Art 438 Final

Emigre No. 1 Emigre No.2, Magazine Covers, Emigre #11, Emigre #19, Rudy VanderLans, Zuzana Licko

"type should be invisible": this old dictum was design dogma for so long that it might as well have been a law of nature. while writers were freely experimenting with everything from beat poetry to cyberpunk fiction, typographers were generally expected to behave themselves, faithfully rendering every precious word un-"interpreted" and uncolored by superfluous serifs or violations of the sacred page grid. typography was supposed to be silent, invisible, and neutral. this unwritten rule has changed in the last decade, however, and typographers can largely give thanks to emigre, the magazine has played an important part in the widest-ranging revolution to hit the printed page since dada. since its inception, emigre has relentlessly scorned the traditional subordinate role of the typographer and celebrated the freedom of expression now available to designers via digital tools. its' success is evident not only in the increasing circulation of the magazine itself, but also in the tremendous popularity of emigre's fonts and the growth of their influence in the design world.

I Am a Man placard, designer unknown

African -American workers car- ried this sign during the 1968 Memphis Tennessee sanitation workers strike, when they were fighting for the right to unionize. Its message was appropriated from similar phrases used during the 19th century abolitionist movement. why is this placard important? appropriating the 19th century abolitionist slogan "am I not a man?," the protesters changed the question into a proactive statement. the message: we are no longer asking you, we are telling you. the placard is a perfect example of the starkness of the message supported and amplified by the starkness of the design.

1972 Munich Summer Olympics identity system, Munchen 1972 Pictograms (Otl Aicher), Munchen 1972 Event Schedules (Buro Aicher), Munchen 1972 Posters (Buro Aicher)

Basing his work in part on iconography for the 1964 Games, Aicher created a set of picto- grams meant to provide a visual interpretation of the sport they featured so that athletes and visitors to the Olympic village and stadium could find their way around the logo and pictorial information system of the 1972 munich olympic games is an impressive example of the large scale international identity systems that arose during the 20th century, particularly those used to promote international cultural and sporting events. practical and efficient, the carefully systematically integrated components provide an eloquent solution to untangling complex visual communication for international users and audiences. otl aicher 1922-1991 a german graphic designer and typographer. aicher's attitude and career were shaped by his experiences during world war 2. in 1966 aicher was asked by the organizers of the 1972 summer olympics in munich to become the olympic games' lead designer. he was asked to create a design for the olympics that complemented the architecture of the newly built stadium in munich designed by günther behnisch. aicher consulted with masaru katsumie, who had designed the previous 1964 tokyo olympic games. The Strahlenkranz is intended to be perceived as a radiant garland, representing the sun shining over Munich, a flower, a star, and a victor's laurels. Basing his work in part on iconography for the 1964 Games, Aicher created a set of picto- grams meant to provide a visual interpretation of the sport they featured so that athletes and visitors to the Olympic village and stadium could find their way around Aicher created pictograms using a series of grid systems and a specific bright colour palette that he chose for these Games Working in collaboration with Bill, Aicher chose a bright, summery, alpine color palette that did not include red or gold because of its associations with the Nazi regime. The selection of colors was made looking north to south from Munich toward the Alps - sky, water, trees, meadows, mountains. Associations with youth and freshness supported the choices. Apart from its aesthetic function, the color palette was intended to help achieve clarity, and was used by Aicher to color code uniforms and venue graphics. why is this project important? the logo and pictorial information system of the 1972 munich olympic games is an impressive example of the large scale international identity systems that arose during the 20th century, particularly those used to promote international cultural and sporting events. practical and efficient, the carefully systematically integrated components provide an eloquent solution to untangling complex visual communication for international users and audiences. in the aftermath of the munich olympics, aicher became one of the most prominent graphic designers in western europe. however, in reaction to the violent events that took place during those olympic games, he declined most of the more visible commissions he was offered, choosing instead to work in smaller public projects, anti-militray politcal campaigns, and small exhibitions.

Valentine Olivetti Poster, Milton Glaser

Glaser's combination of familiar elements in unfamiliar compositions recall surrealist dream imagery rather than the psychedelic styles of some other 1960s designers and illustrators. this poster is an outstanding example of the push pin style applied to advertising and promotion. it's this type of illustration - full of historical reference, beautifully crafted but whimsically devoid of any recognizable logic - that pushed push pin studio into the mainstream of american visual culture. it's also worth noting that a significant characteristic of the pushpin Glaser's combination of familiar elements in unfamiliar compositions recall surrealist dream imagery rather than the psychedelic styles of some other 1960s designers and illustrators. why is this poster important? this poster is an outstanding example of the push pin style applied to advertising and promotion. it's this type of illustration - full of historical reference, beautifully crafted but whimsically devoid of any recognizable logic - that pushed push pin studio into the mainstream of american visual culture. it's also worth noting that a significant characteristic of the pushpin style is the presence of narrative, something that did not characterize the international style.

Negerkunst poster, Max Bill

Negerkunst was an exhibition of South African prehistoric art. the poster's design was inspired more by ideas concerning abstract form than by the subject of the exhibition itself, and was intended to be largely symbolic of the event rather than illustrative. in this sense, bill's poster was an important precursor of the swiss style of graphic design that emerged during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Beginning of an Extended Struggle, The Beauty is in the streets, A youth that worries too often about the future, all protest posters, Atelier Populaire

Numbering over 300 different designs, and printed by cheap "home-made silkscreen processes, the posters created by atelier populaire were among the more enduring achievements of the 1968 student and labor uprising the posters characterized by bold, easily reproduced images, usually one or twocolors, in which recurring symbols could be incorporated into the designs. their somewhat crude appearance is a testament to the urgency with which they were produced and displayed.

Pink poster, Shiela Levrant de Bretteville

The American Institute of Graphic Arts invited de Brettville and other designers to make a 30'' square poster about a color. She chose pink as the signifier of gender, and divided up the field into pink squares giving most of them to women of various ages asking for an expression of the meaning that this color had for them. why is this poster important? in her design, de bretteville utilized a grid as a basis for the composition, but not to achieve structural clarity; instead, it was used as an anti-hierarchical device that signified the collaborative approach she took to assembling the piece. the resulting work - a post modernist blend of text and image, art and activism, convention and innovation - encapsulates the grid as a structure for equality. the poster was rejected by AIGA, but de bretteville still pasted copies of it up around los angeles, making it a pioneering example of street art.

Sticky Fingers, Album Front Cover Photograph by Andy Warhol

The album cover photograph of Mick Jagger wearing a very tight pear of jeans, which included an actual zipper that could be moved up and down, providing a glimpse of the albums inner graphics. the album graphics for sticky fingers demonstrate that perceived negative or controversial characteristics can be leveraged to move audiences and sell products. sexuality decadence misogyny violence john pasche made the mark, andy warhol made the photograph for album cover john pasche 1945- an british art director and graphic designer. pasche is best known for posters and logos album covers produced for performers such as paul mccartney, the who, the stranglers, dr. feelgood, and the rolling stones. The album cover photograph of Mick Jagger wearing a very tight pear of jeans, which included an actual zipper that could be moved up and down, providing a glimpse of the albums inner graphics. by the early 1970s, andy warhol was one of the most famous (and infamous) artists in the world. attaching his name to the album graphics via both the photographs and his signature rubber stamp lent an additional aura of international celebrity status and perceived decadence to the public image if the rolling stones. Pasche originally produced this mark for the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album. In August 2008, the design was voted the greatest band logo of all time in an online poll. the album graphics for sticky fingers demonstrate that perceived negative or controversial characteristics can be leveraged to move audiences and sell products. sexuality decadence misogyny violence

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album graphics, Peter Blake, Jann Haworth

