Week 8

Typeface qualities

Expressive spread

Moving away from the Bauhaus and modernism towards Swiss design and mid-century modern. This is where the typeface fits in the most as Swiss designers were using Helvetica and Univers.

Quick google image search for book cover designs for inspiration and reference points:

Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design by Theo Inglis

Modernism

"... the utility and optimism of mid-century modern came to appeal to a world in the wake of the financial crisis and global recession." (8)

Modernism arrived before WWII but was too austere. 

"Inter-war modernism sought to achieve 'style without style'." (9)

'Organic design' - harmonious organisation of the parts within the whole, according to structure, material and purpose." (10)

"no vain ornamentation or superfluity"

"ideal choice of material, in visual refinement and in the rational elegance of things intended for use."

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - Less is more

Modernism required a firm belief in eternal truths, the key to progress and a bright future.

Mid-century modernism

Machine aesthetic gave way to human-hand, organic shapes. A modernistic push towards simplicity was maintained despite reintroduction of more decorative elements.

"a sense of informality, occasional childlike naivety, and most of all visual playfulness and vibrant energy" (14)

Saul Bass, Alvin Lustig - key designers of this time

capture the mood, firm believers in the goals of modernism and importance of clarity of communication, but a purely functional approach was often inappropriate - the ability to inject the right personality into the work was far more critical.

Swiss Design

Emil Ruder, Josef Müller-Brockmann, Armin Hoffmann

Marked by use of photography and perfect geometric shapes, exclusively sans-serif typography, often neutral typefaces like Helvetica and Univers arranged in asymmetrical layouts on rationally planned grids

The work of Alvin Lustig, 1952 and 53. Asymmetrical, bold colours, geometric shapes, heavily reliant on typography.

Illustration by Gordon Cullen for Architectural Review, 1952. I love the playfulness in this image and the overlays.

Jack Wolfgang Beck, 1954. The collage effect, and aysmmetry.

Tom Eckersley, c. 1943-55. Overlays, symmetry, lowercase letters.

Tom Eckersley, 1961. Overlays, multiple colours, title in lowercase.

Leo Lionni, 1960. Use of just type and colour.

Section Openers

A range of section openers based on a selection of images from the book above. I like these but don't feel like the style is right for the book. I'm thinking it might work best for the 20th typeface specimen. This is just too much colour and energy for a book which is pretty calm and traditional.

Research

30 Years of Swiss Typographic Discourse in the Typografische Monatsblätter

Louise Paradis with Roland Früh and François Rappo

Section Openers

Taking inspiration from this book, I feel that these designs work more with the mood of my book. I particularly like the first set of section openers where it's just black and white, although the red background could work too.

Cover design

I like all of these. They are pretty minimal but I think it grasps the tone of the book more than the colourful ones. I also like the use of just type, rather than the random shapes that had no meaning.