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Posters for the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation designed by Hort

Design studio Hort has created a new identity for one of the world’s most influential design schools, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. In an interesting move Courier is used as the new corporate font, with one subtle adjustment to the capital ‘A’…

Eike König of Hort explains that the studio were keen to look for a design solution that related to the school’s original principles, and avoided the visual clichés that relate to the institution’s history.

Ticket design

Flyer design

“It seems almost impossible to use a circle, square and triangle nowadays without it coming across as ironic or historicist,” he says of the project, which includes a whole range of new designs for stationery, brochures, posters, tickets, and the foundation’s website (which will be updated soon).

Vertical logo design

“The new identity also included the redesign of the signage of Walter Gropius’ famous Bauhaus building,” says König. “This factor made it even more important that a clear distinction could be made by visitors as to what was part of the original structure, and what additions we had made.”

Courier is the new corporate font with the cap A rendered in the style of Bayer’s logo

The best way to ensure this distinction, according to the designers, was to work with a “generic design”.

The new identity was thus created, says König, “using strict typography, a minimalist layout, standardised formats and no colour. Being the most generic and incidental typeface, Courier was selected as the new corporate font. To guarantee a unique identity we changed the capital ‘A’ of Courier according to Herbert Bayer’s well-known logo on the front of the Bauhaus Dessau building.

Dessauer Courier font

“Additionally, the new Bauhaus Dessau logotype is always set vertically [see fourth image]. The entire typographic system consists exclusively of common system fonts, an approach connected to the original Bauhaus ideology that demanded functionality and designs based on the potential of mass-production.”

Flyers

Letterhead design

Hort has also designed a lovely set of posters to coincide with the redesign of the institution’s identity.

More of the project is documented at hort.org.uk. See also bauhaus-dessau.de.

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