Chapter 1: The Invention of Writing

- From the early Paleolithic to the Neolithic period (35,000 BC to 4,000 BC),
early Africans and Europeans left paintings in caves, including the
Lascaux caves in Southern France.
- Early pictures were made for survival and for utilitarian and ritualistic
purposes.
- Petroglyphs are carved or scratched signs on rock.
- These images became symbols for what would be the first spoken-
language.
- Cuneiform – Wedged shaped writing, created in 3000BC. Started as
pictographs.
- With the discovery of cuneiform, there was a knowledge explosion, where
libraries were organized filling with tablets about religion, mathematics,
and history. Writing enabled society to stabilize itself, and laws were
created.
- Two by-products of the rise of village culture were the ownership of
property and the specialization of trades.
- Egyptians used hieroglyphics.
- The Rosetta Stone, which was created in 196 or 197 BC, contains writing
in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotic Script, and Greek. The
major deciphering of the stone was done by Jean-Francois Champollion.
- As hieroglyphics presented more opportunities than cuneiform, the
language was used for commercial documents, poetry, myths, etc…
- Papyrus paper was a major step forward in Egyptian visual
communication.
- The Egyptians were the first people to produce illustrated manuscripts in
which words and pictures were combined to communicate information.
- Eventually, Papyrus was used for funerary purposes.
- The majestic Egyptian culture survived for over 3000 years.
Hieroglyphics, papyri, and illustrated manuscripts are its visual
communications legacy.

Chapter 2: Alphabets

- The hundreds of signs and symbols required by cuneiform were replaced

by 20 or 30 easily learned signs.
- The creation of the alphabet may have been an act of geography.
- The oldest known examples of the Early or Old Hebrew alphabet date
from around 1000BC.
- The design of Arabic letters changes with the position within a word.
- After the Latin alphabet, Arabic is the most widely used alphabet today.
- The Aramaic alphabet is believed to be the predecessor of the scripts
used in India.
- The Greeks adopted the left-to-right reading pattern we use today.
 - In 500BC, Democracy was adopted in Greece. Visual communications
played a secondary role in the oral culture of the Greek city-state.
- The alphabet played a role in Greek democracy; it enabled the use of
allotment tokens when selecting citizens by lot for public service.
- Alexander the Great smashed through the power of the Persian Empire.
Reading and writing had become more important by this time, because the
expansion of information and knowledge exceeded the ability of oral
communication.
- Most of the knowledge documented by the Greeks was lost due to the
fragile nature of papyrus scrolls and the damp Greek climate.
- After the death of Alexander the Great, Greek civilization and its alphabet
became influential throughout the whole world.
- The Latin alphabet came to the Romans from Greece by way of the
ancient Etruscans.
- The letters Y and Z come from the Greek alphabet.
- Roman brush writers wrote notices and political campaigns on walls.
- Around 190 BC, parchment paper, made from the skins of domestic
animals, came in to use.
- Vellum, the smoothest form of parchment, is made from the skin of
newborn calves (LOL).
- The codex replaced the scroll, as it consisted of stacked pieces of paper
much like a modern book.
- Graphic symbols became a representation of religious belief during the
Roman Empire.
- Rome’s legacy includes architecture, engineering, language, law and
literature.
- Just as the invention of printing launched a quiet revolution in Chinese
culture, alphabetic writing on papyrus slowly transformed Western society.
- Alphabetic writing was spread by armies, traders and especially religious
missionaries.

Chapter 3: The Asian Contribution

- Chinese calligraphy is used more often today than any other visual
language system.
- Chinese language is purely visual, and not alphabetical.
- Chinese is thought to have been invented by Tsang Chieh, who was
inspired to invent writing after studying the claw marks of birds.
- Chinese characters are logograms meaning that each character
represents an entire word (like $ = dollar).
- Paper, a Chinese invention, is attributed with the high government official
Ts’ai Lun.
- Ts’ai Lun’s method of making paper was unchanged until nineteenth
century England.
- After the invention of paper, the Chinese also began to use it for wrapping
presents, wallpaper, napkins and toilet paper.
 - Printing was invented by the Chinese.
- The first method of printing was block printing, using stamps.
- Rubbings were also made by carving words into stone, then inking the
stone and making a print on a piece of paper. This is also known as relief
printing.
- The oldest surviving printed manuscript is the Diamond Sutra.
- Around 1000AD, paper money was printed.
- An early form of Chinese graphic design was playing cards.
- In 1045 AD, Chinese alchemist Pi Sheng developed movable type, using
clay and glue.
- Because types are not moveable, characters were organized by rhyme.
- Moveable type never replaced the handcut woodblock of the orient.
- The invention of paper and printing arrived in Europe just as the
Renaissance began.

Chapter 4: Illuminated Manuscripts

- Hand-written books are referred to as Illuminated Manuscripts.

- Two notable traditions of illuminated manuscripts come from Islamic and
European countries.
- Most illuminated scripts were small enough to fit into a saddle bag. This
allowed the transportation and portability of ideas.
- The earliest surviving illustrated manuscript is the Vatican Vergil, created
in the late 4th century by Publius Vergilius.
- After the Western Roman Empire collapse in 476 AD, an era of dislocation
and uncertainty ensued.
- The thousand year medieval era lasted from the fifth century fall of Rome
until the fifteenth century Renaissance.
- In the 700’s, with the exception of Celtic pattern-making, book design and
illumination had sunk to a low in most of Europe.
- Many people feared that the year 1000 AD would be the end of the world.
- On New Years Ever, 999 AD, many people stripped naked, and lay on
their roofs waiting for final judgment.
- By 1150 AD, Bibles were becoming massively produced.
- During the 1200’s, the rise of universities created an expanding market for
books.
- The Book of Revelation had a surge of unexplained popularity in England
and France during the 1200s.
- The Douce Apocalypse written in 1265 AD, is one of the many
masterpieces of Gothic Illumination.
- The Qu’ran is one of the most printed Islamic works ranging from pocket
sized editions, to imperial works.
- Figurative illustrations were not utilized because Islamic society embraced
the principle of aniconsim, the religious opposition to representations of
living animals.
 - AS the medieval era yielded to the Renaissance, illuminated manuscripts
became increasingly important.
- The Limbourg brothers were renowned print artists.
- Woodblock printing soon came to Europe after 1416.
- Illuminated manuscripts continued to be made throughout the 15th century.

Chapter 5 – Printing Comes to Europe

Xylography: the technical term for the relief printing from a raised surface that
originated in Asia.

Typography: the term for printing through the use of independent, movable, and
reusable bits of metal, each of which has a raised letterform on its top.

Typographic printing allowed the economical and multiple production of alphabet

communication.
• Knowledge spread quickly and literacy increased because of this invention.

Several factors created a climate in Europe that made typography possible:

• Demand for books became insatiable.
• Emerging literacy: middle class and students created a huge new market for
reading material.
• The process of bookmaking took too long (scribes = slow), and the costs involved
were too high (sheep skin parchment = redonks expensive, y0).

Watermark: a translucent emblem produced by pressure from a raised design on the

mold and visible when the sheet of paper is held to the light.
• Was used in Italy by 1282.
• Originally used by paper mills to trademark.
• Mermaids, unicorns, animals, flowers, and heraldic shields commonly used as
design motifs.

Playing cards and religious image prints were early manifestations of woodblock
printing.
• Playing cards = first graphic designs to move
into an illiterate culture.
o Games to kings now played by the
working class and peasants.
• First known European block printings with a
communications function were devotional prints
of saints.

The Ars Moriendi: this was a 13 page piece of

propaganda from the Church, but to the average citizen
it seemed like something meant to help individuals cope with death. à

Gutenberg: resolved the technical, organizational, and production problems that had
plagued earlier typographic printing efforts.
• Labored for 10 years before his first printing and twenty years before printing the
first typographic book – the forty-two-line Bible.

Typographic Printing did not grow directly out of block printing because wood was too
fragile.

A number of steps were necessary in the creation of typographic printing.

• A style of letter had to be selected.
• Gutenberg selected the square, compact textura lettering
style commonly used by German scribes of his day. à

• Each character in the font (including numbers and

punctuation) had to be engraved into the top of a matrix of
softer copper or brass to make a negative impression of
the letterform.
• The type mold used for casting the individual letters had to be invented by
Gutenberg.
• His was a two-part type mold.
• Required metal soft enough to be cast but hard enough to withstand thousands of
impressions.
• Developed alloy of 80% lead, 5% tin, and 15% antimony.
• His press and system were used for hundreds of years with moderate
improvements.

The Gutenberg Bible is known for superb typographic legibility and texture, generous
margins, and excellent presswork.
• An illuminator added the red and blue
headers, initials, and text by hand. à
Gutenberg needed financial resources for research and development.
• Borrowed money from Johann Fust
o This developed a partnership
o In 1455, just before the Bible was finished, Fust sued Gutenberg for
payment loans and interest.
o Fust won and gained possession of all Gutenberg’s printing equipment.
• Fust immediately entered into an agreement with Gutenberg’s skilled assistant,
Peter Schoeffer,
o With Fust as business manager and Schoeffer in charge of printing, the
firm of Fust and Schoeffer became the most important printing firm in
the world. - 100 year dynasty!

Fust and Schoeffer published Psalter in Latin.

• First book to bear a printer’s trademark and imprint, printed date of publication,
and colophon.

Another important innovation by Fust and Schoeffer

• Appeared in 1459 edition of Rationale divinorum officiorum (rationale of holy
duties).
o Long volume explaining religious ceremonies.
o First typographic book that employed a small-sized type style to
conserve space and increase the amount of text on each page.
o This achieved economy in presswork (save on ink and parchment).

Copperplate Engraving
(zomg…copperplate font! Lol!)
• During the same time in Europe that Gutenberg invented movable type
• Unidentified artist called “The Master of Playing Cards” created the earliest
known copperplate engravings.
o To produce a copperplate engraving:
1. A drawing is scratched into a smooth metal plate.
2. Ink is applied to the depressions.
3. Surface is wiped clean
4. Paper is pressed against the plate to receive ink
image
o The Master of Playing Cards’ finest work is a set
of playing cards (no wai!) using birds, animals,
and wild men as images. à
Chapter 6:

The German Illustrated book:

Time frame covered: 1400-1500

Background:

The printing press has been invented by Guttenberg, book prices are now falling and
literacy is rising. Low book prices allow knowledge to be read and individuals can make
their own opinion instead of it being dictated by church or leaders. German style
traditionally focuses on woodcuts and text usually in black and white, with some painted
on color added in later. German artists and printers transferred the craft to England,
France and Spain.

