b+d — A Comparison of Visual Identity

Type design always played a major role at the Bauhaus. It was not until 1925, under the direction of Herbert Bayer, that the students at the Workshop for Advertising and Printing investigated and tested various font designs. As early as 1919, typography was experimented with in the »Theory of Writing Forms« course. Some Bauhaus teachers were particularly involved in the project to develop an economic typography that reflected the spirit of the Bauhaus, including Oskar Schlemmer, Johannes Itten, László Moholy-Nagy, and Wassily Kandinsky. Joost Schmidt, Josef Albers, and Herbert Bayer supported this project from the student side.

In order to find a suitable type design, they experimented continuously with the basic shapes circle, square, and triangle and the primary colors red, blue, and yellow#m. Lothar Schreyer’s printing type theory course was one of the first investigations into geometric shapes. In 1921, he had students create alphabets based on circles, squares, and triangles and the three primary colors. In 1923, Josef Albers also attempted to create a »combination font« that would unite square, circle, and quarter circle.

Herbert Bayer, on the other hand, experimented with basic rectangular shapes to produce a suitable typography for the institution. László Moholy-Nagy’s appointment to Bauhaus Weimar in 1923 was a groundbreaking step in the described development, as he brought about a fundamental change in typography. He called for a standard typeface that would function as an instrument of communication »in the most urgent form«.

In that same year, in the course of preparations for the first large Bauhaus exhibition, László Moholy-Nagy, Joost Schmidt, and Herbert Bayer worked intensively on colorfully designed geometric forms and logos. They designed advertising graphics that strongly influenced the Bauhaus exhibition. Their unique selling point: »sans-serif« capital letters and an abstract minimalist design.

When the Bauhaus Weimar moved to Dessau, the idea of standard font also moved. Herbert Bayer continued the idea and demanded a uniform typography based on the geometric shapes of circle and square. Like Moholy-Nagy, he called for the renunciation of upper and lower case letters and designed the »Universal« font on the basis of the »Schelter’sche Grotesk« font.

The new font found its way into the corporate design of the Bauhaus in 1925 and became established in advertising and business stationery.

The »Commercial Grotesk« typeface chosen by Arnold Bode and his team, in particular Ernst Schuh and Heinz Nickel, for the corporate design of the documenta exhibition had the same effect as »the younger brother« of the »Schelter’sche Grotesk« — narrower, adapted in a modern way at the time of the first documenta in 1955. They took up the Bauhaus design and its tradition of clarity, simplicity, and objectivity. Their organized, straight-line poster depicted a red, and even blue, small »d« as a formative design medium. The text was written in small letters. Devoid of ornamental decorations and serifs, the poster design announced the exhibition as an objective, clear, and striking modernist show devoted to »Kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts (Art of the Twentieth Century)«.

The clear and abstract design found its way into all other documenta advertising and marketing strategy departments: The small »d« adorned tickets, menus, brochures, and the exhibition catalog.

With regard to the restriction to primary colors, the documenta designers were in no way inferior to the Bauhaus. This is particularly evident on the documenta 2documenta 2 poster. Square, colored areas in red, yellow, and blue, lower-case letters, and Roman numerals are incorporated into the typographic design of the poster.

Poster of the second documenta, 1959
© documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH

The design also had a striking effect outdoors: The small »d« on red, yellow, and blue flags not far from the Fridericianum attracted visitors from afar and did not elude anyone’s gaze.

At documenta 3, the geometric shape rose above the poster and the design of the corporate identity. This time, the square was not only inserted as a geometric form, but also dominated the poster format. »Commercial Grotesk« was not used as the font. Instead, the »d« was designed exclusively for the exhibition. With its circular belly, it is strongly reminiscent of Herbert Bayer’s »Universal« font. Both letters unmistakably allude to the shape of the circle.

Poster for documenta 4, 1968
© documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH

documenta 4 also followed the Bauhaus style. Along with Bode, Karl Oskar Blase was now responsible for the design of the poster and the typography of the exhibition. Blue, red, and white geometric forms and especially squares were the focus of their joint design. And the primary colors blue and red were used again in the design.

Impact folder for documenta 4, 1968
© documenta archiv