Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy Nagy is on of the most influential post war educators in the US. He was a modernist who took great influence from Dadaism, and Constructivism. He was in fact an educator at the Bauhaus, a  commercial designer and a film maker. He believed that modernism was to influence everyone, be it artists and designers of all sorts. He had a great interest in photography and he believed that this made artists need to learn to 'see again'. With it he experimented with photographic process of exposing light sensitive paper, resulting in photograms. He also made use of photo collage and unusual cropping.  He strongly influenced all of his students, especially with his love for modern materials. He refers to photography as a fine art, comparing it to painting. 

- Moholy-Nagy photogram

Along with Kurt Schwitters and Jan Tschichold, Moholy-Nagy tried to articulate the new typography. In order to create this new type they had characteristics in mind, being Sans serif type asymmetrical composition, mostly lowercase, grids, geometrical forms and lack of decoration. 

"typography is an instrument of communication and must be as clear and effective as possible." - Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

When at the Bauhaus Moholy-Nagy designed the Letter head for bauhaus Publishing. It consisted of a square, a circle and a triangle, all geometrical shapes which played a main part in the bauhaus design.

He also designed a typo-photo. This is a combination of photo and type something very prominent in the world of Graphic Design Today. 

Letterhead for Bauhaus Publishing
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy 1923

Bauhaus 5, Neue Gestaltung Piet Mondriaan, the design attributed to László Moholy-Nagy 1924

"What is typophoto? Typography is communication composed in type. Photography is the visual presentation of what can be optically apprehended. Typo-photo is the visually most exact rendering of communication. '' Laszlo Moholy-Nagy."

I see his work as an inspiration to my own. I like how he worked with black, red and white, emphasising contrast between what he portrayed in his designs. The grid makes everything look asymmetrical and gives a sense of order throughout. Even though he has type which goes in different directions it isn't over whelming because his work is not chaotic and over done. He keeps it simple conveying and portraying modernism. 

László Moholy-Nagy. 2014. László Moholy-Nagy. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.nndb.com/people/301/000113959/.> [Accessed 16 January 2014].

Inkling. 2014. Inkling. [ONLINE] Available at: <https://www.inkling.com/read/history-of-graphic-design-philip-meggs-5th/chapter-16/the-impact-of-laszlo-moholy-nagy.> [Accessed 16 January 2014].

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy : Design Is History. 2014. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.designishistory.com/1920/laszlo-moholy-nagy/.> [Accessed 16 January 2014].

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy - iconofgraphics.com. 2014. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy - iconofgraphics.com. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.iconofgraphics.com/Laszlo-Moholy-Nagy/.> [Accessed 16 January 2014].