Meggs' History of Graphic Design

The late PHILIP B. MEGGS was a designer, Meggs’ The classic “bible” of graphic design educator, and author. He was School of the History of history—now fully revised and updated! Arts Research Professor, Communication Arts Meggs’ and Design Department, at Virginia Common- Graphic This is the unrivaled, comprehensive, and wealth University; visiting faculty at Syracuse award-winning reference tool on graphic University and the National College of Art Design design recognized for publishing excellence and Design in Dublin, Ireland; and contribut- by the Association of American Publishers. ing editor to Print magazine. He authored History of Now, this Fifth Edition of Meggs’ History of more than a dozen books and 150 articles and Graphic Design offers even more detail and papers on design and typography, including breadth of content than its heralded predeces- a section on graphic design in Encyclopedia sors, revealing a saga of creative innovators, Britannica. He was inducted into the Art breakthrough technologies, and important de- Directors Hall of Fame and received its Graphic velopments responsible for paving the historic Educator’s Award for lifetime achievement and paths that define the graphic design experi- significantly shaping the future of the fields of ence. In addition to classic topics such as the graphic design education and writing. invention of writing and alphabets, the origins of printing and typography, and postmodern ALSTON W. PURVIS is Professor of Graphic Design design, this new Fifth Edition presents new in- Design at the Boston University College of formation on current trends and technologies Fine Arts. During his career, he has worked sweeping the graphic design landscape—such as an instructor at The Cooper Union and the as the web, multimedia, interactive design, Royal Academy of Fine Arts at The Hague. and private presses, thus adding new layers of His photographs have been exhibited in depth to an already rich resource. Amsterdam, London, New York, and Paris. He is the author of Dutch Graphic Design: With more than 1,400 high-quality images 1918–1945 and H. N. Werkman; and coauthor throughout—many new or newly updated— of Graphic Design 20th Century; A Century Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, Fifth of Posters; Wendingen: A Journal for the Arts Edition provides a wealth of visual markers 1918–1932; Creative Type; Dutch Graphic for inspiration and emulation. For profession- Design: A Century of Innovation; Jan Tsch- als, students, and everyone who works with or ichold: Posters of the Avant Garde; Posters loves the world of graphic design, this land- NL; Jan Tschichold, Master Typographer: His Fifth Fifth mark text will quickly become an invaluable Life, Work and Legacy; The Ballets Russes guide that they will turn to again and again. and the Art of Design; and Type: A Visual Edition Edition History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles. Jacket Design: Cees de Jong Front cover clockwise from top left: Victor Moscoso, Neon Rose #12, 1967. Krebs Lithographic Company, poster for the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, 1883. Jean-Benoit Lévy, poster for AIGA, 2002. Fremont rock painting, Utah, c. 2000–1000 BCE. Back cover clockwise from top left: Jules Chéret, poster, L’aurelole du midi, Pétrole de Sureté, 1893. Stefan Sagmeister, Lou Reed Poster, 1996. Johann Gutenberg, page from the Gutenberg Bible, 1450–1455. Herbert Matter, catalog cover for Alexander Calder exhibit, 1964. Experience the history of graphic design in a variety Philip B. Meggs of interactive formats and study tools. Alston W. Purvis Philip B. Meggs Alston W. Purvis 978-1-118-01718-0 4-COLOR Meggs’ History of Graphic Design 01_9780470168738-ffirs.indd i 9/9/11 7:38 PM 01_9780470168738-ffirs.indd ii 9/9/11 7:38 PM Meggs’ History of Graphic Design Fifth Edition Philip B. Meggs Alston W. Purvis John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 01_9780470168738-ffirs.indd iii 9/9/11 7:38 PM This book is printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per- copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. 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For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Meggs, Philip B. Meggs’ history of graphic design / Philip B. Meggs, Alston W. Purvis. -- 5th ed. p. cm. Rev. ed. of: A history of graphic design. c1998. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-16873-8 (cloth/website); ISBN 978-1-118-01718-0 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118-01719-7 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118-01774-6 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118- 01775-3 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118-01776-0 (ebk.) 1. Graphic design (Typography)--History. 2. Book design--History. I. Purvis, Alston W., 1943- II. Meggs, Philip B. History of graphic design. III. Title. IV. Title: History of graphic design. Z246.M43 2012 686.2’209--dc22 2010053089 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01_9780470168738-ffirs.indd iv 9/9/11 7:38 PM Contents VI Preface Part IV The Modernist Era VIII Preface to the First Edition Graphic design in the first half of the twentieth century X Acknowledgments 13 Part I The Prologue to Graphic Design 256 The Influence of Modern Art The visual message from prehistory through the medieval era 14 01 276 Pictorial Modernism 6 The Invention of Writing 15 02 298 A New Language of Form 22 Alphabets 16 03 326 The Bauhaus and the New Typography 34 The Asian Contribution 17 04 350 The Modern Movement in America 46 Illuminated Manuscripts Part V The Age of Information Part II A Graphic Renaissance Graphic design in the global village The origins of European typography and design for printing 18 05 372 The International Typographic Style 68 Printing Comes to Europe 19 06 390 The New York School 80 The German Illustrated Book 20 07 412 Corporate Identity and Visual Systems 98 Renaissance Graphic Design 21 08 436 The Conceptual Image 122 An Epoch of Typographic Genius 22 Part III The Bridge to the Twentieth Century 460 Postmodern Design The Industrial Revolution: The impact of industrial technology upon visual communications 23 482 National Visions within a Global Dialogue 09 144 Graphic Design and the Industrial Revolution 24 530 The Digital Revolution—and Beyond 10 176 The Arts and Crafts Movement and Its Heritage 572 Epilogue 574 Bibliography 11 582 Image Credits 196 Art Nouveau 586 Index 12 232 The Genesis of Twentieth-Century Design 01_9780470168738-ffirs.indd v 9/9/11 7:38 PM 20 Corporate Identity and Visual Systems The technological advances made during World War II were immense. After the war, productive capacity turned toward consumer goods, and many believed that the outlook for the capitalist economic structure could be unending economic expansion and prosperity. With this bright view of the future in mind, “Good design is good business” became a rallying cry in the graphic design community during the 1950s. Prosperity and technological development appeared closely linked to the era’s increasingly important corporations, and the more perceptive corporate leaders comprehended the need to develop a corporate image and identity for diverse audiences. Design was seen as a major way to shape a reputation for quality and reliability. Visual marks had been used for identification for centuries. In medieval times, proprietary marks were compulsory and enabled the guilds to control trade. By the 1700s virtually every trader and dealer had a trademark or stamp. The Indus- trial Revolution, with its mass manufacturing and marketing, increased the value and importance of trademarks for visual identification. But the visual identification systems that began during the 1950s went far beyond trademarks or symbols. The national and multinational scope of many corporations made it difficult for them to maintain a cohesive image, but by unifying all communications from a given organization into a consistent design system, such an image could be projected, and the design system enlisted to help accomplish specific corporate goals.

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