisebach auction; holding institution not stated)
- [Staatliches Bauhaus Ausstellung, Weimar, Juli–Sept. 1923 (poster)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joost_Schmidt_Bauhausausstellung_1923.jpg): Joost Schmidt, 1923, Wikimedia Commons (low-resolution web scan from widewalls.ch; holding institution not stated)
- [Malerei, Fotografie, Film (Bauhausbücher 8), 2nd edition, p. 126: typophoto 'Dynamik der Gross-Stadt'](https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/moholy_nagy1927/0132): László Moholy-Nagy (Albert Langen Verlag, Munich), 1927 (first edition 1925), Heidelberg University Library (64 B 68 RES)

## Sources

- Magdalena Droste, Bauhaus 1919–1933 (Taschen)
- László Moholy-Nagy, 'Die neue Typographie', in Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar 1919–1923 (1923)
- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Bauhaus”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/bauhaus/