Graphic design in the twentieth century: a concise history

Abstract

"The story of graphic design is one of the most exciting and important in modern visual culture. Renowned designer and lecturer Richard Hollis's pioneering Graphic Design: A Concise History traced the medium's development in the twentieth century, beginning with its roots in printing, and defined its function as visual communication: to identify, inform and promote. Here, reissued with a new title, preface and updated recommendations for further reading, this authoritive cultural history begins with the poster and goes on to chart the development of graphics in print, advertising, corporate identity and television, concluding with the impact of digital and electronic media on the forms of graphic design. Preserving the author's original layout, now regarded as a graphic design classic in its own right, the book features over 800 illustrations fully integrated with the text. An essential reference, this indispensable account is clear, comprehensive and compelling."--Publisher's description.

Contents

From Graphic Art to Design 1890 to 1914. The Art Poster ; The Beginnings of Design in Europe ; War and Propaganda 1914 to the 1920s -- The Avant-Garde and the Origins of Modernism 1914 to 1940. Futurism and Italy ; Soviet Russia ; Germany ; The Netherlands -- National Tendencies until 1940. Switzerland ; France ; Britain -- The Designer and the Art Director. The United States in the 1930s ; War and Propaganda 1920s to 1945 ; The United States 1945 to the 1960s -- Variants of Modernism in Europe. Switzerland and the Neue Graphik ; Italy and the Milanese Style ; France ; Northern Europe -- Psychedelia, Protest and New Techniques. The Late 1960s -- New Waves: Electronic Technology. The 1970s and 1980s -- After Modernism: The End of Design? From 1990 to the New Millennium.