The front of the LP included a colorful collage featuring the Beatles in costume as the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, standing with a group of life-sized cardboard cut-outs of famous people which included the wax dummies of the group that were on display at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. the bland, neutral messaging behind the album cover imposed a sort of pseudo-timeless neutrality upon it. for a time, until history and shifting trends caught up with the album and the band, this perceived status made it possible for both the music and the group to seem immune to sexual and historical classifications. the music and the band were made accessible, marketable, and profitable as a result. in some ways, the strategy still works. The front of the LP included a colorful collage featuring the Beatles in costume as the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, standing with a group of life-sized cardboard cut-outs of famous people which included the wax dummies of the group that were on display at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. the concept behind the album cover was partially based on a statement attributed to john lennon which suggested that their management could "send four wax dummies out on tour, and the effect would be the same." the tableau used for the album cover could be viewed as a guidebook to the cultural topography of the decade, demonstrating the increasing democratization of society whereby traditional barriers between 'high' and 'low' culture were being eroded. the photographs of the group only served to reinforce the group's collective image as the perfect, acceptable boyfriends that you could, in fact, bring home to meet your mother. Included with the album as a bonus gift was a sheet of cardboard cut-outs designed by Blake and Haworth, a postcard-sized portrait of Sgt. Pepper based on a statue from Lennon's house that was used on the front cover, a fake mous- tache, two sets of sergeant stripes, two lapel badges and a stand-up cut-out of the Beatles in their satin uniforms. The album's inner sleeve fea- tured an abstract artwork by the feminist Dutch design team the Fool that eschewed for the first time the standard white paper in favor of an abstract pattern of waves of maroon, red, pink and white. Moore believes that the inclusion of these the special sleeve and cut-outs helped fans "pretend to be in the band" the final eclectic mix of musical styles on the album is a result of the wide-ranging interests of all the beatles as they turned into (more or less) mature adults, which in turn is visualized in pictorial form on the eclectic album graphics. in essence, they pictured and marketed themselves, through the album graphics, as part of the tradition of painters, sculptors, filmmakers, poets, and novelists. in part, this framing continues to make it possible for the beatles' music to seem relevant and historically significant despite the passage of time and shifting in trends. in addition, the band also seems to consciously signal a shift in attitude toward their careers, personal lives, and music through the album graphics and photography. why are these album graphics important? the bland, neutral messaging behind the album cover imposed a sort of pseudo-timeless neutrality upon it. for a time, until history and shifting trends caught up with the album and the band, this perceived status made it possible for both the music and the group to seem immune to sexual and historical classifications. the music and the band were made accessible, marketable, and profitable as a result. in some ways, the strategy still works.

The Public Theatre, The Diva is Dismissed, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, The work of Paula Scher

The identity system that Scher developed for The Public Theatre is based upon references to vernacular street signage and graffiti. As result, the system components feel like a natural part of the environment in which they are seen. Fusing highbrow and lowbrow, this eclectic and irreverent approach signals Scher's affilia- tion with the New Wave graph- ic designers of the 1980s and 1990s, who rejected modernism's neat grid and cool affect. scher's success derives partly from her refusal to draw lines in the sand with regard to what sorts of jobs, clients she takes on, reflecting her belief that multinational corporations are just as worthy of good design as vanguard local arts organizations. it also stems from her exuberant rejection of modernist strictures demanding neutral and "clean" designs. for scher, expression is of paramount value. The New School typefaces: neither the typeface nor the wordmark are classically pretty, and the overall design system has a clunky/clumsy vibe,but it commands attention in the way that odd new yorkers, in their styles and behaviors, command attention: by being uniquely personal and slightly off. frustrated with the amount of work time being spent on persuasion instead of creation as a graphic designer, scher began to paint as an outlet. in the 1990s, she began painting colorful typographic maps of the world, its continents, countries, islands, oceans, cities, streets and neighborhoods. iphones and other forms of digital media [are] disrupting boredom, because people can occupy themselves all the time. you don't have any more downtime—you go on your iphone, look at email, or you're playing video games. the fact of the matter is, that eats up really good creative time. i realize that when i'm sitting in a taxicab in traffic, or on my way to the airport, or waiting to get on a plane, or trapped in some other boring situation, that's when i get the best ideas, because i've got nothing else interfering with it." paula scher "the danger is getting trapped as a technologist. you need to be able to ride past the technology by understanding what it can do, who you are, and where you want to take it. you don't want technology to lead you; you want to lead it, but it's very hard to do that when you're in the middle of it." paula scher why is this body of work important? scher's success derives partly from her refusal to draw lines in the sand with regard to what sorts of jobs, clients she takes on, reflecting her belief that multinational corporations are just as worthy of good design as vanguard local arts organizations. it also stems from her exuberant rejection of modernist strictures demanding neutral and "clean" designs. for scher, expressivity is of paramount value. scher is among the best designers of her generation. she cut a path for herself through the billboard-jungle of pop, creating an approach to design that is articulate yet unpretentious, open to influences yet decisively individualistic. through her astonishing visual work as well as her generous efforts within this field as a teacher, professional, advocate, and agitator, scher has helped put an radical yet intelligent face on the field of graphic design.

Univers Typeface, Diagram of Weights, Adrian Fruitiger

This diagram shows in a clever manner the relational system of the 21 cuts of Univers. using research from his student days in zurich, frutiger transformed his early renderings into an inventive and concise system, with 21 fonts given numerals to indicate different stroke weights and horizontal proportions. through this visual and numerical classification system, designers and type composers could easily measure differences between one style and the next. designers who tend to favor univers over helvetica contest that the former's formal unity and classification system make it the smarter, more logical alternative. adrian frutiger 1898-2015 a swiss typeface designer. in 1952, charles peignot of the paris foundry deberny et peignot recruited frutiger based upon the quality of his early work. altogether, frutiger has designed over 50 typefaces in various font styles, including ondine, méridien, serifa, and iridium. an essential apsect of his work was his participation in the development of typesetting techniques which moved the technology away from hot metal. "the greatest stroke of luck in my life is to have been blessed first with an artistic feeling for shapes... and with an easy grasp of technical processes and mathematics." adrian frutiger during the mid 1950s, frutiger was assigned to work upon converting existing typefaces for use in the new phototypesetting linotype equipment, which offered flexible, economical, reliable typesetting technology that didn't involve metal casting in any way. he also began to develop new typefaces which were drawn specifically for this new technology. the first phototypesetters quickly project light through a film negative image of an individual character in a font, then through a lens that magnifies or reduces the size of the character onto photo- graphic paper, which is collected on a spool in a light-proof canister. the photographic paper or film is then fed into a processor—a machine that pulls the paper or film strip through two or three baths of chemicals— where it emerges ready for paste-up or film make-up. later phototypesetting machines used alternative methods, such as displaying a digitized character on a CRT screen. phototypesetting offered numerous advantages over metal type, including the lack of need to keep heavy metal type and matrices in stock, the ability to use a much wider range of fonts and graphics and print them at any desired size, as well as faster page layout setting. in 1955, frutiger began working on a typeface family based on a systematically applied set of proportions. univers was one of the first typeface families to fulfil the idea that a typeface should form a family of consistent, related designs. past sans-serif designs such as gill sans had much greater differences between weights, while loose families such as the franklin gothic family often were advertised under different names for each style, to emphasise that they were not completely matching. by creating a matched range of styles and weights, univers allowed documents to be created in one consistent typeface for all text, making it easier to artistically set documents in sans-serif type. this matched the desire among practitioners of the "swiss style" of typography for neutral sans-serif typefaces avoiding artistic excesses. This diagram shows in a clever manner the relational system of the 21 cuts of Univers. Frutiger identified the weights of Univers with numbers as a means of circumventing the conflicting type weight names and classifications that varied from one nation to the next. why is this typeface important? using research from his student days in zurich, frutiger transformed his early renderings into an inventive and concise system, with 21 fonts given numerals to indicate different stroke weights and horizontal proportions. through this visual and numerical classification system, designers and type composers could easily measure differences between one style and the next. designers who tend to favor univers over helvetica contest that the former's formal unity and classification system make it the smarter, more logical alternative.

Black Power White Power, poster, tomi ungerer

This powerful image of interlocking cannibalistic figures, which seems to portray black and white militancy as equally destructive, demonstrates ungerer's unfashionably skeptical attitude tot he potential for social change. With its attempt at balance seldom see in 1960s propaganda and protest posters, black power/white power seeks to address the complexity of contemporary race relations with their tensions and contradictions. the message of black power/white power is deliberately ambiguous refusing to endorse any for of racial supremacy.