Key Points:

Bookplates:
Basically a calling card for the illustrator of the book, usually a small design or the
creator’s logo.

Manuscript books:
The scribes who used to make books from scratch now have jobs creating layouts and
prototypes for new books. Illuminators also found jobs stylizing the books and creating
woodblocks for illustration.

Woodblock Printing:

Woodcutters and artists would carve out giant wooden stamps to form the images that
would be used to illustrate the books. Wood blocks were also used for small touches such
as complex capital letters, which in the old days were drawn in after the text was printed.

Nuremburg:

The city of Nuremburg became a center for printing, printing presses were very
expensive to set up and most were centered in Nuremburg.
Broadsheet:

A single sheet of paper that is printed to usually convey new information, think of it as an
early form of news papers. Also broadsheets were printed with portraits of religious
leaders etc on them.

Artists:

Albrecht Düer:

This guy is famous for his engravings and woodcuts, he was a premier artist at the time.
His famous works include: The Rhinoceros, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and
The Life of the Virgin. Tharme loves this guy and the Rhino so try to remember him.
Düer was also trained professionally in Italy during the renaissance, so he has a good
grasp on theory.

Anton Koberger:

This guy is important because he worked for the Nuremburg Chronicle, designing lay
outs and illustrations. Koberger is also important because he was also a mentor to Düer
who made many of the woodcuts and type setting for the Chronicle.

William Caxton:

Caxton is responsible for spreading the German style of printing and typography to
Britain. He translated the first printed book into English, Recuyell of the Histories of
Troy, also he was the first to print a book in England, The Game Playe of Cheese.

German Style:

German style of this time focused on Gothic text, complex woodcut illustrations, which
primarly were in black and white. Color sometimes was added as highlights after the
printing of the book. The German style also had very complex illustrations that for the
most part seem to try for a “photographic or realistic “ look.
Chapter 7

Renaissance Graphic Design:

Time Frame: 1450 - 1600

Overview:

The Renaissance was the time period between the medieval and modern eras, a time of
rapid change and advancement. Designers of this time loved to really decorate all their
works with floral patterns and other types of decoration. Scientists now were publishing
books on all manner of subjects which got rid of some of the old ways of thinking and
suspicion of the medieval period. While the printing press eliminates the manuscript, it
gave new jobs to calligraphers who now taught people how to read and write, as literacy
rose, these same calligraphers were also commissioned to write tax forms etc. This era
was troubled by the church which was trying o control the flow of information. Often
printers got into trouble if they were not careful about censorship.

Key Points:

Printers Mark:
The printers mark was a symbol which was used to show which printer actually made the
book. These marks were important to keep other printers from stealing typesets and
styles, an old fashion example of the company logos of today.

Calendarium:
The first book printed by Erhard Ratdolt to explain the phenomenon of solar cycles and
eclipses. The book was complex and filled with tables and even a wheel style calculator
used to predict eclipses.

De Re Militari:
A very famous manuscript on all different aspects of war which was later turned into a
book. There were many different versions of the book all with subtle changes.

Punch Cutter:
Punch cutters are the people who make the metal pieces used for the actual type in
presses.
Key Artists:

Erhard Ratdolt:
Ratdolt was important because he changed initials and borders into design elements
when making layouts instead of just decoration. Ratdolt was famous for the three sided
border. He also designed a lot of different fonts which were not used till after his death.

Franceso de Bologna aka Giffo:

Giffo was important as one of the primer artists of the Aldine Press. Giffo was a typeface
designer and punch cutter. Giffo researched older styles to produce a more accurate
Roman type font.

Aldus Manutius:
Manutius produced the famous book The Strife of Love in a Dream, which is often
compared to Koberger and Duer’s The Apocalypse, as they are both master pieces of an
era. He also influenced typefaces such as Garamond, which was based on his work.
Manatuis also invented the idea of a small pocket book.

Geoffry Troy:
Troy was an illuminator type setter and all around artist, his mark was mad designing and
making woodcuts. Troy made style books which influenced the style of type for years to
come. Troy also wrote a series of three books called Champ Le Fleury which was
incredibly important as it tried to set guidelines for the French language and its usage.
The second talks about history and proportions of a proper letter, the third talks about the
geometry of type.

Claude Garamond:
Tharme loves this guy, is the father of the font Garamond which is still used today.
Garamond is characterized by is easy reading beautiful font.

Christophe Plantine:
Plantine tried using copper sheets instead of wood cuts changing the way which printing
was done. Plantine also got in hot water after producing a “heretical” book, he lost his
shop and money.

Stephan and Mathew Daye:

These two brothers set up the first printing press in North America, sparking affordable
printing in the colonies.
Chapter 8

1700-1800

An Epoch of typographic Genius:

Overview:

This era is characterized by a simultaneous standardization and increase in creativity. For

the longest time typesets were proprietary to the press they were intended to be used on.
Fournier le Jeune changed all this by instituting a standardization method. King Louis the
XIV, also wanted standardization and established the royal printing office. The result was
a mathematically designed font called Roman du Roi.

Key Points:

Roman du Roi:
The official type of the royal family, it was a capital offence to use it in any other context.
The font was designed by mathematicians and designers on a grid of 2304 squares.

Informative Graphics:
The Cartesian plane with its X and Y axis was designed in this period by Rene Descartes.

Rococo:
A style of architecture and art which is recognized by C and S curves, scroll work and
floral designs. Often the work was symmetrical and in white and gold.

“Japaned”:
A style in which Japanese art and furniture is created and mass produced to reflect the
oriental style, for an European market.

Artists:
Fournier le Jeune:
A font designer and author who wrote books on type design. He also came up with the
idea of font families in which type of different size and slight style can be inter mixed.
Jeune also designed the for runner of the sizing system that is used on today’s fonts. This
system allowed for standardization between print houses and the industry.

William Caslon:
Caslon designed almost all the fonts which were used exclusively in Britain for almost 60
years. While his designs were not as dramatic as some, they were easily readable and
legible.
John Baskerville:
Baskerville was involved in all elements of book making, he made a ton of money selling
“Japaned” wares and returned to typography. His style is a bridge between the old style
and the modern type design, the font still bears his name today. John was obsessed with
perfection and developed new inks and other improvements for the press.

Giambattista Bondi
Bondi was a private printer who started the trend of clean and very balanced modern page
layout. Bondi focused on perfection cleanliness and an over all mechanical precision of
his works.

Fancoise Didoit:
Didoit invented a more efficient means of printing in which individually type set letters
were used not to make a print but to make a single plate which was then used in the press.
This technique was called stereotyping.

William Blake:
Blake designed illustrations which incorporated the letter forms into the illustration. His
new style of free flowing illustrations however was not as widely accepted and he died
poor.

History of Graphicc Design –

Chapter 9 “Graphic Design and the Industrial Revolution”

So basically this section discuses the shift into the industrial revolution. It was a pretty
key section on the mid term…so hopefully I can get most of the key points across. It
deals with the rise of capitalism, and mass production, and how advertising played a key
role in attracting customers, and pushing products. French and American revolutions lead
to better education amongst people, and graphic communication became very important.
A parade of new technologies flooded the nineteenth century with more type and fonts,
the advent of photography and the ability to print photographs.. colour lithography…etc.
New categories of typeface designs emerged ranging from novelty poster fonts, to
functional san serifs.

Innovations in Typography
William Carlson was considered the grandfarther of this typographic revolution. His
apprentices were also successful. These men were Thomas Cotterell, and Joseph Jackson.
They used a style that features large bold letters and thses fonts latter came to be known
as “fat faces”. One influential fat-face designer was Robert Thorne and his fat-face fonts
featured a roman face with heavy contrat and weight made by expanding the thickenss of
heavy strokes.
The second key things to deveop from this era were the Egyptian style typefaces and 3d
fonts. These typefaces covey bold machine like feeling through rectangular slabs, even
weight, and short ascenders and descenders.
Additionally the designers of the time introduced Tuscan style fonts that were
characterized by serifs that extended and curved.
- See page 136 for examples of all these fonts.

The third major innovation in typography of the 1800’s was the use of sans-seriff fonts.
William Carlson was seen as the originator of this style but spin off styles became known
as “grotesque” fonts, or “gothic” fonts. By the mid 1800’s sans-seriff fonts were seeing
increased use.

The Wood Type Poster

American printer Darius Wells introduced wooden types to replace metal type molds for
printing. They were half the cost of metal types, and offered far more flexibility then
csting metal molds. This wood type led to a surge in advertising producing work posters,
handbills, advertisimetns etc…one looked at in calss was a handbill for an excursion
train. Poster houses open up that focused on producing letter press display material only.
These posters were limited however due to the restraints of acatulyl setting up the
wording..it had to be done in lines with spacing between each word..or sentence. (There
were acaul physical limitiaiton to what they could do, because you can only arrange the
letters a certain way on the press)

A Revolution in Printing
Steam! When demand for printing raised, something had to be done do maximize its
efficiency. Friedrich Koenig had the answer…the steam press. His first version was
essentially a hand press operated by steam, but further versions features double cylinders
and were capable of printing up to 1100 impressions an hour. This machine led to the
London times cutting a large portion of their staff and proclaiming in the news that they
had produced the first paper printed by steam. More improvements were made to the
design, including the introduction of curved stereotype plates, and 4 cylinders by William
Cowper that increased rates upwards of 4,000 sheets an hour.

With this someone had to make paper readily available….it was first mass produced and
supplied by Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier, their idea was great, and is still used
today…however they ruined them self financially in the process and lost all money.

