Graphic Design Visionaries Paperback – June 16, 2015

This well-designed book doesn't add huge amounts of new data to published works on the history of design. Nevertheless, it's a useful supplemental volume, especially for those interested in recent contributions to graphic design history. The author, Caroline Roberts, is an editor of the London-based design magazine (now a website) "Grafik," and the group of visionaries who are profiled reflect a global perspective that includes Asian and South American designers, as well as many from the US and Europe. Also, a few of the "visionaries" are design agencies (like Pentagram) or collectives (like Grapus) rather than individuals.The visionaries are presented chronologically, by birth year, starting with six designers born in the late 1890s (including Piet Zwart, E. McKnight Kauffer, Ladislav Sutnar, and Alexey Brodovitch) and ending with design groups "born" in 1991 (Tomato) and 1992 (M/M Paris).Each visionary person or group is allocated four pages. One page of text summarizes the designer's work and impact; most of these biography pages also include a photo of the designer (something that most other design history books omit). The other three pages display examples of the designer's work, effectively presented on the book's oversized (about 8 x 12 inches) pages. In several instances I was pleased to see materials that aren't the typical samples provided in other design history compilations. Also, each designer's section includes a timeline that highlights some biographical facts and key accomplishments.In her introduction, Ms. Roberts apologizes for the lack of diversity in the "primarily white and middle class" and predominantly male group selected for her "established canon" of important designers. However, she also notes that the graphic design profession is still "in its infancy" and suggests that "future editions of this book will look quite different." Therefore, I hope this book will not be Ms. Roberts' only attempt to catalog important contributors to contemporary design history.

Outstanding book. Well written and superbly illustrated. A design reference for decades to come.

great book!

“Visionaries" are described as people with original ideas about what the future will or could be like. That was unlikely the plan of those graphic design thinkers featured in “Graphic Design Visionaries” by Caroline Roberts. This book covers a broad scope of international designers who had the talent and fortune of working with corporations that enabled their creative freedom beyond the usual for its time. Paul Rand, FHK Henrion, Saul Bass to more obscure names like Ladislav Sutnar, Giovanni PIntori (Olivetti) & Cipe Pineles (Seventeen Magazine) are represented. And yet there’s a void left by the lack of female representation (Margo Chase, Marian Bantjes) or extraordinary designers like Alvin Lustig & Stefan Kanchev. (Perhaps an opportunity for a followup?)In all fairness, the intention here is not to be an exhaustive encyclopedia-style collection, but rather an easy resource covering distinctive accomplishments by worthy design thinkers. It functions to give each designer four feature pages of key projects, career highlights, and a timeline of biographical hallmarks in their life journey. Each feature skims the surface of each visionary—more as an introductory of what makes them worthy to be included—without going much deeper into their personal motivations, thought processes or career goals. Many are well-known and expected for their inclusion, while others are more obscure but just as worthy for their contributions and courage, as much as for their curiosity. What does unite them were their own personal passions to be explore graphic design beyond what was considered safe, easy or already done.Pushing boundaries, challenging status quo, or simply following the beat of their own drum, it is refreshing to see works from the past appear just as fresh as if they were created today. In the same vein, it clearly demonstrates how incredible the technical skill of past design craftsmen and abstract thinkers had led the charge prior to the computer age utilizing basic, primitive resources. Where they were given autonomy and trust by their employers and design patronage, today’s brand design for those same corporations (Olivetti, Conde Nast publishing, Westinghouse) seem led by the mass market consumer appeal of today over innovation and vision for tomorrow. And yet these once small emerging corporations that were trying to find their brand voice, is where the forward-thinking design innovators of today are focussing their energies...