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Week 9.1

graphic design

A r t 1 0 0

U n d e r s t a n d i n g V i s u a l C u l t u r e

1850-1900

new production methods cause volume and variety of

printed media increase

communicating through print comes to be expected

every single sheet of paper produced has to be designed,

by someone, at some point

commercial artists separate into a distinct category

separate from fine artists

trade publications and advertisements for graphic design

services demonstrate the rise of a professional group

Advertisement Calendar, 1885

1880s-1910s

as industrialization progresses, a craft revival gets

underway

valuing the traditions of the handmade and the singular

vs. mass-produced items in quantity

stylistically, folk and historical motifs coexist with abstract

forms (both geometric and organic)

Peter Behrens, Corporate logo design and publications for AEG, 1907

Peter Behrens

Space Heater

1911

1910-1930

new modern world demands new modern forms—in

architecture, product design, and graphic design as well

Bauhaus revolutionized design thinking and design

education

designers have a significant role in the creation of social

protest art and propaganda

graphic design is a key player in the rise of consumer

culture; rise of brands

commercial artists and layout designers are joined by art

directors as the profession becomes increasingly

differentiated

Walter Gropius (1883-1969)

• born Berlin

• family of architects

• met Peter Behrens and worked for him

• appointed director of Bauhaus

Bauhaus "Building House"

(1919-1928)Gropius was appointed Director

of the Academy of Fine Arts in

Weimar.

He merged it with School of Arts

and Crafts—no distinction

between the arts, all are

governed by the same basic

principles.

Collaboration and context were

key principles.

In 1925, financial troubles

precipitated a move to Dessau.

Bauhaus curriculum

one fine art; one craft

emphasis on properties

of materials

technology and

techniques of mass

production

aesthetic principles:

• economy of form

• fidelity to materials

• appropriate to function

Oskar Schlemmer, Bauhaus Stairway, 1932

Gropius in the USA

fled Germany in 1934 to England

was brought to Harvard Graduate School of Design in

1937

Marcel Breuer quickly followed to join Harvard faculty as

well

1930s and 1940s

wartime imagery

propaganda

public service campaigns

1960s

Pop, protest, and counterculture complicated the picture

rise of humor and anti-advertising

era of McLuhan's Understanding Media (1964): analysis of

different communications media and their impacts on our

human existence

layout, type, and

photography collaborate

to produce sensation

Jimms Nelson

Handbill for The Doors Concert, 1968

Sarah Whitcombe,

jacket design for

The Electric Kool-Aid

Acid Test, 1968

John Alcorn

7 Up

late 1960s

1970s

graphic designer's role expands from composing and

styling specific messages to creating total brand identities

corporate logos drew on Bauhaus principles of universal

design

television means brand identity must be coordinated

across a variety of platforms

Paul Rand (1914-1996)

Rand's impact

“He almost singlehandedly convinced business that design

was an effective tool. [. . .] Anyone designing in the 1950s

and 1960s owed much to Rand, who largely made it possible

for us to work. He more than anyone else made the

profession reputable. We went from being commercial artists

to being graphic designers largely on his merits.”

—Louis Danziger, 1996