Die Neue Typographie, Jan Tschichold

Tschichold condensed the new typographic movement with accessible, understandable guidelines in his landmark book die neue typographie. This book was a manifesto of modern design, in which Tschichold condemned all typefaces but sans-serif. Tschichold also favoured non-centered design, and codified many other Modernist design rules. He advocated the use of standardized paper sizes for all printed matter, and made some of the first clear explanations of the effective use of different sizes and weights of type in order to quickly and easily convey information. Importance: tschichold was partly responsible for a movement in germany (and now, the world) that introduced the concepts of modern typography. die neue typographie provided a new and radical framework for designers to design by—it was full of dogma, it was arrogant and emphatic, but it was clear. through this book, tschichold quantified bauhaus and constructivist typographic theory for the first time, making it both teachable and learnable. within tschichold's quantification of new typography, four basic principles were defined that continue to inform signifcant aspects of functionalist typography to this day. asymmetric balance of elements. content design and organized by hierarchy. intentional use of white space. the use of sans serif typography.

why is the corporate style important to the history of american graphic design?

When you mix design with industry, it creates a distinction amongst the companies and gives it a voice. The brands portray the company's beliefs and goals through visuals. It also makes a company memorable. The avant garde european art is being used for american capitalism by leveraging company's outlook. large corporations in the united states advocated functional, modernist design for identity, promotion, and, in some cases, their products and services. as a partial result, a distinctly american version of the international style began to take shape during the 1950s and early 1960s. this style was characterized by a functionalist approach to business communication. large, medium, and small american businesses would use corporate style to systematically create an image for themselves and their products that was clean, efficient and, above all, modern. why is this concept important? to be clear, the emergence of the amercian corporate style of graphic design commodified and institutionalized constructivist and bauhaus principles. further, for better and for worse, corporate style gave american graphic design a distinct, more or less specific voice for the first time in its history. this phenomenon, which originated with container corporation during the 1940s, began spreading to other large corporations during the 1950s. the public persona of these business entities as depicted in their printed matter became the corporate style.

BONUS: The importance of George Paepke to American graphic design

an american industrialist and philanthropist. in 1925, at age 28, paepcke inherited the chicago mill and lumber company from his father, and eventually transformed it into con- tainer corporation of america, an industry pioneer in the manu- facture of paperboard and corrugated fiber containers why is walter paepcke important to the history of graphic design in the united states? paepcke's embrace of modern currents in design changed the look of american advertising and industry, and with it the taste of americans in the mid-20th century, forging a style that still drives american visual culture. paepcke advocated the elimination of the split between art and industry—the thesis that was so dear to the bauhaus masters—while also insisting on the urgent need to develop a systematic vision of the individual and his or her relation- ship with the world. in this way, he re-appropriates and reshapes—as a business- man—fundamental theoretical principles of the bauhaus. paepcke re-appropriated and reshaped—as a businessman— fundamental theoretical principles of the bauhaus. in essence, he helped to put the european avant-garde to work for american capitalism. another way in which paepcke's postwar optimism and advocacy of design demonstrated itself pertainined to establishing dialogue. in 1951 he founded the seminal international design conference in aspen (IDCA) to provide a forum for discussion on design, "where the human spirit can flourish." the primary IDCA objective was to connect culture with commerce by inviting both international business and industry leaders together with representatives from various commercial design fields such as industrial design, graphic design and architecture, as well as those in the fine arts and fields such as psychology, filmmaking and literature. the first conference, in june 1951, brought together over two-hundred and fifty designers and business leaders. the annual conference format included keynote speakers, workshops, panel discussions and informal, social gatherings. these activities naturally integrated those from commerce and culture into settings that stimulated dialogue, debate and insights. the existence of IDCA established a key collaborative forum on the topic on managing design within corporations for the benefit of society, as well as adding value to business. IDCA was held every june in aspen from 1951 to 2004. importance:paepcke's embrace of modern currents in design changed the look of american advertising and industry, and with it the taste of americans in the mid-20th century, forging a style that still drives american visual culture. paepcke advocated the elimination of the split between art and industry—the thesis that was so dear to the bauhaus masters—while also insisting on the urgent need to develop a systematic vision of the individual and his or her relation- ship with the world. in this way, he re-appropriates and reshapes—as a business- man—fundamental theoretical principles of the bauhaus. paepcke re-appropriated and reshaped—as a businessman— fundamental theoretical principles of the bauhaus. in essence, he helped to put the european avant-garde to work for american capitalism.

Smooth Office Routine: The Jersey Dress, Editorial Pages, The work of Cipe Pineles

an austrian-born graphic designer and art director. pineles made her career in new york at such magazines as seventeen, charm, and mademoiselle. in 1943, pineles became the first female member of the art directors club. The use of large scale photog- raphy and bleeding edges were relatively new devices for the interior pages of magazines. Pineles leveraged the potential of offset printing and web printing, both of which were newly affordable forms of print- ing technology during the late 1940s and early 1950s. pineles's work an art director broke new ground in the use of offset printing. the layering of type and image within her page compositions pushed the publication design into new, innovative directions that had not seemed possible before. perhaps more importantly, pineles blazed a new trail for working women in the field of graphic design that had not really been possible before this point in history.

Rural Electrification Administration, Poster Series Lester Beall

beall understood the principles behind tschichold's new typography, the dada movement's use of random placement, and the use of chance in the creative process. rather than simply imitating what saw in european avant garde design, he reinterpreted it in a distinctly american way. in this sense, beall could be viewed as the first individual, original, modernist american graphic designer. an american graphic designer. beall's clear and concise use of typography was highly praised both in the united states and abroad. he combined bold primary colors, photomontage, and abstract shapes in a graphic style that became easily recognizable as his own. the main thing that set beall's work apart from that of his peers was his background in advertising rather than art or printing. Beall's posters for the Rural Electrification Administration made the availablity of electricity in rural areas seem both friendly and modern to audiences that might be leery of it. In essence, he's selling the newly available service to rural America.. why is this body of work important? beall understood the principles behind tschichold's new typography, the dada movement's use of random placement, and the use of chance in the creative process. rather than simply imitating what saw in european avant garde design, he reinterpreted it in a distinctly american way. in this sense, beall could be viewed as the first individual, original, modernist american graphic designer.

Westvaco Inspirations, magazine pages, Bradbury Thompson

between 1939 and 1972, as the designer of more than 60 issues westvaco inspirations, a promotional magazine published by the westvaco paper corporation, thompson reached many thousands of typographers, print buyers, and students. for a large number americans, the magazine provided a first glimpse of modernism in graphic design. thompson had an uncanny ability to merge and blend modernist typo- graphic organization with classic typefaces and historic illustrations, all seasoned with affectionate sentiment, impeccable taste, and technological innovation. bradbury thompson 1911-1995 an american art director and graphic designer. when it came to the blending of photography, typography and color, nobody did it better than bradbury thompson. in his own quiet way, he expanded the boundaries of the printed page and influenced the design of a generation of art directors. the art of typography, like architecture, is concerned with beauty and utility in contemporary terms... the typographic designer must present the arts and sciences of past centuries as well as those of today... and although he works with the graphics of past centuries, he must create in the spirit of his own time, showing in his designs an essential understanding rather than a labored copying of past masters." bradbury thompson between 1939 and 1972, as the designer of more than 60 issues westvaco inspirations, a promotional magazine published by the westvaco paper corporation, thompson reached many thousands of typographers, print buyers, and students. for a large number americans, the magazine provided a first glimpse of modernism in graphic design. thompson had an uncanny ability to merge and blend modernist typo- graphic organization with classic typefaces and historic illustrations, all seasoned with affectionate sentiment, impeccable taste, and technological innovation.

L'Intransigeant, Posters/Billboard, A.M. Cassandre

cassandre's poster for the parisian evening paper l'intransigeant is a prime example of the unique mathematical structure and style that sets his work apart form that of his contemporaries. allying himself more with architecture than easel painting, cassandre adopted a structured, modular approach, stating that his posters were the product of the t-square and the compass rahter than the brush and the pen. the design of l'intransigeant is strictly controlled by an underlying constructional grid that regulates the proportions and placement of the entire composition. if you look carefully at nearly everything he ever produced, you'll find some form of grid structure forming the basis of the composition.

