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The History of Graphic Design

1890-1959
4.58 goodreads logo

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( 165 ratings, 12 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The History of Graphic Design by Jens Müller offers an in-depth exploration of graphic design from the late 19th century to the 1950s. Tracing the field's evolution from poster art to advertising, corporate identity, and editorial work, it features over 2,500 key designs worldwide. The book profiles 61 influential figures, including Alphonse Mucha, Edward Johnston, and Saul Bass, highlighting their contributions and the changing global context. With timelines and essays, the volume examines the foundations of modern graphic design alongside social, political, and technological changes.
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Format: Hardback

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This volume is ideal for students, professionals, and enthusiasts of graphic design, arts, and cultural history seeking a thorough and visually rich understanding of the discipline's foundations and global impact.

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In this mighty first volume, Jens Müller traces 70 years of graphic design, designers, and developments from the late 19th century through the economic boom after World War II, spanning designs that would form the basis for further revolutions.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

History is a complex business. Fortunes boom and bust, empires wax and wane, and change—whether social, political, or technological—has its winners, its losers, its advocates, and its enemies. Through all the turbulent passage of time, graphic design—with its vivid, neat synthesis of image and idea—has distilled the spirit of each age.

The History of Graphic Design is an in-depth history of graphic design from the end of the 19th century to the '50s. It traces the evolution of this creative field from its beginnings in poster design to its further developments in advertising, corporate identity, packaging, and editorial design. Organized chronologically, the volume features over 2,500 seminal designs from all over the world, 71 of which are profiled in detail alongside 61 leaders in the field, including Alphonse Mucha (chocolate advertisements), Edward Johnston (London Underground logo and typeface), El Lissitzky (constructivist graphics), Herbert Matter (photomontage travel posters from Switzerland), Saul Bass (animated opening titles), and A. M. Cassandre (art deco posters).

Author Jens Müller curates the standout designs for each year alongside a running sequence of design milestones. Meanwhile, in his introductory essay, David Jury situates graphic design from its point of origin in early printing, engraving, and lithography to striking creative developments in the 19th century. Each consecutive decade is then prefaced by a succinct overview as well as a visual timeline, offering a vivid display of the variety of graphic production in each decade as well as the global landscape which it at once described and defined.

As we move on from and reflect upon the 20th century, this first volume examines the foundations of what would influence some of the fastest-changing creative fields. Combined with Volume Two—which spans from the 1960s until today—the tomes offer the most comprehensive exploration of graphic design to date and a long-overdue recognition of its enormous contribution to economics, politics, social causes, the arts, media, and the way we see the world.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as an ambitious and comprehensive survey, reviewers have called it a "chronicle, treasure of pictures, source of ideas—and above all, great fun" (spiegel.de) and an essential resource that links graphic design to broader cultural and historical narratives (Steven Heller).

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9783836563079

Publisher: Taschen GmbH

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 03 December 2017

Country: Germany

Imprint: Taschen GmbH

Edition: Multilingual edition

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 246.0mm

Height: 372.0mm

Weight: 3858g

Pages: 480

About the Author

Jens Müller was born in Koblenz, Germany, in 1982 and studied graphic design. Recipient of numerous national and international design awards, he is a partner of Vista design studio in Düsseldorf and professor of corporate design at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Julius Wiedemann studied graphic design and marketing and was an art editor for newspapers and design magazines in Tokyo before joining TASCHEN in 2001. His titles include the Illustration Now! and Record Covers series, as well as the infographics collection and books about advertising and visual culture.

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