maker within a canon or pantheon; the “great movement” principle, which
attributes certain characteristics to a school or ideology; or the “great style”
principle, which categorizes design according to period, fashion, or trend
(all of which I adhere to in other writings as the need demands). These
methods are not invalid, but I contend that understanding the object in
context removes graphic design from a purely formal arena and moves it to
a cultural and political one.
In the first edition I selected work by many well-known designers,
while for Design Literacy (continued),more anonymous work was
recognized, in addition to those with clear provenance. In this revised
edition there is a balance between known and unknown. Most of these
essays examine single works or related multiples, though a few focus on
larger genres when one piece alone does not tell a complete enough story.
For instance, see the essays on cigarette advertisements for women (page
37 ), religious tracts (page 39 ), or modern paperback book covers (page 232 ).
Some objects have already been elevated to the design pantheon,
such as A. M. Cassandre’s Peignot typeface (page 161 ), Saul Bass’s graphics
for Man with a Golden Arm (page 221 ), or Milton Glaser’s Dylan poster
(page 286 ). Other inclusions are only marginally noticed, if noticed at all, in
design history, such as Robbie Conal’s Men With No Lipsposter (page 29 ),
Art Chantry’s Propaganda poster (page 382 ), or the East Village Other (page
111 ). A few were selected because they are icons of their respective eras, like
the peace symbol (page 14 ); others because they are curious designs that are
barely footnotes in graphic design texts, like razor blade labels (page 391 ).
With artifacts that span the twentieth century—from Lucian
Bernhard’s 1906 Priester Matchposter to Paula Scher’s 1996 New York
Public Theater posters—the essays in this book are best read as sidebars
along a historical timeline. Nevertheless, the material is not organized
chronologically, but thematically, according to the role the object has played
in culture and commerce.
Sections include “Persuasion” (design in the service of control and
influence); “Mass Media” (design as popular communication); “Language”
(design as different idioms and vocabularies); “Identity” (design as
signature); “Information” (design as guidepost and pathway); “Iconography”
(design as symbol); “Style” (design as aesthetics and fashion); and
“Commerce” (design as marketing tool). For this revision an additional
section called “Type” bridges style, language, iconography, etc. Admittedly,
some of the essays in one section overlap with another section, which is
how design operates in the world anyway. Yet here, each object was selected
for its respective category to provide a window on how these specific
themes are served.
Wherever possible the designers are quoted, but Design LiteracyisDL2 00 07/13/04 2:51 PM Page xii