American Graphic Design Expression by Michele

AMERICAN

GRAPHIC DESIGN

EXPRESSION

The debate continues – is graphic design an art, science, business, craft or language? Graphic design in the United States has operated under multi-

ety of archaic terms persist including commercial

literally centuries, from the inven-

art, layout and graphics design.

tion of movable type in the early

ple identities since its inception

Unlike its venerable cousin architecture,

Renaissance to the twentieth

with each of these identities

graphic design is a very new design expression,

century, bookmaking, typeset-

dominant at one moment or

a phenomena of the last hundred years. A spon-

ting, and type design were an

another. And each may predom-

taneous response to the communication needs

integrated craft and industry

inate from one project to the

of the industrial revolution, graphic design was

centered in publishing houses.

next in a designer’s practice

invented to sell the fruits of mass production to

This long tradition approached

today. Often, graphic design is

growing consumer societies in Europe and North

typography and book design as

defined as a duality, combing

America in the late nineteenth and early twenti-

the visual presentation of verbal

two of these definitions, such

eth centuries. Rapidly expanding reproduction

language, with a premium placed

as craft/language or business/art.

technologies provided the means for graphic

on clarity and legibility. Decisions

This identity crisis is confirmed

designs participation in the vast economic, politi-

in type design emphasized clarity

by the lack of agreement on

cal, technological and social changes of that era.

rather than expression, relying

a name for the field. Graphic

American graphic design’s roots lie in European

on the words themselves for the

design, visual communications

type cutting and book printing. This precursor

expression of content. Typogra-

and visual design are all thought-

to the profession was imported to early America

phy was neutral to the message

ful names in current use. A vari-

as part of our European cultural inheritance. For

and made no attempt to be inter-

McCoy, Katherine, ‘American Graphic Design Expression: The Evolution of American Typography’, Design Quarterly 149, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1990, pp. 3-22.

pretive. Craft was highly valued

tionary artists of Futurism, Dada, Constructivism,

and books developed increasing

and De Stijl turned their attention to text and

Typically we think of seeing as a visual process connected with

elegance and refinement as the

visual communications as well as the more tradi-

images-- we see the landscape, we

years progressed, codifying this

tional areas of fine art, rejecting the traditional divi-

see a painting.This process is intu-

classical book approach into

sions between the fine arts, applied arts, and crafts.

itive, emotional and simultaneous,

the standardized traditional text

Functional expression was embraced as well as

experienced almost involuntarily.

format that continues as the

the

standard of book text today.

of high art– function was not viewed as the

photograph of a fire, a viewer

However artful the book

enemy of art. In particular, the Russian Construc-

might immediately sense fear and

design, the element of function

tivists retained their artists’ identities even as they

heat with little need to concep-

relegated this activity to craft

took on the role of public communicators in the

tualize. Or an image of a nude

status rather than fine art. The

Russian Revolution. The Bauhaus unified art, craft

figure might stimulate sexual

predominance of text made this

and design in a coherent philosophy and sense

feelings instantly and involuntarily.

tradition largely a verbal language

of identity. Several early Modernists went on to

Although

expression. Illustrational imag-

execute some of the first serious “professional” through life experience influence

ery was used sparingly in early

graphic design, applying their early experi-

this process, it is predominantly

books due to technical difficulty.

ments to the pragmatic communications needs

a direct experiential one, related

When used, it represented literal

of manufacturing clients.

to the philosophical theories of

“purer self-expressive goals”

Upon encountering a vivid color

associations

gained

phenomena and rarely mixed

These revolutionaries explored new approaches

with the text or headline typog-

to structuring language and imagery that were

On the other hand, the process

raphy. Interpretive symbolic

radical rejections the classical text tradition. Their

of reading is typically connected

imagery was left to painting, or

highly visual poetry used typographic forms and

with the verbal process of decod-

“high art”. Through the centuries

composition to interpret and extend the words’

ing text’s written language signs--

painters have employed whole

meaning. One does not have to read Italian to gain

letters.To do this, one must know

vocabularies of visual nonver-

an appreciation of the Futurists’ energetic celebra-

the code. One must have learned

bal symbols to convey meaning

tions of industry and political confrontation.Typog-

to read the particular language

to their audiences, who were

raphy finally became an expressive visual language

of the message. This process is

able to decode meaning through

as well as a verbal one.

cerebral, rational, deliberate, and

phenomenology.

