DM112 - Graphic Design
New York School

The first wave of modern design in America was imported by talented immigrants from Europe seeking to escape the political climate of totalitarianism. These individuals brought Americans a firsthand introduction to the European avant-garde. The 1940s saw steps toward an original American approach to modernist design. While borrowing freely from the work of European designers, Americans added new forms and concepts to the tradition of graphic design. European design was often theoretical and highly structured; American design was pragmatic, intuitive, and more informal in its approach to organizing space. Just as Paris had been the most democratic city in the world, with great receptivity to new ideas and images during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, New York City assumed that role during the middle twentieth century. Perhaps these cultural incubators nurtured creativity because the prevailing climate enabled individuals to realize their potential--or, the existing climate may have been a magnet attracting individuals of great talent and potential. In either case, New York City became the cultural center of the world in the middle of the twentieth century, and graphic design innovation ranked high among its accomplishments.
Despite the European underpinnings, unique aspects of American culture and society dictated an original approach to modern design. The United States is an egalitarian society with capitalistic attitudes and values, limited artistic traditions before World War II, and a diverse ethnic heritage. Emphasis was placed on the expression of ideas and an open, direct presentation of information. In this highly competitive society, novelty of technique and originality of concept were much prized, and designers sought simultaneously to solve communications problems and satisfy a need for personal expression. This phase of American graphic design began with strong European roots during the 1940s, gained international prominence for its original viewpoints in the 1950s, and continued until the 1990s.
Perhaps more than any other American designer, Paul Rand (1914-96) initiated this American approach to modern design. His ability to manipulate visual form (shape, color, space, line, value) and skillful analysis of communications content, reducing it to a symbolic essence without being sterile or dull, allowed Rand to become widely influential while still in his twenties. Thoughts on Design, his 1946 book illustrated with over eighty examples of his work, inspired a generation of designers. For all his visual inventiveness, Rand defined design as the integration of form and function for effective communication. The cultural role of the designer was defined as upgrading rather than as serving the least common denominator of public taste. This is a major hallmark of his contribution--perhaps there is a limit to how far a designer can follow the modern painter into the uncharted realm of pure form and subjective expression without losing the vital foothold on public communication.