The Mechanization of Typograpghy

Ottmar Mergenthaler invents the linotype in 1886. It works around brass matrixes with
female impressions of letters, shapes, and numbers. The matrixes were loaded into
vertical tubes that were controlled by 90 typewriter keys. When an operator struck a key,
a matrix for that character was released. It then slid down a chute and was lined up with
the other characters of that line. Then melted lead was poured into the line of matrixes to
cast a slug bearing the raised line of type. The machine could do the work of 7-8 hand
composers and led to a surge in production, and lower costs of books, and of course new
papers. The age of mass communication had arrived! (word)

The Invention of Photography

Joseph Niepce was the first person to produce a photographic image. He used light-
sensitive materials and pewter plates to capture images. Took the first picture from his
office window of the buildings across the street with his camera obscura. His successor
Jacques Daguerre developed the “daguerreotype” method of capturing images.

Another person was also working on his own photographic methods. William Henry Fox
Talbot. He first produced camera less shadow images, and latte adapted his “calotype”
style to be used in the camera obsurca.

Although both these methods were good… Fredrick Archer introduced a wet plate idea
that was far superior and virtually eliminated the tow. Eventually his research gave way
to the dry plate developing ideas that went into the first camera. George Eastman
introduced the Kodak camera to the public in 1888 and gave everyone the ability to
capture images.

The Application of Photography to Printing

Duplicating photographs in publications was originally a lengthy process.
Woodcuts were originally used, then this was preceded by metal impressions.
Photomechanical reproduction used halftones and eventually rendered both thsese ideas
obsolete and cut time from about 1 week to prepare a wood palte, to a few hours.

Photogrpahy as Reportage
As early as the civil war reporters were sent out to use photographs to capture history and
gather evidence. One key point in this section is the work by Edweard Muybridge that
captured a horse in stride. This was asked on the mid term.

Lithography
This was from the mid term too…lithography is based on the simple principle that oil and
water don’t mix! The image is drawn on a flat stone with an oil based pencil or pen, then
water is spread over the area to moisten all areas except the oil based image. Then ink is
rubbed over the stone and it adheres to the image, but not to the stone. A piece of paper is
pressed on to it..and presto! You have an image.
Louis Prang – father of the christams card, and later the first business cards
This idea was latter adapted to include colour and was known as chromolithography.

You can see some work from this time on pages 156-157 and it basically explains that
posters and signboards were becoming very popular now that a chaep, effective, and easy
way to print colour was invented.

The Battles of Signboards

Competition arose between signboard companies and woodcut printers were always
trying to hang on in the fierce competition of the new lithographic works. One way
woodcuts were kept alive was by producing extremely large sectioned pieces that could
be assembled on walls etc.

Images for Children

In the Victorian era toy books, or picture books were designed for children.
Walter Crane was one of the earliest and most influential designers. His first book was
the railroad alphabet and was published when he was only 20.

American Editorial and Advertising Design

Harpers brothers became the largest printing and publishing company in the world shortly
after its creation in the early 1800’s.
Thomas Nast was hired by harpers and went on to produce some of the most popularized
wood cuts of figures such as santa clause, uncle sam, and the statue of liberty. He was
seen as the father of American political cartooning.

The golden age of American illustration ran form the 1890’s to 1940’s.

In1841 Volney Palmer opened the first ad agency in Philadelphia.

Victorian Typography was a key elements and style in advertisng and especially
trademarks

Chapter 10- The Arts and Crafts Movement (and it’s Heritage)

-English publish William Pickering played an important role in the separation of graphic
design from printing production
-this led him to commission new woodblock ornaments, initials and illustrations
-Pickering worked with Charles Whittingham.. they collaborated on the revisal of Caslon
types (straightforward legibility)
-the 1844 Book of Common Prayer showed some of the finest examples of revival of
gothic forms (in the 19th C.)
-Pickering’s edition of The Elements of Euclid was a landmark in bk design, it was
printed in primary colours with woodblocks
-the use of geometric shapes within the text made it easier of readers to understand,
making learning more permanent
-their was a decline in bk design (after this)
-the arts and crafts movement took over England (during the last decades of the 19th C.)..
this was a action against the social, moral and artistic confusion of the industrial
revolution
-design had to return to handcrafted works, no more mass-produced goods (looked at as
‘cheap and nasty’)
-leader of this movement, William Morris (came from a wealthy family).. he wanted to
produce ‘truth to the nature of materials’.. as well as individual expression by both the
designer and worker)
-this movement followed the ideas of John Ruskin (writer and artist), he wanted to point
toward the union of art and labour in service to society
-met young architect Philip Webb, the 2 artists fell under the influence of painter Dante
Gabriel Rossetti
-Morris struggled with his romantic paintings of medieval pageantry
-Morris then married. Webb designed ‘Red House’ for them. (Which became a landmark
in domestic architecture). Instead of rooms in a rect.box the house had an L-shaped floor
plan . morris dedicated the next several yrs to creating furniture, stained glass and
tapestries for the Red House
-After doing this, Morris joined 6 friends to create the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and
Company firm (teams of craftsmen)
-Morris proved to be an excellent 2-d pattern designer
-his fabric design inspirations came from medieval arts and botanical forms
-during the 1880’s-90s the A&C movement was underpinned by a number of societies

The Century Guild

-Arthur H. Mackmurdo led group called Century Guild (included Selwyn Images and
Herbert R. Horne)
-goal was to render all branches of art, no longer tradesmen.. artist.
-incorporated renaissance and Japanese design ideas into work
-their designs provide one of the links b/w the A&C movement and the floral stylization
of art nouveau
-Image and Horne showed off their medieval passions (from the A&C movement) in their
works
- Century Guild created fabric designs
-Mackmurdo was the forerunner for the private press movement and the renaissance of
bk design … he anticipated art nouveau as well
- sought out to regain the design standards (high-quality materials, careful craftsmanship)
-The Hobby Horse, was the 1st 1880s periodical to introduce the British A&C viewpoints
to a European audience
- Century Guild disbanded (1888) S.Image designed typefaces, mosaics, etc. Mackmurdo
focused on the development of social theories and Horne designed simplistic bks

Kelmscott Press
Incunabula typefaces were photographically enlarged to 5x’s their originals size so that
Mporiss could study their forms and counterforms
-he named 1st typeface Golden (based on the Venetian roman faces designed by Nicolas
Jenson)
-Morris studied large prints of Jenson’s letterforms and drew them over and over
-Morris named his new enterprise Kelmscott Press, its 1st production was the Story of the
Glittering Plain
-wide spread interest, only intended on making 20 copies.. had to increase the press run to
200
-Kelm. Press recaptured the beauty of incunabula bk (with hand-printing, hand-made
paper, borders, etc.)
-bk became an art form
-Morris designed very detailed pages that included borders, frames, titles pages around
sheets, done in white paint with blk ink, background was black (this technique was
obvious in Kelm. Press’ Works of Geoffrey Chaucer)
-Morris taught that design could bring art to the working class, but the Kelm.Press bks
were available only to the wealthy

The private press movement

-architect, graphic designer, jeweler and silversmith, Charles R. Ashbee founded Guild of
Handicraft
-wanted to restore the holistic experience of apprenticeship, he had 700 students who
studied from him
- Ashbee opened Essex House, wanted to hire the personnel from Kelm. Press
-Esses House Press design masterpiece: the Psalter of 1902 (txt is vernacular, roman
numeral graphic, Latin title in red capitals, illustrated woodcut initial, verses separated by
wdcut leaf ornaments printed in red)

-T.J Cobden-Sanderson joined Emery Walker in creating Doves Press

-Master calligrapher of A&C movement, Edward Johnston (think and thin strokes,
creating a compressed letter)

-Elbert Hubbard established Roycroft Press in NY (became a popular tourist attraction,

where 400 employees produced artistic home furnishings, copperware, leather goods, etc)
-Lucien Pissarro (and wife Esther) collaborated on designing, wood engraving and
printing Eragny Press bks.
-inspirited by both past and present, bks combined traditional with the interest of art
nouv. and expressionism
-he designed Brook typeface for their press (drawn from Jenson’s inspiration)

A book-design renaissance
-In Germany this influence inspired a renaissance of A&C activities (ie. new typefaces
and improvement in bk design)
-In the Netherlands movement was led by Sjoerd H. De Roos and Jan van Krimpen
(followed by J.F. von Royen and 2 mater printer-publishers, Charles Nypels and A.A.M
Stols)-foster a renaissance in Dutch typography, like Morris, they didn’t consider the
industrial rev to be a blessing
-wanted to return to traditional standards
-guidelines included symmetrical layouts, harmony/balance, careful margin proportions
word spacing, skillful letter press, etc.
-De Roos designed the bk, Kunst en maatschappij (art and society) collection of essay
written by Morris
-bk was set in new face designed by and named for the Swiss architect/typographic
designer Eugene Grasset
-Nypels had a fresh approach (evident in his title&txt pgs.. his use of colour and initial
letters), the finest em. Of his earlier wks is 1927 Het Voorhout ende’t kostelijkemal (the
Voorhout and the Delightful Comedy)
-Don Quichotte shows Nypels stylings at its best
-Stol’s work is simplistic with max. legibility, preferred Garamond and Bembo typefaces
-Jean Francois van Royen designed Cheops, had an exotic side, easily distinguishable
titles, initials (more extravagant than Van Krimpen and De Roos)
-the most important of the German type designers was Rudolf Koch, mystical and
medieval in his viewpoints
-regarded the alphabet as a supreme spiritual achievement of humanity
-Koch sought the medieval experience through the design and lettering of the handmade
manuscript bks
-tired to build upon the calligraphic traditions by creating an original, simple expression
from his gestures and materials
-unexpected new designs came from Koch, tough-hewn chunky letterforms (ie. in
Neuland face)
-in America, the influences of the A&C movement were seen by two young men, book
designer Bruce Rogers and typeface designer Frederic W. Goudy
-Goudy started the Camelot Press, freelance, specializing in lettering and typographic
design, designed 122 typefaces (based many of his styles on Venetian and French
renaissance type design)
-a student of Goudy’s William Addison Dwiggins was the first to use the term graphic
designer to define his professional activities
-Rogers was the most important American bk designer in the early 20th C. heavy A&C
influence in work
-Morris, the A&C movement and the private presses all inspired a forceful revitalization
of typography
-imitations of the Kelm. Typefaces were followed by revivals of other classical typeface
design, ie. Garamond, Baskerville and Bondoi
-Morris F. Benton designed important revivals of Bodoni and Garamond type
-the legacy of the A&C movement extends beyond visual appearances (it’s about
attitudes and social value)

Chapter 11 – Ukiyo-e and Art Nouveau

An increase in trade and communication between Asian and European countries in
the 19th century caused a cultural collision. Both cultures changed as a result.