New York City Subway Map, Massimo Vignelli, Joan Charysyn

despite being in use only seven years, vignelli's radical subway map for the new york city and sign system is considered to be a classic because of its unique use of a grid structure. vignelli transformed the existing geographically accurate subway map into something similar to harry beck's london underground map of 1933, in which simple geometry is used to clarify a complex, subterranean landscape. though the resulting geographical distortions were considered by some as too disorienting, the map remains highly prized for the clarity and simplicity of its grid system. the new york city subway was a confusing mess in the 1960s, with inconsistent, haphazard signage that made navigating the system a nightmare for commuters. in 1967, the new york city transit authority decided to do something about it. they hired massimo vignelli and bob noorda of the design firm unimark international to design an improved signage and wayfinding system. the designers spent four years studying the labyrinth of the subway, analyzing the habits of commuters, and devising the iconic visual identity of the nyc subway that is still in use today. part of the new york subway signage involved developing a map. in 1972, vignelli redesigned the existing subway map with the assistance of graphic designer joan charysyn. the map was a tool for navigating the subways, although not one for navigating the city streets, which was an initial problem for many people who used it. no more messy, inconsistent angles would be included in the new map. instead, train lines would run at 45 and 90 angles only, with each line being represented by a color and each stop represented by a dot. there was an obvious influence from the london underground map, originally created by harry beck in 1933. however, vignelli took it one step farther, in creating the now- famous intertwined wiring-diagram map of new york's vastly complicated subway lines. in addition, the separate lines of the system were color coded, which made it easier to identify and plot routes and schedules. it is said that vignelli had planned a second, complementary map that would have been more tied to the actual above-ground geog- raphy, but the city never let him do it because there were so many user complaints about the original. in essence, vignelli was fired from the project, and the map has been revised several times by other designers, most recently in 2012. the result was a design solution of surprising beauty. however, vignelli utilized a level of abstraction that quickly ran into problems. to make the map work graphically meant that a few geographic liberties had to be taken. for instance, vignelli's map represented central park as a square, when in fact it is three times as long as it is wide. why is this map important? despite being in use only seven years, vignelli's radical subway map for the new york city and sign system is considered to be a classic because of its unique use of a grid structure. vignelli transformed the existing geographically accurate subway map into something similar to harry beck's london underground map of 1933, in which simple geometry is used to clarify a complex, subterranean landscape. though the resulting geographical distortions were considered by some as too disorienting, the map remains highly prized

Operating system icons interface design, control panel interface design, operating system failure interface design, susan kare

for kare herself, the apple years were just an initial milestone in a distinguished career that has included designing icons for the windows and ibm os/2 operating systems, crafting logos for startups, developing "gift" icons for facebook, creating products for new york's museum of modern art, and making fine-art prints of memorable icons like the bomb, the watch, the paint can, and the taxonomically ambiguous dogcow. why is the original macintosh interface important? kare's work gave the mac a visual lexicon that was universally inviting and intuitive. instead of thinking through each image as a tiny illustration of a real object, she aimed to design icons that were as instantly comprehensible as traffic signs. to creative innovators in the '80s who didn't see themselves as computer geeks, kare's icons said: stop stressing out about technology... go ahead... dive in!

London Underground identity, promotion, Topological Map, Harry Beck

harry beck 1903-1974 an english technical draftsman who worked as an engineering draftsman at the london underground signals office. the railways group constantly received complaints from riders about the difficulties they had in navigating the complex system, especially in relation to the sometimes inaccurate maps that the group provided. in his spare time, beck drew up simplified diagrams of the underground system that eliminated geographic details such as streets and buildings. london underground was initially skeptical of beck's radical proposal for a topological map, but tentatively introduced it to the public in a small pamphlet during 1933. in cartography and geology, a topological map is a type of diagram that has been simplified so that only vital information remains, and unnecessary detail has been removed. these maps lack references to scale and actual geography. distance and direction are subject to change and variation, but the relationship between points is maintained. between 1916 and 1938, the london underground provided the first application of graphic design and typography to a large-scale, public works project. frank pick realized the potential of graphic design to both inform and persuade, in addition to entertain and decorate.

CBS Title Cards Broadcast Graphics, Georg Olden

in 1945, before jackie robinson played major league baseball, or marian anderson sang at the metropolitan opera, georg olden, the grandson of a slave, took a job with CBS. there, as head of the network's division of on-air promotions at the dawn of television, olden pioneered the field of broad- cast graphics at the same time he was played a pivotal pioneering role for african americans in advertising and graphic design. olden helped to ensure other designers of color would have a future in the filed of graphic design. an american graphic designer. olden attended virginia state college before dropping shortly after the bombing of pearl harbor to serve as a graphic designer for the office of of strategic services. the OSS job introduced him to a range of forms and media, including cartoons, which he was able to sell to magazines such as the new yorker. during this period, he chose to drop the 'e' form his first name in order to attract the attention of magazine editors. in the summer of 1945, olden was recruited to the CBS television network, and became art director for CBS's new television division, during the "sit-and-squint-age of television," when only 16,000 television sets existed in the country. as one of the few african americans to be successful in the advertising and design fields, olden was in the precarious role of being a black man in a field that had only recently admitted ethnic whites to positions of power. olden took on his duties at CBS with a desire to learn and a keen design sense for the new medium, which required technological savvy, ingenuity, and a retooling of his working process. olden told the art directors club of new york: "the medium is inca- pable of really differentiating between the subtleties of tonal and color contrast because, for one thing, the average home receiver is almost never 'perfectly' tuned... speed is of the essence in the design and execution of much of the art for television." what is more, television graphics, especially for news, had to be thought up and created on very short notice. when olden started in television, the quality of transmission was poor. home receivers rarely picked up a perfect signal. so olden avoided subtlety and nuance in his work, and since his job was to produce 4" x 5" title cards that were flashed in front of the huge TV cameras for a few seconds, impact was a key factor. he design vignettes with symbolic imagery or relevant metaphors, usually combined with crisp typographic treatment. why is body of work important? in 1945, before jackie robinson played major league baseball, or marian anderson sang at the metropolitan opera, georg olden, the grandson of a slave, took a job with CBS. there, as head of the network's division of on-air promotions at the dawn of television, olden pioneered the field of broad- cast graphics at the same time he was played a pivotal pioneering role for african americans in advertising and graphic design. olden helped to ensure other designers of color would have a future in the filed of graphic design.

BONUS: The Characteristics of the International Style and How they translate into practice

in short, the visual characteristics of the international style include: asymmetrically organizing composition components on a mathematically- constructed grid to create visual unity in a composition. presenting visual and textual information in a clear and factual manner; using objective photography and illustration; and ensuring that it filters out any propaganda and the exaggerated claims of commercial advertising. using sans-serif typography set flush left, ragged right, which the movement believed expressed the spirit of a neutral, harmonious, and progressive age. the initiators of the international style believed that the visual appearance of the work is not as important as the integrity of its philosophical tenets whereby... design is a socially worthwhile and serious vocation. in design there is no room for eccentricity and/or idiosyncrasy because design should be grounded on universal visual principles, and should use a scientific approach providing a well-defined solution to the problem at hand. the designer is a visual communicator and not an artist; the designer acts as an objective and reliable transmitter of information between members of society. above all, design should avoid references to history because they are not neutral or objective, and are a detriment to clarity and function. in other words, historicism has no place in good design. internationalism is a political principle which transcends nationalism and advocates a greater political or economic cooperation among nations and people. supporters of this principle generally believe that the people of the world should unite across national, political, cultural, racial, or class boundaries to advance their common interests. they also believe that the governments of the world should cooperate because their mutual long-term interests are of greater importance than their short-term disputes. starting in the late 1940s, versions of internationalism began to define the role of graphic design within some aspects of visual culture in western europe and north america. in the aftermath of world war 2, most of the european economy was in turmoil. as a result, much of the european avant garde that had gradually become part of the cultural mainstream was more concerned with simply surviving. this is a condition that didn't really begin to change for much of europe until the mid to late 1960s. however, in switzerland, which did not participate in world war 2, things were somewhat more stable. while the swiss ecomony was impacted by the war, business and commerce continued to be conducted in more or less the same manner that it had been before the war. as a result, there were graphic designers who continued to practice their professions despite turmoil elsewhere. by the end of the 1940s, people throughout europe were seeking ways to avoid circumstances that had led to two major, earth- shattering conflicts within twenty-five years. as a result, for fields such as graphic design, typography, and advertising, neutrality and practicality were valued over nationalism, ornamentation, and waste. the international style, also known as the swiss style, is a mode of graphic design and typography developed in switzerland in the 1950s. the style emphasizes cleanliness, readability, objectivity, and above all, neutrality. characterized by a cold, emotionally sterile grid style; they used structured layout, and unjustified type, that became very influential in the mid 20th century and influenced a vast audience of both designers and consumers. these visual pioneers saw design as part of industrial production, and sought forms of anonymous, objective visual communication capable of serving that purpose. they chose photographic images rather than illustration, and typefaces that were industrial-looking rather than those designed for books. in short, the visual characteristics of the international style include: asymmetrically organizing composition components on a mathematically- constructed grid to create visual unity in a composition. presenting visual and textual information in a clear and factual manner; using objective photography and illustration; and ensuring that it filters out any propaganda and the exaggerated claims of commercial advertising. using sans-serif typography set flush left, ragged right, which the movement believed expressed the spirit of a neutral, harmonious, and progressive age. how do these formal characteristics translate into practice? the initiators of the international style believed that the visual appearance of the work is not as important as the integrity of its philosophical tenets whereby... design is a socially worthwhile and serious vocation. in design there is no room for eccentricity and/or idiosyncrasy because design should be grounded on universal visual principles, and should use a scientific approach providing a well-defined solution to the problem at hand. the designer is a visual communicator and not an artist; the designer acts as an objective and reliable transmitter of information between members of society. above all, design should avoid references to history because they are not neutral or objective, and are a detriment to clarity and function. in other words, historicism has no place in good design.

