Bauhaus and Zen devotion in Apple products

                                 

Apple, by Steve Jobs, is highly regarded as one of the most influential companies of all time. But many of the same ideals that Apple represents directly come from the teachings of the Bauhaus.  He mentioned that his product is simple yet an expressive spirit, emphasized on rationality and functionality by employing clean lines and forms. He accomplished this through product designs and marketing campaigns.

Minimalism was a religion to Gropius; a creed to be applied to everything from buildings to typography. To Steve, it was a powerful tool to be used everywhere it makes sense. What Steve implicitly knew that Gropius and most minimalists since him have completely missed is the fact that a minimal spirit is rarely a lovable spirit. And so Steve imbued the user interface of all his Apple creations with lovable characteristics on many levels. That lovable interface began by setting people at ease with their machines by using ideas with which they were familiar and comfortable.

However, other than Bauhaus, I fouund out that Steve Jobs actually also inspired by the Zen devotion.After dropping out of college, he made a long pilgrimage through India seeking enlightenment, but it was mainly the Japanese path of Zen Buddhism that stirred his sensibilities. “Zen was a deep influence,” said Daniel Kottke, a college friend who accompanied Jobs on the trip. “You see it in his whole approach of stark, minimalist aesthetics, intense focus.” Jobs agreed. “I have always found Buddhism—Japanese Zen Buddhism in particular—to be aesthetically sublime,” he told me. “The most sublime thing I’ve ever seen are the gardens around Kyoto.”

                                       

So, i think that Jobs actually make a collab of the Bauhaus design principle with Zen devotion's idea then appied it on all his products.

Reference

i)Peg.S (2011) ‘The Apple of Zen’, Appamada, 16 October. Available at: http://community.appamada.org/profiles/blogs/the-apple-of-zen (Accessed:  27 July 2015)

ii) Chris.O.B (2013) ‘How Steve Jobs and Apple turned technology into a religion’, Los Angeles Times, 1 September. Available at: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/01/business/la-fi-tn-how-steve-jobs-and-apple-turned-technology-into-our-religion-20130829 (Accessed: 27 July 2015)

iii) Walter.I (2012) ‘How Steve Jobs’s love of simplicity fuelled a design revolution’, Smithsonian Magazine, September. Available at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-steve-jobs-love-of-simplicity-fueled-a-design-revolution-23868877/?no-ist (Accessed: 1 June 2015)

iv) Steve. M(2013) 'Skeuomorphism - How Steve Jobs Hit What Walter Gropius Missed - But Now, Is Apple Throwing Its Soul Away?' Original Green, 6 May. Available at: http://www.originalgreen.org/blog/skeuomorphism---how-steve.html#sthash.KMMLoiG0.RkDX7Knk.dpuf (Accessed at: 27 July 2015)

MUJI influenced by Bauhaus

The Bauhaus principle influenced many brands in today's society, Muji is one of them.

                                     

Japanese retail company, Muji which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods.Muji is distinguished by its design minimalism, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logo or "no-brand" policy.

Muji's no-brand strategy means that little money is spent on advertisement or classical marketing, and Muji's success is attributed to word of mouth, a simple shopping experience and the anti-brand movement. Muji's no-brand strategy also means its products are attractive to customers who prefer unbranded products for aesthetic reasons, and because it provides an alternative to traditional branded products.

Muji in Japanese means no pattern, it is known for its distinctive design, commentators have described Muji’s design style as minimalist and as Bauhaus style. 

The resulting products are streamlined, environmentally friendly, and beautiful in their simplicity. Muji was emphasized on innovative and simple materials, processes, and packaging. Recycling and avoid waste in packaging and production, all products sell in simple packaging bearing only product-related information and a price tag. 

"The reasons why our bathrooms are so complicated and messy is because all of these brands want to promote their own product by making it very colorful and desirable—everyone has a priority to stand out." Shimazaki，president of Muji USA says about the visual clutter from packaging. "Muji design is very basic," Shimazaki says. "Nothing stands out so you can continue to add to your home."

Muji has managed to translate the Bauhaus principles into a minimalist, contemporary design language that considers the end consumer at its core. It is pretty impressive how diligently Muji sticks to its principles of simplicity and ecological awareness. No matter what field they expand into, the no-brand essence never gets diluted. 

Reference

i) Lofter(2015) 'Looking for future brand packaging design trend from Muji and Bauhaus', [Transl.by Lim K.R] Available at: http://miitee.lofter.com/post/ef137_735857c (Accessed: 28 June 2015)

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

iii）Diana.B(2015) 'Muji is not Trend: Hoe design fuels Muji's growth', Fastcodesign, 17 August. Available at: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3049774/muji-is-not-a-trend-how-design-fuels-mujis-growth?utm_source=facebook#3  (Accessed: 17 August 2015)

Minimalism of iMac

The Bauhaus was  known for its bright primary colour palette. 

The colour palette looks similar with the early version of the iMac.

It shocked the consumer electronics world with its colorful translucent design, bold minimalism, and its lack of floppy drive, which Windows-centric folks simply could not get over. 

Apple continued to use translucent plastics in its products over the next few years as it experimented with the bright candy colors at first, then more minimal colors in it iMac line, and finally a monochrome approach in its power macintosh machines.

Though not directly primary colors, Apple utilized these bright colors throughout many of 

their designs and maintained a strict palette. Every new product they released with is 

available in three colors, Silver, Space Gray or Gold. 

Besides that, The new concept of Apple's MacBook Pro aluminium uni-body allowed for the minimization of craftsmanship. Screws, tabs and connectors no longer held together, the case held all the components with minimal connectors. Even the choice of aluminium itself was intentional for its cooling characteristics and the ability to pull heat away from the processors.





Reference

i) Benj. E (2012) "The unexplored history of translucent apple design", MacWorld, 16 November. Available at: http://www.macworld.com/article/2013960/the-unexplored-history-of-translucent-apple-design.html (Accessed:11 August 2015)

ii) Reddit (2014) 'Why Apple's MacBook are made of aluminium?'. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/1ung1q/why_apples_macbook_are_made_of_aluminium/ (Accessed: 11 August 2015)

Minimalism of iPod

Although the iPod wasn’t the first portable MP3 player nor was it the one that had the most

features and functionality.  It is what changed the music industry leading people towards the digital music trend and away from transferable media. Their simplicity and ease of use allows the user to be able to be more creative and productive when using them. Bauhaus modernism first employed this approach of breaking down the object to its bare essentials while maintaining its beauty.

 In many ways, what impressed me with the device more than anything else was how it was constructed. Taking the iPod mini apart made me realize that design isn’t something that’s skin deep - beauty comes from within. Instead of being constructed like a sandwich like everything else, Apple used an extruded aluminum shell with guide rails to slide all of the components inside. So great.

The simple act of rotating your finger on the wheel allows you to skim through thousands of songs. Our electronic devices have gotten increasingly complex over the past decade and I think there’s something really appealing about the sheer simplicity of a uni-tasking device like this.

                                     

The iPod mini is everything I look for in a product; gorgeous aesthetics, beautiful craftsmanship, ease of use, and most importantly, a sense of humility and quiet voice.

Reference

i) Andrew.K (2015) "iPod Mini", Minimally Minimal. Available at: http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/ipod-mini ( Accessed: 11 August 2015)