Visual Styles - Minimalism, Modern Retro and Art Deco

1. VISUAL STYLES

2. MINIMALISM
• Minimalism is an art movement that began in post WW2 Western art,
most prominently in American visual arts in the 1960’s and early 70’s.
Artists associated with minimalism include Donald Judd, Agnes Martin
and Frank Stella.
• The term ‘minimalist’ colloquially refers to the idea of something being
stripped down to its bare essentials, unnecessary items unincluded in a
finished piece – whether that’s art, music or theatre.
• In modern times, minimalist is a popular art style associated with
simplicity and block colour. It is often found as an inspiration for interior
design as well as a favoured form of art for young people because of is
modern style.
• The characteristics of a minimalistic style is often to use a minimal
amount of colour and space, in order to create an image aesthetically
pleasing to the eye. Lines are often bold and structured, and individual
parts of an image often match each other in some way. Colours are often
pale or bold, contrasting against eachother to make an image stand out.
Fonts are simple and easy to read, and is also minimal as it does not
clutter the rest of the image, and is likely spaced out.
Donald Judd Prints 1961-69

3. M I N I M A L I S
T E X A M P L E
A well known example of a
minimalist album cover is Pink
Floyds ‘Dark side of the Moon’
(1973). The design is simple and
bold, and has become a recognised
symbol of the bands music.
It uses simple straight contrasting
lines and no text, a characteristic
often seen in minimalist designs.
The simplicity of the design creates
an aesthetically pleasing image, an
intended characteristic for most
minimalist designs.

4. MODERN RETRO
“Retro style is style that is consciously derivative or imitative of trends, music, modes, fashions, or attitudes of
the past”
“Modern style is relating to the present or recent times”
Although they are two contrasting terms, “modern retro” refers to the reintroduction of past styles, with a
modern twist that allows a design to look nostalgic of the past, but fresh in its idea. The style often uses iconic
design patterns from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s as a basis, such as neon colour, geometric shapes, bold lines and
bright block colour, and incorporates this into a modernistic style.
El Gato Gomez –
Modern Retro
Designer
Stranger Things 80’s Modern Retro
graphic design
Glo-Fi Neon Album Art

5. M O D E R N
R E T R O
E X A M P L E Chance The Rapper – a hip hop artist –
uses a neon red background for his
2016 album ‘colouring book’ which is
reminiscent of a colour often used for
60’s album art. The neon design
makes the background stand out, and
is completed with a faded style round
the edges, which may also be intended
to give it a “retro” style.
The font for ‘Chance The Rapper’ is a
display font, the neon pink and italic
style reminiscent of a style used in the
60’s, also giving the album a “retro”
design.

6. ART DECO
• Art Deco is a visual style that first appeared in France before the first world war. It influenced
archicture, furniture, fashion and cars and is seen in modern times as a style hugely
reminiscent of the 1920’s. From its origin, art deco was influenced by the bold geometric
designs in cubism and the bright colours of Fauvism.
• The main characteristics of “art deco” as a visual style is that it relies on bold geometric
patterns and shapes, intense colour schemes and clear definitive lines.
Vogue by Clawkate –
inspired by 1920’s art
The Great Gatsby 2013
Movie poster
Tate Modern London
Poster 2013

7. A R T D E C O
E X A M P L E “In Search of Space” second studio
album from Hawkwind, was released in
1971. They have used a geometric art
deco design to fit their rock genre,
using bold colours and lines to create a
symmetrical design.
The bright colour and contrast against
the black background gives this design
a modern twist to the 1920’s art deco
style, the colours also creating a 60’s-
70’s vibe.
The font, although bold if separate,
blends into the design, showing the
purpose of this album art is simply to
create an iconic image to symbolise
the band.