Incorporating Surrealism in Web Design

In web design, Surrealism is apparently about expressing of ideas freely; without any restriction regarding form, organization, imagination and following regular standards like header, footer, etc. However, on second thought, there is much more to it. As far as  target users are concerned, applying Surrealism in website design is not an easy job. There is the risk that message would not get crossed to users. It is essential to use a delicate choice of color and shape to create a surrealist image that conveys desired message to users. Therefore, designers need to master this philosophy in order to be successful. Surrealist web designs are ideally suited for designers' portfolios or websites dealing with art activities.

the history of surrealism

Looking for a melodramatic way to express the bitterness over the harshness of reality after World War I, Surrealism was started as a revolutionary cultural movement in the early 1920s. André Breton, a French writer and poet (1896-1966), is considered as the founder of Surrealist movement. The most prominent painters in this movement are Max Ernst, Salvador Dali and René Magritte.

the main features of Surrealism

Surrealism is an avant-garde art movement that incorporates the unusual proximity and mixture of several different elements within a single design. Being like a form of Collage design, Surrealism presents a way to combine multiple naturalistic objects within a scene of disarrangement which ends up to an image that is still recognizable, but somehow confused. In other words, although a surrealist work pictures an unreal world which is beyond ordinary formal organization, it is created through an irrational and unexpected combination of very realistic images. The following is a short list of the main characteristics of Surrealism:

• Unconscious, deep and dark place beneath our conscious minds

• Distorted Figures and Biomorphic Shapes

• Irrational, Unexpected, Illogical Juxtapositions

• Association between different thoughts, ideas, or images

• Dream-Like scenes and Symbolic Images

• Primitive and Child-Like Designs

• Absurd Assemblages of ordinary objects

• Automatic Response and Spirit of Spontaneity