Ukiyo-e: means “pictures of the floating world” and defines an art movement of Japan’s
Tokugawa period.
• Earliest works were screen paintings depicting the entertainment districts called
“the floating world” of Edo (modern
Tokyo) and other cities.
• Artists embraced the woodblock print.
o Hishikawa Moronobu: à
respected as first master of the
ukiyo-e print.
• Japanese woodblock prints were a
careful collaboration between
publisher, artist, block cutter, and
printer.

• Kitagawa Utamaro: unrivaled artist who portrayed

beautiful women. à
o In contrast to stereotypes, he conveyed the
subject’s subjective feelings.
o Warm yellow and tan backgrounds emphasized
paler toned skin.

• Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849): Most renowned

ukiyo-e artist.
o Produced approx. 35, 000 works during 7
decades.
o Many subjects: album prints, genre scenes,
historical events, illustrations for novels, landscapes such as rivers,
mountains, waterfalls, and bridges, nature shades of flowers, birds, shells,
and fish.
o He was in his seventies when he
designed the series “Thirty-Six
Views of mount Fuji. à

• Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858): last great master of the Japanese woodcut.

 o Rival of Hokusai.
o Composed brilliant landscapes
including Famous Places in Edo: A
Hundred Views. à

• Japonisme: late-nineteenth-century Western

mania for all things Japanese.

Art Nouveau: an international decorative style that thrived during the two decades
(1890-1910) that guided the turn of the century.
• Encompassed all the design arts
o Architecture
o Furniture
o Product design
o Fashion
o Graphics
• Identifying visual quality is an organic, plantlike line.
• Is a transitional style that evolved from the historicism that dominated design for
most of the nineteenth century.
• During the period there was a close collaboration between visual artists and
writers.

Chéret and Grasset: two graphic artists working in Paris, Jules Chéret and Eugene
Grasset, played important roles in the transition from Victorian graphics to Art
Nouveau.
• New Freedom of the press law led to a booming poster industry of designers,
printers, and afficheurs.
o Streets became an art gallery for the nation.
o Even the poorest worker saw his environment transformed by images and
colour.
 • Cherét: acclaimed the father of the modern poster.
o The beautiful young women he created were called “Chérettes”. à
o The father of womenʼs liberation: Chérettes were neither prudes nor
prostitutes, they were self-assured women who enjoyed life to the fullest
by dancing, drinking wine, wearing low-cut dresses, and even smoking in
public.

• Grasset: first illustrator/designer to rival Chéret in public

popularity.
o Received first poster commission in 1886.
o Created “willowy maidens” who wore long,
flowing robes and static poses. They were used to
advertise things like chocolates, ink, beer. à
o They soon began to grace French streets.
o He created a sort of coloring book style that
contrasted Chéret’s work.

English Art Nouveau: primarily concerned with graphic design and illustration rather
than architectural or product design.

• Aubrey Beardsley: the enfant terrible of Art Nouveau.

o Stunning pen line.
o Vibrant black-and-white work. à
o Exotic imagery.
o Contrast between geometric and organic shapes
reflects the influence of the Japanese print.

• William Morris: was angry when he saw Beardsley’s Mort

D’Arthur, and considered legal action.
 o Morris felt that Beardsley vulgarized Klemscott styleà by replacing the
formal, naturalistic borders with more stylized, flat patterns.

• Charles Ricketts: Beardsley’s leading rival among English graphic designers.

His work was based on a thorough understanding of print production.
o He approached book design with the view
that the book was a total entity to be
designed inside and out.
o Focused on harmony of the parts:
binding, end sheets, title page, typography,
ornaments, and illustrations.
o Produced his mastery of design for The
Sphinx, by Oscar Wilde. à
o His page layouts were lighter, and his page
layouts and ornaments more open and
geometric.
o He launched the Vale Press (not a private
press like Klemscott Press).

• Dudley Hardy: poster and advertising design.

o Introduced French poster design to London
billboards during the 1890’s.
o Most famous work is his poster for the play
A Gaiety Girl. à

The Further Development of French Art Nouveau

 • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: his 1891 poster La Goulue au Moulin Rouge broke
new ground in poster design. à
o Dynamic pattern of flat planes

• Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen: his work maintained a

naturalistic quality.
o Had a mania for cats. à
o Drawings for Le Chat Noir nightclub.
o Prolific illustrator

• Alphonse Mucha: illustrator.

o Made a poster for Sarah Bernhardtʼs Joan of
Arc. Bottom portion was unfinished because of
time restraints.
o Stunning when viewed close up.
o He delighted in filling up space with animated
form and ornament. à
o He resisted the Art Nouveau label.
o Yet, by 1900, le style Mucha was often used
interchangeably with l‘art nouveau.
o His stylized hair patterns became a hallmark of
the era, known as “spaghetti and noodles”
hair. à

Art Nouveau comes to America: British and French graphic art joined forces to invade
America!
 • Harpers magazine commissioned covers from Grasset between 1889-1892.

• Will Bradley: illustrator inspired by English sources.

o The Chap Book ignited Art Nouveau in
America. à
o He was free-spirited in his approach of
typographic design.

• Ethel Reed: first American woman to achieve national

prominence as a graphic designer and illustrator.

• Edward Penfield: Created monthly posters for

Harper’s magazine that portrayed members of the
upper class. à

Innovation in Belgium

• Henri van de Velde: an architect, painter, designer, and educator.

o Wrote an important essay, Déblaiement
d’art, calling for new art.
o His only poster was for a concentrated food
product, Tropon. à

The German Jugendstil movement

 • Art Nouveau arrived in Germany where it was called “Jugendstil” (young style)
after a new magazine, Jugend (youth). à (Otto Eckmann cover)
• Had strong British and French influences.

• Otto Eckmann: known for large, multi-colored woodblock prints.

o Used contradictory influences: medieval, oriental, and Art Nouveau.

• Peter Behrens: Also known for large, multi-colored

woodblock prints.
o Experimented with ornaments and vignettes of
abstract design.
o Famous work: The Kiss, 1898. à

Decline of Art Nouveau

• Disappeared during World War I.
• Art Nouveau’s joie de vie aesthetic became irrelevant.
• L

Chapter 12 – The Genesis of Twentieth-Century Design

Art Nouveau proved that inventing new forms, rather than copying forms from nature
or historical models, was a good approach.

A new aesthetic and design philosophy moved away from the beauty of organic
drawing.
• Need to address change in social, economic, and cultural conditions at the turn
of the century.

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Glasgow School

• End of 19th century
 • Frank rejected historicism in favor of “organic architecture”, with “the reality
of the building”.
o He defined organic design as having entity.
o He saw space as the essence of design.
o Incorporated white space as an element of design.
o Collaborated with William H. Winslow in the production of The House
Beautiful.

• The Four: Collaborated at the Glasgow School of Art in the early 1890’s.
1. J. Herbert McNair
2. Frances Macdonald
3. Charles Rennie Mackintosh
4. Margaret Macdonald
o Became friends, and married each other…yep.
o Also known as the Glasgow School.
- Developed a unique style
- Innovated a geometric style of
composition: floral and rectangular
structure.
- Distinguished by symbolic imagery and
stylized form. à

• Jessie Marion King: among those who drew inspiration from The Four.
o She achieved a distinctive personal statement.
o Seemingly medieval fantasy illustrations accompanied by stylized
lettering.

The Vienna Secession

• Ver Sacrum: (translates to Sacred Spring) the most beautiful of turn-of-the-

century magazines.
o More a design laboratory than a magazine.
o Used a committee of artists.
o Had an unusual square format. à
o Its use of white space in page layouts,
sleek-coated stock, and unusual production
methods achieved an original visual
elegance.

• Signifigant artists of this time include:

o Alfred Roller
 o Koloman Moser
o Josef Hoffmann

Peter Behrens and the New Objectivity

• Peter Behrens: German artist, architect, and designer.

o Played a major role in charting a course for design in the first decade of
the 20th century.
o Sought typographic reform.
o Early advocate of sans-serif typography!
o He used a grid system to structure space in his graphic designs.
o The first industrial designer.
o His work for AEG considered first comprehensive
visual identification program. à
- His AEG designs represent a synthesis of two
contradictory concepts: neoclassicism and
sachilchkeit.
- Made use of three elements: a logo, a typeface,
and a constant layout of elements following
standardized formats.
o Believed that typography provided the most
characteristic picture of a period.
o Pushed 20th century architecture and design toward
rational geometry as an underlying system for
visual organization. à

Design of the London Underground

• Frank Pick provided the vision necessary to lead the Underground Group to the
forefront of innovative publicity and design.
o Made a contribution toward model of corporate design responsibility.
• Underground station signs introduced in 1908 had a solid red disk with a blue
bar across the middle bearing the station name in
white sans-serif letters.
o Stood out against urban clutter.
• Edward Johnston designed a new version of the
sign with a new typeface. à
CHAPTER 13 - THE INFLUENCE OF MODERN ART

* elemental ideas of colour, form, and social protest

* cubism, futurism, dada, surrealism, de stijl, suprematism, constructivism,
expressionism

CUBISM

* a design concept that is independent of nature

* challenged the 400 year old traditional renaissance art principles
* main contributor to the movement was pablo picasso (1881-1973)
* he used elements of ancient Iberian and African tribal art as inspiration
* bold geometrics were used to construct the form of the pieces
* another major contributor - paul cézanne (1839-1906)
* cubism completely abandons traditional means of representing real life objects
* an ambiguous shift to 2 dimensional planes

analytical cubism - 1910-1912

* analyzing the planes of the subject matter, usually from more than one point of
view

* cubism is closely related to the process of human vision and comprehension.....

eyes shift and scan a subject, then our brains combine the fragments into a whole
image

Pablo Picasso - Man With Violin

synthetic cubism - 1913

* invention of signs rather than representations of the subject matter
* the "essence" of an object was portrayed rather than its outward appearance
* juan gris (1887-1927) was a major developer of the movement
* this style uses a variety of different grid systems
* very modular
Juan Gris - Fruit Bowl

