Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

Prehistoric Prelude to Graphic Design 35,000—2700 bce 2

Evolutionary foundations of communication

Language and design

Early graphic forms

Communicating ideas and beliefs

The invention of proto-writing

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Early Writing: Mark-making, Notation Systems, and Scripts 3000—500 bce 10

Mark-making

Notation

Varieties of early writing

The spread of writing as idea and script

The alphabet

Literate culture

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Classical Literacy 700 bce—400 ce 28

Variations of literacy and the alphabet

The function of graphic codes

Models of writing: gestural and constructed

Writing at the end of the Classical age

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Medieval Letterforms and Book Formats 400—1450 44

Medieval culture and graphic communication

Graphic media and contexts

The codex book

Letterforms, manuscript hands, and pattern books

Graphic forms of knowledge

Publishing communities and graphic arts

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Renaissance Design: Standardization and Modularization in Print 1450—1660 68

Early print design

Graphic communication in Renaissance culture

Print technology and type design

Graphic forms of knowledge

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Modern Typography and the Creation of the Public Sphere 1660—1800 94

Printed matter and the public sphere

News books, broadsheets, and newspapers

Politics and the press

Graphic arts and design

Modern type design

On the edge of industrialization

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

The Graphic Effects of Industrial Production 1800—1850 118

Industrialization and visual culture

Illustrated papers

Book design for mass production

Printing images

Advertising design and typography

Fine art and graphic art

Critical issues

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Mass Mediation 1850—1900s 140

Printed mass media

Changes in print technology

Changing patterns in the use of graphic media

Media networks

Graphic design and advertising

Posters and public space

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Formations of the Modern Movement 1880s—1910s 162

Responses to industrialism

Arts and Crafts publications

Arts and Crafts dissemination

Art Nouveau

Jugendstil

Viennese design

Decadence and Aestheticism

The private press movement and modern design

Integration of design and industry

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Innovation and Persuasion 1910—1930 186

Visual culture and avant-garde design

The graphic impact of Futurism and Dada

From experiment to principles

Propaganda and mass communication studies

Graphic persuasion and its effects

Institutionalizing graphic design

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

The Culture of Consumption 1920s—1930s 212

Designing the modern lifestyle

Modern style in graphic design

Consumer culture

The profession

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Public Interest Campaigns and Information Design 1930s—1950s 234

Public interest and education

Photojournalism and documentary

Wartime propaganda

Wartime information

Commercial and technical uses of information design

Information analysis and design process

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Corporate Identities and International Style 1950s—1970s 258

Image and identity systems

International style

Style, systems, and graphic design concepts

Technology

The profession

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Pop and Protest 1960s—1970s 280

Pop culture and style

Self-conscious graphic design

Slick surfaces and high production values

Counterculture and the alternative press

Revolutionary culture and protest

Changes in the profession

Critical vocabulary

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Postmodernism in Design 1970s—1980s and Beyond 300

Postmodern styles

Postmodern consumption and conservatism

Critical theory and postmodern sensibility

Postmodernism and activism

Changes in the profession

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Digital Design After the 1970s 322

Digital technology: from punch cards and plotters to desktop computing

Media transitions: type design and publications

Fluidity and functionality

The myth of immateriality and challenges of digital design

Conclusion

Timeline

Tools of the trade

Glossary 343

Credits

Bibliography

Index

 

About the Author

Johanna Drucker is the Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has been on the faculty of Yale University, SUNY Purchase, Columbia University, and the University of Virginia, as well as holding a Mellon Faculty Fellowship at Harvard, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a Getty Fellowship. Her previous publications include The Alphabetic Labyrinth (1995), The Century of Artists’ Books (1995), The Visible Word (1994), and Sweet Dreams (2005). She is also known for her work as a book artist and visual poet.

 

Emily McVarish is Associate Professor of Graphic Design at California College of the Arts, where she teaches experimental typography and writing, design history and theory, and topical studios. A writer, designer, and book artist, she has maintained a hybrid practice in San Francisco since 1990. Her work has been exhibited internationally, published by Granary Books, and collected by Harvard University and the British Library, among other major libraries and museums. Her writing has been featured in Visible Language and Design and Culture.