Flat Design - inspired by Bauhaus

"Flat" design has been around for the past century. It was mainly inspired by the Bauhaus movement in the 1920s and evolved into the "International Typographic" or Swiss style.

Bauhaus 

In fact, Microsoft even beat Apple in the flat race with Windows 8 "Metro"

Apple recently unveiled iOS 7 to the public.

Skeuomorphism and flat design are two very different ways of representing the interactions and functions of a computer, mobile, tablet or website. Skeuomorphism seeks to replicate real-world items directly into its design. This style makes use of drop shadows, bevels, gradients and textures. Flat design rejects nearly all of these attributes, and takes on a much more minimalist approach. 

Reference

i) Element wae.(2013) 'Skeuomorphic and Flat Design trends'. Avaiable at: http://blog.elementwave.com/post/57692150765/skeuomorphic-and-flat-design-trends (Accessed: 26 June 2015)

Brands that influenced by Bauhaus Style II

Actually there more brands are following the Bauhaus theory. The art of Bauhaus is coming back in 21st-century style with old designs and new capabilities.  It is an inspiring legacy that at times looked back into history to move us forward. 

IKEA

For instance, The  set of tables on the right is a Bauhaus creation and was first introduced in 1925 by Josef Albers. This product is currently priced at $1950.00.

However, the  set of tables on the left were first introduced in 2012 and is produced and sold by Ikea today, it is also referred to as a modern piece of furniture. This product is currently priced at £90.00

                                 

Nesting Table, 1925                     IKEA Nesting Table

The chair on the left is produced and sold by Ikea today and is referred to as a modern piece of furniture. This product is currently priced at £100.00

The chair on the right is a Bauhaus chair, designed in 1956 by Danish architect Arne Jacobsen. This product is currently priced at £310.00

 
From the examples, you can tell how Bauhaus has impacted today's designers by the similarities in materials, design style and colour. The price of these products has also significantly decreased over the years and has become a consumable item to a broader market due to its affordability.

Other than furniture and technology, Fashion started to explore this
style already in 20 century when Yves Saint Laurent created collection entitled 'Modrian' in 1965. It featured combined color-blocking basic hues on dresses. In today's ready to wear lookbooks and runway shows this trend appears almost in every collection. 

                                    Bottega Veneta, Christian Dior, Thomas Tait, Fausto Puglisi, Marni

Kenzo, Givenchy, Balenciaga, J.W. Anderson

                                     Fendi, Roland Mouret, Hugo Boss, Tory Burch, Louis Vuitton

Reference

i) Fashion Gum(2015) 'Bauhaus Fashion Trend 2015'. Available at: http://fashiongum.com/womens-fashion/bauhaus-fashion-trend-2015/ (Accessed: 10 July 2015)

ii) Lifeisfullofdesign (2014) ' Bauhaus..fashion vs design', 12 March. Available at: http://lifeisfullofdesign.com/2014/03/12/bauhaus-fashion-vs-design-2/ (Accessed: 10 July 2015)

iii) David.B (2009) ‘Is there Bauhuas in IKEA?’, The design observer group, 17 September. Available at: http://designobserver.com/feature/is-there-bauhaus-in-ikea/10398 (Accessed: 27 July 2015)

Brands that influenced by Bauhaus Style I

Other than that, Bauhaus had influenced the modern design nowadays. There are brands that are following the theory of ‘Less is More'. Not only minimalism but also aim for simple, accessible functionally, but the sense of playfulness in both product development and in the final artefacts. 

For example, Steve Jobs’s Apple unique twist is that form follows emotion. I think that Job’s wanted people to have an emotional reaction to his products. He accomplished this through branding – both product designs, and marketing campaigns.

Bauhaus movement of ‘less is more’. The idea translated to many of Apple’s flagship products: the iPod, iPad and iPhone were all designed so that the user experience was effortless.

Steves Jobs publicly discussed his embrace of the Bauhaus style in a talk. He predicted the passing of the Sony style in favour of Bauhaus simplicity. He proposed instead an alternative that was more true to the function and nature of the products. That’s why he make the products high-tech, and package them cleanly and be simplicity so that the product look high-tech. Steve Jobs felt that a core component of design simplicity was making products intuitively easy to us. So, He wants them to be as simple as they can.

Besides, MUJI is known for its distinctive design, which is continued throughout its more than 7,000 products. Commentators have described Muji's design style as being minimalist and as 'Bauhaus Style'.

MUJI, in association with the German furniture maker THONET, has reinterpreted two historically important styles of furniture.

               1858 No.14                                                                                             2008 MUJI No.14

The chair on the left is inspired by the curved wooden chair "No 14"  which was made in 1859 by THONET, 

                         1928, Bauhaus                                                                                             2008 MUJI Steel Pipe Chair

However, the second chair is based on the tubular steel furniture created by members of the German school of design, Bauhaus, in the 1920s.

Both of these beautiful designs were created using revolutionary techniques and materials, and represent a turning point in the history of furniture manufacture; they were intended to be reasonably priced and for sale to the general public in order to deliver "quality chairs to everyone". 

References

i) MUJI. ( n.d ) ‘Manufactured by THONET’. Available at: http://www.muji.de/en/store/category/furnitureandelectronics/thonet/ (Accessed:2 August 2015)

ii) Paola (2014) ‘Apple design and Bauhaus’, Ivisitori, 18 Setember. Available at: http://www.ivisitatori.it/post/97812482690/apple-design-and-bauhaus (Accessed: 29 July 2015)