FUTURISM

* launched by italian poet filippo marinetti (1876-1944) when he published the

"Manifesto of Futurism" in 1909
* broke free of the use of horizontal and vertical planes for typography
* omitting capital letters, punctuation, and the use of varied word spacing
* ex. Alice in Wonderland used descending type sizes and pictoral shape to construct
a mouse's tail

Gillaume Apollinaire - Il Pleut

MANIFESTO OF THE FUTURIST PAINTERS

umberto boccioni (1882-1916)
carlo carrà (1881-1966)
luigi russolo (1885-1947)
giacomo balla (1871-1958)
gino severini (1883-1966)

.... declared their intent to " destroy the cult of the past"

"simultaneity" - used to express (in a visual context) concurrent existence or

occurrence
ex. using one work of art to express multiple views

fortunato depero (1892-1960)

- produced futurist work in posters and advertising designs
Depero Futurista

DADA

* movement has strong roots in anti-war activism

* strong negative and destructive elements
* against blind faith in technological progress
* rejection of ALL tradition
* use of photomontage
* some dada mirrors the design quality of soviet propaganda posters

major figure - marcel duchamp (1887-1968)

* according to him, art and life were processes of random choice and willful choice
* he created "ready made" sculptures ex. a bicycle wheel mounted on a stool
* the fountain - one of the most famous marcel duchamp - the fountain
* most controversial - when he painted a mustache on the mona lisa

other examples:

kurt schwitters - untitled

john heartfield - hitler collage

kurt schwitters created the offshoot of dada called "merz" - but he was really the
only one who contributed to the movement.

after the war ended, problems began within the social ranks of the dada movement.
without the war to fuel the anti-military and gov't messages of dada, many of its
contributors felt that the relevance of the movement was gone.

SURREALISM

* had roots in dada

* entered paris in 1924
* exploration of dreams, intuition and unconsciousness
* a more positive outlook than dada
* more focus on human liberation than on negative destruction
* giorgio de chirico (1888-1978) was declared to be the first surrealist painter (de
chirico)

* use of very distorted perspective

* rene magritte (1898-1967) used jolting and ambiguous scale changes, defied laws
of gravity and light

* most famous surrealist - salvador dali (1904-1989)

* deep perspectives
* seamless simultaneity
* very strong influence of stream of consciousness painting with little self censorship

EXPRESSIONISM

* colour, drawing and proportion very often distorted

* exaggerated and symbolic content
* line and colour very pronounced, value contrasts intensified
* strong revolt against traditional aesthetics
* a conscious seeking of new approaches to art

* strong example : käthe schmidt kollwitz (1867-1945)

* documented the trials of being a poor citizen in berlin. citizens make war on war
* used the strong expressionistic style to convey the strong emotions of her subject
matter

* wassily kandinsky (1866-1944) & paul klee (1879-1940) -founding members of der
blaue reiter
* less interested in expressing suffering
* focussed more on exploration of nature and spirituality

* henri matisse (1869-1954) used jarring colour contrasts and was more involved
with colour and structural relationships rather than the expression of spirituality

PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE MODERN MOVEMENT

* francis brugiere (1880-1945) began to explore multiple exposures

* alvon langdon coburn (1882-1966) used strong kaleidoscope patterns
* man ray (1890-1976) used darkroom manipulation and strange studio setups to
create his photographs

CHAPTER 14 - PICTORIAL MODERNISM

* beggarstaff brothers: james pryde and william nicholson

* opened an advertising agency in 1894
* created a new technique called collage
* individual pieces were cut out and moved around to create their desired look -
resulting in flat panes of colour kassama corn flour
* their work was an artistic success, but a financial failure

PLAKASTIL
* reductive, flat colour
* translation from german : poster style
* strong colour panels, large typography, simple images, focus on brand name
* reductive style
* constructivist
* study of architectural form

POSTCUBIST PICTORAL MODERNISM

* art deco - used to identify popular geometric works of the 1920s and 30s
* somewhat an extension of art nouveau
* signifies aesthetic sensibility in graphics, architecture and product design

examples: edward mcknight kauffer

A. M. Cassandre

* common use of visual puns and double meanings

* simple geometric forms used by such artists as austin cooper it's warmer down
below....

CHAPTER 15 - A NEW LANGUAGE OF FORM

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM AND CONSTRUCTIVISM

* russian artists quickly consumed cubism and futurism and moved on to create new
artistic ideals
* ... the combination of cubism and futurism = cubo-futurism
* a lot of experimentation with typography

* suprematism = a painting style that uses basic, pure forms and colours
* a rejection of utalitarian function
* the essence of the art experience was the perceptual effect of colour and form
* some artists argued that art should be kept separate from the utalitarian needs of
society... a rejection of the social and political needs of art
* "art for art's sake" vs. industrial design

* constructivism = art used solely for social purposes

* tectonics = the unification of communist ideology with visual forms
* a mathematic/architectural approach to art

* 3D images that receded and projected from the original picture plane

examples: el lissitzky - beat the whites with the red wedge

more lissitzky

* more use of grid organization systems

* asymmetrical balance

* alexander rodchenko created a magazine in 1921 named Lef to popularize strong,

static horizontal and vertical forms placed in machine like rhythms
* bold and blocky type contrasted with softer forms of photomontages

* serial painting - a series or sequence of independent works unified by common

elements or underlying structure

examples of soviet posters:

alexander rotchenko
gustav klutsis
...more klutsis

DE STIJL

* launched in the netherlands in the summer of 1917.

* théo doesburg = founding artist
* piet mondrian
* bart anthony van der leck

* abstract geometric style which sought universal laws of equilibrium and harmony
for art
* piet mondrian is probably the most famous artist of this style
* he used the primary colours with neutrals (gray, white, black) with straight
horizontal and vertical lines + flat planes limited to rectangles and squares
* artists of the movement sought to use mathematical logic to construct the visual
representations of the ideas

example of mondrian: ... they all pretty much look like this.

* de stijl style was applied to graphic design, photography, typography and

architecture by many artists

* huszar designed a typographical set comprised solely of an open grid of rectangles

* the style was well received by the de stijl movement, but the legibility was reduced
because of the abscence of curves and diagonal linesq

* in 1918 the dutch architect wijdeveld created the magazine wendingen to

popularize the de stijl styl

examples of de stijl: ladislav sutnar : cover of nejmensi dum

vilmos huszar
...more el lissitsky

Chapter 16 – The Bauhaus

o Started by Walter Gropius

o Combined fine arts school (Weimar Art Academy) with applied arts
school (Weimar Arts and Crafts School) to form the Bauhaus school.
 o Students taught how to build things (applied), but also technical/technique
knowledge such as use of space (fine arts)
o No distinction was made between the two styles
o School had old fashioned German approach: master, journeyman,
apprentice
o 1933 the school was forced to close by Nazi Gestapo

Faculty Members

*Walter Gropius Architect, introduced contemporary materials (reinforced

concrete, linoleum, steel)

Paul Klee Integrated modern visual art with non-Western cultures

Wassily Kandinsky Belief in autonomy and spiritual values of colour

Johannes Itten Designed the preliminary art course, wanted students to

develop understanding of physical nature of material,
fundamentals of design. Left the Bauhas school in 1923
because of a disagreement.

Lyonel Feininger Introduced De Stijl (movement) to the Bauhaus

community, also made a woodcut called Cathedral put on
the title page of the Bauhaus Manifesto

Van Doesburg Wanted to be a teacher, but was denied because he

favored having an impersonal style, and Gropius did not
want to impose a style on the students. However,
Doesburg let students into his home to meet, and
influenced furniture and typography design.

Oscar Schlemmer Master at Bauhaus. Made the ‘later Bauhaus seal’

Joost Schmidt Cubism, constructivism – made exhibition poster

o Followed Bayer, and later took over typography
workshop. Did work in exhibition design.

*Laszlo Moholy- Photography and typography. Cubism, constructivism,

Nagy made really inventive title pages for Bauhaus and Broom
magazines.
o Replaced Itten, became Bauhaus “prime minister”
o Used new materials, loved to experiment
o Saw typography as “tool of communication”
o Made photograms and montages, he called
photoplastics which were abstract photo patterns
*Herbert Bayer Influential innovator in typography and architecture
o Sans-serif fonts
o Didn’t use capital letters (said they were
incompatible)
o Lines and shapes used to direct viewer’s eye
o Created a ‘universal alphabet’ font experiment
where differences between the letters were
emphasized

New Typography

*Jan Tschichold
o Applied new design approaches to everyday design problems, explaining
them to a wide audience of printers, typesetters, and designers
o Adapted Bauhaus and constructivist styles, set out to make ‘new
typography’ which focused more on simplicity and clarity rather than
beauty and decoration, with high contrast in boldness and scale
o Created a twenty-four-page booklet called “Elementar Typographie”
which explained and demonstrated asymmetrical typography to printers
and designers who were using old medieval textura and symmetrical
layout. It was a revolution and generated attention towards the new
typographic approach
o Lead to a huge number of sans-serif fonts in 1920’s

Eric Gill
o Gill Sans typeface

Paul Renner
o Futura typeface, range of sizes and weights provided contrasts for
designers and printers adopting new typography

*Piet Zwart
o Made many unconventional typographic posters, very abstract
o Used letters and type to represent images, and mechanical objects

* William Sandberg
o Influential practitioner of new typography after WW2
o Unjustified, sentence fragments all over the page, rejected symmetry,
liked strong contrasts, used torn paper collage letterforms with rough
edges

New Photography

*Herbert Matter
 o Photography as graphic communication, straightforward and neutral
o Posters - Collage and montage, integrated typography, extreme contrasts
of scale (ex: large head of person with small skier in background),
integrated black and white photos

CHAPTER 17 – Modern Movement in America

o Burns Keller pioneered the style

o Mathematical grid system – consistent use of space to organize type and
images

William Addison Dwiggins – started modernizing book cover design

*Lester Beall
o Developed strong, direct, and exciting visual forms.
o He understood new typography and incorporated it into his work.
o High contrast, layered images, shapes such as arrows combined with
photos
o Photomontage with red and white stripes of American flag

Other important names:

- S.A. Jacobs
- Merle Armitage
- Alexey Brodovitch*
- Alexander Liberman
- Joseph Binder

Container Corporation of America (CAA)

