During the early years of his career, Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) was involved with the Bauhaus in Germany. Bayer, an Austrian-born graphic and exhibition designer synonymous with Modernism, immigrated to the United States in 1938 and became a significant figure in advertising and education.
Biography
After completing an apprenticeship in arts and crafts in Linz and working in an architecture and design workshop in Darmstadt in 1920, he enrolled as a student at the Weimar Bauhaus from 1921 to 1924. His early graphic designs were inspired by De Stijl and Constructivism, as well as the teachings of painter Wassily Kandinsky, including a series of banknotes for the State Bank of Thuringia in 1923. Bayer was named director of the new Department of Typography and Advertising when the Bauhaus relocated to Dessau in 1925.
Universal Typeface
The universal typeface, 1925, was a geometric alphabet based on a bar and circle designed by Herbert Bayer (1900) to function efficiently in a technological society. Bayer rejected the “archaic and complicated gothic alphabet”, which lingered in the most scientifically advanced society of its time, Germany, during the first world war period and the postwar era. From the typography workshop of the Bauhaus, which he directed, Bayer issued a declaration to abolish upper and lower case alphabets and replace them with a single case. He called for the renunciation of all suggestions of calligraphy.
Germany
In 1928, he founded his practice in Berlin, where he worked in various graphic media, including exhibits, advertisements, editorial, and typographic design, experimenting with new techniques such as photomontage. He continued to collaborate with former Bauhaus colleagues. In 1930, he collaborated with Marcel Breuer and László Moholy Nagy on the design of the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition at the Spring Salon of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs in Paris and the following year, he collaborated with Moholy-Nagy and Walter Gropius on the Building Workers’ Union exhibition in Berlin. Bayer’s work at the Werkbund show also included photographic presentations of previous Bauhaus and Werkbund exhibits, hanging at angles from the walls and ceiling to allow for better viewing. He also produced the red and black print catalogue.
He worked as an art director for the Dorland advertising agency in Berlin from 1928 to 1938, and his work included photographic covers for the cultural periodical Die Neue Linie between 1930 and 1936. However, in the late 1930s, due to the difficult political climate, he emigrated to the United States, where he contributed to the 1938 Bauhaus 1919–1928 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
United States
During the Second World War, he was a consultant art director for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York. From 1938 to 1945, he was also a director at Dorland International Design in New York before moving to Aspen, Colorado, in 1946. He founded the International Design Conference and taught at the Aspen Institute.
From 1946 to 1975, he also worked for the Container Corporation of America, where he rose to the position of chairman of its Design Department in 1956. The General Electric Company was another significant client. Bayer played an important role in the diffusion of Modernist graphic design and advertisement in the United States due to his participation in various design activities.
Museum Collections
In the Media
Herbert Bayer – Obit 01 Oct 1985, Tue The Fresno Bee (Fresno, California) Newspapers.com
Herbert Bayer Bauhaus Poster – SHOP NOW
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
Woodham, J. M. (2006). A dictionary of modern design. Oxford University Press.
Additional Reading
Bayer, H., & Corporation, r. p. (1967). Herbert Bayer: Painter, Designer, Architect. New York; Studio Vista: London; Tokyo printed. https://amzn.to/3FTpQOz
Bayer, H., & Gallery, M. (1971). Herbert Bayer: Recent Works. J. Enschedé & Zonen. https://amzn.to/3nXwpcO
Bayer, H., & Walla, D. (2004). Herbert Bayer: The Bauhaus Legacy. Kent Gallery. https://amzn.to/3lhfzDM
Chanzit, G. F. (1987). Herbert Bayer and Modernist Design in America. UMI Research Press. https://amzn.to/3o0JcLD
Cohen, A. A. (1984). Herbert Bayer: The Complete Work. MIT Press. https://amzn.to/3xvS7HU
Collection, D. A. M. H. B., Archive, Museum, H. B. C. A. D. A., Chanzit, G. F., Museum, D. A., Bayer, H., Chambers, M., Story, L. W., & Vanderlip, D. P. (1988). Herbert Bayer Collection and Archive at the Denver Art Museum. Denver Art Museum. https://amzn.to/2ZyfxQz
Dorner, A., & Dewey, J. (2012). The Way Beyond Art: The Work of Herbert Bayer. Literary Licensing. https://amzn.to/3FWAfJe
Lupton, E. (2020). Herbert Bayer: Inspiration and Process in Design. Princeton Architectural Press. https://amzn.to/3CZR9ov
You may also be interested in
-
Gesamtkunstwerk – Complete Art Work
Gesamtkunstwerk is a 19th-century German concept that unifies various art forms into a single work. Richard Wagner popularized it through his opera cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung,”Read More →
-
Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) American multi-disciplined designer
Herbert Bayer was one of the Bauhaus’s most influential students, teachers, and proponents. Most of Bayer’s photographs come from the decade 1928–38, when he was based in Berlin working as a commercial artist. He designed the show Road to Victory (1942), which would set the course for Steichen’s influential approach to photography.Read More →
-
Exploring the Pedagogy of the Bauhaus: A Typical Lesson
The Bauhaus School, founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, revolutionized art, architecture, and design by combining theoretical knowledge with practical training. Students completed the Vorkurs, followed by specific workshops, theoretical instruction, and interdisciplinary projects, fostering unity across arts and crafts.Read More →
-
Fabric Samples of Bauhaus students, 1921-31.
