German Design School Bauhaus 1919-33
The Bauhaus began with an utopian definition: "The building of the future" was to combine all the arts in ideal unity. This was intended to remove any distinction between fine arts and applied arts.
The reality of technical civilisation, however, led to requirements that could not only be fulfilled by a revalorisation of handcraft. In 1923, the Bauhaus reacted with a changed program, which was to mark its future image under the motto: "art and technology - a new unity". Industrial potentials were to be applied to satisfactory design standards, regarding both functional and aesthetic aspects.

László Moholy-Nagy, Title page of: "Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar 1919-1923", 1923
In 1923, after joining the school, Moholy-Nagy introduced the ideas of "New Typography" to the Bauhaus. He considered typescript to be primarily a communications medium, and was concerned with the "clarity of the message in its most emphatic form".
The Bauhaus' typography was closely connected to corporate identity and to the development of an unmistakable image for the school. Characteristic for the design were clear, unadorned type prints, the articulation and accentuation of pages through distinct symbols or typographic elements highlighted in color.

Joost Schmidt
Poster for the Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar
1923

Herbert Bayer "Universal Alphabet"
1925

 

Moholy-Nagy
Cover for Bauhaus

Herbert Bayer.
Exhibition Poster
1928  

Jan Tschichold
Auction advertisement, 1932

Jan Tschichold
'The woman without a name, part two"
Poster.

Jan Tschichold.
"Der Berufsphotograph." Color offset poster
1938.

Paul Renner
Futura Typeface
1927

Jan Tschichold.
"Elementare typographie"
Cover and insert
1938

Piert Zwart
Drukkerij Trio
(Trio printers)
Page from booklet, Netherlands, 1931
Letterpress
In this masterpiece of experimental typography Piet Zwart mixed sizes and styles of type and printed the elements in successive layers of color. Although the letters appear to glide freely through space, creating depth by appearing to shift forward and backward, each character reflects the upright orientation favored by the system of letterpress printing

Piet Zwart,
pages from the NKF cableworks catalogue, 1928

Eric Gill
Gill Sans Typeface
1928

Stanley Morison
Times New Roman Typeface
1932