Philosophy and changing philosophy of bauhaus

The Bauhaus:

started in Weimar, Germany in 1919 - Director: Walter Gropius

moved to Dessau, Germany in 1925 - Director: Hannes Meyer

moved to Berlin, Germany in 1932 - Director: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

closed in 1933

(each move had a different director and each director had a different philosophy)



The Bauhaus was an Art, Design and Architecture School.



1. Philosophies of Weimar Bauhaus: The Bauhaus founder, Walter Gropius, devised the curriculum. He wanted to break down the barriers between craftsmanship, architecture and industrial production. he brought people together that wouldn't normally work together and removed all boundaries between their disciplines. All students learned together and learned from each other. They were exposed to a vast range of materials and skills and were encouraged to find new and improved ways of designing everyday items.


"The Bauhaus became the centre of new thinking. Functionality and simplicity were combined with aesthetics, to produce a purer form of design. Previously, Art Nouveau had been about creating ornate, complicated, decorative products. The Bauhaus reduced the complexity of design to simplicity, functionality and an pure form of aesthetics." http://www.technologystudent.com/prddes1/bauhaus1.html



History

- WW1 ended in 1918

- Previously it had been a dictatorship under Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Reichstag (Parliament) could not make laws and could not appoint the Government, that was the Kaiser's job.

- However, WW1 changed everything when Germany was defeated. The Government fell apart, the Navy rebelled causing food riots and Germany had to sign the Armistice in November 1918. Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Holland.

- Soon after, during the political chaos, the members of the Reichstag met in the small town of Weimar, near Berlin. They decided to set up a new democratic government in February 1919, which was a Republic, meaning it didn't have a King. This is why we refer to it as the "Weimar Republic".

- The Weimar Republic was a good democracy because it had a Bill of Rights to protect the freedoms of the people and it gave the vote to all men and women over the age of 21 (equality). They elected MPs in line with the wishes of the people and let the people elect the Reichstag, which appointed the government and made the laws. Frederick Ebert was the President of the Republic, and he was also elected by the people.

- Lots of German people didn't like the new Democracy and they found themselves being attacked from both sides, left wing and right woing politicians.

- Communists (left-wing) hayted the new government, they didn't waqntdemcracy

- Many right wing germans (Nationalists) refused to belive that they had lost the war, it was the governemtntbhat surrendered, not the army.

- Proportional representation turned out to be a disaster too. It led to the election of many tiny parties, all of whom squabbled amongst each other, so no government could get a majority in the Reichstag – so it could never pass the laws it wanted. http://www.johndclare.net/Basics_Germany.htm



2. Philosophies of Dessau Bauhaus: Hannes Meyer

"Hannes Meyer moved away from artistic intuition towards building theory. He separated the sciences from the arts and introduced new subjects related to technology, natural science and the humanities. He also reorganised the workshops to meet the requirements of industry and an equal social ideal. The Bauhaus now aspired to two educational objectives: to educate the production or construction engineer and the artist. Instead of Gropius’s “exploration of the principles of design”, Meyer called on the students to base their designs strictly on the given requirements and to study the “life processes” of the future users. He promoted the expansion of the workshops on a cooperative basis and set up vertical brigades that united the students of various academic years in the implementation of projects such as the ADGB school building. The curriculum now included photography (in a photography workshop which was part of the advertising department) and lessons in urban planning.

Meyer’s continued critique of the direction in which the Bauhaus had developed caused increasing tensions with Walter Gropius, who had lost nothing of his power base even after his resignation. In addition, the Bauhaus’s students became increasingly politicised and radicalised as the communist influence grew. Because Meyer did not prohibit these tendencies in his role as director, Gropius ultimately pleaded to have Meyers fired in order to protect the school from political repercussions. On 1st August 1930, Meyer was dismissed summarily by the city of Dessau due to “Communist machinations”. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who had also been recommended by Gropius, became his successor as director." http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/personen/hannes-meyer



3. Philosophies of Berlin Bauhaus: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

"Both the school and the city of Dessau had hoped that Mies van der Rohe’s authority would have a calming influence on the school’s radicalised student body. However, because of the balance of power in Dessau, which was dominated by the National Socialists, even Mies van der Rohe was unable to maintain the school’s location. He attempted to continue the school’s teaching activities in Berlin until its enforced closure in 1932.