This visual/verbal dichotomy can be understood

linear. If one does not carefully

through a simple diagram that charts the process (in

link the proper sequence of signs,

It was not until the early twen-

the Western humanist tradition) of the acquisition of

one cannot decode the message.

tieth century that meaning was

meaning. Seeing and reading are two modes through

Linguistics, Structuralist philoso-

embedded in visual typographic

which we traditionally think of receiving messages.

phy and Post Structuralism deal

form. The early Modern revolu-

Image and text are two carriers of those messages.

with these language dynamics.

learned associations, the result of shared cultural experience.

In addition, there are two

American book designer/printers continued

underway, an explosion of new

other linkages possible between

the European classical non-interpretive traditions

reproduction technologies stim-

seeing and reading and image

with extremely literal presentations of both imag-

ulated specialization, separating

and text. The early Modernists

ery and text. But with a public that was increas-

conception and form-giving from

discovered that text can be seen

ingly literate, the printer’s activities broadened to

the technical production activi-

as well as read, as the Futurists’

include early manifestations of the mass media:

ties of typesetting and print-

experimental poetry proved.And

political and commercial handbills in the late

ing. Simultaneously the United

images can be read. Neolithic

eighteenth century, and newspaper advertising,

States received its first European

cave painters at Lascaux knew

popular magazines, advertising cards and post-

Modernists emigres,the migration

this, as well as most painters

ers in the late nineteenth century. These required

reaching its height in the 1930s.

until many Modernists rejected

headline-scaled typefaces. By the Victorian years

These men understood design

imagery in favor of abstraction.

a great multiplicity of ornamental faces had

as a balanced process involving

This process was reconfirmed by

been born and American wood type was devel-

the powerful multiple modes of

the Surrealists, by the emerging

oped as an inexpensive and accessible means of

seeing and reading, and sensed

graphic designers of the 1930s

embellishment for popular communications. This

the possibility of theory and

and 1940s, by the New York

much more decorative expression spoke with a

method as guiding the creative

school of advertising, and again

louder voice than the subtlety of traditional books,

process-- the first rudimentary

by recent Post Modern artists

making the reader’s experience far more visual.

seeds of professionalism. These

and photographers dealing with

Yet this larger scale of typography contained no

designers, including Bayer, Sutnar,

text/image relationships.

coding in its visual form; the process remained

Burtin, Moholy-Nagy, and Matter,

one of reading text.

brought

How an artist, designer or

with

them

Modern-

craftsman defines oneself has

The late nineteenth century’s early adver-

ism’s dual paths of ambiguity

much to do with their use of

tising, magazines, and posters stimulated a new

and objectivity. They shared an

these text/image processes. Nine-

and growing field of illustration. These illustra-

interest in ambiguity and the

teenth century book designer/

tors rendered highly artful literal depictions of

unconscious with new work in

printers dealt largely with the

objects, scenes and narratives with growing skill

fine art, literature, and psychol-

reading of text, and aligned them-

and rapidly evolving reproduction processes. But

ogy. Interpretive typography

selves with the literary field of

they employed little symbolism.And because they

and asymmetrical compositions

language. Many early Modernists

served the tainted world of commerce rather than

seemed more appropriate in a

dealt with all four modes and saw

practicing “serious” art, these first “commercial” new world where tradition was

themselves as integrated creators

artists were relegated to a class of servant, despite

rapidly disappearing. Surrealism

of communications balancing the

the large public following of many.

offered symbolic forms of concep-

identities of artist, designer, businessman and craftsman.

American graphic design was finally born out of two new factors. As the 20th century got

tual communication that went beyond the power of the word.

