Trend Spotlight: Bauhaus In Graphic Design

Over the past few years we’ve seen another resurgence of a retro design trend driven by the lasting impact and appeal of Bauhaus design. The style – influenced by the design school and movement of the same name – has had a huge influence, particularly in branding, packaging and web design. Want to learn why? Here’s everything you need to know about the Bauhaus trend and how to include Bauhaus design characteristics in your next project.

Born out of the famous German art school of the same name that rose to popularity in the early 20th-century, Bauhaus design follows the philosophy that ‘form follows function’. The Bauhaus philosophy dictates that designs and products created following the Bauhaus principles are sleek, minimal, and feature a no-frills attitude that favors utility over aesthetic. Bauhaus has had a major impact on modern furniture design, interior design and architecture. Check out this Bauhaus poster design to see what it’s all about.

Bauhaus design emanates a stark bluntness, featuring sharp corners, edges and strong lines. Its bare-bones approach made Bauhaus design quite a revolutionary concept to people in the early 20th century. It represented a radical departure from the design norm, which up until that point had been influenced by fine art. Bauhaus design characteristics include functional shapes, simple color schemes, minimalism and balanced asymmetry.

Bauhaus design is a movement that succeeded due to clear design principles. Here are some of the fundamentals of Bauhaus design:

Bauhaus is focused on simple, streamlined design and often features simple geometric shapes and few extra details. It can also include abstract shapes, which are used sparingly for decoration.

A design style centered around minimalism and simplicity, Bauhaus color schemes are often limited to basic colors like white, gray, and beige, as well as basic primary colors such as red, yellow, or blue.

As the Bauhaus movement was all about merging art and industry, it often includes a variety of industrial and modern materials such as glass, concrete, wood and steel. 

Over everything else, the main principle of Bauhaus is functionality. Bauhaus was all about producing modern, elegant designs while maintaining the focus on the function of all elements. 

Nowadays, Bauhaus graphic designers embrace elements from both art and industry, resulting in geometric shapes, strong lines, color blocking, and sharp corners. Drawing on elements of retro design, the Bauhaus trend has a minimal, modern, and functional feel – making it a perfect and versatile choice for branding, where you want your identity to take centre stage.

Many designers and brands are now incorporating Bauhaus into their creative work. For example, online collaboration platform UKO’s website is distinctively Bauhaus including geometric, abstract shapes, while digital design agency, Puercaba uses similar elements of Bauhaus design such as bright colors and delicate fonts to represent their artistic side. 

Due to its versatile elements, Bauhaus can work across a variety of graphic design projects, from social media creative to branding assets and product packaging. You can create a Bauhaus feel in your work by integrating a few iconic elements of the style, such as primary colors, minimal lines and delicate fonts – or try them all at once!

If you’re keen to give this trend a try, browse our Bauhaus Collection over on Envato Elements for templates, posters and typefaces inspired by the movement. Or, jump right in with the edgy and eye-catching Bauhaus-inspired items below, all available with an Elements subscription.

The geometric shapes and delicate fonts associated with Bauhaus make it perfect for branding, business cards and logo design. Here are some of the top Bauhaus-inspired templates to use in your branding… 

Featuring bright colors, fun shapes, strong lines, and minimalist design, Bauhaus is totally on trend when it comes to social media. Here are some of the top Bauhaus-inspired social media templates… 

Famous for its ‘form-over-function’ philosophy, Bauhaus has been an inspiration for product packaging and product design for many years. Here are some top templates, patterns and mockups to give your product packaging some fun geometric elements and a pop of color…  

From delicate, minimal fonts to round and chunky typefaces, here are some of the top Bauhaus-inspired fonts on Envato Elements…

Geometric shapes and primary colors are perfect for creating eye-catching posters. Here are some of the top poster templates featuring elements of the Bauhaus movement… 

Bauhaus design lends itself perfectly to corporate slide decks and Powerpoint presentations due to its eye-catching simplicity and structured functionality. Here are some of the top Bauhaus-inspired presentation templates… 

All elements of Bauhaus design – including its minimalist design, strong lines, simple shapes and aesthetic functionality – are ideal for adding a stylish yet structured feel to your portfolio. Try out some of these Bauhaus-inspired portfolio templates to make your designs pop…

And that’s a wrap! We hope you enjoyed looking back at Bauhaus design and browsing some of these top Bauhaus influenced graphic design templates. For more design inspiration, read up on the Line Art Trend, the Pastel Design Trend, and our top Illustration Trends for 2021!