Constructivism was a groundbreaking movement in art, design, and
architecture that began in Russia in 1913, but really rose to prominence after the Russian Revolution of 1917. This revolution was a time of great dissent and change, leading to the dismantling of the Tsarist regime in favor of the Bolsheviks. Russian Constructivism was considered more of a philosophy than just a style, and reflected a belief in art for social change rather than personal expression. The Russian Constructivists were proponents of functional art and design rather than decorative, expressive art that was hung on walls. This echoed the revolutionary mood of the times where the bourgeois culture was being replaced by the revolutionary proletariat movement. The tools and techniques of the more traditional, figurative painting and art styles were replaced with “constructed” photomontages and strong typography. Russian Constructivism characteristically had minimal colour palettes, often just red, black and sometimes yellow. They frequently had diagonal elements with circular and angled type and images. The resulting work was extremely dramatic, containing layered images coupled with powerful type treatments. This work was exciting, often jolting, and even shocking, which was in line with their goal to change society. This movement was a dramatic shift from previous, more conventional movements and philosophies of art. Back in the 20th century, designers didn’t have modern day technology so artists would have had to create everything by hand, which makes the final outcomes even more impressive. I decided to research Russian Constructivism in this project as the posters heavily feature shapes and typography, which is what this project is all about. The artist, El Lissitsky is very inspirational to me due to his use of line, shape, colour and typography. I also like the layout of constructivist posters as they are very unique looking which draws attention to the message of the designs. I believe that the minimal colour pallet is essential as the artists didn’t want to take attention away from the purpose of the work. I really like the imperfect effect created by the use of diagonal lines and rotation of the typography.