BONUS: What is the Digital Aesthetic

kare's operating system previous slide, the new technology quickly led to the emergence of a style inspired by references to science fiction, video games, and technology. designers who pursue this tehonology-informed style tend to produce forms that are a direct reflection and expression of the tools used to create them. the new aesthetic or digital aesthetic is a term, coined by james bridle, used to refer to the increasing appearance of the visual language of digital technology and the internet in the physical world and the blending of virtual and physical. this aesthetic is akin to the machine aesthetic of earlier decades, and was first seen in aspects of work produced by april greiman and wolfgang weingart during the 1980s for a time, this slick, sleek technological look was utterly intoxicating to some graphic designer conceptually, the embrace of technologially influenced design was driven by what was thought to the be the infinite potential of digital technology designers in nearly every subfield, including graphic design and typography, were caught up in a frenzy of speculation about the enormous social changes that were supposedly on the horizon artists, designers, and other thinkers exected to welcome this "technotopia" - which never quite happened in the ways that had been anticipated - with open arms.

Apertura di Stagione Advertisement, Pirelli per lo Scooter Advertisement, Lora Lamm

lamm's own style mixes typography with illustration, collage and photography, organising the space in an airy yet rigorous way, where everything serves the purpose of communicating clearly and elegantly, with optimism and humour. Lamm also lent her charming graphic style to independent clients like Pirelli, Elizabeth Arden, and Olivetti, imbuing their advertisements with her signature effervescence. lamm's whimsical illustrations have a fashionable and feminine appeal—less about product and more about individual aesthetics and style, which makes her work unique within the context of the international style. with her experimental use of photography, illustration and typography— inspired partly by examples of graphic design at international department stores in new york and tokyo— she defines the imagery of the fashion world to this day. lora lamm 1928- a swiss graphic designer who spent part of her career in italy. lamm studied at the kunstgewerberschule, in zurich, and moved to milan in 1953, originally working for studio boggeri before joining max huber at la rinascente in 1954. as the store began to market specifically to women customers, lamm was enlisted as a consultant to create campaigns for everything from hot water bottles to scooters. why is this body of work important? lamm's whimsical illustrations have a fashionable and feminine appeal - less about product and more about individual aesthetics and style with her experimental use of photography, illustration and typography - inspired partly by examples of graphic design at international department stores in new york and tokyo - she defines the imagery of the fashion world to this day.

The importance of Corporate Style to American graphic design

large corporations in the united states advocated functional, modernist design for identity, promotion, and, in some cases, their products and services. as a partial result, a distinctly american version of the international style began to take shape during the 1950s and early 1960s. this style was characterized by a functionalist approach to business communication. large, medium, and small american businesses would use corporate style to systematically create an image for themselves and their products that was clean, efficient and, above all, modern. ' why is this concept important? to be clear, the emergence of the amercian corporate style of graphic design commodified and institutionalized constructivist and bauhaus principles. further, for better and for worse, corporate style gave american graphic design a distinct, more or less specific voice for the first time in its history. this phenomenon, which originated with container corporation during the 1940s, began spreading to other large corporations during the 1950s. the public persona of these business entities as depicted in their printed matter became the corporate style.

Grid Systems for Graphic Designers, Josef Muller-Brockmann

müller-brockmann's seminal book, grid systems in graphic designer, quantified the formal experiments in page structure and composition that he had been conducting since the early 1950s. the book quantified and demonstrated how grid structures could be applied to forms other than posters. more importantly, along with the graphic artist and his design problems, showed how this methodology could be taught and learned. müller-brockmann was concerned with functional and objective design that, by restricting design elements in the confine of typo- graphic grid, would shift the focus of image on the core message displayed by a clean and sharp geometrical aesthetic. in his work, the grid was used to define the constant dimensions of the design space and elements were inserted precisely into it so that all parts of a page would be integrated coherently according to the aesthetic order. müller-brockmann attempted to quantify these concepts as a means of making them both teachable and learnable. The objective was an effective and efficient visual communica- tion: information presented this way was assumed not only read more quickly and easily, but is also more easily understood and retained in memory. i have always aspired to a distinct arrangement of typographic and pictorial elements, the clear identification of priorities. the formal organization of the surface by means of the grid, a knowledge of the rules that govern legibility (lines length, word and letter spacing and so on) and the meaningful use of color are among the tools a designer must master in order to complete his or her task in a rational and economic matter. the greatest works of art impress through their balance, their harmony, their proportions, all of which can be measured. josef müller-brockmann why is this book important? müller-brockmann's seminal book, grid systems for graphic designers, quantified the formal experiments in page structure and composition that he had been conducting since the early 1950s. the revised version of this book, grid systems, showed how grid structures could be applied to forms other than posters. more importantly, along with the graphic artist and his design problems, showed how this methodology could be taught and learned.

New Alphabet, typeface proposal, Wim Crouwel

n 1967 Crouwel designed the typeface New Alphabet, a design that embraces the limitations of the cathode ray tube technology used by early data display screens and pho- totypesetting equipment, thus only containing horizontal and vertical strokes. one of crouwel's best known contributions to the world of graphic design is his design of the typeface new alphabet. living in the 60s, he felt it was necessary to not only let history determine one's design style, but to also look into the future to see possible technical limitations and figure out how to overcome those limitations. in this class, we've seen designers who have either rejected the idea of industrialization or reacted against it by reverting to an older design style. instead, crouwel accepts the machine as a part of modern daily life and embraces the changes in design that can come from technological advancements. before he designed new alphabet, typefaces that were being digitized and shown on simple computers and cathode ray display screens were often ugly and did not scale well. the screens could only display vertical and horizontal lines, so crouwel experimented with a new typeface that exploited the CRT limitation. crouwel set out to redesign the alphabet using only horizontal lines. new alphabet is, in crouwel's words, "over-the-top and never meant to be really used," a statement on the impact of new technologies on centuries of typographic tradition. wim crouwel 1928- a dutch graphic designer, typeface designer, typographer, and educator. in 1963, he was one of the founders of the design studio total design, currently named total identity. the group was formed as a partial reaction to projects like the KLM identity system being awarded to foreign designers and firms. crouwel was a leading proponent of functionalist design in relation to public services in the netherlands. In 1967 he designed the type- face New Alphabet, a design that embraces the limitations of the cathode ray tube technol- ogy used by early data display screens and phototypesetting equipment, thus only containing horizontal and vertical strokes. why is this typeface important? one of crouwel's best known contributions to the world of graphic design is his design of the typeface new alphabet. living in the 60s, he felt it was necessary to not only let history determine one's design style, but to also look into the future to see possible technical limitations and figure out how to overcome those limitations. in this class, we've seen designers who have either rejected the idea of industrialization or reacted against it by reverting to an older design style. instead, crouwel accepts the machine as a part of modern daily life and embraces the changes in design that can come from technological advancements. before he designed new alphabet, typefaces that were being digitized and shown on simple computers and cathode ray display screens were often ugly and did not scale well. the screens could only display vertical and horizontal lines, so crouwel experimented with a new typeface that exploited the CRT limitation. crouwel set out to redesign the alphabet using only horizontal lines. new alphabet is, in crouwel's words, "over-the-top and never meant to be really used," a statement on the impact of new technologies on centuries of typographic tradition.

