Session 5 : Bauhaus (Herbert Bayer)

Bayer is an American – Austrian graphic designer. He began studying as an architect in 1919 at Darmstadt. Then following that he joined the Bauhaus from 1921 to 1923 and studied mural painting with Vasily Kandinsky. He also learnt typography and created the universal alphabet, which is a typeface that only features lowercase lettering which eventually became the signature font of the Bauhaus.
 
Bayer left the Bauhaus in 1923 with another student to travel, visiting Sicily, Rome and Naples. They did random jobs such as painting houses to pay for their travels.
 
Then between the years 1925 to 1928 Bayer returned to the Bauhaus, but this time as a teacher. He taught typography, advertising and design. Following this Bayer moved to Berlin from 1928 to 1938. During this time he focused on photography and commercial work, the influence of Berlin can be seen throughout his work through elements of graphic views of architecture and montages. While in Berlin he learned about Cubism and Surrealism in which he had also taken inspiration from. Bayer had been working for German Vouge and had become their art director. Upon the closure of German Vouge he had joined the Dorland Advertising Agency, here he had mainly spent his time making adverts for fashion and textiles.
 
Bayer had emigrated to the United States in 1938 after being invited Alfred H. Barr, Jr who was the director of the Museum of Modern Art. They wanted Bayer to apply his theories of display the Bauhaus exhibition in 1938. Following his success he had then also designed 2 more exhibitions for MoMA. In 1944 Bayer had become a US citizen, and then throughout 1946 he moved to Aspen, Colorado to design the Aspen Institute and to restore the Wheeler Opera House. Following this Bayer had chosen to stay in American and continue working as a Graphic Designer.