Student fabric from the Bauhaus showcases creativity and talent, blending art and technology, with bold geometric patterns and playful abstract shapes. These fabrics make a statement and add Bauhaus-inspired style to any space.Read More →
-
Abstract Geometric Bauhaus Prints and Wall Art
Abstract Geometric Bauhaus Prints and Wall Art By WallbuddyRead More →
-
Josef Pohl (1894 – 1975) Czech lighting designer
Josef Pohl (1894 – 1975) was a Czech lighting designer. He designed the 1929 precursor of the adjustable lamp. Gerd Balzer produced his model. As part of its Kamden collection, Korting und Mathieson created a similar lamp. Pohl and others at the Bauhaus also executed the prototype adjustable wall lamp illustrated in Staaliches Bauhaus, Weimar…
-
Friedl Dicker – Austrian Jewish Designer: A Creative Journey
Friedl Dicker (1899 – 1944) was an Austrian architect and furniture, interior, and textile designer. She was active with Franz Singer in their Werkstätten bildender Kunst, Berlin, and amalgamated her studio with Singer’s, Vienna, designing houses, apartments, kindergartens, offices, textiles, interiors, and furniture. She was arrested during the Starhemberg Putsch in Vienna, practised interior architecture…
-
Otti Berger (1898 – 1944) Bauhaus Designer weaver
Otti Berger was a Bauhaus designer, weaver, teacher, and head of the Bauhaus Weaving Workshop. Berger was the only textile artist at the Bauhaus who was well-known internationally, and her inventions were granted patents.Read More →
-
Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969) is the history of modern architecture
Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969) was an architect born in Germany in the early twentieth century who contributed to the founding of the Bauhaus School. He lived in the United States after 1937 and taught at Harvard University, where he continued to defend the principles of Bauhaus, especially the use of functional materials and clean…
-
Walter Allner (1906–2006), an American painter and designer
Walter Allner (1906–2006) was an American painter and designer known for his creativity, artistic skill, and imagination. He was trained at the Bauhaus under Josef Albers, Wassily Kandinsky, and Joost Schmidt and used bold colours, strong typography, and striking imagery in his designs.Read More →
-
Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) – Universal Typeface – Bauhaus Master
The universal typeface, 1925, was a geometric alphabet based on bar and circle and was designed by Herbert Bayer. READ MORERead More →
-
Theodor Bogler (1897-1968) German ceramicist and designer
Theodor Bogler (1897 – 1968) studied at the Bauhaus and the University of Munich. He designed a 1923 mocha machine in ceramics for serial production. His earthenware kitchen containers by Velten-Vordamm ceramic factory were shown at the Bauhaus Exhibition.Read More →
-
Deutscher Werkbund German artistic and production association
The organisation, Deutscher Werkund was founded in Munich (1907) to improve products’ design through the joint efforts of artists, craftsmen, and manufacturers: its leading lights were Behrens, Theodor Fischer, Hermann Muthesius and Fritz Schumacher.Read More →
-
Eva Zeisel (1906 – 2011) Hungarian designer and ceramicist
Eva Zeisel (1906 – 2011) was a Hungarian designer and ceramicist. She was born in Budapest. She was professionally active in Germany, Russia, Austria, and the USA. She settled in the United States in 1938.Read More →
-
Black Mountain College (1933 – 1957) the experimental spirit
Black Mountain College was founded by John Andrew Rice and a group of dissident, radical academics in North Carolina’s mountains in 1933. It symbolised academic freedom and the experimental spirit of American culture.Read More →
-
Carl J. Jucker (1902 – 1997) Swiss metalworker
Carl J.Jucker was a metal worker from Switzerland. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Zürich, from 1918-1922. He studied under Muche between 1922 and 1923. He studied at Bauhaus with Christian Dell, Paul Klee and László Moholy-Nagy.Read More →
-
Hermann Junger (b.1928) Bauhaus influenced jewellery
Hermann Junger was one of the best goldsmiths in Germany. His creative jewellery had a big impact not only in Germany, but also all over Europe and the U.S. He studied at the Staatliche Zeichenakademie, Hanau.Read More →
-
Otto Lindig (1895 – 1966) German Ceramicist
He was an enthusiastic supporter of the pottery workshop at the Bauhaus, contending that it should be included in the school’s curriculum. When it was separated into design and production workshops, Lindig supervised the latter, combining hand work and mass production approaches.Read More →
-
Hermann Gretsch (1895 – 1950) designer for Arzberg
Hermann Gretsch was a German architect, engineer and product designer. In the 1930s, Gretsch worked for the Porzellanfabrik Arzberg.Read More →
-
Oscar Barnack (1879 – 1936) and the first 35mm camera
The Leica 1, the first functional 35 mm camera, was introduced in Germany in 1925, making photography much more accessible to the general public.Read More →
You may also be interested
Carl Hugo Pott – German Metal Worker and Silversmith Designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Carl Pott studied design and metallurgy at technical school in Solingen and Forschungsinitut unf Profieramt für Edelmetalle, Schwäbisch-Gmünd. He followed in the footsteps of his father. He became interested in the ideas of the Deutscher Wekund, the Bauhaus and other modern architecture trends in Germany during the 1920s.
Hans Poelzig German architect and designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Hans Poelzig was a German architect and designer, he was born in Berlin. Between 1888-95, studied Technische Hochschule, Berlin Charlottenburg and Technische Hocschule, Berlin, under Karl Schäffer.
Herbert Bayer: Inspiration and Process in Design
by Ellen Lupton (Author) Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) was one of the twentieth century’s most influential graphic designers, with a career spanning more than six decades and two continents. As a student and teacher at the Bauhaus, he pioneered a new approach to graphic design by combining geometry, photomontage, functional analysis, and simplified typography.
Million Mark Note – Design Classic
Design Classic – Influential and important design Designer: Herbert Bayer: wool upholstery and wood frame Date: 1923 The Bauhaus was the most well-known design school of the twentieth century. It was always a small school, with only 1,250 students graduating during its fourteen-year tenure.
2 Comments