Art Nouveau, William Morris, Alphonse Mucha and today.

Art Nouveau another term for ‘new art’ in French, this style have found its self at peak between 1890 and 1905. This art style is characterised by organic shapes which are shapes we find in nature just like plants and leaves, organic lines, complex symbols and elegance. This style was quite popular when it came into book production which obviously has a lot to do with graphic design, yet looking deep into graphic design, this style was used as well for posters, advertisements, labels, typography and magazines. One must notice that in Art Nouveau the female human figure is also as well a huge part of the design, together with the stained glass look, 2D flat images, and a lot of curls.

Speaking about typography, this font/typeset were heavily ornamented that it wasn't good enough for text faces (just like typefaces we use for everyday reads) yet, they were great for display. This high inspiration came back from the Celts, as in Celtic art  back in them days they elaborated in highly decorated manuscripts.
During this period William Morris whom was an artist and also a poet and writer, himself have designed an illuminated typography, as his manuscripts he created were highly decorated with borders and high quality bright display. His great works set him to be a well-known artist and publishers started to offer him jobs to illustrate for them and even for writing with in his delicate style.

book of Kells (Celtic)

William Morris Typography

Alphonse Mucha whom was a Czech himself but lived in Paris have built up his first poster in 1895 for Sarah Berhardt whom was a producer and actress herself. This poster was named ‘Gismonda’ and was used for a play/theatrical act. His huge capability in building up a poster full of colours that catch the eye such as Gold, blue, and greens together with oranges and purples collaborated with exotic Byzantine ornaments gave him the lead of success whom after this poster he started to do advertisements for rolling papers/cigarettes and as well for chocolate.

cigarette advertiment

Gismonda Poster

In today’s world we find Art Nouveau mostly in homes. We find a lot of household stuff that are inspired by this style to decorate out houses. We find these in furniture, tiles, balusters, lamps, tables and so on.. One should notice that this style is interpreted quite more minimal in these stuff and it is generally used for luxury homes and not in common homes, although one can buy any product today and can put anything one wants in his house one still must be careful to keep up with one style. Cleverly enough due to keep up a house with one style, designers today have managed to combine Art Nouveau with our contemporary style.  So here are some examples to show how they are interpreted today.

 




Info:Art Nouveau : Design Is History. 2015. Art Nouveau : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1850/art-nouveau/. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
Art Nouveau | artistic style | Encyclopedia Britannica. 2015. Art Nouveau | artistic style | Encyclopedia Britannica. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/36571/Art-Nouveau. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
William Morris: Art Nouveau Style | Typography | Graphic Design & Publishing Center. 2015. William Morris: Art Nouveau Style | Typography | Graphic Design & Publishing Center. [ONLINE] Available at: http://graphic-design.com/typography/design/william-morris-art-nouveau-style. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
Poster for ’Gismonda’ - Browse Works - Gallery - Mucha Foundation. 2015.Poster for ’Gismonda’ - Browse Works - Gallery - Mucha Foundation. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object/21. [Accessed 07 January 2015].

Pics:. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at:https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4021/4611549386_61d5cd6244_b.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/169/1/7/art_nouveau_17____by_ssava-d69n3l5.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].

. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sewfe.com/images/book-of-kells-list03.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://luc.devroye.org/GroupType--CloisterInitials-2006b.gif. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
Alphonse Mucha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2015. Alphonse Mucha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha#mediaviewer/File:Alphonse_Mucha_-_Job_Cigarettes_1.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dwellcandy.com/wp-content/assets/images/design-styles/art-nouveau/art-nouveau1.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].
. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.decorativeartefacts.co.uk/images/products/art-deco-mirrors-deco-style-mirror--f-copy.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].