Identity System for IBM, Eight-Striped Logo (Positive) Manual Page, Paul Rand

paul rand's defining corporate identity was his IBM mark in 1956, which was not just an identity but a basic design philosophy which permeated corporate consciousness and public awareness of the company. rand believed that a mark on its own was incapable of personifying a company; rather, a mark that was authoritative, timeless and striking would come to embody the values of the company simply by association. this mark exemplifies this principle: there is nothing about stripes themselves that explicitly relates to computing, but for millions, they have come to acquire this meaning. Initially set in Beton Condensed Bold Eventually reset in City Medium Converted to 8-stripe and 16-stripe versions to obscure what Rand felt were awkward idiosyncrasies in the drawing of the typeface. The horizontal stripes now replaced the solid letters to suggest speed and dynamism. In the intervening quarter- century, the basic design has remained constant, one of the most recognized logotypes in the world, and a design that has been widely imitated by others. The 8-stripe version is more commonly used because it is easier to reproduce at small scales. as IBM expanded, and as its products evolved, the system was revised in order to more effectively adapt it to new needs and trends. rand's defining corporate identity was his IBM mark in 1956, which was not just an identity but a basic design philosophy which permeated corporate consciousness and public awareness of the company. rand believed that a mark on its own was incapable of personifying a company; rather, a mark that was authoritative, timeless and striking would come to embody the values of the company simply by association. this mark exemplifies this principle: there is nothing about stripes themselves that explicitly relates to computing, but for millions, they have come to acquire this meaning.

The Responsive W Identity System Experimental Jetset

postermodernist because it is responsive to whatever art work is thrown at it. it is not a static mark like IBM kind of is. at first glance, the system feels fickle, almost imperceptible and invisible, and, in a standalone application, kind of boring. but as the "w" becomes alive, adapting to its context and changing without much consideration for the proper drawing of a "w", it becomes highly engaging, dynamic, and anything but boring. it goes against conventions, it seems perfect for the client and its audience, and it serves as a solid system for the museum's in-house design staff to build on their own. centered around the use of a redrawn version of neue haas grotesk, it is actually adaptive and responsive, especially in comparison to many rigid international style identity systems. these qualities make it a quintessential postmodernist identity system. in 2012, the whitney museum of american art in new york selected experimental jetset to develop a new identity system. the group focused on a line from the design brief— "it would be much easier to present the history of art as a simplistic line — but that's not the whitney". this sentence immediately conjured up an image, a shape for the group. it also begged the question: if the history of art should not be seen as a simplistic, straight line — then how should it be seen instead? This question led to a solution based on a zig-zag line — the zig-zag being a metaphor for a non-simplistic, more complicated history of art. Conveniently, the zig-zag also resembles a capital W. This dynamic identity, which the designers refer to as the "responsive 'W'", is intended to illustrate the Museum's ever-changing nature. the response to this identity system has been decidedly mixed. some portions of the museum's audience found the identity system to be both cold and clumsy. other portions of the audience for the identity system appreciated the cool irony that it seemed to exude, and believed that it seemed to be a perfect expression of 21st century new york city.

Anatomy of a Murder, Vertigo, Film Titles and posters of Saul Bass

postermodernist because the titles move with the movie. respond to the movie. bass produced some of the most iconic film posters, title sequences, and animated sequences in the history of american film. bass once described his main goal for the title sequences as being to ''try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story". another philosophy that bass described as influencing his title sequences was the goal of getting the audience to see familiar parts of their world in an unfamiliar way by "making the ordinary extraordinary through economy of means." examples of this mindset can be seen throughout his work. bass completely revolutionized the role of title credits in films. traditionally, credits were static and drab. they were considered so unimportant, they would actually be projected onto the closed curtains which would only open for the first official scene of the movie. bass, however, was committed to injecting life into these graphics, making them as much a part of the cinematic experience as anything else. an american graphic designer and filmmaker while we will be looking at other aspects of bass's work during the next presentation, for the purposes of this presentation it is his work in film that is of importance. during his 40-year career, bass worked for some of hollywood's most prominent filmmakers, including alfred hitchcock, otto preminger, billy wilder, stanley kubrick and martin scorsese. he produced some of the most iconic film posters, title sequences, and animated sequences in the history of american film. bass once described his main goal for the title sequences as being to ''try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story". another philosophy that bass described as influencing his title sequences was the goal of getting the audience to see familiar parts of their world in an unfamiliar way by "making the ordinary extraordinary through economy of means." examples of this mindset can be seen throughout his work.

VAS: in Opera in Flatland Typeface Stephen Farrell

printed in the colors of flesh and blood, vas: an opera in flatland- demonstrates how differing ways of imagining the body generate diverse stories of history, gender, politics, and, ultimately, the literature of who we are. a constantly surprising, vas combines a variety of voices, from journalism and libretto to poem and comic book, all filtered through farrell's delicately detailed typography. farrell's multi-layered combinations of word, texture and image deepen and enhance the reading experience. often these voices meet in counterpoint, and the meaning of the narrative emerges from their juxtapositions, harmonies, or discords. utilizing a wide and historical sweep of representations of the body—from pedigree charts to genetic sequences—vas is, finally, the story of finding one's identity within the helix of language, lineage, and design. an american graphic designer and typographer. farrell is known as much for his graphic design work as he is for his active collaborations with authors in "designing fiction". his work is strongly rooted in typography, but he combines it elegantly with the visual language of diagrams, photographs and the like. the projects he has pursues have aimed at bridging the worlds of literature and design. farrell's most impressive work is the novel he created in collaboration with writer steve tomasula. vas: an opera in flatland tells the story of one tidy family's life within the broader times in which they live. utilizing a wide and historical sweep of representations of the body, from pedigree charts to genetic sequences, this hybrid novel recounts how differing ways of imagining the body generate differing stories of knowledge, power, history, gender, politics, art, and literature. the plot begins by describing a scenario where everyone alive on earth was bound to one another through african eve, our last common ancestor, who 5,000 generations ago passed her genes and language to sons and daughters who did the same as they gradually populated the world. today, however, square, circle and the other inhabitants of flatland have the opportunity to step outside this lineage. to rearrange the bodies of animals, plants, and even themselves. vas: an opera in flatland is the story of square's decision to undergo an operation that will leave him sterile for the good of his wife, circle, for the good of their daughter, oval, and for the good of society, including the unborn descendants he will never have. vas is, in other words, the story of finding one's identity within the double-helix of language and lineage—and square's struggle to see beyond the common pages of ordinary, daily life upon which he is drawn.

AIGA Detroit Lecture Poster Stefan Sagmeister

sagmeister rejected the then- (and now-) popular convention of computerized perfection, and overtly embraced the personal mark as handmade and visceral, producing an effect that is consciously crude. equally important, the letters etched into his skin stand as a painfully graphic illustration of the profession's increasing obsession with itself. sagmeister is not only referring to graphic design's fascination with 'designer as author, but expanding the concept to include 'designer as content' and even 'designer as subject.' an austrian/american graphic designer and typographer. sagmeister is a cunning trickster whose career has turned design convention upside down, stretched the bounds of propriety, stomped on mores and taboos, and alters popular perceptions. with his audacious motto - style = fart - he replaced expected forms and messages with attitude through his often controversial work in graphic design, typography, environmental art, conceptual exhibitions and video.

Massive Change Exhibition Design Bruce Mau, Institute Without Boundaries

the essence of massive change is a basic aspect of postmoderism: the breakdown of categories and disciples combined with a new commitment to cross-pollination and collaboration. what separates it from similar formulations is its commitment to almost international style optimism and positive outlook. through this project, mau does not advocate a future led by designers-as-prophets, but instead proposes that people from all walks of life can participate in necessary cultural transformation. the institute's inaugural project, massive change, explored and sparked discourse on the future of global design. the central focus of the project was an exhibition which looked at how design can be used as a methodology to address the problems inherent to our social, economic and political systems. the exhibit, which was placed at museums in north america and europe between 2010 and 2012, looked at the implementation of new ideas and technologies to address issues like environmental sustainability and poverty. allow events to change you. forget about good. good is what we all agree on, which is not necessarily good don't be cool because cool is conservative fear dressed in black. free yourself from limits of this sort and think with your mind. forget technology because creativity is not device-dependent. break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it. love your experiments as you would an ugly child. go deep. literally from his website: "Whether we realize it or not, we live in a designed world. The question is: will this be a design for destruction or for a sustainable new world that we can safely hand down to our children and our children's children? Our idea of design goes beyond the way things look to the way things work. To paraphrase Marcel Duchamp, we set out to liberate design from "the tyranny of the eye." Surveying the world we found hundreds of examples where visionaries were using design to effect positive change in the world. We called this pattern "Massive Change." We collected these stories into a best-selling book, a radio program and a touring museum exhibition that shattered attendance records in Chicago, Toronto and Vancouver. The relationships we developed with the world's leading innovators form a community of purpose and expertise we regularly tap into as we pursue the paradigm-shifting principles of Massive Change in all we do. It's not about the world of design, but the design of the world."