- Founded by Walter P. Paepcke
- Largest producer of package materials
- Recognized that design serves a pragmatic business purpose
- Used sans-serif fonts and standard colour combinations
- Had an advertising agency who made interesting posters

CHAPTER 18 - International Typography Style

Arnold Saks, 1968

Dietmar Winkler, 1989

 - It's beautiful, artsy, applies to artistic or mathematical individuals, but not
pragmatic

23-10, 23-11, 23-12

Amnesty Inernational poster, 1975

Krackow Temporary Theatre poster, 1974

Solidarity, 1980

- Graffitti

- Street like

- All letters are connected and smushed together, supposed to look like a
group of protesters crowded together

Reynolds Ruffins

- Illustration for Amtrak

Miton Glaser

- Record album for The Sound of Harlem

- Bob Dylan poster

- Art is whatever (1996) ‒ poster ‒ very famous

They are all nostalgic looking

Seymour Chwast

Elektra Productions
Chapters 19-20
Ch. 19: The New York School
*(Must remember!) Paul Rand:
-Initiated American approach to modern design
-Started design career as promotional & editorial designer for magazines Apparel Arts,
Esquire, Ken, Coronet & Glass Packer where his magazine covers broke traditions of
American design
-Rand was influenced by modern movement, particularly works of Klee, Kandinsky and
the cubists
-Influences led Rand to believe that freely invented shapes could have a self-
contained life, both symbolic and expressive and as a visual-communications tool
(translating ideas into visual communications)
-Thus, Rand was known for ability to manipulate visual form (shape, color, space, line,
value) & also used contrasting symbolic and visual elements in designs (i.e. Red vs.
green, photos vs. flat color, text vs. white background, etc. )
-After leaving agency, Rand became an independent designer w/increasing emphasis on
trademark & corporate design.
-Was featured in book Thoughts on Design and had over eighty works that influenced
other artists
-Rand believed that cultural role of designer was to upgrade rather than serve least
common denominator of public taste (therefore to keep improving & challenging oneself)
Alvin Lustig
-Designer who incorporated subjective vision and private symbols into graphic design.
-Designer who alternated between architecture, graphic design & interior design
-Design methodology was to search for symbols to capture essence of the contents and
treating form and content as one
-Lustig believed that artist’s pure research into private symbols as the wellspring for the
public symbols created by the designer
-Asked by Joseph Albers to develop a graduate graphic design program at Yale
University
-Unfortunately, Lustig’s eyesight had begun to fail and in a short matter of time he was
completely blind but continued to teach and design until his death more than a year later
after losing eyesight.
*Bradbury Thompson
-One of the most influential graphic designers in postwar America
-Has thorough knowledge of printing & typesetting and used studios for 2 techniques as
his “canvas, easel & studio” & discovered and explored potential of eighteenth- and
nineteenth- century engravings as design resources.
-Used letterforms and patterns such as half-tone reproductions as design elements or to
create visual patterns and movements.
-Thompson used technique of taking apart four-color process plates and overprinted
them to create new colors.
-Therefore, typography gained expression through scale and color
-Readability, formal harmony & sensitive use of Old Style typefaces marked his work for
periodicals such as Smithsonian & ARTnews, US postage stamps & steady flow of
books
Saul Bass
-Designer who was inspired by Paul Rand’s use of shape & asymmetrical balance but
reduced his designs to a single dominant image
-Bass reduced messages to simple pictographic images and combined freely drawn and
decorative letterforms with typography and handwriting.
-Bass was responsible for logos, theatre posters, advertising & animated film titles for
films such as The Man with the Golden Arm (kinetic sequence of animated bars and
typography synchronized with jazz music) & for film Exodus (sidenote: also did
sequence for Monsters Inc. And other Disney animated films)
The New York Firm of Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar
- A design office instead of an art studio where Robert Brownjohn had studied painting,
design and architecture under architect/teacher Serge Chermayeff
-The three designers (Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar) combined images and
symbols with surreal sense of dislocation to convey essence of subject onto book
jackets & posters
-In 1960, Brownjohn left to England and made sig. Contributions to British graphic
design, especially in dept. Of film titles
-Brownjohn did title design for Goldfinger where 35mm color slides projected upon a
moving human body filmed in real time.
-Meanwhile, Chermayeff & Geismar Associates (renamed) played major role in
development of postwar corporate identity.
Graphic Design Education at Yale University School of Art
-Many leading graphic designers, photographers, printmakers in the visual arts have
taught in Yale graphic design program
-Faculty has included, Lustig, Norman Ives, Paul Rand, Herbert Matter, Bradbury
Thompson and many others.

Editorial Design Revolution

-During 1940s, only few American magazines were well designed (Fortune-art directors
Burtin & Leo Lionni, Vogue- Alexander Liberman & Harper’s Bazaar- Brodovitch)
-Major art director Cipe Pineles was first female admitted to membership in New York Art
professionals society because of contribution to editorials such as work at Glamour,
Seventeen, Charm & Mademoiselle
-Another major editor was Otto Storch who was influenced by Brodovitch
-Storch was art director for McCalls magazine, Better Living magazine where Storch
unified typography with photography
-Storch ranks among the major innovators of the period b/c of philosophy that idea,
copy, art & typography should be inseparable in editorial design.
-Henry Wolf a Vienna born art director at Esquire and then moved to Harpers Bazaar
and experimented with typography making it large enough to fill up page on one spread
and using smaller text to fill the other

Doyle Dane Bernbach

-Ad agency that took important advantages, superiority, or distinguishing characteristics
of product and created a relationship between those components with visual i.e.
Volkswagon Beetle ad: Think Small
-The new advertising age (inspired by Bernbach agency) was still persuasive but more
honest.

Technique: Phototypography: the setting of type by exposing negatives of alphabet

characters to photographic paper
Herb Lubalin
-Hailed as typographic genius at the time
-Would manually take apart type proofs and experimented with typography while paying
close attention to detail
-Lubalin as well as phototypography pioneer Rondthaler and typographer Aaron Burns,
est. The ITC (International Typeface Corporation) where ITC fonts had large x-heights
and short ascenders and descenders
George Lois
-Art director for Esquire magazine and revitalized magazine’s profits
-believed that design was to be a harmony of elements and had no place on a magazine
cover, but instead cover was to be a statement capable of capturing reader with a
spirited comment on a major article
-Created covers that shocked and provoked audiences b/c of unexpected combinations
of images and photographic montage techniques
-Convinced Muhammad Ali to pose as a famous religious martyr and designed Richard
Nixon cover where make-up is being applied to face

Ch. 20: Corporate Identity & Visual Systems:

-Identity of large organization can be created or redefined by design
-Design was seen as a major way to shape a reputation for quality and reliability
Design at CBS
-Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) of NYC moved to the forefront of corporate
identity design as a result of 2 vital assets: CBS president Frank Stanton & William
Golden
-Golden designed one of the most successful trademarks of the 20th century for CBS
(the CBS eye) which also represented to larger management community that a
contemporary graphic mark could compete successfully with more traditional illustrative
or alphabetic trademarks.
-CBS’ philosophy was that design was to be managed and that the corporate design be
able to shift with the company’s needs and evolving sensibilities.

Corporate Identification
-Paul Rand believed that trademark should be reduced to elementary shapes that are
universal, visually unique & stylistically timeless
-Rand created trademark for IBM & later Rand updated the logo to include stripes to
unify the letterforms and evoke scan lines on video terminals
-IBM design was flexible enough to avoid stifling of creativity of designers
-Rand was further commissioned for Westinghouse Corporation, and developed a
typeface for them & worked for ABC and created their trademark
-Chermayeff & Geismar Associates responsible for visual image program for the
Chase Manhattan Bank of New York where sans-serif type was used and where
consistency & uniformity in the application of both logo and letterform enabled
redundancy to become third element
- C&G Associates produced more than one hundred corporate design programs
-Saul Bass created trademark for Minolta & redesigned Bell trademark
-*Muriel Cooper designed more than 500 books (i.e. Bauhaus by Hans Wingler) and
worked as a print designer for MIT publications
-Cooper was able to use powerful beta site computers at MIT which made her the first
graphic designer to use new media and 3-D text
-Cooper’s ultimate goal was to move graphic design from form to content; to be able to
create clear, compelling communication for Internet & was founder of MIT Media Lab
(the most advanced new graduate research program on new media in the world)

Unigrid: unified informational folders used at national park locations and is based on
simple basic elements: ten format sizes, broadside or full-sheet presentation of the
folders, master grid, etc. and typography was limited to Helvetica & Times Roman

Olympics
-1968, 72 & 84 games started evolution of trademark
-The theme was “The young of the world united in friendship through understanding”
-The trademark five rings were created by American Lance Wyman and was based on
Mexican art but was meant to create a completely unified design system that could be
understood from anyone
-Scores of designers and design firms produced Olympic graphics & environments
conforming to the design guide developed by the principal design firms
MTV
-Logo was commissioned to Manhattan Design, a NYC studio known for independent
risk taking and was comprised of Pat Gorman, Frank Olinsky & Patti Rogoff
-All had fine arts background and each influenced by comic book art.
-Gorman wrote the TV and Olinsky created the 3D “M”
-Because the trademark was versatile, the group created 100 different versions to pitch
-Gorman believed that MTV logo “changed the face, the idea, & the speed of graphic
design”
-MTV logo was one of the first to introduce motion graphics on TV and animated graphic
messages

Chapter 21- The Conceptual Image

-After WW2 conceptual image in graphic design was introduced

-mental content joined perceived content as design
-new breed of image-maker that was concerned with the totally design of the space and
the integration of the word with the image
-graphic designers had greater opportunity for self-expression (personal images,
individual styles and techniques)
-conceptual image became a significant design approach in Poland, the US, Germany and
even Cuba
-Italian designer Armando Testa, was an abstract painter who conveyed elemental truths
about the subject
-did campaigns for Pirelli tires (elephant with tire coming out of face, brand name
underneath, surrealist technique), this ad became an easily recognizable symbol
-he reduced the verbal content to a few words or just the product name, subtle
contradictions, images made of artificial materials