In 1930, Mies van der Rohe became the director of the Bauhaus Dessau and began his academic teaching activities. In his brief period at the Bauhaus, Mies van der Rohe was compelled to make more and more concessions to the political circumstances: Pressured by the risk of closure, the curriculum became more conventional, the experimental work was reduced, the workshops were combined and the preliminary course was eliminated. The duration of the studies was shortened and the tuition fees increased. The students’ studios remained closed and the Bauhaus GmbH was dissolved.

The Bauhaus Dessau was closed in 1932 by a newly elected city council with a National Socialist majority. After complex negotiations in relation to the dissolution of the city of Dessau’s financial obligations towards the Bauhaus and its personnel – including the accrued revenues for licensing contracts such as those with the Kandem lamp company and the Rasch wallpaper factory – Mies van der Rohe attempted to continue to lead the school as a private institute, based in an empty telephone factory in Berlin-Steglitz." http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/personen/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe

installation practice

from today we've been told to explore the possible areas in college of which we can use as a set up space for a video installation. we have been shown many places some of which i would like to use.  for example i like to use the area of which the top of the stairs are. i like the tall clear walls the big windows and how much of an echo you can get from the space i think that this may also be a plus for the audience as it will create an open atmosphere. i haven't got any ideas yet of what my video installation could be about, but i intend to find some inspiration. i would do this by looking into more research in artists from not just video installation but also art installation i know these are two separate things as art installation tend to be more 3d but I've thought about creating my own art installation then videoing it and edit into that as my final piece.
im not sure what i would do but i do know i want it to be something colourful and fun and will also appeal to students at the college so ages between 16 and 21.
items i could use for this could be
Balloons
pom poms
music
people dressing up and having a silly time
bean bags

construction posters

Subject Theme

Eye protection
HI VIS
safety boots
ear protection
hard hat
Follow instructions                            Hard Hat
                                                           You wont look like such a hard ass without your hard hat
                                                             
                                                           Don't be such a hot head ( pic of head on fire)
                   
                                                           No one likes a hot head


Cow
Don't loose your head wear your hard hat

wear your hard hat don't be a stupid cow

stop mooing around pay attention
                                                                                  Person
                                                                                  Don't fall if you can help it.
                                                                                 
                                                                                 don't die if you can help it

                                                                                  pay attention

                                                                                  don't fall to your death

                                                                                 be cautious


SETTING UP POSTERS

Border 10mm from each edge

Border 8pt weight, aligned to the inside

round corners 6mm radios

Input copy line using impact typeface

Input additional data using typeface Helvetica

IMAGE (PS)

convert to greyscale

apply fresco filter

apply yellow and black duotone

convert mode to RGB

reduce cyan and magenta in selective colour

adjust curves to increase contrast

IMAGE (AL)

create rectangle over image and apply clipping

border 6pt weight

round corners 6mm radios

Tate Modern

Alibis- Sigmar police

instantly experimental artists.

The retrospective is the first to bring together the unusually broad range of media.
painting, drawing, photography, film and sculpture. also note books, slide projections and photocopies, off the wall materials, metor dust, gold, bubble wrap, snail juice, potatoes, soot, uranium.

Range in size from the intimacy of a note book to monumental paintings. Interest in travel, drugs and communal living in the 1970s.
Sceptics of all authority

Initial idea matamorphosis

My initial idea for this project was a lot like a stage set up. taking the scene where he decides he wants to take a sneak peek of Dianna in the bathroom, I want to take all of the feelings to why he wants to take a look in the first place and look into a deeper meaning behind that. for a basic example he may want to go ahead and have a look even though he knows he probably shouldn't. In some way you may look at this as though he has no shame of looking. Doing the project like this I would be able to link this to my subject area art therapy. Looking into deeper meanings and try to communicate this to the viewer in lots of different ways.

I thought that this idea could start of with lots of layers of curtains in which you have to force yourself through. this represents of even how much the character knows it is wrong he will still go through and also because of what we already know of what happens after he has his sneak peek it could also be a way of warning in other words he should of gone with his gut rather than his dick.

this would communicate to the viewers because whilst they decide to walk through the curtains it is because they are curious of what is to be seen on the other side. this is getting across part of his thoughts and feelings to why he carries on walking.