BONUS: How did graphic design begin? How did the field come about?

the field came about when the task of designing mass produced material became separated from printing it. Companies such as the American Type Foundry were able to experiment with different typefaces because they could reproduce as much as they wanted on paper. the field came about because an audience for it emerged. the field came about because the audience found practical purposes for it. the field came about because those purposes could be turned into ways to make money. Once we figured out a way to print on cylindrical or abstract objects, we were able to print on almost anything and create anything. the field came about when people realized that aspects of it could be used to persuade to buy, believe, etc. the field came about as formal and conceptual languages that became its basis began to emerge. It came about when william dwiggins coined the name for it. on the fringes of early 20th century aesthetic movements, there were several people who played with the relationships between design, reading, and perception.

Deutsche Bank identity manual, Anton Stankowski

the neutrality of the international style was a perfect fit for deutsche bank at this point in its history. the german economy was attempting to reestablish itself, and needed to convey energy and a positive outlook in relation to its future. using simple abstract means, stankowski's mark for deutsche bank provided a subtle yet emphatic statement about its prospects for growth and prosperity.. The mark was devloped in compettiton with eight other designers. The bank's board felt that the the diagonal stroke surrounded by a square clearly represented growth in a stable environment, which was the primary message they wanted the institution's new branding to carry. The blue represents excellence, class and prosperity. stankowski would describe the mark as "dynamic, ascending, and secure... a security within a certain reliable and responsible space, in which percentages can fluctuate." Stankowski explained the concept behind the mark and its initial applications via an identity manual. why is this identity system important? the neutrality of the international style was a perfect fit for deutsche bank at this point in its history. the german economy was attempting to reestablish itself, and needed to convey energy and a positive outlook in relation to its future. using simple abstract means, stankowski's mark for deutsche bank provided a subtle yet emphatic statement about its prospects for growth and prosperity.. further, the identity manual for the mark developed by stankowski demonstrated the degree to which the neutrality of the international style could transcend tradition and history. in fact, it could supplant the potential limitations imposed by those perceived factors. why is this body of work important? anton stankowski focused on the possibility of describing actions and forces through abstract compositions. far from the depiction of physical properties, his visual research did not aim at depicting physical properties, but at giving shape to the forces acting behind intangible scientific processes and societal relationships. the theorization of these ideas was summarized in his publication how to illustrate invisible processes in graphic design. stankowski subtly composed colors' shapes and lines to achieve bold and effective images, always basing his projects on an extreme economy of means, as every sign is completely necessary to the final expression. a characteristic shared by all of his work is an extreme formal rigor combined with a never-ending experimentation with media and compositions, leading to solutions which are functional and poetic at the same time.

The Endless Summer poster, John Van Hamersveld

the poster for the endless summer is inextricably tied to the documen- tary, but the poster functions as a touchstone that has withstood the tests of time in ways that the documentary does not. it is possible that a single still image always has an advantage over a series of moving ones because it's more evocative, more mysterious, lends itself more readily to the imagination and dreaming. in any case, the poster captured the spirit not just of the movie but of the moment: the fun-in-the-sun, new-garden-of-eden innocence of early-60s southern california. The retail poster derived from the lobby poster combines the abstraction of the international style and a bright, youth-oriented color palette. with the concrete depiction of the documentary's theme. why is this poster important? the poster for endless summer is inextricably tied to the documentary, but the poster functions as a touchstone that has withstood the tests of time in ways that the documentary does not. it is possible that a single still image always has an advantage over a series of moving ones because it's more evocative, more mysterious, lends itself more readily to the imagination and dreaming. in any case, the poster captured the spirit not just of the movie but of the moment: the fun-in-the-sun, new-garden-of-eden innocence of early-60s southern california.

Mexico 68, Mark, Lance Wyman

there are designs that, for one reason or another, transition from being simply of their time to defining their time. in planning for the games, mexico, an emerging third world nation, could not afford to make the extensive architectural statement made in tokyo four years earlier. graphic design contributed to the ambiance of the mexican games and helped to make a meaningful visual impact for lesser cost. lance wyman's identity for the 1968 mexico summer olympics has been hailed as a pinnacle of branding and wayfinding, creating an unparalleled sense of space in lieu of the extravagant architecture typical of the olympics.

Stadt Theater Basel 63/64, Giselle, Wilhelm Tell, Posters, Armin Hofmann

these posters exemplify hofmann's, and to some degree the swiss style's, fascination with the abstraction. hofmann describes the synchronization of word and image as a confrontation between very different kinds of things— hand made and mechanical, hazy forms and crisp edges. in his designs, the result he pursued was a form of visual communication that fulfills all the practical demands of a poster - communicating in an instant, across distances, with elegance and economy of means. armin hofmann 1920- a swiss graphic designer. his work is recognized for its reliance on the fundamental elements of graphic form - point, line, and shape - while subtly conveying simplicity, complexity, representation, and abstraction. hofmann followed emil ruder as head of the graphic design department at the basel kunstgewerbeschule. why are these posters important? these posters exemplify hofmann's, and to some degree the swiss style's, fascination with the abstraction. hofmann describes the synchronization of word and image as a confrontation between very different kinds of things - hand made and mechanical, hazy forms and crisp edges. in his designs, the result he pursued was a piece of visual communication that fulfills all the practical demands of a poster - communicating in an instant, across distances, with elegance and economy of means.

New Directions Book Jackets, Alvin Lustig

through their highly individual approach to the use of symbolism and abstraction, lustig's book jacket designs for new direction's 'new classics' series have come to epitomize modern america post-war graphic design. in addition to their commercial success, they also showcased, in an uncommonly public and accessible forum, the experimental modernist approach that was being undertaken by young american designers at that moment in history. an american graphic designer and typographer. lustig's abstract designs incorporated a modernist, avant garde sensibility with a groundbreaking approach to typography and unconventional composition. During the early 1930s, Lustig spent some time working with Frank Lloyd Wright as an apprentice at Taliesen East. While there, he became fasci- nated with Wright's schematic drawings for stained glass windows. Lustig's work for Ward Ritchie - 'novel experimental 'typecase pages,' using geometrical printer's ornaments, rules, and furniture as abstract illustrations, soon made him a sought-after book designer, James Laughlin, legendary publisher of New Directions, commissioned him to design book jackets. The first one he did, for Henry Miller's Wisdom of the Heart, was in his typecase style, but he soon began experimenting with photomontage and abstract imagery on jackets that later became classics. For each jacket design, Lustig, for whom form and content were inextricably linked, began by reading the text. Once he had a sense of the author's intent, he set out to create visual representations of the book's essence, some- times literal reflections of the subject and at other times highly subjective and abstract interpretations. What ties the series together is not so much a recognizable, systematic treatment, but Lustig's approach to represent- ing the 'spirit' of each book. through their highly individual approach to the use of symbolism and abstraction, lustig's book jacket designs for new direction's 'new classics' series have come to epitomize modern america post-war graphic design. in addition to their commercial success, they also showcased, in an uncommonly public and accessible forum, the experimental approach that was being undertaken by young american designers at that moment in history.

Ray Gun No.11 Magazine Pages, David Carson

typography spun into a whirling end-of-century gyre in the 1990s, and david carson was at its center, representing a new breed of visual author. the incendiary pages of ray gun magazine inflamed the eyes and minds of countless young designers who sought to tap into the freedoms unlocked by his bold new style carson shaped everything in this magazine for his own purposes, endlessly contorting type, layout and grid into new configurations and abandoning design's established truths of order and legibility. an american graphic designer, art director and surfer. his work in editorial design, especially in typography, features distortions or mixes of 'vernacular' typefaces and fractured imagery, rendering them almost illegible. his maxim,"this is the end of print" questioned the role of type in the emergent age of digital design, following on from California New Wave and coinciding with experiments at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. other than a single extension course on basic computing, carson was a self-taught designer. as a result, his approach to typography and composition was playful and, at the same time, almost a parody of more "informed" international style design. carson's design process, for lack of a better term, took shape with the development of ray gun, an american surfing and alternative rock-and-roll magazine, first published in 1992 in santa monica, california. his experimental magazine typography was a chaotic, abstract not always readable, but distinctive in appearance.

