⏰ Do Now — Start Here
Look around the room. Find one object where you think "form follows function" -- its shape exists because of what it needs to do.
Why history, in a design class
Every principle we use today -- grids, minimalism, bold color, expressive type -- was invented by someone responding to their own moment in history. Knowing where a technique came from helps you use it on purpose instead of by accident.
🎯 Today's Big Question
- How did the Bauhaus school (Germany, 1919-1933) create the foundation of modern design?
📈 By the End of Today, You Will Be Able To
- Explain the Bauhaus principle 'form follows function.'
- Identify Bauhaus visual traits: geometric shapes, sans-serif type, primary colors, and grids.
- Create a small composition using only Bauhaus-style shapes, primary colors, and a sans-serif typeface.
🧰 What You'll Need
- Printed/projected examples for the movement
- Drawing/collage paper
- Pencils, scissors, glue, markers
📋 Your Plan for Today
Day 1: History & Analysis
- Do Now (5 min).
- Mini-lesson (15 min): the movement's historical context and visual traits.
- Guided analysis (10 min): as a class, annotate one real example together, identifying specific techniques.
- Independent analysis (15 min): annotate 2 more real examples on your own, identifying specific techniques.
Day 2: Applied Studio
- Do Now (5 min): name 2 visual traits of yesterday's movement.
- Studio time (30 min): create a small paper (or digital, if already introduced) composition deliberately imitating the movement's style.
- Written connection (10 min): write 2-3 sentences connecting a technique from that era to something you could use in your own client work.
📚 Key Words
- Bauhaus
- An influential German art and design school (1919-1933) that fused fine art with functional, industrial design.
- Form Follows Function
- The principle that a design's appearance should be dictated by its purpose, not decoration for its own sake.
- Sans-Serif
- A typeface style without small decorative strokes at the ends of letters, favored by Bauhaus designers for its clean, modern look.
✅ What Your Finished Work Should Include
Annotated examples + studio piece scored with a rubric: accurate identification of the movement's traits, and a genuine, specific connection made to modern/personal design work.
Exit Ticket: Name one specific technique from today's movement you could actually use in a future project.
📊 Before You Leave
Quick, anonymous class check-in -- takes less than a minute.
🎓 ACP Exam Prep
This lesson connects to the Photoshop Adobe Certified Professional exam: Domain 1: Working in the Design Industry
🔗 Want to Learn More?
🚀 The Extra Mile
Cross-Class Connection: "Form follows function" is a direct Physics/Engineering design principle, and the Bauhaus itself is 20th-century World History.
Career Connection: Modernist "function first" thinking underlies Industrial & Product Design and Architecture to this day.
Go further -- turn this into a portfolio piece:
- Redesign a real everyday object (a pencil case, a locker organizer) stripped down to only what's functionally necessary. Start here: list every current feature of the object, then cross out anything that isn't functionally necessary before you sketch the redesign.
- Design a Bauhaus-style poster for a real school event using only geometric shapes and primary colors. Start here: limit your palette to a circle, square, triangle, and just red, yellow, blue, black, and white before you lay out any text.