Chapter 18: The International Typographic Style; Chapter 19: The New York School

This chapter was on a Swiss design movement that had eventually become international because of its use of harmony and order. The designs were asymmetrical and organized by a grid; sans-serf typefaces were used, as it was known as being useful/legible/expressive during that time period. The goal of the movement was to spread information and achieve clarity. The attitude of the designs was important, and expressive/emotional designs were not accepted. Throughout the chapter, many interesting designers were mentioned who impacted and were influenced by the movement. Max Bill was a painter, architect, engineer, sculptor, and product/graphic designer. He used concepts of art concret, which incorporated exact/pure/mathematical elements into paintings, making them abstract. These same ideas have been applied to graphic design. Bill used order, organization, division, sequences, and contrast. Max Huber worked with Bill; Huber created bright, colorful designs and was able to maintain order within his complex solutions. New typefaces were invented by Adrian Frutiger and Edouard Hoffman; Frutiger invented Univers—having a variety of 21 different fonts— which Hoffman wanted to upgrade. Hoffman came up with a new font called Helvetica—used internationally. Hermann Zapf was a calligrapher and Renaissance typographer, and he created great letterforms. Three new typefaces he came up with include, Palatino, Melior, and Optima. He well understood the past and present typefaces and decided to compose new letterforms. The most influential Swiss designer was Muller-Brockmann. He used objective subjects; personal/emotional subjects were not used. Also, he used photographic images with the use of scale and camera angles to make the images look more like objects. His geometric forms were metamorphic. Rosmarie Tissi and Seigfried Odermatt worked with photographic images also; the images looked 3-dimensional. Eventually, new inventive forms were used by these two designers, bringing forth playfulness—a new addition to Swiss design.

In Chapter 19, immigrants from Europe were coming to America and introducing modern art. The Americans borrowed concepts from Europe, yet they also added their own ideas/approaches to their designs as new forms were made. These new ideas were bringing forth creativity. There was a desire to find new ways to grab the public’s attention. During this time (1940s), America found it important to present their ideas to express ideas and spread information. Originality was desired, along with personal expression. Many influential designers worked during this modern art period in America. Paul Rand was an American designer during this time; he was a promotional and editorial designer for popular magazines. As he worked, he changed visual form and used symbols for visual communication. Collages and montages were preferred by him as he integrated imagery, objects, ideas, and a variety of textures into single compositions. Bill Bernbach worked with the integration of the verbal and the visual. He also began to work more with trademarks and corporation design. In 1946, his book, Thoughts on Design, influenced many other designers; the book included over 80 of his designs. He also worked with symbols, as Rand did, and he understood their universal meanings. He was able to integrate these signs/symbols in his designs. Bernach liked to explore new ideas and show contrast between different elements, such as textures, forms, type, and color. Alvin Lustig was a designer who also enjoyed using symbols within his designs, which were contrasting and abstract. For Lustig, form = content; they were both one. Look magazine hired Lustig as the research director of visual design. Alex Steinbach was the art director of Columbia Records, so, in order to express music, he designed many interesting record covers with the use of shape and form. Saul Bass was a revolutionary designer who reduced his designs to using single dominant images. He was influenced by Rand’s balance of shape and asymmetry. He was the first to make a moving movie title, which was “The Man with the Golden Arm.” He used a cut paper look and also used organic forms/designs. Mike Salisbury redesigned the Rolling Stones magazine.

I found Max Huber’s work to be influential to me from chapter 18. After reading and seeing designs that were black and white, I saw his work and it jumped out at me. I love his use of color. And although his designs look jumbled and complex, they are still well balanced as the book mentioned. I like how there is balance between the rectangular forms and the colors throughout the composition of the yearbook cover on page 358.

With Muller-Brockmann’s “Der Film”, I did not quite understand how the rectangles were used throughout the space that was mentioned. How does it work? What were the dimensions of the rectangles?