On the other hand, these

young American designers, such as Paul Rand and

many designers today associate

European designs believed that

Bradbury Thompson.As they grew into matured in

this powerful approach with

rationalism and objectivity were

the 1950s these men developed new approaches

advertising’s commercialism and

appropriate for a new world

to composition, photography and text/image rela-

fail to take advantage on the

ordered by commerce and indus-

tionships. Many of their discoveries formed the

power of the conceptual image/

try. They continued early Modern-

basis of the “big idea” method of conceptualizing

copy concept method.

ism’s interest in abstraction and

design solutions which placed a premium on the

dynamic compositions. For the

flash of intuition and the individual designer’s

first time in the United States,they

creativity-- the ah ha! method of problem solving.

As this highly successful form of advertising began to dominate American visual communi-

persuaded their clients to mini-

Centered in New York of the 50s and 60s, this indi-

cations, the first wave of Swiss

mize copy into brief essential

vidualistic process idealized the creative genius,

design thinking and forms

statements, rather than the text-

symbolized by the maverick designer in his garret

arrived on the American scene.

heavy literal description favored

studio. (Ralph Caplan has critiqued designers for

First transmitted in the early

in early American advertising.

their will- ingness to play this role-- what he calls

1960s through a few design

Rudimentary ideas of system-

the “exotic menial”, the brilliant individual serving

magazines and books-- Graphics

atic problem solving and design

the needs of clients, but a servant nonetheless.)

and the “bibles” by Muller-Brock-

“big idea”

mann, Karl Gerstner, Armin Hoff-

Ladislav Sutnar and Andrew Kner.

method became a uniquely American visual

man and Emil Ruder-- a few

The role of designer was defined

communications expression, and was closely asso-

young American designers began

as a highly skilled interpreter

ciated with the New York School of advertising of

to assimilate these ideas. Rudy

of messages, a far more author-

the 1950s and 1960s. Exemplified by Doyle Dane

DeHarak, the most notable of

itative stance than the hired

Bernbach’s classic Volkswagen Beetle series, this

the American designers hungry

hand following the dictates of

advertising created intelligent and clever inter-

for some structure, adopted the

an autocratic client. Interpre-

plays between verbal and visual concepts. Short

Swiss method on his own after

tation was central to the idea

ironic conversational headlines were juxtaposed

seeing these influential exam-

of communication. Systematic

with provocative images, drawing on the lessons

ples in the design media. Then

rationalism drew on science,

of Surrealism, and particularly Magritte. Unex-

in the mid 1960s, several profes-

while inventive compositions

pected combinations of images and/or contexts

sional design offices began to

and symbolic interpretation

created ambiguity and surprise. This “picture is

practice these ideas to solve the

related to art, balancing this

worth a thousand words” approach maximized

needs of large corporate clients

identity between art, science,

the process of reading. Both text and image were

in Holland, England, Canada and

craft and business.

to be decoded and read by the viewer, relying on

the U.S. A number of corpora-

These emigres had a tremen-

semantic meaning with little interest in page struc-

tions and institutions including

dous impact on a number of

ture or systematic organization. Unfortunately

Container Corporation, Ciba-

compositions were offered by

The intuitive conceptual

Geigy, Herman Miller, IBM and

results. It assumed a rational systems process

a personal art form. Semiotics

Massachusetts Institute of Tech-

based on semi-scientific analysis and problem

became the first codified theory

nology adopted this method and

solving. The ideal was the objective (dead seri-

of graphic design, a major step in

aesthetic. Eventually U.S. corporate

ous) presentation of information, rather than the

the evolution to professionalism.

culture adopted “Swiss” graphic

subjective expression of an attitude, emotion or

As Massimo Vignelli has so often

design as the ideal corporate style.

humor. “Swiss” was found to be more suitable

reminded us, theory as well as

What was originally very difficult

for the corporation’s demand for factual accu-

history and criticism are the

to sell to business clients is very

racy-- the perfect style for an annual report-- while

essential trinity that distinguish

difficult to avoid today.

the big idea was more suitable for advertising’s

a profession from a craft or trade.

This graphic aesthetic and

persuasive goals. Swiss tended to rely on represen-

The “big idea” originated

method was the second wave

tational photography and minimalist typography,

in New York, an American

of European Modernism to influ-

while the “big idea” was far more image-oriented,

synthesis. The visual symbolism

ence the U.S. Essentially different

employing illustration and symbolic photography.

owes some debts to surrealism,

from the “big idea” approach, it “Swiss” graphic expression stressed the syntac-

but the copy concept verbal

is based on an assumption of

tic grammar of graphic design with structured

approach came from American

Modernist rational “method”, a

grids and typographic relationships. This form of

wit and casual vernacular speech.

codified approach not so depen-

Modernism neglected some of early Modernism’s

Although “Swiss” found its first

dent on the individualistic inspi-

discoveries with visually expressive typography

big growth in Chicago’s heart-

ration and talent of the designer.

and surrealistic imagery. For the most part, classic

land, introduced by Container

This had a profoundly profes-

Swiss typography was meant to be read and its

Corporation and Unimark Inter-

sionalizing influence in American

imagery to be seen only in the conventional modes.

national, it is an essentially north-

graphic design, further replacing

Semiotics, the science of signs in visual

the commercial artist’s servant

language, was a theory explored in the late

sensibility, expression and para-

image with one of a disciplined, 1960s in Europe, especially at the Ulm school in

digm. It’s importation to Chicago

educated professional. As this

Germany. This scientific approach to the anal-

repeated the route followed by

method influenced the field,

ysis of meaning in communications was very

many of the Bauhaus emigres of

graphic design began to split

compatible with the rationality of the Swiss

the late 1930s--Mies, Bayer and

apart from advertising design, a

method. Promising an alternative to intuitive

Moholy-Nagy.

major division that remains today.

design, semiotic theory began to inform some

This first wave of Swiss

This classic “Swiss” method

of the Swiss adherents in the U.S. Although this

was strongly identified with

prescribed an ordered process

difficult and complex theory was little under-

the Swiss designers of Zurich,

rather than the genius of inspi-

stood, the “scientific” flavor reinforced that

Muller-Brockmann and Gertsner,

ration, and promised far more “objective” tone of Swiss design, and reinforced

applying Bauhaus early Modern-

dependable, however predictable,

ist ideals. Their strict minimalist

the idea that graphic design was more than

ern

European, or

Germanic,

codified expression of functional

the grammar of typography, and neglected seman-

maturation when graphic design

messages could be described as

tic expression. This highly formal work was not

discovered that it had a history.

Classic Modernism. No sooner

very conceptual and has been criticized as merely

Until then graphic designers

than the Zurich Swiss become

decorative in the final analysis. Depending on

felt they were still invent-

established in the U.S., a second

one’s critique, this movement could be labeled

ing the discipline. The field

more mannered form of Swiss

baroque, mannerist or even decadent Modernism.

seemed completely new with

developed that could be called

The Basel school’s faculty and graduates began

no history, a premise supported

Late Modernism. Work from the

to come to the U.S. in the mid 1960s, with a real

by the Bauhaus Modern ideal

Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel

impact realized in the early 1970s when young

of constant newness. The first

was a far more experimental and

American graphic designers ‘in the know’ began

books and conference on design

complex , adding many “nonfunc-

to migrate to Basel for postgraduate training in

history provided a banquet of

tional” design forms. Coming

graphic design. By the mid 1970s some of this

historical forms for designers.

from a school where students

complexity began to embellish basic American

The results ranged from historical

and faculty had the luxury of “Swiss” graphic design in the form of bars and

homage, appropriation and quota-

time and experimentation, many

rules and playful mixing of type sizes, weights and

tion to eclecticism, imitation

rules were broken and the time

faces in an essentially formalist agenda.

