de stijl design movement: a 3D poster interactive poster for design enthusiasts

Visual designers can sometimes be considered artists who only make things look “pretty”. 

Yes, visual designers have a talent for making visuals more appealing, but there are strategic reasons that visual decisions are made in design. A movement supporting this statement is called De Stijl which started in the Netherlands of 1917. Even though the movement officially disbanded in 1931 the principles and characteristics of the De Stijl movement are still recognized in the work of visual designers in today’s generation. Work created by Ruben Doornweerd displays some of the principles and characters associated within the De Stijl movement. The goal of the De Stijl movement was to use balance, color, and harmony to create a simple, unified, geometric style.

design challenge

For this project, we were requested to pick a design movement and a designer, from one of the countries visited during our International Typography class, and determine a similarity or difference among the two for our final individual project. I chose to find the similarities between the De Stijl movement and Ruben Doornweerd’s work.

design research

Ruben Doornweerd’s studio, in Amsterdam, was one of the stops during our International Typography trip. He showed us many of his designs that emphasized harmony, order, and structure. He finds everyday objects and turns them into a flat visual by using only black and white, uses typography and color to create dimension in unique ways, and arranges objects in to simple visual systems. These approaches are similar to the De Stijl theory of elevating the everyday object to be considered art.

solution

A 3d poster combining the letters of the De Stijl logo and Doornweerd’s work was the final output for this class. The poster showcases Doornweerd’s work within the paper structure shapes of the De Stijl logo allowing the user to remove the pieces and reveal up to four projects in order or by placing them randomly to create their own solutions. The 3-D poster allows the user to interact with the poster creative and 3-D elements however they see fit.