chapter 19: the new york school - ANM102 History of Graphic and ...

ANM102 | HISTORY OF GRAPHIC AND WEB DESIGNCHAPTER 19The New York School

THE NEW YORK SCHOOL• European designers, escaping the political climate, immigrated to theUnited States and became major influences in the American designmovement.• European design was fairly theoretical and structured, whereAmerican design was pragmatic, intuitive and less formal in itsapproach to organizing space.• New York was the center of the movement in the 1940s.• Emphasis was placed on the expression of ideas and an open, directpresentation of information.William Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL2

POSTER DESIGNPaul Rand• style often reflectedentertaining punsand wordplay• played withcontrasts: red againstgreen, organicagainst geometric,cut or torn edgesagainst sharp forms,and textural patternagainst white• http://www.paul-rand.com/site/posters/William Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL4

PUBLICATIONPaul Rand• Created this coverfor Directionmagazine, 1940• red dots aresymbolically areinterpreted asholiday decorationsor blood dropsWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL5

PUBLICATIONAlvin Lustig• graphic designer,architect, andinterior designer• became the visualdesign researchdirector at LookMagazine• heavily involved withdesign education andin 1951 helpeddevelop a graduategraphic designprogram at YaleUniversityWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL6

LAYOUTBradbury Thompson• one of the mostinfluential designers ofpostwar America• had a thoroughknowledge of printingand typesetting andexperimented withboth with great success• turned to classicapproach to book andeditorial designfocusing on readability,formality, and Old Styletypefaces.• Worked for Smithsonianand ARTnewsWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL7

FILM AND LOGO DESIGNSaul Bass• opened a studio in LosAngeles in the 1950s• greatly influenced byPaul Rand• decorative letterformsare combined withtypography orhandwriting• often used irregularforms drawn with abrush or cut from paper• like Rand, designedsome well known logosWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL8

FILM PROMOTIONSaul Bass• became theacknowledged masterof film titles.• his work has inspiredmany contemporarydesigns both in printand in the film industry• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z25t-PQDn5A&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD6dDzUTJJ0&NR=1William Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL9

LOGO DESIGNIvan Chermayeff• began his career as arecord album designerwho coined the phrase"problem solving” inrelation to design• known for his logodesigns and whimsicalcollagesWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL10

POSTERIvan Chermayeff• Between the Wars,1977• interwar years arerepresented byChurchill’s hat betweentwo helmetsWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL11

LAYOUTRobert Brownjohn• New York designer• best known for motionpicture title sequences• worked for ColumbiaRecords designingjackets (Rolling Stones)• founding partner ofBrownjohn, Chermayeffand Geisman Agency,just known asChermayeff & GeismantodayWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL12

AD AGENCIESDoyle Dane Bernbach• founded in 1949 byJames Edwin Doyle,Maxwell Dane, and BillBernbach• one of the largestinternationally knownadvertising agenciestoday• considered to be theoriginal “Mad Men”• created some of themost iconic layouts ofthe centuryWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL14

MAGAZINEOtto Storch• notable magazine artdirector for McCalls• revolutionized thevisual organization ofmagazine page layout• known for mergingphotography and wordsinto a dynamic visualideaWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL15

MAGAZINEMike Salisbury• pages from West,late 1960s• here the art directorbecame a visualhistorian, researchingand selecting oldLevi’s advertisementsand products for apictorial essayWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL16

MAGAZINEGeorge Lois• prolific New Yorkgraphic designer• worked for severalmajor clients: MTV,Lean Cuisine, JiffyLube, ESPN...• designed over 30covers for EsquireMagazine• http://www.georgelois.com/index.htmlWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL17

TYPOGRAPHYHerb Lubalin• American graphic designer• graduate of Cooper Union• created two well-knownpublications, Avant Gardeand Upper & Lower Case• designed Avant Garde font• turned typography into anart form and a powerfulcommunicative elementWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL18

TYPOGRAPHYHerb LubalinWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL19

LOGOHerb Lubalin• proposed New York City logo, 1966• Isometric perspective creates a dynamictension between two- and three-dimensionalitywhile implying the city’s high-rise architectureWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL20

TYPOGRAPHYHerb Lubalin• Ice Capades logo,1967William Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL21

MAGAZINEHerb Lubalin• pages from Eros, 1962• Lubalin overlapped andtouched letterforms,compressed the spacebetween words, andsqueezed words andimages into a rectangleWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL22

KEY PEOPLE• Paul Rand• Bill Bernbach• Alvin Lustig• BradburyThompson• Saul Bass• George Tscherny• Robert Brownjohn• Ivan Chermayeff• Thomas H.Geismar• Norman Ives• Leo Lionni• AlexanderLiberman• Cipe Pineles• Otto Storch• Henry Wolf• Peter Palazzo• Dugald Stermer• Bea Feitler• Michael Salisbury• Doyle DaneBernbach Agency• Bob GAgeWilliam Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.• Phyllis Robinson• Alcorn• Gene Frederico• Rondthaler• Herb Lubalin• George LoisCHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL23

KEY TERMSBrownjohn, Chermayeff, and GeismarThe initial contribution of these three to Americangraphic design sprang from a strong aestheticbackground and an understanding of the major ideasof European modern art. A communicative immediacy,a strong sense of form, and a vitality and freshnesscharacterized their work in the early months of thepartnership. Images and symbols were combined witha surreal sense of dislocation to convey the essence ofthe subject on book jackets and posters. A fine senseof both typography and art history enabled them tosolve problems through inventive and symbolicmanipulation of forms and imagery. Solutions grew outof the needs of the client and the limitations of theproblem at hand.Visual/verbal syntaxword and image fused into a conceptual expression ofan idea so that they become completelyinterdependent, the Bernbach approach evolved duringthe 1950s and 1960s by Bill Bernbach at the New Yorkadvertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach.“The new advertising,”In new, small boutique advertising agencies emphasiswas placed on creativity rather than on full marketingservices. An attempt was made to create more honest,literate, and tasteful appeals to the market audience.Figurative typographya playful direction taken by New York graphic designersduring the 1950s and 1960s. This approach,spearheaded by Gene Frederico took many forms:letterforms became images, such as the wheels in theFrederico’s ad for Woman’s Day, or the visualproperties of words themselves, or their organizationin space, were used to express an idea, such as in DonEgensteiner’s “Tonnage” advertisement,in which the visual form of the word takes on aconnotative meaning.William Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL24

KEY TERMSPhototypographythe setting of type by exposing negatives of alphabetcharacters to photographic paper dawned in 1925 withthe public announcement of the Thothmicphotographic composing machine invented by E. K.Hunter and J. R. C. August of London. A keyboardproduced a punched tape to control a long, opaquemaster film with transparent letterforms. As a givenletter moved in position in front of a lens, it wasexposed to photographic paper by a beam of light.International TypefaceCorporation (ITC)established by Aaron Burns, thirty-four fully developedtype families and about sixty additional display faceswere designed and licensed during its first decade. Itsfonts had large x-heights and short ascenders anddescenders; these became the prevailingcharacteristics of fonts designed during the 1970s andearly the 1980s.Typogrambrief, visual typographic form in which concept andvisual form are merged into a oneness.William Pickering, title page for theBook of Common Prayer, 1844.CHAPTER 19: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL25