The 1970s were the decade in which the postwar modernist consensus in graphic design began to fracture. The International Typographic Style that had dominated the 1950s and 60s faced its first serious challenge from designers who had trained within it but were questioning its limitations. Wolfgang Weingart in Basel began experimenting with typography that broke the grid, layering, and distorting letterforms in ways that would become the foundation of the New Wave movement. In America, Postmodern ideas from architecture were entering design discourse, finding expression in the work of designers including April Greiman and Dan Friedman. At the same time, punk created an entirely new visual language built from photocopiers and scissors rather than grid systems and Helvetica.
The archive documents 1970s graphic design through poster work, magazine covers, record sleeves, corporate identity programmes, and the printed matter of a decade in transition.
Pentagram, formed in 1972, brought a new model of multi-disciplinary design partnership that would become one of the most influential studio structures in the history of graphic design. In Japan, a generation of designers including Ikko Tanaka, Kazumasa Nagai, and Tadanori Yokoo were producing work that synthesised Western modernism with Japanese visual tradition in ways that gained international recognition, appearing in publications and exhibitions across Europe and America.
Explore designers active in this decade including Wolfgang Weingart, Jan van Toorn, Shigeo Fukuda, Tadanori Yokoo, and Karel Martens. See also New Wave Typography and Dutch Modernism.
Membership from £2.49/month unlocks articles researched and inspired by the artefacts in the collection.
Regional Histories, Ephemera, Illustration, Members Only Content
A collected visual record of the Kanto, Chubu and Tohoku Lottery tickets.
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Illustration, Ephemera, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
A collected visual record of the first eight years of Japan’s Rural Medical Care Promotion Lottery.
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Ephemera, Design Archive Feature, Illustration, Members Only Content
100 Indian matchbox labels, c.1945–1975. Nationalist iconography, illustrated wildlife, and trade marks from small manufacturers across India
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A 1971 portfolio and exhibition catalogue documenting the corporate identity work of Henrion Design Associates, a rare find revealing the full scope of FHK Henrion's branding practice.
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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content
Bob Salpeter was trained by Paul Rand at IBM and educated in New York, at the School of Visual Arts and the School of Industrial Art. Salpeter went on to build an extensive and impressive career working with clients such as the American Museum of Natural History, the World Golf Hall of Fame, the American Cancer Society, Scott Printing and IBM.
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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Poster Design
Scanned posters by the great Michele Spera. Many use a strong use of geometric form, often paired with sans-serif typefaces like Helvetica. Their simplification of form and use of colour create timeliness, recognisable posters that would have stood out alongside the posters of the 1970s which tended to have a heavy use of photography.
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Design Archive Feature, Illustration, Members Only Content
An Anthology of Blues features a blend of typographic compositions and illustrations by Hans-Ulrich “Hazy” Osterwalder, alongside black and white photography, all working together in a limited palette of black and blue.
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Design Archive Feature, Illustration, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
A while back, I bought a set of around 14 French travel guides produced by Shell that came in a leather pouch, each bearing the signature ‘D. Hamot.’ Determining the designer's full name proved to be a challenge. Their aesthetic could reflect the shifting design trends of the late 1960s.
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