After Class 03/19/10

Peter Behrns is created with being the first designer to create a "visual identification program" for a company. What this means is he created a standard logo, color, and look to "brand" the company AEG. We may take this for granted in our modern era because we are familiar with so many brands. This is quite an achievement because Behrns recognized the benefit repetition of style for a company would have. It would make it so much more memorable and hopefully profitable because people would be able to relate good feelings with recognition. Behrns also was concerned with typography. He considered it the "most characteristic picture of a period." I agree that you can tell a lot about a certain time in history and the people by what their writing looked like. Going back, we can obviously see the Sumerians and Egyptians were concerned with farming. Later we see during the times of the renaissance, religious literature was beautifully written. Behrns advanced the use of sans-serif type. He was giving writing a very clean look. This style was called "New Objectivity." Rather than be concerned with fanciful elaborate designs, this style was about simplicity and focusing on the needs of the industry. Behrns represented two concepts: Neoclassicism and Sachlichkeit. He designed a tea kettle that was simple and functional. He "eliminated social class recognitions."
Other breakthroughs in New Objectivity were the first sign for the London Underground railway system. It was created in 1890 and designed by Frank Pick. His poster to advertise the railway was bold, bright, and stood out. He used positive and negative space with bright blue, red, and white colors. His design became the blue print for "corporate design."
I think it's interesting to see how design began to become simpler looking. With all advancements in technology, the most important thing the industry needed was for it to be practical and functional. I would be curious to know if London has ever considered re-doing the UNDERGROUND sign