I would also like two other things going of as the viewer tries to walk through the curtains. For instance I liked the idea of whilst the viewer walks through each layer they also find a piece of women's clothing so skirt, top, heels, bra, pants. By doing this I show another example of why his curiosity increases with a naked women on his mind pushing him closer and closer to the door.

the second thing which I would like to happen would be to have a cd track playing the sound of a shower. this to just get a much more literal understanding across to the viewers.

I like the thoughts and ideas I have come up with but I think I really need to narrow it down. I feel I have turned it into more of an installation rather than a final piece. which for one means too much work and not enough time and also im not sure it is arty enough for my own liking.

video installation

packaging design/ presentation

My product:

The purpose of my product is to be a remedy that enhances creative flow through increasing energy, focus and memory ( or unblocks creative pipelines).

My product could also be used to help with many other things for example like, stress, frustration, confusion, anger, exhaustion, demotivation, migrants, muscle cramps and distraction. Our aim is to take negatives and turn them into positives. From researching into all of these negative feelings, which can seem as just a temporary time link it could lead into something quite damaging. All of these single feelings are what the majority of the people in the creative industry come across. They could all become a creative block, which can lead to lack of confidence, which can lead to you becoming quite a fragile person, and then there’s the possibility of you becoming at risk of a mental illness.

The target audience, which I will be concentrating on, will be for anyone above the age of 16 who have trouble with these feelings listed. My reason of choosing this specific target audience is because I think that the majority of people who suffer with these emotions on a day-to-day basis have a very busy life style, work, family, responsibility etc.…  I don’t want my product to become an addictive substance but something, which people can safely rely on with out there being any danger to the human body. It will be a temporary pick me up which can allow people to have a clear head and concentrate on what is important at that moment in time, whether its work or family related. If you’ve got too much going on that’s occupying your mind when at a specific moment you need to be concentrating on something else.

This product would benefit my target audience because they would be able to basically block out all the unwanted distractions for a temporary amount of time that would allow them to concentrate on what's needed at that moment of time. I would also like to make these product reasonably cheep, easy to find and un harmful.

The list of ideas I have for what the product could be are:

  

Snacks

Candles

Cream

Air freshener

Stress ball

Scented pillows

Perfume

Sweets

If I was to work with the idea of the product being scented there are many products that provide a certain aim to help the human mind and body to relax and sooth…

Lemon, oranges, and limes-

Help stimulate alertness and will make you feel more awake and ready to get on with the days tasks. So in a way you become more concentrated on what you need to do and temporarily block out all the distractions. I guess you could call it a little pick me up. Also all off these are easy to get hold of.

Lavender-
Is a garden flower with slim, sage green leaves and spikey purple petals. The scent of lavender eases anxiety and insomina. 10 out of 10 people slept 20% better on average with the scent of lavender. This would benefit my target audience because it would help with their lack of sleep from the routine of hectic busy days. The better sleep they get the more awake and alert they will feel when they wake up ready for their daily routine. Also it is easy to get hold of.

Jasmine-

Can be used as a antidepressant, antiseptic, aphrodisiac. This would benefit my target audience because this could seem as a more pleasant way to help them rather than taking tablets or some other extraordinary measures to help with their case. This would be a more relaxing and soothing option for my target audience also its easy to get hold of.

Rosemary-

It is said that rosemary can improve your speed and accuracy during mental tasks. This would benefit my target audience because they would be able to think on the spot and improvise when put under pressure successfully. Aso this would allow my target audience to prioritise work in the time of need, quick thinking and effective actions. Also this product is easy to get hold of and also cheep.

Cinnamon-

Cinnamon can stabilize your blood sugar levels, this can help you keep focus and alert throughout the day. This would benefit my target audience because it will keep your mind clear of what you need to do and block out all the un needed distractions. Also it is easy to get hold of. Cinnamon can also help your brain work better and keep you more alert by smelling it. If you need to focus on a task, chewing cinnamon gum or the scent of cinnamon is a quick mental pick me up that you can use as a natural way to be more mentally focused.