First Things First, Broadside, Ken Garland

we, the undersigned, are graphic designers, photographers and students who have been brought up in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable means of using our talents... in common with an increasing number of the general public, we have reached a saturation point at which the high pitched scream of consumer selling is no more than sheer noise. we think that there are other things more worth using our skill and experience on." first things first manifesto garland's manifesto, signed by 22 of his colleagues and published in the guardian, highlights the trivial nature of using graphic design skill purely for advertising. he emphasizes how designers are offered little alternative to the prostitution of talent in the consumer arena, encouraging the reader to consider the possibility that falling into this thought pattern is not a personal failing, but a downfall of the design profession. garland's manifesto highlights the issues, creates an understanding and empathy with the situation before suggesting that there must be a better use of skill and influence. why is this document important? the manifesto's aim, both in its original form and in the updated versions, was to generate discussion about the graphic design profession's priorities in the design press and at design schools. the question of value-free design has been continually contested in the graphic design community between those who are concerned about the need for values in design and those who believe it should be value-free. some designers have welcomed this debate every time it has been reopened during the last fifty years, while others reject or dismiss the manifesto. those who believe that design can be free from values reject the idea that graphic designers should concern themselves with underlying political questions. those who are concerned about values believe that designers should be critical, and take a stand in their choice of work by not promoting individuals, institutions, industries, and products perceived to be harmful.

Our People's Army Newspaper page, the heirs of malcolm, newspaper page,The Work of Emory Douglas

when creating great work, any artist or designer can expect to face obstacles. for emory douglas, the obstacles were set in place by the u.s. federal government. douglas and his fellow black panther party members endured acts of sabotage by the FBI. according to a congressional report, those acts included spraying production equipment with synthetic fecal scents, ransacking offices, and destroying shipments of newspapers that featured douglas's controversial graphics. In place of depictions of African- Americans as subservient or as vilified criminal menaces, Douglas' posters and newspa- per illustrations depicted coura- geous people unafraid to speak for themselves and strive, often armed, for just treatment. why is this body of work important? if those in power saw douglas as a dangerous usurper of the established order, douglas's work showed that he was not only ready to accept that role, he seems to have been delighted in upending entrenched social and cultural archetypes. douglas's guerrilla graphics made it possible for many to consider defiance as an alternative to victimization. through his images, localized activism became connected to the worldwide revolutionary tide that had risen. the work helped people to believe that if everyone fought back, change was possible anywhere.

oakland, oblong, modula, The low-resolution fonts of Zuzana Licko

why are these fonts important? licko did not want to use computer technology to simply recreate old styles of lettering and typefaces. instead, she believed that it was essential that the new technology be allowed to lead to the invention of new forms. in other words, she embraced the limitations of the technology as a means of finding out what it could do. using zuzana licko's early low resolution typefaces as partial inspiration, some typeface designers playfully explored the impact of digital technology on reproduction of type. this genre or classification of mostly display typefaces is referred to as techno type, and could be considered a part of the digital aesthetic.

The Importance of the International Style

why is the international style important? the bauhaus mantra of 'form follows function' was carried on by swiss graphic designers as they developed the international style during the 1950s and 1960s. the movement was characterized attention to detail, precision, craft, skill, systems of education and working methodologies, technical training, high standards of print, and the innovative composition of type—all of which were quantified and made transferable. their theories revolved around critically approaching the development of a system specific to the design problem presented—also an extension of bauhaus design process. the swiss saw designers as communicators, not artists, and believed that design should be grounded in rational universal principles discovered through a scientific approach. their ideal of design was to achieve clarity and order, and they saw no room for eccentricity or personal expression. they also saw design as something socially worthwhile and a serious profession to pursue that was socially useful, universal, and scientific. this new attitude toward graphic design came close to be a global language, and its influence continues to this day. the bauhaus mantra of 'form follows function' was carried on by swiss graphic designers as they developed the international style during the 1950s and 1960s. the movement was characterized attention to detail, precision, craft, skill, systems of education and working methodolgies, technical training, high standards of print, and the innovative composition of type—all of which were quantified and made transferrable. their theories revolved around critically approaching the development of a system specific to the design problem presented—also an extension of bauhaus design process. the swiss saw designers as communicators, not artists, and believed that design should be grounded in rational universal principles discovered through a scientific approach. their ideal of design was to achieve clarity and order, and they saw no room for eccentricity or personal expression. they also saw design as something socially worthwhile and a serious profession to pursue. their attitude toward design was to make it socially useful, universal, and scientific. this new attitude toward graphic design came close to be a global language, and its influence continues to this day. in the aftermath of world war 2, a neutral, international style emerged, partially as a means of reducing or eliminating barriers between nations. the aethetics of the international style drew on the "universal language" of visual communication developed at the bauhaus, championed by new typography, and redefined by postwar proponents based on the values of clarity, rational organization, and functional efficiency.

kunst kredit, 1982/83 poster, der schweizer palkat, the 20th century poster, The Work of Wolfgang Weingart

why is this body of work important? typographer and graphic designer wolfgang weingart gained international recognition in the 1970s by developing a striking visual language that challenged conceptions of swiss typography at the time. weingart aggressively questioned the objectivity of international style typography, and developed a new aesthetic that allowed for chance and subjectivity in the his design process. these experiments, along with his use of filmsetting, led to staggering results, and caused a stir not only in switzerland but also on the international typography and design scene. owing to this, and to his great influence as a teacher at the schule für gestaltung basel starting from 1968, he became known as the father of the new wave style.

The Bald Soprano, Robert Massin

why is this book important? massin's design for the book took the playwright's dialogue and made it perform in print the way in which professional actors would play the work on stage. part comic book, part stage direction, massin's graphically theatrical experiment used high contrast photographic illustrations to document characters, and then matched each one with a specific typeface, bringing the dialogue to life with each characterization. today, designers continue to play with typography, but few credit massin as the first to bring the theatre of the absurd to life through expressive, almost painterly typographic form.

Design Quarterly #133 Does it Make Sense?, Magazine detail, April Greiman

why is this poster important? when designer april greiman's poster 'does it make sense' appeared in fall 1986, it was alternately hailed as a radical advance in graphic design and condemned as crude, pornographic, self-indulgent and inappropriate. this poster epitomizes the 1980s california new wave in graphic design, and is the prototypical exercise in the development of hybrid imagery that combines traditional, manual forms of image making with this new image-editing software. with this magazine in particular, a new aesthetic - a digital aesthetic - emerges that can be considered analagous to the machine aesthetic which had dominated significant aspects of graphic design and typography since the 1920s. this new aesthetic both advertises and celebrates digital technology as both the source and the inspiration of the work.

Helvetica Typeface, Eduard Hoffman, Max Meidinger

with its more regular structure, humanist details, and higher degree of legibility, helvetica became an acceptable sans serif, which caused its use to spread like wildfire. within a short period of time, helvetica was to become an icon of international style through its functionality and widespread availability. these factors combined to make it the sans serif choice of a generation of typographers and graphic designers around the world. the design quickly became popular in both europe and north america. helvetica "muscled out" akzidenz-grotesk in new york city during the summer 1965, when amsterdam continental, which imported european typefaces, stopped pushing akzidenz-grotesk in its marketing and began to focus on helvetica instead. it was also made available for phototypesetting systems. in fact, many imitations and knock-offs of helvertica were rapidly created by competing phototypesetting companies. why is this typeface important? with its more regular structure, humanist details, and higher degree of legibility, helvetica became an acceptable sans serif, which caused its use to spread like wildfire. within a short period of time, helvetica was to become an icon of international style through its functionality and widespread availability. these factors combined to make it the sans serif choice of a generation of typographers and graphic designers around the world. typefaces and typography became focal points for the emerging international style. as a result, the careers of several other young swiss graphic designers and typographers were begun via the development of new typefaces to serve this growing interest and expanding market.