# Dada

> Born in wartime Zurich at the Cabaret Voltaire in 1916 and spreading to Berlin, Hanover, Cologne and Paris, Dada used chance, absurdity and provocation against the culture that had produced the war. Its journals, posters and photomontages tumbled found type, ads and photographs into anarchic compositions that treated every letter as raw material and every rule of legibility as a target.

- Period: 1916–1924
- Where: Central Europe, Western Europe
- Origin: Zurich (Cabaret Voltaire), then Berlin, Hanover, Cologne and Paris
- Branch: Avant-garde
- Also known as: Dadaism, Berlin Dada, Merz
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/dada/

## How it works

- Grab type from anywhere (wood poster letters, ads, printers' rules) and mix it without regard for family or hierarchy.
- Set words in every direction: upside down, vertical, stepped and colliding.
- Cut up photographs, advertisements and newsprint and reassemble them into absurd photomontage.
- Let chance and provocation decide placement; deny the reader a single, comfortable entry point.
- Parody the languages of propaganda, advertising and fine art rather than inventing a new polish.

## Its design choices

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

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

### Space & hierarchy
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (defining)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (defining)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (defining)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (characteristic)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)
- [Blackletter](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/blackletter/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (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
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (characteristic)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (occasional)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (characteristic)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (occasional)
- [Photocopy & distress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photocopy-and-distress/) (occasional)

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

### Imagery
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (defining)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (characteristic)
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (characteristic)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (defining)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (characteristic)

Avoids: Central symmetry, Modular grid, Classical text block, Authoritative & institutional, Calm & contemplative, Luxurious & glamorous

Palette: #ebe3cf, #161616, #c62a1e, #8a8174, #c7a76a

Typefaces: Found wood poster type, Mixed grotesques, Egyptians and Fraktur from the jobbing printer's case, Letters cut and pasted from newspapers and ads (Höch, Hausmann)

Known for: Hugo Ball & Emmy Hennings (Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, 1916); Tristan Tzara (Dada journal); Hannah Höch (Cut with the Kitchen Knife, 1919–20); Raoul Hausmann (optophonetic poster-poems; ABCD, 1923–24); John Heartfield & George Grosz (Berlin Dada photomontage; Malik-Verlag covers); Kurt Schwitters (Merz magazine, 1923–32); Theo van Doesburg & Kurt Schwitters (Kleine Dada Soirée poster, 1922)

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

- Grew out of: [Italian Futurism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/futurism.md) (1909–1944)
- Influenced by: [Cubist Pictorial Space](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cubism.md) (1907–1925)
- Led to: [Mavo](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mavo.md) (1923–1925)
- Led to: [Surrealist Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/surrealism.md) (1924–1960)
- Led to: [AIZ Political Photomontage (Heartfield)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/aiz-political-photomontage.md) (1930–1938)
- Led to: [Pop Art Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pop-art.md) (1955–1975)
- Led to: [Situationist Détournement Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/situationist-detournement.md) (1956–1972)
- Led to: [Fluxus Graphics (Maciunas)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/fluxus.md) (1962–1978)
- Led to: [Punk & DIY Zine](https://stylogeny.com/styles/punk-diy.md) (1976–1986)
- Alike in its design choices: [Cranbrook & Deconstructivist Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/deconstructivist-typography.md) (1980–1998), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Swiss Punk / New Wave Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-wave-typography.md) (1968–1990), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Russian Futurist Book](https://stylogeny.com/styles/russian-futurist-book.md) (1910–1920), 55% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Czech Poetist Book Design (Devětsil)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/czech-poetism.md) (1922–1938), 55% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Russian Constructivism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/constructivism.md) (1917–1934), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Estridentismo (Stridentist) Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/estridentismo-graphics.md) (1921–1927), 50% alike

## Real works

- [Kleine Dada Soirée (Small Dada Evening)](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.154076.html): Theo van Doesburg and Kurt Schwitters, 1922, National Gallery of Art, Washington (2010.124.1)
- [Anna Blume: Dichtungen (Die Silbergäule), front cover, 1st printing](https://dada.lib.uiowa.edu/items/show/240): Kurt Schwitters (Paul Steegemann Verlag), 1919, International Dada Archive, University of Iowa Libraries
- [Der Dada, No. 3 (cover)](https://dada.lib.uiowa.edu/items/show/63): John Heartfield (cover photomontage); edited by Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield and George Grosz; Malik-Verlag, April 1920, International Dada Archive, University of Iowa Libraries
- [Bulletin Dada (Dada no. 6): programme of the Dada matinée of 5 February 1920](https://dada.lib.uiowa.edu/items/show/59): Tristan Tzara (editor), with Francis Picabia, February 1920 (Iowa lists March 1920), International Dada Archive, University of Iowa Libraries
- [Der Dada, No. 1 (cover)](https://dada.lib.uiowa.edu/items/show/61): Raoul Hausmann (director of the issue), June 1919, International Dada Archive, University of Iowa Libraries

## Sources

- Leah Dickerman (ed.), Dada: Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York, Paris (National Gallery of Art, 2005)
- Dawn Ades, Photomontage (Thames & Hudson, 1976)
- 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, “Dada”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/dada/