By Scott Fransham

Graphic DesignThroughout the

years

By Scott Fransham

T H E Y E A R S B E T W E E N T H E M I D - 1 5 T H C E N T U R Y A N D T H E E A R L Y

1 8 T H C E N T U R Y P R O V E D T O B E A T I M E O F M A N Y C H A N G E S A N D D E V E L O P M E N T S I N T H E W O R L D O F T Y P O G R A P H Y . T H E

D E V E L O P M E N T O F T H E P R I N T I N G P R E S S I N F L U E N C E D T H E D E V E L O P M E N T O F F U L L T Y P E F A C E S A N D T H E I R P R O D U C T I O N

R A T H E R T H A N T H E J O B - S P E C I F I C A P P R O A C H T H A T M O S T T Y P O G R A P H Y W A S D E V E L O P E D F O R .

This was one of the Early Typographers

1450

By Scott Fransham

T H E P O S T E R W A S O N E O F T H E E A R L I E S T F O R M S O F A D V E R T I S E M E N T A N D B E G A N T O D E V E L O P A S A M E D I U M F O R

V I S U A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N I N T H E E A R L Y 1 9 T H C E N T U R Y . T H E Y I N F L U E N C E D T H E D E V E L O P M E N T O F T Y P O G R A P H Y B E C A U S E

T H E Y W E R E M E A N T T O B E R E A D F R O M A D I S T A N C E A N D R E Q U I R E D L A R G E R T Y P E T O B E P R O D U C E D , U S U A L L Y F R O M W O O D R A T H E R T H A N M E T A L . T H E P O S T E R Q U I C K L Y S P R E A D

A R O U N D T H E W O R L D A N D B E C A M E A S T A P L E O F T H E G R A P H I C D E S I G N .

1850

This was Design By: Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge

By Scott Fransham

Bernhard was influential in the development of the Sachplakat, or object

poster.

1920Born in Germany in 1883, Lucian Bernhard's contribution to the development of modern design, advertising and culture in the early 20th century can be summed up in his poster design for the Protester match company. However, that piece was just the launching pad for his entire career. He designed posters, type, packaging, textiles, interiors and trademarks for a great many companies over the course of his career and his work was influential in both the United States and Europe; he emigrated from Berlin to America in 1923

By Scott Fransham

Sonar was a pioneer in the field of designing information graphics, or infographics, a practice which has become quite popular in recent history

1940Sonar, a Czech designer born in 1897, was one of the first designers to actively practice the field of information design. His work was rooted in rationality and the process of displaying massive amounts of information in a clear and organized manner for easy consumption by the general viewer. He placed a heavy emphasis on typography and primarily used a limited color palette. While he often used punctuation symbols to help organize information one of his signature creations was the idea to place parentheses around the area codes in telephone books

By Scott Fransham

Dorfsman worked as an art director for CBS for 31 years before retiring and forming his own small studioan worked as an art director for CBS for 31 years before retiring and forming his own small studio

1960 Dorfsman studied at the Cooper Union, where he received a four-year scholarship, and it was not long after his graduation that he began working for CBS. In 1964 he became the design director for all of CBS. As the design director he oversaw the use of the infamous CBS eye logo, produced annual reports and other promotional materials and designed the interior signage and graphics of the entire CBS building, designed by architect Eero Saarinen. One of his most revered works was the Gastrotypographicalassemblage, a 35-foot long wall of carved wooden words, created for the dining area in the building

By Scott Fransham

While the contents of its pages were not related to graphic design, Ray Gun magazine proved to be an exploration of typography, layout and visual storytelling that would shift the approach of many graphic designers. The magazine was founded in 1992 and led by the work of David Carson, who served as its art director for the first three years of its career, which lasted 7 years and over 70 issues

The owner of Ray Gun, Marvin Scott Jarrett, published several other magazines during his career including Creem and

Nylon.

1980

By Scott Fransham

Design for Saks Fifth Avenue, with Jennifer Kinon and Jesse Reed

2000Born in Cleveland in 1957 and educated at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, Michael Bierut began his career as a designer for Massimo Vignelli in 1980. He spent 10 years there before becoming a partner at Pentagram in 1990. In the past 30 years he has won numerous awards for his work with international clients including Saks Fifth Avenue, United Airlines, AIGA, the Yale School of Architecture and various museums of art and design. He spent several years writing for Design Observer and is a senior critic at the Yale School of Design