Artists from the New York School, changed the way graphic design is looked at and attempted. They had simple designs as well as a taste for animation.
Three artists that changed the way graphic design is looked at, are:
Saul Bass, Paul Rand and Herb Lubalin.
These people changed different aspects of graphic design. Saul Bass changed animation whilst Paul Rand logos and Herb Lubalin changed publication.
Saul Bass, (besides title sequences) designed logos for a lot of important companies, most of them still use his designs till today, having a timeless quality to them, since he used minimal and clean designs.
He designed the logos for Kleenex, Bell and also AT&T. He designed logos for about 50 years, being very popular and was the go to man for them.
His work inspired a lot of other artists, such as the cartoon “ARCHER” created by Adam Reed. Which is a show about an alcoholic spy. The cartoon style could be seen as Saul Bass inspired but it mostly shows in the title sequence, were it is very evident that the designer who created the opening, was inspired by a lot of Saul Bass title sequences. Such as “A MAD MAD WORLD” AND “THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM”
Paul Rand focused more on logos and trademarks.
Paul Rand created a link between european modern art and american commercial art, he also was brave enough not to follow tradition and do what he felt right and be independent.
Designs for logos are still designed in the way Paul Rand did them. Simple and effective, and I believe he had a lot to do with the influence.
“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations” -Paul Rand
Paul Rand used flat colours and yet kept compositions Interesting but elaborate.
He Published 3 very important books during his professional life. “Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art (1985)”, “Design Form and Chaos (1994)” and “From Lascaux to Brooklyn (1996)” These books were about the principles he adapted from his life as a professional graphic designer.
Herb Lubalin.
Herb Lubalin worked on 3 magazines. The first being Eros. Eros was a hardbound magazine that had articles of a sexual nature as a well as on love. The magazine had conflicted reviews but had to shut down publication because of the costs it took to do each magazine as well as having legal fees to pay for Federal Obscenity Laws.
The Second magazine he worked on was Fact. This magazine based its topics more on politics rather than intercourse. This magazine had to shut down after writing an article on Gary Goldwater and who was a presidential candidate at that time and they wrote how he was unfit to be president. Mr.Goldwater sued them, and the law suit was so big they had to stop production.
An interesting fact about FACT; the magazine always had a new fact on the front cover.
The Third magazine Lubalin worked on was Avant Garde. This magazine was a mashup of the other two magazines. It had articles of both intercourse and politics. Of course the magazine was also highly controversial but Lubalin had to shut down for a third time, and a final, because his partner, Ginzburg, went to prison for the Obscenity Laws from the first magazine.
Information was achieved from older posts in this blog, and
Eye Magazine | Feature | Rethinking Lubalin. 2015. Eye Magazine | Feature | Rethinking Lubalin. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/rethinking-lubalin. [Accessed 10 January 2015].
Herb Lubalin : Design Is History. 2015. Herb Lubalin : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1960/herb-lubalin/. [Accessed 10 January 2015].
Graphic Design History 