A trend analysis of Bauhaus/Constructive influences on advertising design, 1964-1984

The purpose of this study was to ascertain If recent advertise ments exhibit function-oriented design characteristics associated with the Bauhaus school of design. Specifically, functional design characteristics first developed by Constructivist artists and later applied to commercial graphics by Bauhaus faculty and students were regarded. Such characteristics became the categories of analysis and included overlapping of geometric shapes, 45° angles, and orthogonal and diagonal layouts.

Pictorial rather than verbal matter was analyzed in a sample selected from award winning advertisements. Design layouts in 282 advertisements were screened for dominant shapes and figures. Function-oriented characteristics were coded to determine if (1) advertising designs reflect patterns and elements associated with the function-oriented art of the Bauhaus/Constructivist movement; and (2) the frequency of occurrence of such traits are indications that Bauhaus/Constructivist trends exist in current advertising design.

Of the functional design traits coded, overlapping geometric shapes and diagonal layouts were found to appear more frequently than 15° angles and orthogonal layouts. The most useful findings resulted from the frequency of occurrence of any of the four design categories. Such facts indicated that two significant Bauhaus trends have occurred from 1961 to 1981.

In analyzing results from these data, certain facts emerged as important concerns for today's designers trying to visually communicate. Namely, Bauhaus/Constructivist art continues to be misunderstood; however, the need for the clearly defined designs connected to this movement has never been more apparent. While some designers have found functional design components to be effective in conveying advertising messages, trends in Bauhaus/Constructivist design characteristics appear to result from random arrangements of function-oriented graphics rather than from a knowledge of Bauhaus concepts.