Born around the 1917 revolution, constructivism rejected art for art's sake. Artists wanted to put creation at the service of the new society, through posters, books, architecture and objects.
Origin and date
Origin: Russia, then the Soviet Union.
Date: Mid-1910s to the early 1930s.
Principles
Dynamic compositions built on diagonals, photomontage, flat areas of red and black, bold sans serif letters, and typography conceived as a building element of the image.
Key figures
Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky, Varvara Stepanova, Gustav Klutsis.
Associated typefaces
Mostly hand-drawn lettering and bold, condensed sans serifs, often constructed from geometric shapes.
Legacy
Constructivism deeply influenced Jan Tschichold and modern typography. Its visual codes regularly return in posters, music and fashion, for example on the album covers of the band Franz Ferdinand, which pay tribute to Rodchenko.