1900s: Plakatstil

Background

By the turn of the twentieth century, young artists began looking beyond the complex forms of Victorian design, Art Nouveau, and Arts and Crafts. The ideas in the air at the start of a brand new century were about new and fresh approaches. For these young artists the world of medieval poetry and complex patterns had no place in this brave new world. Lucian Bernhard was fifteen years old when he attended an exhibition in Munich of work that moved away from the drab tones and clutter of Victorian era. He was, as he said, “walking drunk with color through the exhibition.” He went home and painted every wall and all the furniture in his room with these new bright and vibrant colors. His father kicked him out of the house but he made the giant leap into realizing that design could be minimal and clear.

This style is the beginning of modern graphic design today that relies on symbols and shapes rather than literal illustration to promote an idea. This school of work is known as Plakatstil (“poster style” in German) or Sachplakat (“object-poster” in German). The use of implied form with negative space is an incredible way to make the viewer work. This is a good approach: the more a viewer tries to understand the visual, the better he or she will remember it. The typography was created by hand as part of the illustration and was also reduced to the most basic message. Strong vivid colors, abstract and flat pattern, and a rejection of anything decorative are the hallmarks of the German poster movement. These artists without knowing it also were the first to work with modern corporate identity.

The idea of a logo today is a simple icon and name. This can be traced back to that original Priester poster. The effects of the German poster period are with us in modern identity design, minimal posters, and the basic concept of less is more.

Notable Artists

Lucian Bernhard’s contribution to the development of modern design, advertising and culture in the early 20th century can be summed up in his poster design for the Priester match company. However, that piece was just the launching pad for his entire career. He designed posters, type, packaging, textiles, interiors and trademarks for a great many companies over the course of his career and his work was influential in both the United States and Europe; he emigrated from Berlin to America in 1923. In a time when a great deal of theory was developing behind the fields of graphic design and advertising Bernhard worked almost entirely by instinct, saying “You see with your eyes, not your brain.” Although he favored classic book typefaces for setting text he developed a number of display typefaces, often keeping his namesake, including Bernhard Gothic, Bernhard Fashion, Lucian, Bernhard Tango and Bernhard Brushscript.

Ludwig Hohlwein began as a poster artist building up a self-taught style which was primarily influenced by the collage technique of the British Beggarstaff Brothers. He had a signature style of applying colors, letting them dry at different times, and printing one on top of the other, producing modulations of shading. The subject seems to be reduced to colored surfaces and points, a network of interlocking shapes in a vivid and elegant pallet of colors. Hohlwein plays with only a few elements, light and dark, foreground and background in his rather sober compositions. The complex play of light and shade suggests that Hohlwein based his paintings on photographs. Although the image was always the dominating element, he did not lose sight of his lettering. He used both serif, sans-serif and gothic typefaces, matching them to the subject he depicted. His typography was always readable and grouped in a few lines, often forming a square. His images show an optimistic view on contemporary middle-class life. Over time he gained fame and fortune, and his creations began to serve different needs than merely the promotion of products. He turned his expertise to making billboards for the war effort, accepting commissions from the Nazi regime. He designed posters for the NSDAP, the Nazi People’s Welfare, the Winter Relief Fund, the air raid, and for the 1936 Olympic Games

Hans Rudi Erdt was a German graphic designer, lithographer and commercial artist known for his contributions to the Plakatstil movement. His work at the prestigious Hollerbaum und Schmidt art printing company along with many other Plakatstil artists make him one of the most important representatives of German poster art between 1906 and 1918. Erdt has also been recognized for his innovative use of typography in posters. Born in Benediktbeuern, Bavaria, he trained as a lithographer and became a student of Maximilian Dasio at the Munich School of Applied Arts. He joined Hollerbaum und Schmidt around 1908, becoming part of the “Berlin School”, where he created what is considered one of the most enduring examples of Plakatstil: an advertisement for the nascent racing division of the Opel car manufacturer.