How does anti-design fit into a modernist society?

Author: Natasja Derry

Hey stranger! My name is Natasja and I’m studying Design Management at LCC while working in Copenhagen for my placement year. As a Visual Communication intern, I’m intrigued to understand how anti-design affects my practice and how it compares to the Danish attitude towards design. ​

What is anti-design?

Anti-Design was a design flow and style art movement originating in Italy and lasting from the years 1966 - 1980.[1] It eschews traditional design principles and conventional aesthetic tastes. It challenges us with asymmetry, clashing colours, bare interfaces, crowded elements and stark typography.[2]
According to 99Designs[3], the movement is resurfacing after the lingering pandemic as a response to society being conformed to the lockdown rules.

Anti-design values
•              Unique over style
•              Temporary
•              colours, decorative elements and materials
•              kitsch, irony, and distortion of scale
•              Useful but bizarre

Modernism values

• Style and aesthetic
• Permanent
  
• Simplicity, blacks/whites/greys and durability
  
•  Form follows function
• Useful but unobtrusive

What does anti-design look like in Copenhagen?
​
It’s interesting to be reflecting on anti-design while living in a European city where modernism is heavily rooted in their design. Danish Modern is a style which embraced the Bauhaus principles of minimalism, simplicity, and effectiveness – everything which anti-design rebels against.
My first thought about anti-design values was ‘that’s never gonna fly with the Danes.’  The Anti-Design rebels felt objects should be temporary, as quick to throw away and be replaced by something new and more functional whereas Modernism follows the idea that objects should be more permanent. Danes tend to invest in design from an early age so they can build a collection and they do this because it brings them joy to look at their Arne Jacobsen chair everyday over the years. They view design as extensions of their lifestyle; therefore each object should be useful and unobtrusive.

Above is a picture I took from my friend’s apartment – two twenty-year-old students live here and have brought their designer collection together. I personally haven’t come across students flats looking like this.
Therefore, the temporary purchase mentality in Anti-design contrasts to the Danish mentality of investing. In my personal opinion, I agree with the Danish Modern values of investing to avoid creating more of a waste culture.

Should Danes adopt anti-design principles?

Modernism consists of very monochrome colours – black, white and grey, whereas anti-design follows a more colourful palette because anti-designer feel that the design should mesh with humanity’s uniqueness. After lockdown making every day feel like groundhog day, there’s a demand for change and Danes should perhaps consider adopting more colour and extraordinary design. For example, I went to the Danish Architecture Centre and I came across these multicoloured stairs next to the grey, standard escalator. The fun design encouraged people to take the stairs instead of the escalator, and although this is a small variation, it promotes a healthier lifestyle. 

​I tried to adopt this idea for a campaign I was working on at work, because not only is it a great way to get people more active but it could also work as visual content for promoting the campaign on social media.
This is a very minor example of anti-design, however there are elements of colour, uniqueness and bizarre and it should perhaps be considered since it has a positive effect on user behaviours. 

How does anti-design fit into my current job?

I work in a corporate company where ‘kitsch’ and ‘bizarre’ graphic design is frightening and most certainly avoided. Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company which prides itself in being a leader in the world of insulin and diabetics. Therefore, their CVI consists of neutral colours, a simple font and a limited photo library which communicates to their stakeholders that they are serious and compliant with medical laws. To give an example, I was recently designing thank you cards to their employees and I followed the CVI guidelines, except for one line where I chose a different font. This caused a 25-minute discussion amongst the team as to whether we could do this. Although this seems trivial (I for sure struggled to take the conversation serious) it all amounts to a shared brand identity.

My font suggestion

The company's CVI font

​Anti-design is fun and engaging, however it should only be implemented if it is appropriate in the situation. Furthermore, as a Visual Communication Intern, I need to learn and understand the rules in designing graphical content to recognise when one can break them.

In conclusion, anti-design would trump the Danish Modern lifestyle as it so heavily rooted in the Danes, however there are elements that could help encourage creativity and innovation, especially after 2 years in lockdown. It’s important to understand who you are communicating to and if the principles of anti-design would catch their eye. For my next internship, I’ll be interacting with a much ​

References
​[1] Anti-Design - The Art History Archive
[2] Will ‘ANTI DESIGN’ Takeover The Graphic Design World!? - YouTube
[3] 12 inspiring graphic design trends for 2022 (99designs.co.uk)