De Stijl The Style1917 1931 DUTCH Launched in

De Stijl (The Style)1917 - 1931 DUTCH Launched in the Netherlands An abstract geometric style Sought universal laws of equilibrium and harmony for art Artists sought an expression of the mathematical structure of the universe and the universal harmony of nature. Supported the idea that Art should not be reduced to the lower level of the everyday object, but everyday life could be raised to the level of art.

Piet Mondrian De stijl was developed from the philosophy and visual forms seen in Mondrian’s paintings. Composition, 1923

Mondrian believed that the true reality in visual art “is attained through dynamic movement in equilibrium…established through the balance of unequal but equivalent oppositions. The clarification of equilibrium through plastic art is of great importance to humanity…It is the task of art to express a clear vision of reality.

Theo van Doesburg Three Graces 1917 Applied de Stijl principles to architecture, sculpture, and typography.

Cover for Grundbegriffe der Neuen Gestalten den Kunst, 1925 (van Doesburg’s book) Design by van Doesburg in colaboration with Laszlo Moholy-Nagy This Book cover showed the application of de Stijl principles to graphic design.

Cover for de Stijl (magazine), 1922 Van Doesburg edited and published the journal de Stijl from 1917 until his death in 1931.

Advertisements and announcements from de Stijl, 1921 Five messages are unified by a system of open bars and san serif typography

Dada poetry from de Stijl, 1912

Bart van der Leck Brought order to the design by dividing the space into rectangles Batavier-Line poster, 1916

Page from Typographie et Composition de Het Vlas, 1941 Type and image are unified by their form, for both are constructed completely of horizontal , vertical and diagonal lines separated by spatial intervals.

Vilmos Huszar Cover design for de Stijl, 1918 Designed this logo with letters constructed from an open grid of squares and rectangles. Combined logo with his composition and type to create a concise rectangle in the center of the page.

El Lissitzky Russian designer invited by van Doesburg to make a Dutch version of his children’s book for de Stijl From the book “About two squares”

Gerrit Thomas Reitveld De stijl architectural theory Planes in space The Schroeder House, Utrecht, 1924

J. J. P. Oud Facade of the Café de Unie, Rotterdam, 1925 Successfully resolved problems of structure, signage, and identification.

Rietveld Red/Blue chair 1918 Right angle geometry and primary colors

Meggs, Phillip B. History of Graphic Design, second edition. 1992. Van Nostrand Reinhold. New York

De Stijl is everywhere!

De Stijl in Graphic Design grid systems