refuge & prosperity in american | rise of american graphic design | herbert matter, photomontage, & knoll international | spotlight on saul bass

key terms:
herbert matter
knoll international; hermann miller
saul bass: 1968 film: why man creates
MoMA: Museum of Modern Art, NYC

poland 1939

nurnberg, germany, 1945

^EUROPE

COMPARED TO

AMERICA:

• american graphic design built on foreign designers

life magazine the american & his economy

organic design in home furnishing- exhibition & competition

knoll international:
-design firm created in wartime period
-forward looking design firms looked to modern graphic design
-herman miller
-graphic design can be used to reinforce idea of modernity

herbert matter:
-swiss born photographer & graphic designer who comes to U.S. after war
-pioneering use of photo montage w bold typeface
-innovative & experimental work
-hired by alexi brodevich
-works at various american magazines
-works w knoll international in all aspects of brand identity

knoll catalog from 1940s

VS.

catalog that herbert matter created
wrap around imagery
aesthetically unified

artistic inside catalog too

tulip chair- created to get rid of slum of legs- one pedestal

chimney sweeper advertisement- herbert matter

cropping & use of positive/negative space
biomorphic forms

biomorphic shapes

bertoia diamond chair
bold colors
angle- bird's eye view

graphic design used in post-war world

saul bass:
-american graphic designer
-expanded parameters of the field
-won academy award for work w film
-made film posters & corporate logos
-responsible for professionalization of movie posters

vertigo poster
russian constructivist
silhouette
bold

why man creates- saul bass
short documentary

wartime design | posters by jean carlu, j. howard miller, abram games, & lester beall

key terms:
jean carlu
j. howard miller

abram games
lester beall
FAP: federal art project (part of the Works Project Administration)

lester beall
self taught
honed career during depression
absorbed european influences

• post-war time: depression 1930s-40s

-graphic designers out of work --> had to turn to gov. for work
-FDR had a provision in the WPA (works progress administration) for graphic designers
-large public schemes: poster design (WPA federal art poster projects)
-poster to democratize design, get messages out, & employ designers

posters for national parks: yellowstone
1938

theatre poster
WPA logo

1941 WPA poster
reminiscent of moholy-nagy's portrait taken by his daughter

posters w public health messages
(don't drink & drive)
limited palette
text at different angles
careful use of positive & negative space

 

most famous graphic designer in WPA: lester beall
poster design

package design- beall
synthesized own aesthetic
sans serif type
bold imagery
leading proponent of modern aesthetic

rural electrification program radio poster- beall
encourages spread of electricity to countryside & access of radio
dynamic white arrows suggesting power & energy, lighting up windows

rural electrification poster- beall
emotional reaction: pride- patriotic
read as american flag even though that's not what it looks like
european technique w american result
stenciled letters

a better home poster- beall

running water poster- beall
simple
instantly recognizable for illiterate
signed name, hardly noticeable

wash day poster- beall
rudimentary washing machine

here it comes- beall
russian constructivism influences

PM (production manager) magazine
1937
dedicated to beall & got to create cover
issue was about how european modernism was impacting designers

3 posters- beall
mass produced posters shown at moma (museum of modern art)
rare for graphic design to be shown at fine arts museum
3 conspicuous virtues:
sense of vigorous design, modernity of style, boldness of symbolism

power for defense- beall
service for war effort
1940

cover for collier's magazine- beall