Art Nouveau was the style of the 1880's up until World War 1. It was all about appreciating craftsmanship and design and considering everything to be beautiful and a work of art.
Art nouveau design heralds from Romanticism and revolves heavily around organic forms and floral elements.
One of the most influential and vital contributors to the art nouveau movement was Alphonse Mucha, a designer and painter who created posters, advertisements, paintings as well as jewellery and packaging.
Examples of his work here perfectly exemplify the style of the period. Florals and muted colours are primary features. The type is rounded and has a handwritten appearance, lending to the softness of the posters.
The typefaces created under the Art Nouveau movement are highly decorative and feature angled crossbars, flowing lines and embellished strokes. A popular use of an Art Nouveau typeface is in American Horror Story, a horror tv show. The typeface is based on Willow, created by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The use of the typeface shows how the style can be brought into more modern times.
Art deco follows art nouveau and first appeared in France in the 1920s. During the war, conservation of materials was needed, and when it was over, the trend shifted from romantic and floral art nouveau to geometric and modern Art deco. Heavily associated with luxury and modernity, this movement of design influenced sculptures, paintings, architecture, ceramics, graphic arts, jewellery, cars, fashion, buildings etc.
The roaring twenties was the name given to the decade of extravagance and fun. The war was over and people wanted to spend money and live a little. Particularly rife in New York, due to the United States economy booming and becoming the best in the world, Art deco flourished there and became synonymous with the era.
Films such as the Great Gatsby echo this with extravagant party scenes such as this, featuring flappers, jazz music, excessive drinking and dancing.
The geometric elements within art deco hail from the cubism movement and are a key feature of the design style. Also associated with the art deco movement is the Bauhaus.
Art deco came into style and was immediately picked up by the upper classes - the minimalist design present in jewellery and architecture juxtaposed with lavish materials like gold and silver carried through into graphic design.
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