Peppermint-
Pepermint boosts mood and motivation. If you were to chew or even have the scent of pepermint around you would get the push you need to succeed in your aims. This would benefit my target audience because it would boost their confidence and concentration levels both would keep you away from the risk of a mental break down.

My product will be available to get in supermarkets, chemists, boots, Superdrug, cosmetic stores, online, market. This is so the customers are able to collect at any day any time. Also my customers wont need to be prescribed the product but I will need to put all the ingredients used on the packaging so my target audiences can look for any allergy’s.

EZ

My umbrella name to link all of my products together will be called EZ (easy) for example one of my products could be EZ sleep.

Products could possibly have:

    Candles                     Ez smell / burn/ sniff

    Face masks              Ez mess

    Scented cream        Ez rub

    Air freshener           Ez fresh/ air

    Shampoo                 Ez cleanse

candles                 EZ sleep

cream                   EZ touch

sweets                 EZ buzz

The products I have chosen to expand are... Candles- EZ sleep, Cream-EZ touch, and Drinks-EZ
buzz.

Candles- EZ Sleep
I like the idea of this as I think it is very important for people who are in stressful jobs, that they get a great night sleep every night so they can block out all the things that have gone stressful day and concentrate on a good nights rest. it is proven that the average person works better to their full abilities when had a good night sleep. It would be nice if my target audience would be able to go into work with a clear and focused head.


the ingredient I have decided to reach this aim is Lavender.
Lavender s a garden flower with slim, sage green leaves and spiky purple petals. The scent of lavender eases anxiety and insomnia. 10 out of 10 people sleep 20% better on average with the scent of lavender. This would benefit my target audience because it would help with their lack of sleep from the routine of hectic busy days. The better sleep they get the more awake and alert they will feel when they wake up for their daily routine. Also it is easy to get a hold of.

So this means that the scent of my candle will be lavender. the customer would light the candle to fall asleep to the smell of lavender ready for a restless sleep and a new day.


Body cream- EZ Touch
I wanted this product to be a quick and easy way for my target audience to feel relaxed and calm during hard days work. this product could be seen as a little precaution in the morning to prepare you for a stressful day. to just have a few minutes of feeling relaxed and calm and not have to think about work, sometimes all people need is a break from it all. 

to achieve this effect i want to use Jasmine within the ingredients. Jasmine can be used as a antidepressant, antiseptic, aphrodisiac. This would benefit my target audience because this could seem as a more pleasant way to help them rather than taking tablets or some other extraordinary measures to help with their case. This would be a more relaxing and soothing option for my target audience also its easy to get hold of.


Drink- EZ Buzz
i want my target audience to have a little bit of a boost whilst doing work so they feel focused and motivated to get it done. its not great when you have so much to do especially when your not motivated to get done whats important. This product could also help if you are distracted by something personal and where you need something to take your mind off of that and just concentrate on what you need doing at that moment in time.

I would use Lemons, oranges or limes for one of my ingredients with in this product as they can help stimulate alertness and will make you feel more awake and ready to get on with the days tasks. So in a way you become more concentrated on what you need to do and temporarily block out all the distractions. I guess you could call it a little pick me up. Also all off these are easy to get hold of.

considering the ingredients and the use of the word Buzz i thought it might be appropriate making this product a healthy morning drink before the day begins so my audience is ready for the stressful day ahead.


Here are some designs for my logo

These last three were my favourite and are the ones which i decided to go with.

Next i started to research different nets for which my products would go in.

Next i started to research into infa-graphics.

Then i started to design my own

EZ Sleep

I decided that i wanted all of my packaging to be a set. in order for this i think it would be best if i had the same packaging and layout of the infa- graphics this way the products become more recognisable as a set. 

EZ Touch

EZ Buzz

Next i started to design my umberella logo from my sketchbook

Then edited on photoshop

This was just a list of ingreedients for each product in my sketchbook

This is where i start to put my final designs together

From the feedback that was given it was suggested to me that i should take away the white boxes and change all of my infagraphics into white as it will stand out more.

What was also mentioned was that maybe i should change the font of my logo and umbrella name. this was to make my packaging look more smooth by enthasizing the product name and logo EASY.