In this class, we look at several key chapters in the history of graphic design, concluding with the work of Paul Rand.

1. 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

2. 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

3. Advertisement Calendar, 1885

4. 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)

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

12. Peter Behrens
Space Heater
1911

13. 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

14. Walter Gropius (1883-1969)
• born Berlin
• family of architects
• met Peter Behrens and worked for him
• appointed director of Bauhaus

15. 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.

16. 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

20. 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

25. 1930s and 1940s
wartime imagery
propaganda
public service campaigns

35. 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

38. layout, type, and
photography collaborate
to produce sensation

41. Jimms Nelson
Handbill for The Doors Concert, 1968

42. Sarah Whitcombe,
jacket design for
The Electric Kool-Aid
Acid Test, 1968

43. John Alcorn
7 Up
late 1960s

44. 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

45. Paul Rand (1914-1996)

49. 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