Week 4 - 50s American Kitsch

50's American Kitsch

American kitsch was a trend of the 50s. Kitsch basically means decorative crap. Kitsch is a German word used to refer to art that is considered inferior or tasteless. 50s Kitsch design featured dynamic curves and lines. Typography was much looser with free flowing, hand drawn type used in posters and other forms of graphic design.

Although quite different to Bauhaus, kitsch gained some influence from the simple geometric shapes used a lot in early Bauhaus design. The kidney shape was very popular in kitsch and was used in many of its designs. Sexy shapes and pastel colours were typical of 50s design. Smegg fridges are a good example of design from this time. Air travel and the atomic bomb were the big things to talk about in the time. Many kitsch designs had a strong aerodynamic feel to them, including cars, jukeboxes and domestics household items such as telephones.

The Atomic bomb was featured largely in posters and advertisements and was used to sell everything. There was a romantic notion about the atomic bomb. Advertisements and movie posters that show People with exaggerated expressions and dramatic poses are typical of 50s American Kitsch. Graphic designers from this time took some influence from Victorian design with the reappearance of borders and text banners in posters.