Dadaism was an avant-garde art movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916 and peaked between 1916 and 1922.
The Dadaists embraced anarchy and irrationality in their art, performances, and writings as a reaction against the atrocities of World War I.
They sought to demolish long-held assumptions about beauty and meaning in art.
Dada artists leveraged
- Nihilism
- Nonsensical works
- Shock tactics
To create anti-art that violently rejected bourgeois society.
The movement eventually spread to centers like Berlin, Cologne, Hanover, Paris, and New York.
While short-lived, Dadaism ended up having a substantial influence on 20th century modern art and design.
Here is an in-depth look at how Dadaism shaped innovations in graphic design:
Characteristics of Dadaist graphic design
Dadaist graphic design was characterized by anarchic aesthetics and absurdity. By breaking all conventions of fine art and design, the Dadaists opened new creative possibilities:
- Use of photomontage - Dadaists revolutionized collage by combining disparate readymade photographs, text, and visual materials from advertisements, newspapers, magazines, etc. to create provocative, dreamlike, or nonsensical juxtapositions. The jarring photomontages were a reaction against photography's claim to objectively represent reality.
- Typographic anarchy - The Dadaists completely abandoned typographic rules and consistency within design. They experimented with countless different fonts, sizes, directions, orientations, colors, and more all on the same page or poster to deliberately create visual discordance.
- Readymades and found objects - Incorporating preexisting, everyday objects and materials into designs and collages was a core part of the Dadaist practice of highlighting the irrationality underneath reality. For example, pasting a bus ticket, piece of wood, or bottle cap onto a poster design.
- Nonsense poetry and texts - Dadaists often added absurd, irrational, or completely nonsensical text to their graphic designs. The textual elements emphasized the incoherence and meaninglessness they saw in society and traditional art forms.
- Anti-art aesthetic - The anti-aesthetic of Dadaist graphic design was a central part of its anti-art philosophy. By deliberately making art that rebelled against bourgeois society's notions of "good taste" and high culture, the Dadaists ridiculed the cultural values of the elite.
Pioneering Dadaist graphic designers
Several Dadaist artists stand out for their radical influence on graphic design:
- Hannah Hoch - She pioneered photomontage and collage, using material sourced from popular culture, mass media, and magazines to create socially critical tableaus. Her work explored themes like female representation and consumerism.
- Kurt Schwitters - Best known for his Merz collages and assemblages made from discarded trash and junk he collected. Schwitters also created many lesser-known, but groundbreaking printed works like posters, magazines, and typographic experiments.
- Theo van Doesburg - This Dutch artist founded the De Stijl movement, which advocated pure abstraction. He designed posters, magazines, typography, page layouts, and more by applying De Stijl theory to graphic design.
- Max Ernst - Ernst incorporated collage, frottage, grattage, and decalomania techniques into his innovative graphic design work. His images aimed to access the subconscious world.
- John Heartfield - Heartfield created pioneering political photomontages that criticized the rise of fascism in Germany. His virulent anti-Nazi stance is legendary.
Lasting impact on graphic design
While the Dada movement was short-lived, it ended up having a monumental impact on graphic design in the 20th century:
- It opened the door to more radical experimentation and conceptual approaches to graphic design. The Dadaists' willingness to break all the rules inspired future generations of designers.
- Dadaist collages and photomontages introduced powerful new techniques for creating visual juxtapositions and reconfiguring meaning. This changed graphic design forever.
- By incorporating political and social commentary, Dadaism showed how graphic design could be an important form of activism and provocation.
- It pioneered new, unconventional ways to blend typography and images together in chaotic layouts. Vernacular sources like newspapers and magazines were brought into designs.
- The use of readymades and found objects from popular consumer culture highlighted graphic design's potential as an artistic practice grounded in everyday modern experience.
The Takeaway
The innovations of Dadaism - from photomontage to collage to incorporating found objects - opened entirely new approaches to graphic communication.
Dada demonstrated design's power as a disruptive political and social force.
It paved the way for future avant-garde graphic experiments and reinforced design's artistic capabilities.
The anti-establishment outlook of Dada continues to motivate designers today to challenge conventions and think differently.
Dadaism profoundly shaped graphic design over the course of the 20th century and will continue inspiring radical creative visions into the future.