and outright cannibalism.  But

was taken to develop the sensi-

As classical ‘Swiss’ discipline was gaining

bility to a high level of aesthetic

followers and even before Basel became an influ-

a stream paralleling American

refinement and complexity. The

ence, Robert Venturi shook the U.S. cultural scene

Swiss, already knew about the

irreverent Wolfgang Weingart

with his 1965 polemical treatise, “Complexity and

pleasures of history. This New

rebelled against the minimalism

Contradiction in Architecture”. Although most

York studio’s popular eclectic

of his predecessor, Emil Ruder,

graphic designers remained unaware of his prem-

celebrations revived, exploited,

in the late 1960s and initiated a

ises for many years-- and many may not yet realize

imitated and occasionally paro-

body of work with his students

his profound influence-- his challenges to Modern-

died decades of design styles,

that pushed early Modernism’s

ist dogma sent shock waves rippling throughout

but with an essential difference

constructivist

the architecture and design world, stimulating new

of intention from this new more

their logical extremes. Enlarging

work that came to be called “Post Modern.” His

academic “Post Modern” sensibil-

on the earlier Swiss issues of

arguments in favor of historical pre-Modern archi-

ity. Pushpin pursued a hedonistic

structure and composition, he

tectural forms and crudely energetic commercial “if it feels good, do it” free borrow-

explored increasingly complex

American vernaculars eventually contributed to a

ing from history’s nostalgia, essen-

grids and typography in experi-

new phase of American graphic design.

tially the same intention as the

experiments

Pushpin Studios of the 1960s,

mental compositions that became

The emergence of graphic design history in

Victorian American eclecticism

quite painterly. Yet the typo-

the 1970s dovetailed with Venturi’s rediscovery

they so often imitated. Post-

graphic play was mainly about

of pre-Modern design. It was a definite sign of

Modernism’s historicism was a

more intellectualized self-con-

layered compositions. This phase could easily be

Modern art, photography and

scious critique on the meaning

labeled a baroque or decadent American Modern-

music the central expression is a

of history. Venturi, a professor

ism rather than PostModernism. The expression

critique of our accumulated body

as well as architect, applied a

was still strongly linked with Modernism’s interest

of culture and symbol. Appropri-

semiotic analysis to historical

in syntax and structural expressionism, although

ation and pastiche recycle our

and vernacular style, interpret-

by now it had become personal hedonistic formal

experience in highly referen-

ing form as language invested

celebrations rather than impersonal disciplined

tial work that owes everything

with cultural meaning. Build-

presentations of functional information. The typog-

to what has gone before. All

ings were signs meant to read

raphy shared Basel’s visual complexity and was

this has its roots in structuralist

by their audiences.

mainly expressive of itself with little semantical-

semiotics of the 1960s, as well

ly-encoded symbolic meaning.The use of American

as Venturi’s ideas. Although semi-

history and the Basel school’s

vernaculars was also mainly a formal, a borrowing

otics never became a practical

mannerist

of pop forms with little of Venturi’s understanding

design method, it and Structur-

of context or intention.

alism’s successor, post-Structur-

Popular culture vernaculars, Modernism

came

together in the mid 1970s to create a new, highly formal expression most often called

But it was a lot more fun than classical Swiss, and “New Wave

quickly” spread across

alism, have recently provided a real method and expression in

“Post Modernism” or “New Wave” the U.S. to become an accepted graphic style. Just

the visual arts and graphic design.

graphic design. Bored with the

as Modernism’s classic Swiss was accepted, this

Coming out of literary theory,

rigidity and minimalism of corpo-

too became accepted in the business arena and

visual phenomena are analyzed

rate American “Swiss”, American

persists today in a wide variety of corporate appli-

as language encoded for mean-

designers, particularly

certain

cations. In fact it is so accepted, one design histo-

ing. Meanings are deconstructed,

educators associated with several

rian, Philip Meggs, calls it the New Academy, as

exposing the dynamics of power

of the better schools of graphic

prescribed a method as the Beaux Arts school of

and the manipulation of meaning.

design began to experiment. 19th century French architecture.

