American modernism in graphic design emerged in the postwar decades as European émigré designers, many fleeing the Bauhaus and the upheavals of the Second World War, brought Constructivist and modernist ideas into American commercial life.
American Modernism in graphic design grew from the influence of European emigre designers who arrived in the United States from the late 1930s onwards, bringing with them the visual language of the Bauhaus, Constructivism, and the New Typography. Designers including Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Herb Lubalin, Bradbury Thompson, and Alvin Lustig transformed advertising, editorial design, corporate identity, and book design. The archive has examples of American Modernism through magazine covers, record sleeves and other printed matter. See also American graphic design history and 1950s graphic design history.
Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content
Westvaco Inspirations was founded in 1925 by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. Bradbury Thompson’s produced approximately sixty issues, experimenting with typography, photography, and illustrations.
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Advertising Design, Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
These advertisements marked a move away from the illustrated American ads of glamour and American life, and instead used modernist principles and illustrated animals and characters to have a friendlier, more distinctive style of communication.
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Advertising Design, Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
This article is part of my ongoing effort to spotlight the unsung heroes of design history. I'm especially passionate about sharing voices and designs that have been overlooked or forgotten. In this piece, I focus on the work of 1980s American graphic designers, in particular, the women who broke boundaries and shaped American visual culture.
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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Regional Histories, Typography & Type Design
A chance eBay find led me to a rare and extensive collection of work by midcentury American designer Noel Martin, including posters, museum ephemera, and print for major institutions like the Cincinnati Art Museum and Champion Papers.
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Design Archive Feature, Design Education, Members Only Content, Regional Histories, Typography & Type Design
The August 1964 issue highlights the Typography class at the Pratt Institute in New York, a relatively new course at the time. Pratt, one of the most renowned art schools in the United States, had departments for graphic design, painting, art education, industrial design, and applied graphics in the 1960s. The typography course combined theoretical lectures with practical workshops, aimed at students beginning their journey into the discipline.
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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
Matthew Leibowitz was born in Philadelphia in 1918 and was a pioneering American graphic designer known for his innovative use of typography, illustrations, and photography. Over his career, he worked with clients like IBM, AT&T, and Paramount Pictures, received over 150 international awards, and his designs are featured in the collections of major museums, including MoMA in New York and Paris.
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Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Movements
A 1,500 essay on the transformative era of graphic design from the 1970s to the 1990s. Moving beyond the constraints of modernism, designers like Wolfgang Weingart and April Greiman redefined visual communication through bold experimentation with type, colour, and early computer graphics. This essay highlights how postmodernism and New Wave design introduced complexity, individuality, and digital innovation in to graphic design.
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Design & Politics, Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Movements, Regional Histories
The 1960s was an era characterised by political, social, and cultural shifts. The counterculture movement emerged as a response to the perceived failures of the mainstream establishment, sparking a wave of activism and alternative ideologies. And with these an array of printed matter. Counterculture publications, often referred to as the "underground press," became powerful platforms for dissent, expression, and the exploration of new ideas.
Read ArticleExplore designers central to American modernism including Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Herb Lubalin, Bradbury Thompson, and Alvin Lustig. See also American graphic design history and 1950s graphic design history.
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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Ephemera, Members Only Content
Beyond his books, Dick Bruna's vivid colour and simplified forms found their way onto posters, packaging, murals and stamps, many of which feature in my growing collection.
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Members Only Content, Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles
An article on Valentin Zietara , originally in German, published in Gebrauchsgraphik, 10, 1930, written by H K Frenzel translated by E. T. Scheffauer
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Members Only Content, Designer Profiles, Studios & Collectives
A 1903-1904 article on Die Steglitzer Werkstatt, originally in German, published in Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol. XIII, October 1903–March 1904.
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Regional Histories, Ephemera, Illustration, Members Only Content
A collected visual record of the Kanto, Chubu and Tohoku Lottery tickets.
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Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Movements
April Greiman is known for her experimental approach to graphic design, her role in the development of Californian New Wave and being one of the first designers to fully embrace the computer in her work.
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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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