The Polish Poster

-graphic designers joined filmmakers, writers and fine artists in the polish union of artists
(establishing standards and set fees)
-the 1st polish poster artist after the war was Tadeusz Trepkowski, expressed tragic
memories and aspirations for the future that were deeply fixed in the national psyche
-his approach involved reducing the imagery and words until the content was distilled
into its simplest statement (ie. his famous antiwar poster, used few shapes to symbolize a
devastated city and superimposed silhouette of a falling bomb)
-Henryk Tomaszewski became the spiritual head of polish design after Trepkowski’s
death
-the poster became a source of great national pride in Poland
-posters served as communication (Muzeum Plakatu- a museum devoted to posters)
- Tomaszewski led the trend toward developing remembrance in wks (with light,
decorative world of colour and shape)
-designs were created from torn and cut pieces of coloured paper, and then printed by the
silkscreen process
-typical of this style is the film poster for Rzeczpospolita Babska (also circus posters)
-the next design trend: surrealism (darker, more somber side)
-Jan Lenica-began using flowing, stylized contour lines that weave through the space and
divide into coloured zones that form and image
-Waldewmar Swierzy is best known for his poster of American rock musician Jimmi
Hendrix (seen in lecture).. Animated large portrait, washed in blue
-polish poster artist Roman Cieslewicz would take a poster and transform it using
techniques like enlarging collage, halftone images, dots into texture
-Jerzy Janiszewski’s Solidarity labour union logo (*talked about& viewed in lecture)
became an international symbol of the struggle against oppression. Poster addressed a #
of issues for country (banning of Solidarity). Graffiti style, crowded letters (metaphor for
people standing solidly together in street)

American conceptual image

-New York graphic designers: Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, Reynolds Ruffins and
Edward Sorel
-freelance assignments were request ed through the joint publication, the Push Pin
Almanack (published bimonthly, featured editorial material from old almanacs illustrated
by the group
-once Glaser returned from Europe, Push Pin Studio was formed
-Push Pin Almanack became the Push Pin Graphic (a magazine forum for presenting new
ideas, imagery and techniques)
-push pin artiusts freely paraphrased and incorporated a multiplicity of ideas into their
work
-Glaser was able to re-invent himself over and over again
-during the 60’s he created images using flat shapes formed by thin-black-ink contour
lines, adding colour by applying adhesive colour films (ie. his Sound of Harlem album
cover) ..(drawing style was echoed in comic books)
-Glaser began to making gestured silhouette drawings (ie. like his Bob Dylan record
cover, blk silhouette with coloured hair patterns)
-also created ‘Uncle Sam’ as a graphic icon and created the I heart (symbol) NY
-‘Dada and Surrealism’ poster (viewed in lect.) dada text pressed into smaller table..
smaller table isolates the word real within the longer word surrealism
-Chwast uses line drawings overlaid with adhesive colour films, flatness in work. (ie.
Elektra Productions piece, each letter in title is a form of transportation)
-Push Pin style was referred to as being open about trying new forms, reinterpreting work
from earlier periods, and integrating word and image into a conceptual whole
-Barry Zaid (a Canadian) joined the Push Pin studios, his work was prominently a
revival of art deco, he also created a cover for Australian Vogue (seen in lect.)
-James McMullan revived watercolour, began making fluid lettering an important part of
his images (ie. Anna Christie play poster, girl sitting at table by ocean is in the backdrop,
viewed in lecture)
-Paul Davis (like McMullen became involved in integration of word and image).. ie. as
viewed in lecture the poster For Colored Girls, graffiti-like title, subway mosaic (blk girl
in forefront of poster)
-push pin school of graphic illustration presented an alternative to the narrative of the past
-projected vitality with lush colour and unashamed allusions to other art
-Arnold Varga reinvented the retail newspaper ad. (made the connection between
memorable images and building communication) fusing images together

-connection between art and music (expression and experience)

-CBS records was at the forefront of graphic design in the music industry

-Woody Pirtle, logo for Mr.& Mrs. Aubrey Hair (comb, with text ‘hair’ in comb’s teeth),
Knoll ‘hot seat’ poster, hot pepper posed in a way to make it look like it is a chair
-1980’s saw graphic design get recognized as being a true profession in US

The poster mania

-contrast to postwar polish posters, the US’s poster craze was more about grassroots
affairs fostered by social activism
-posters made statement about social viewpoints rather than spreading commercial
messages (ie, hippie subculture, Haight-Ashbury area in San Fran)
-psychedelic posters
-artists were self-taught
-Robert Wesley (Wes Wilson), was the innovator for psychedelic poster-style, used
swirling lines and letter forms (ie. concert poster for the Association, viewed in lecture,
green background, red flame like font)
-movement included Kelly/Mouse Studios and Victor Moscoso
-Moscoso was the only major artist in this period who has formal art training
-Peter Max, combined art nouv. Aspects of psychedelic art with more accessible
images/softer colours , ie. ‘Love’ poster

European visual poets

-poetic approach to graphic design based on imagery through collage, montage and both
photographic and photomechanical techn.
-German master of this movement: Gunther Kieser.. brought images together with new
arrangement
-began to construct fictitious objects that are convincingly real
-Gunter Rambow, manipulated photography (black and white documentary styled
images)
-uses collages and montages as a means of creating a new graphic reality
-designer Robert Massin.. Learnt graphic design under typographic designer Faucheux
-Massin’s work has affinities with futurist and Dadaist typography (but his intensification
of both narrative literary content and visual form into a cohesive unity expressing
uniqueness (ie. La cantatrice chauve)

-Pieree Bernard, Francois Miehe and Gerard Paris-Clavel came together to create Grapus
studio (1970). Grapus favoured universal symbols with readily understood meanings, ie.
sun, mood.
-motivated by the dual goals of achieving social and political change while striving to
realize creative artistic impulses
The third-world poster
-poster served as a major vehicle for spreading social and political stuggles (ideas were
known as weapons)
-poster medium was very effective, posters became vehicles for challenging authority
-Cuba became a major center for poster design after the revolutionary force led by Castro
-Myth and reality have been unified in a powerful and graphic symbol based on the
image and Che Guevara (leader of Cuban revolution).. Elena Serrano’s ‘Day of the
Heroic Guerrilla’ (viewed in lecture) Che’s image transforming into a map of South
America
-the important conceptual images in the 2nd half of the 20th C. developed in response to
many factors, and ideas and forms from modern art have filtered into pop culture

Chapter 22 “National Visions within a Global Dialogue”

This section focuses on the spread of graphic design across the globe. Different agencies
are profiled from different countries and a brief history shows how we are all connected
in the “global village”

The United Kingdom

Pentagram Firm
-began in 1962 with Alan Fethcer, Colin Forbes and Bob Gill
-sent an unopened package on a round trip from The Uk to Zurich and back to use as a
cover shot for a magazine.
-combined the contemporary with history to create original and unexpected work

Japanese Design
-draws influence form European constructivism

-the mon, or family crest was incorporated into many designs. These were simplified
designs of flowers, birds, or other animals contained in a circle.

-Yusaka Kamekura was a key figure. He helped found the Japan Advertising Art club,
and the Japan Design Center in the 1960’s. He also created the work for the Japan
Olympic games in 1964. (see page 450).

-Masuda Tadashi and Kazumasa Nagai also played a fundamental role in Japanese design
using photography and color in hteir work.

-Takenobu Igarashi did work that was geometric and 3d. He did a series of calendars over
10 years where every number he drew was different from all others.
-Tadanori Yokoo replaced constructivism with more dada style, and incorporated pop
culture and mass media into his work. His work from the 60’s and 70’s critiques a
Japanese youth that grew up with American pop culture dominating their lives. He gained
a cult reputation for this work.

-Shigeo Fukuda created humorous and playful comic book like works. Most memorable
was his “victory 1945” poster where he depicts a gun with the bullet being reversed back
into the barrel. He also used props and toys to create playful photography such as his
work “teacups”.

Design in the Netherlands

(actually open your book to this section because its fuckin sick! Pg 456)

World War II completely disrupted Dutch civilization. Communication and transportation

came to a virtual halt. The country has always taken pride in the fact that they have
freedom of expression and practice individuality.

In 1963 desgisngers Wim Crouwel, Frisco Kramer, and Benno Wissing came together to
form Total Design (TD). The Netherlands first comprehensive large scale operation.
They believed in minimalism and sought a “total image” for clients including graphics,
architecture, and products. The firm became significant in training new up and coming
designers and produced signage, posters, and books for all the Netherlands. The company
still operates today under the name Total Identity.

Dutch institutions and government agencies are also major patrons of graphic design. The
Postal and Telecomunications Service ( PTT) was created in 1919 to emphasize the
importance of design and unity amongst public services. Everything from buildings,
stamps, currency, phone booths, and signage had to be aesthetically excellent.
After nearly falling apart in the 50’s and 60’s Studio Dumbar, another graphic firm, was
hired to revamp the image of PTT and more colors and geometric shapes were introduced
alongside the sans-seriff types to help build a strong identity. The studio was unique as
there was hardly any overhead or bureaucracy and designers were free to express them
selves as they wished.

Anthony Beeke broke away form the traditional Dutch design a sought unconventional
solutions to visual problems. His work often featured altered photographs with sexual
overtones and ideas surrounding the search for underlying truth.
The magazine Hard Werken was launched in 1978 by the Hard Werken Design group.
This group and publication also worked around the relaxed anything goes attitude. The
work was raw and often offensive. The group merged in 1994 to become Inizio.

Wild Plakken was created in 1977 . They created work only for people or groups looking
to make meaningful social or political change. Their work addressed issues such as
climate change, women’s rights, abortions, etc.. It was formed by Frank Beekers, Lies
Ros, and Rob Schroder.

Chapter 23 “Postmodern Design”

By the 70’s the modern era of art was seen to be drawing to a close. With that a new idea
of postmodernism was born to express a climate of cultural change.

Precursors to Postmodern Design

Supermannerism and supergraphics were terms coined to discuss anything that broke
away from the modern style. These styles featured bold geographic shapes and colors.
And could be seen in design not only for print but in architecture as well.

Robert Venturi was the most controversial and the original architect behind the
supermannerist label. He proposed a radical design for the American Football Hall of
fame in 1967. It featured a electronic light display that could be seen form the interstate.

