Lester Beall
1903 – 1969
Lester Beall’s design career began in the year of 1927. Primarily a selftaught designer, Beall developed great knowledge and understanding of the avant-garde, and his work shows much influence of that and Bauhaus. Between the 1930’s and 1940’s, Beall began developing innovative works for clients such as Sterling Engraving, Time Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and The Art Directors Club of New York. Bringing about characteristis of the “New Typography”, Beall made a distinct name for himself. His signature style catches the essence of his unique personal style. In Bealls designs, the most notable applications are the dynamic and bold use of shapes, iconic arrows, angled elements, clear typography, silhouetted photographs, and clever layering techniques.
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Applied good taste is a mark of good citizenship. Ugliness is a from of anarchy…ugly cities, ugly advertising, ugly lives produce bad citizens.
“Features the Dymaxion House” cover for Fortune Magazine, April 1946
Cover for Fortune magazine, November 1953
Cover for Fortune magazine, April 1947
Lester Beall was a very visual person and used his creativity to express himself. Much of Beall’s work show’s off his distinctive style. Lester Beall had an interest in layering imagery, a technique which he probably picked up from avant-garde work in Europe. Beall’s talent for integrating graphic elements shows up many times in his designs, including his work for Fortune Magazine. Beall loved to mix shapes with images and usuing a minimal color pallete. The images above and to the left show Beall’s knack for arranging many different graphic elements such as photography, overlaid color, illustration, and flat elelments.
Scope Volume 2 #6, 1948
Scope Volume 2 #4
Kaopectate, 1944
Scope, No. 6, March 1944
Lester Beall was art director and designer for “Scope,� the chemical and pharmaceutical advertising periodical published by the Upjohn Company. He began a series for Scope Magazine early in 1944 and continued the project up until the year 195l. Scope contained ads for Upjohn products which were also designed by Beall. During this project, Beall began experimenting with photography, which appeared in many of [his designs for Scope and beyond. All of the designs on this page have similar applications of layering photographs and images, text, and geometric shapes.
Biosulfa Antibiotic, 1950
Scope Magazine, 1950
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(The designer) must work with one goal in mind—to integrate the elements in such a manner that they will combine to produce a result that will convey not merely a static commercial message, but an emotional reaction as well. If we can produce the kind of art which harnesses the power of the human instinct for that harmony of form, beauty and cleanness that seems inevitable when you see it… then I think we may be doing a job for our clients.
No 3 Photo-Engraving, 1938
1938
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Beall loved working with type and typographic symbols, especially arrows. Beall felt the arrow was the simplest and most direct way to move the eye from one spot to another. He also had a clear and consise use of typography. Though his use of type was minimal, he knew how to use it. He never used type as his main objective to get the message across, instead he depended more on imagery and symbol. The Rural Electrification Administration was a campaign to bring electricity to rural America. In his Rural Electrification Administration poster designs, Beall used a simple and direct technique to show the advantages of the REA. In these sets of design, he used his signature bold, primary color pallete, bold shapes and images, and illustrative lines. The universal message in each design is given clearly without the need for much typography, instead with clear forms. The reductive solutions to his designs stand out with clarity, thus creating such successful designs. Beall designed three series of posters for REA. The first series is below.
Rural Electrification Administration Posters, 1937
Cover for What’s New from 1939-40
Lester Beall was one of a kind designer. He was a designer who had an ability to cleverly integrate photographic and graphic elements and mastering the appropriate size relationships of foreground and background. Beall was also a problem solver in design; he knew how to creatively produce solutions to design problems along with dealing with marketing and budget issues. The varied ways of application toward his designs show how well he could solve problems in design using simple yet effective techniques. Much of his work had an impact during his time, and some still have that same effect today. He also was the first graphic designer to have a One Man Show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1937, inducted into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame in 1972 and awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by AIGA in 1993.
International Paper Company, 1960. This design is still being used by the company today.
Sources: Beall, Dorothy. “Lester Beall | American Graphic Design Pioneer.” The Estate of Lester Beall. http://www.lesterbeall.com/ (accessed April 8, 2013). Roger, Remington. “ AIGA | Lester Beall.” AIGA | the professional association for design. http://www.aiga.org/medalist-lesterbeall/ (accessed April 8, 2013).
Designed by Becky Samowitz Printed and bound by Becky Samowitz Composed in TW Cen MT, Helvetica Neue and Copperplate Gothic, typefaces designed by Sol Hess, Max Miedinger, Frederic W. Goudy