Post Structuralism and recent

Working from a Modernist “Swiss”

New Wave’s type of graphic PostModern-

fine art have influenced a prom-

foundation, they began to dissect,

ism is essentially formalist with a rather minor

ising new direction that is more

multiply or ignore the grid and

involvement with content – content being more

truly Post Modern. Graphic design

to explore new spacial compo-

a jumping off point for graphic celebrations of

is analyzed in linguistic terminol-

sitions, introducing complex-

style than the core of the matter. Certainly the

ogy as a visual language.The audi-

ity and pattern, and frankly “big idea” school of earlier years was far more

ence is approached as readers as

nonfunctional design elements.

dedicated to the communication of content. In

well as viewers. In the best of

Hand-drawn gestures and vernac-

fine art, a more profound aspect of PostModern-

this new design, content is again

ular bad taste were artfully intro-

ism has emerged as a body of self-conscious crit-

at center stage. Images are to be

duced in highly aestheticized

ical theory and expression. In fact, in much Post

read and interpreted, as well as

seen; typography is to be seen as

contention that meaning is inherently unstable

formatted, raising the visual

well as read. M & Co.’s provoca-

and that objectivity is an impossibility, a myth

expectations of our audiences.

tive narratives exploit the power

maintained to control the audience. Graphic

To distinguish high end graphic

of familiar clichés, vernacular

designers have become dissatisfied with obedi-

communications from the vast

typography and closeknit text/

ent delivery of the client’s message. Influenced by

output of desktop publishing, a

image connections. Rick Valicen-

recent fine art, many are taking the role of inter-

new demand for highly personal,

ti’s auditory typography speaks

preter a giant step beyond the “problem-solving” interpretive and eccentric design

with a tone of voice and mixes

tradition by authoring additional content and a

image and letter in rebus-like

self-conscious critique to the message, reviving

With this new interest in

“sentences.” The connection of

roles associated with both art and literature. Gone

personal content, the graphic

word and image is again as rich

are both the commercial artist’s servant role and

design may once more turn

as the New York School’s, but

the Swiss designer’s transparent neutrality. Wit,

toward the fine arts, but built

with a visual compositional inter-

humor and irony are reappearing in irreverent

on decades of progress in meth-

action as well as a conceptual

and sometimes self-deprecating pieces that often

odology, theory and formal strat-

verbal one. The best new work

speak directly to the reader in the second person

egies. The multivalent character

draws on the formal lessons of

plural, often with multiple voices. Venturi’s view

of graphic design continues to

Basel and New Wave while draw-

of history and vernacular as symbolic languages

shift between opposing values.

ing on all four seeing/reading/

is finally being explored. Stylistic forms are appro-

Is this fluidity an indicator of the

text/image modes simultane-

priated with a critical self-consciousness of their

field’s persistent immaturity, or a

ously in powerful visual/verbal

original content and context.

confirmation of its relevance to a

expressions is surfacing.

conceptual expressions. There

This new work is smart and cerebral, “chal-

rapidly changing world? Opposi-

are layers of meaning as well as

lenging its audience to slow down and read carefully” in a

tions – art/business, visual/verbal, European/American, scientific/

This work has an intellectual

world of fast forward and instant replay, USA

intuitive – are graphic designs

rigor, demanding more of the

Today and sound bites. The emphasis is on audi-

strength and richness.

audience, but also rewarding the

ence interpretation and the construction of mean-

audience with more content

ing, beyond raw data to the reception of messages.

and autonomy. The focus is on

This direction seems aligned to our times and

the audience to make individual

technology, as we enter an era of communica-

interpretations in graphic design

tions revolution and complex global pluralism.

that “decenters” the message.

Desktop publishing is placing the production of

Pieces are a provocation to

low end print communications in the hands of

consider a range of interpreta-

office workers and paraprofessionals. Even the

tions, based on Deconstruction’s

simplest corporate report is now typeset and

layers of form.