Chapter 19

In the 1940s, America started to make steps toward their own modern style, which was influenced by European design, but became distinct in the need for personal expression and open ideas. Paul Rand was at the head of this movement in America with his designs on the covers of magezines. He used simple and contrasting design elements that made the whole symbolic and interesting. He also used a combination of wordplay and visual elements such as a photo or logo in later designs. His understanding of symbols and communication in general allowed him to create a design that exhibited both form and function while still getting his message across. Another influential postwar designer was Bradbury Thompson. His experimentation with letterpressing and combination of geometric and organic shapes in his designs gave them strong expression and meaning. Film typography underwent changes with Saul Bass. He unified the designs of the logos, posters and title in the film, which he pioneered many techiniues in. This chapter also discusses the graphic design program at Yale University and the impact that it had. Alvin Eisenman and Josef Albers were both teachers there and the exercises and studies they taught lead an advancement in the graphic design education internationally. During the 1950s, there was a revolution in the way editorial magezines were designed. Type and photography were used together, or type became the picture/illustration itself. There was an experimentation with scale and on location photos were used instead of studio shots. In the 1960s, the editorial magezine changed again, this time targeting specific audiences and emphasizing content and text in a grid format. The 50s advertisment was a change of the times too. White space and a concern for the clarity of the message to the consumer were new plans. There was now a focus in each ad that utilized headlines and images effectively. Figurative typography also became popular at the time as well as a rrevival of nineteenth century typefaces that were previously rejected.
I like Paul Rand's work a lot and feel like he was a very important designer to the modern movement in America, since he was one of the first. I just like the way he used contrasting shapes, colors and ideas in his designs to express his thoughts. My favorite from the book is the "Direction" cover with the barbed wire on the Christmas package.
What was the New York School?