Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva,
Switzerland, in August of that year. Hopkins wanted a display that would
stand apart from the other mammoth technology firms, including General
Electric, Union Carbide, and Westinghouse. As builders of the Nautilus,
the first atomic submarine, and with contracts to produce the first atomic-
powered airplane, General Dynamics had the perfect showpieces. Yet they
had nothing to show. The Nautilusdesign was so top secret that Nitsche
was only given a vague description of its ultimate design. In the absence of
an actual product he had to devise a symbol. Pursuing the idea of “Atoms
for Peace” he used graphics to convey the message.
Framing the exhibit, the initial corporate clarion was a series of six
multilingual posters with either abstract or symbolic images—in English,
Russian, German, French, Hindi, and Japanese—designed specifically for
those nations where atomic energy was being used for peaceful purposes.
Strongly influenced by Paul Klee since childhood, Nitsche turned to
geometric forms and intersecting color planes to symbolize this new energy
source. But the principle icon for the most memorable poster was not like
Klee at all, but rather a painting of a huge nautilus shell from which shot
out a sleek submarine. The Nautilus, named after Jules Verne’s fictional
vessel in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, was not presented as a
missile of war, but as a missive of peace. On some of the posters a text from
Isaiah read: “They shall beat swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war anymore.” Isaiah’s testament was, of course, dramatic, yet
ironic in light of the ship’s prime mission as a defensive weapon (preserving
the peace).
The poster campaign was well received and Nitsche was
commissioned to produce what amounted to three different series of
twenty-four images. Hopkins wanted to acquaint the public “with the spirit
of discovery that motivates the corporation’s diverse developments.” And so
Nitsche’s work soon influenced General Dynamics’ total corporate style,
including the otherwise staid annual reports, which he turned into kinetic
displays of visual imagery. Nitsche’s crowning achievement, however, was
the design of a mammoth book of corporate history entitled Dynamic
America. With its tip-ins and foldouts,Dynamic Americawas an exhibition
between boards, a fast-paced visual document of the nation’s military and
industrial history that intersected with the development of General
Dynamics Company from its roots in 1880 as Electro Dynamic.
Nitsche’s book design was a lesson in economy. He favored
dynamic silhouettes and vignettes of historical artifacts, giving the book a
didactic quality. Nitsche knew how to make historical engravings and
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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