Dada was a literary
and artistic movement born in Europe, particularly Zurich, at a time when the
horrors of World War I were being witnessed at first hand. Due to the war, a
number of artists were offended with the fact that modern Europe society would allow
the war to have happened. In fact, they undertook the time-honoured artistic
tradition of protesting, by creating art; rather, claiming it to be anti-art,
conceived to ridicule the meaninglessness of the modern world, as well as those
who live within it.
In other words, the
Dadaists were fed up. It was intended to provoke an emotional reaction from the
viewer. Dada is seen to have had a
profound impact on the approach and style of contemporary graphic design.
The process involves
clipping and combining existing images from photographs or illustrative posters
to create a montage or collage of chaotic images. For Dadaists, this method was
a display of anti-propaganda in a world overwhelmed with posters and billings
pushing the war effort.
The main influences on Dada, were primarily abstraction and expressionism, follow to a lesser extent by Cubism and Futurism. The irony of Dada is the fact that even though it was meant to mean nothing, it still opened a lot of doors and inspired many contemporary styles, such as Constructivism. Dada’s greatest impact however was upon Surrealism.
The main influences on Dada, were primarily abstraction and expressionism, follow to a lesser extent by Cubism and Futurism. The irony of Dada is the fact that even though it was meant to mean nothing, it still opened a lot of doors and inspired many contemporary styles, such as Constructivism. Dada’s greatest impact however was upon Surrealism.
 |
| Hannah Höch, Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany, 1919, collage of pasted papers, 90×144 cm, Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
“As Dada is
considered an era of art, and not simply a form, it is impossible to consider
any contemporary work truly Dada; however, contemporary design draws frequently
from the appearance of Dada” (Farewell, 2012) . The
photomontage is still a very popular method of design, often seen in poster
design and album art.
Nowadays, to a
certain extent we can say that replicating what the Dadaists did isn’t that
difficult. This is due to the arrival of digital photograph and editing
software, which gives us the capability “to develop professional level design
with amateur skills”. (Farewell, 2012) .
 |
| Raoul Hausmann ABCD (Self-portrait) A photomontage from 1923-24 |
Techniques associated with Dada are everywhere: from wine labels and album art, to billboards and web design. Modern packaging has very creative implications and mostly gives references to old art and design movements. Dada is a great implication with its unique and effective concept.
There are many good examples of these modern packaging designs, which are impressed by Dada movement.
An interesting use of Dada is Lauren Golembiewski’s packaging of a hot sauce line. The whole idea is to make people ask themselves whether the taste fits or not. The artist used collage technique and its concept is composed according to Dada style. Furthermore he gave the sauces random names with dynamic typography, in order to emphasize the use of Dadaism in his product.
There are many good examples of these modern packaging designs, which are impressed by Dada movement.
An interesting use of Dada is Lauren Golembiewski’s packaging of a hot sauce line. The whole idea is to make people ask themselves whether the taste fits or not. The artist used collage technique and its concept is composed according to Dada style. Furthermore he gave the sauces random names with dynamic typography, in order to emphasize the use of Dadaism in his product.
Another product is
New Zealand’s, Dada1, white wine. The reason to use the name ‘Dada’ in their
product came from the fact that the concept is “based on unpredictable
experience of wine and an artist concept made for these wines”. (va312suezgiyildirim, 2010) . The style
literally speaks the style of Dada yet reflects a really modern and simple
look.
A fascinating
project is these ambient candles whose handcrafted packaging is directly
inspired by Dada. The aim is to give the feeling of difference and a new
experience of aromas.
I think it was the Dada artists way of expressing the chaos of
society at the time of the first world war that makes their work so interesting
and appealing. Even though they intended it to be rejected as a Graphic Design
student I have simply fallen in love with it due to its skewed typography and
meaning words typed with mismatched font style to create photomontages. In an
interesting twist we could even speculate that the nonsense factor in this art
of protest is all true. With all the negativity and disorder that is happening
in today’s world, it is extremely easy to relate to the rationale behind
Dadaism.
Bibliography
Dada
Wines, 2011. Wines. [Online] Available at: http://www.dadawines.co.nz/pages/wines.asp
[Accessed 12 October 2014].
Esaak, S., 2004. What is Dada? [Online] Available
at: http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/dada.htm
[Accessed 12 October 2014].
Farewell, A., 2012. Nada Dada:
Evidence and Influence of Dada Art in Modern Graphic Design. [Online]
Available at: http://www.crazyleafdesign.com/blog/nada-dada-evidence-and-influence-of-dada-art-in-modern-graphic-design/
[Accessed 12 October 2014].
Riding, A., 2005. After almost a
century,is Dada still among us? [Online] The New York Times Available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/13/arts/13iht-dada.html?pagewanted=all
[Accessed 12 October 2014].
va312suezgiyildirim, 2010. Dada and
modern packaging. [Online] Available at: http://va312suezgiyildirim.wordpress.com/
[Accessed 12 October 2014].
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