American Influence 1930s-1950s
Font
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Rockwell 1934
Monotype Design Studio This slab serif typeface was originally modeled after Litho Antique and revived by Morris Fuller Benton in the 1920s before the font was redesigned and published in 1934 by Monotype in a project spearheaded by Frank Hinman Pierpont.
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Often used for headlining or applications that require a steady, bold typeface. There are many variations that make it suitable for many project types including logo development.
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American Modernists -Influenced by the European avantgarde, but simultaneously rejected their ideals as artists were concerned with defining a modernism that was unique to America. -The style was made up of elements from both America’s rural past as well as urban modernity and demonstrated older American values (individualism, autonomy, community) in an “increasingly mechanized modern world.�
American Gothic Grant Wood 1930
Regional Poster Exhibition Richard Floethe
1934
Works Progress -The WPA commissioned a large collection of posters primarily to provide work for unemployed artists. Many thought that the government sponsorship would stifle creativity but it ended up producing an innovative body of art that was “more vital than any this country has ever known� and available to everyone (not just the elite).
Administraton -The posters were not only a powerful means of communication between the government and the citizens but were also “visually enriching� to the public. -The WPA led to the creation of about two million posters that promoted programs, activities, and behaviors deemed important by the Roosevelt administration.
WPA -The WPA allowed for creative experimentation. Richard Floethe brought many visual innovations to the poster division and therefore poster artists were at the forefront of progressive international design strategies. He combined Eupropean modernism with American trends of social conciousness and “American Scene.” -The posters display elements of many modern art movements such as surrealism, cubism, collage, etc. -“WPA posters came close to imposing an aesthetic” unique to America. -“Bold strokes of modernist design softened with an almost nostalgic depiction of the people and places of the United States.” -Since posters were destroyed after use, only 2,000 out of 35,000 designs have been preserved.
“See America” -“See America” campaign was during a time when most Americans could not afford to travel abroad so the Travel Bureau began to promote domestic tourism. - Posters use imagery, type, composition, and color to “reveal a deep appreciation for the diverse American landscape.”
Women in Graphic Design -Printing trades provided women with jobs, usually as typesetters. Most women designers were there to help their fathers or husbands with their work. -For most people, club membership helped them with professional advancement, most of which denied women access until much later in the century.
Elaine Lustig Cohen -Married a graphic designer and managed her husband’s studio as the “office slave.” -Her husband went blind and relied on her to get his ideas across and implement them. -After her husband’s early death she remarried a book publisher and established her own design practice. -She began making book covers using geometric symbols, photography and typography.
Cipe Pineles -Pineles started out by working in Brooklyn as an assistant to the director of Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines, M. F. Agha. -Landing her first job took a year of portfolio reviews due to the fact that people would like her portfolio but then turn her down when they found out she was a woman. -Agha gave her a significant amount of independence and she completed many individual projects. -She later became the art director for Glamour magazine where she began using design principles of structure and abstraction while still being playful with type and imagery. -Her work evolved during her time working for Seventeen, Charm, and Mademoiselle magazines where she started mixing 2D and 3D elements, such as 3D objects with flat texts.
Cipe Pineles -Pineles taught editorial design classes at Parsons School of Art and Design. -She became the FIRST female art director of a mass-market American publication, as well as the first woman in the NY Art Directors Club. -She provided an encouraging model for younger women in the design field. -Until her death in 1991 she was continuously designing and had a career of almost 60 years.
Sources http://www.aiga.org/medalist-cipepineles/ http://www.fonts.com http://www.jstor.org/ http://keengraphics.net https://www.typotheque.com