Early Swiss Postmodern Design

A lot of the postmodern push came out of Switzerland. They aimed for playful,
unexpected, neutral and disorganized layouts. Rosemarie Tissi, and Siegfried Odermatt
opened a firm together and along side of Steff Geissbuhler produced work that was like
nothing else seen before. (page 468). They used space and angles in new ways and
experimented with color.

Bruno Monguzzi was another artist interested in bending the traditions of design. He was
a designer, typographer and teacher.

A revolt and students in the International Typographic Style sought to re-invent

typographic design. New-wave typography was born.

New-Wave
Wolfgang Weingart taught at Basel school of design, he essentially pioneered the new
wave movement. He traveled to America and lectured and American design schools
where he was praised. He did work with photography and experimented with half tones
and work that broke away form typical grid systems. Weingart and his students…Dan
Friedman, April Greiman, and Willi Kunz…introduced such ideas as letter spaced sans-
seriff type, stair-step fonts, ruled lines that punctuated space, diagonal type, italic type,
and reversed type.

Dan Friedman was perhaps one of them ore successful of Weingarts studies. His work
were paradigms of the emerging postmodern currents and he explored texture, surface,
layering, spacing, and geometric forms.

April Greiman helped establish this new wave in LA, and Willi Kunz brought it to New
York where his work was hailed as “quintessential examples” of postmodern design. He
did not use grids and could be called an information architecht who uses visual hierarchy
and syntax to bring order and clarity to messages.

The Memphis and San Francisco Schools

When the 70’s went out..the 80’s brought about more change. Function in design became
secondary to pattern, texture, and color.

These groups used pastel colors, exaggerated geometric forms, and laminates to convey
their messages. Form no longer followed function- it became the reason for design to
exist. The work was minimalist and predominant designers were Michael Graves,
Christopher Radl, Valentina Grego, Michael Vanderbyl, and Michael Cronin.

San Francisco postmodern design emerged quickly in the 80’s earning it a reputation as a
major center for creative design. In bay area design, elements are given symbolic roles
and become part of the content. (Remember the Beethoven work by Michael Cronin with
all the crazy colors and lines? Page 480)

Retro and Vernacular Design

The retro obsession was based off a history of graphic design now being taught at design
schools. Designers were learning respect for work from the 20’s and 30’s and wanted to
emulate it in their own work.

Vernacular work refers to artistic and technical expression broadly characteristic of a

local or historical period. This work paid homage to earlier commonplace designs such as
baseball cards and matchbook covers.

These styles thrived in book jacket designs and posters and were reminiscence of earlier
art deco work. This style even influenced corporate identity.

Charles Anderson developed the Classico pasta sauce bottles that were reminiscent of old
style mason jars with elegant typography.

Joe Duffy also helped developed key identity programs including work for Ralph Lauren.

Neville Brody emerged in London producing graphics and album covers. His works
developed from a vision to reveal not conceal, yet provide a logical approach to design.
He has stated that he never learned the correct rules of typography, leaving him free to
invent his own working methods. He did much of his work for “the Face” publication
inclusing work focusing on Andy Warhol.

Finally Paula Scher used a hand made style that went against what everyone was heading
towards with the use of computers in graphic design to create book covers and posters.
Her work was simple, and could be seen in the free your mind campaign for MTV.

Chapter 24

• Last quarter of the 20th century – advancement of computer technology took place
àgraphic design changed by development of computers and internet

• Industrial Revolution fragmented graphic design into many steps

• graphic designers created page layouts

• typesetters operated texts/display typesetting equipment
• production artists pasted all elements onto boards
• camera operators made negatives of paste ups, art and photos
• strippers assembled negatives
• plate makers prepared the printing plates
• press operators ran the printing press

àby the 90s one person was able to do all this on their desktop

• technology progressed rapidly in spite of protest by the graphic design world

• Growth of cable and satellite television in the last quarter century expanded number of
broadcast channels à inspired creative and technical advances in broadcast and motion
graphics, paving the way for consumers to embrace the power & flexibility of the net.

• 1984 – introduction of Macintosh Computers (Mac)

• The first mouse – small wooden box on steel wheels invented by scientist Douglas C.
Englebart

• Apple released software for word processing, drawing and painting.

à Early bitmap fonts were designed by Susan Kare

• Adobe’s post script page description language enable printers to output text, images and
graphic elements and where to place them on the page
 • Type characters are generated as outlines that are filled in as solid formed of Bezier
Spinelines
àinvented by Pier Bezier, a French mathematician (1910-1999)

• 1985 apple introduced first lazer printer

• Paul Brainerd formed > Aldus > Developed PageMaker for Mac

• 1990 = colour capable Macintosh II

• Designers who embraced technology were called “new primitives” by those who did not
embrace it.

• April Grieman explored the visual properties of bitmapped fonts, the layering and
overlapping of computer screen info, synthesis of video and print and teactile patterns and
shapes.

à She created a single sheet magazine published by the Walter Art Centre (2x6ft digital
image)

• Art School/Universities became important centres for redefining graphic design

- designe department at Michigan Cranbrook Academy of Art

à Katherine and Mike McRoy lead the program
àTransformed it from a logical program to an experimental one

Revitalizing Magazine Design

• Quark express enabled designers to place elements on a page in increments of 100 000th
of an inch
• David Carson (Surfer/School Teacher) gone designer, rejected traditional notions of
typographical syntax and imagery

ie. -Arranged letterheads erratically

- sliced away parts of letters so readers could decipher messages
- believes “one should not mistake legibility for communication”.

• Fred Woodward
-Art Director of Rolling Stone Magazine
-Added new typography to the Magazine Stock
Ie. Large scale type + full pg photo of Sinead O’Connor gave a new feel to the magazine
 à The Magazine converted to Mac, but woodward still incorporated a handmade look

Digital Type Foundry

• Fontographer allowed designers the ability to design and market typefaces as electronic
files
• Summer Stone designed “stone” for Adobe in Serif, Sans Serif and Informal
• In the past when designers developed for linotype or monotype, they took the specific
nature of the type setting equipment into account à now designers create fonts for many
output devices.

- ie: high and low res display

- ink jet printers
- output devices that don’t exist

• Carol Tuomby ( developed Charlemagne font) and Robert Slimback (A calligrapher) =

outstanding type designers for Adobe

• Matthew Carter designed scores of typefaces, as typographic technology evolved from

metal type to photo type then digital type. During an association of with Linotype from 1965
to 1981, Carter’s designs included the uniquitous bell centennial, created for early
highspeed digital and cathode ray tube (crt) technology.

à Carter formed Carter & Cone Type of Campbridge, Mass.

Digital Imaging

• Pat Gorman created of the MTV logo by exploring editing controls in a tv studio. The
Studio engineer became so upset over her experimentation that he left her alone with the
equipment, locking her in the studio so others would not observe her audacious behaviour.
- Gorman called the design “Bad Television” – it stands in stark contrast to
broadcast television’s focus on “correct” colour fidelity.

Interactive Media…

• Hypertext = text on a computer screen containing pointers to other text

àaccessed in a non linear manor.
• Interactive media is also known as hypermedia à extends the concept of hypertext to a
combination of audio, video, visuals and cinematic communication – all connected to a
coherent body of communication.

• VizAbility was an exemplary interactive cd-rom program that taught concepts relation to
visual perception and helped users develop heightened visual awareness
àdesigned by Metadesign in San Francisco – headed by German Designer Erik
Spiekermann.
• Linear series = sequence of screens which can be called on screen one after another
(slide show)
• Spatial Zoom = lets viewer acquire closer or more detailed data by clicking the word for
a definition or image for more detail.
• Overlays = different view of same info. ( a map of rome that changes through history)
• Hierarchies = branching structures organized like a family tree
• Matrix = organized data on a grid of interconnected pathways.

• The Web was developed by physicist Tim Berners – Lee at the European Organization
for Nuclear Research in Geneva.

• In 1976 architect and designer Richard Saul Wurman coined the term information
architecture predicting it would become a new profession of individuals who made
complex information understandable.

• Conceptualism, a common attribute of Japanese graphic design, is profusely present in

the complex designs of Hideki Nakajima

• The Isreali graphic designer David Tartakover studied at the Bezale Academy of Art and
design in Jerusalem before graduating from the London College of printing in 1968

à he had operated his own studio in telaviv, specializing on visual communication on

cultural themes

The Conceptual Book Cover

• The designs of Charles I. Kidd for Alfred A. Knopf revolutionized book jacket design
“By distancing the title from the image on the cover, Kid puts a very specific kind of
pressure on readers: he asks them to bridge the gap between what they read and what
they see”

• Chaz Maviyanne – Davies called the “guerilla of graphic design”, creates posters
with richly metaphoric yet hopeful messages.

A New Generation of Film Titles

• *Imaginary Forces was launched in 1996 by Kyle Cooper, Chip Houghton and
Peter Frankfurt. *designed spider man film title
à integrating graphic design, motion and interactive media

The Digital Vanguard

• Graphic Design in the 90s often incorporated the digital process in complex visual
combination of information architecture, media tech. and culture.
àErik Adigard & Patricia McShane explored the potential of digital process. Their
frontispiece designs for WIRED mag. Built visual essays out of cover stories.

Adigrard designed the cover “Money is Just a Type of Information” by making a collage of
foreign currencies.

• Many London Graphic design studios embraced contemporary fine art that is
connected to pop culture. They also draw from traditional graphic design.

• Alan Kitching – renowned for his innovative wood and metal letterforms.

• Before the computer, designers were liberating type from the page by turning them
into expressionist signs. Futurist artist and designer Filippo Marinetti celebrated
“words in freedom” on his technical manifestation of futurist literature of 1912.

• The used of test as signs or as visual form began as far back as 33 BC, when it was
referred to as pattern poetry. The Cubists, Dadaists, and futurists all explored word –
images and shaped text. à Guillaume Apollinaire shaped text to illustrate ideas in
his calligrames and editorial pages.

• In the 80s – Korean designer Ahn Sang-Soo designed experimental letters based
on older Korean typefaces. It was the first to deviate from the rigidity the Korean
alphabet created in the mid 15th centurt.

• Graphic designers from the Netherlands remain on the cutting edge of their field

A Mexican Vanguard

• Mexico’s expanding political and econ. Business environment has

provided incentives and challenges for the contemporary graph.
Designer. Many Mexican designers were born in other countries.