American Typography of the 1960s^167Typography, like the hemline, changes
as fashion dictates. So, in the 1960 s, a
growing trend in universal typography
began to outstrip the utopian ideal that
had provoked missionaries of the
modern to establish rules governing
the use of limited type families and
compositions. While the masters of this
form, Paul Rand, Rudolph de Harak,
and George Tscherny, expertly practiced
the art of typographic neutrality to
frame strong visual ideas, others, who
designed with blind adherence to those
tenets, produced bland compositions
that typified the mediocre in corporate
communications.
In the 1950 s, the distinction
between quotidian commercial art and
sophisticated graphic design was defined
by a high standard of typographic craftsmanship. In the period before the
widespread application of phototype, hot-metal typesetting required
considerable refinements to avoid horrendous results. Skilled typographers
rejected faces that led to disaster, like the novelty and poster faces common
in print advertising. The remnants of bygone eras were summarily dismissed.
Systematic type composition was the key to design purity. But, by the 1960 s,
a reaction to what had become the rigidity of the overarching international
style—in addition to a distinctly natural, creative urge to move ahead of the
curve—prompted designers to push the boundaries of type.
Push Pin Studios revived Victorian, art nouveau, and art deco
letterforms for display and body copy in reaction to the rational Swiss
approach of the late 1950 s and 1960 s. Returning typography to a period of
exuberance before Jan Tschichold’sThe New Typography(published in 1928 )
imposed its revolutionary strictures on modern design, Push Pin Studios
advanced the notion that graphic design ran the gamut from serious to
playful while solving a wide range of problems. Type did not have to be a
neutral element on a pristine page but, rather, could be an expressive