The Moderns: Midcentury American Graphic Design Hardcover – September 19, 2017

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." This book has certainly filled in all the gaps I had looking into the history of all major art movements (specifically modern design related movements). More than ever after reading this book, I have become inspired if not more motivated than ever to refine and develop my own vision/system for designing things. You honestly just can't get the same type of quality education/inspiration browsing through the web on Google, Wikipedia, or even going to school for that matter :o. Who knew history could be such a breath of fresh air! It certainly feels like you're picking the brains of the past and retrieving real-world context and experience from these classic modernist designers.If you're serious about being a world class graphic designer someday, you have to read this book. I love how in the intro elegantly explained that there are 3 major types of modernists: 1. Rational moderns, 2. Exuberant moderns, and 3. Eclectic moderns. --Really does give you a framework on looking/ categorizing things. In terms of the content itself, the author is very good at capturing the true essence of each artist with carefully selected works, quotes, and background of all the selected pioneers. In my opinion, super practical esp. for visual learners like myself.The author does a great job in putting these modern artists in the context of how each of them has applied radical, original modernist values during the time design was branching out of the extremes of fine arts and mainstream advertisements (around the 1920's). How the author managed to isolate all the trends and “isms” (such as impressionism, expressionism, futurism, dadaism, cubism, etc.) of all the major art movements around the 1920's, is truly astonishing! I applaud these authors for their hard work, attention to details, and passion to share their knowledge with the rest of us. Good content is not easy to make. These guys have to have learned everything there is about all the artist and their own books along with the entire history from the early expressionist era to everything after WW2.... From the intro and disclosure of how they chose which designers to show examples from to the very end, they manage to remain consistent, comprehensive, and concise throughout the entire book. Diving deep on the hand-picked early immigrant graphic designers who came to America around WW1 and American designers whom all contributed to this early shift in what has now become modern graphic design. I couldn’t recommend this book enough and would easily pay a lot more for it too.I must admit, for $34, this is a total steal. This book is beautiful inside and out. I am actually considering buying another one so that I can start annotating it >__<. I even made my own old school (not so modern, but super practical) paper bag book cover so that I can feel comfortable taking this book to coffee shops! After reading this book, I can say that I've walked away with a strong understanding of key artists and the ability to connect the dots much easier moving forward in this ever-changing world we live in.

I have hundreds of art and design books and this is already one of my favorites. The many and large images are so beautiful that they make the heart race. It is a marvelous book.

Love this book...it has everyone that made up what Steven Heller and Greg D’Onofrio refer to as “The Moderns.” Great job, perfectly done.

This is a wonderful book that covers the expected designers but also a whole host of lesser known designers. A stunning and informative book.

A great book on the topic. I totally agree with the comments One of Steve Heller's finest! (I probably own 20 of his books). Also agree with lavishly illustrated - it is. Larger and higher quality reproduction than the majority of Mr. Heller's books. Just kind of wish Alexander Girard would have made the cut in that I think he is one of the more creative and prolific artists/designers of that time and of that ilk/style. Perhaps because he is a little to folky and not corporate enough. Still an awesome book.

One of Steve Heller's finest!

A timely and lavishly illustrated book that fills a gap in American graphic design history. The period is mid-century and the authors explore the work of sixty-three designers whose work reflected the ideals of European modernism. This was based on various creative movements but in particular the Bauhaus, from the thirties and Swiss style in the fifties.The six page illustrated introduction provides a succinct overview with some interesting observations about typography: Akzidenz Grotesk and Helvetica versus the rest. This is followed by a chapter (ninety-four pages) on eighteen emigres, designers who were born and trained in Europe but moved to America. It's probably this group who are the originators of graphic Modernism and their influence on the US born designers that feature in the 'Homegrown' chapter. Some of these foreign born designers are rightly considered part of the countries design heritage, people like Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Alexey Brodovitch, Erik Nitsche, Ladislav Sutnar and Massimo Vignelli.The 205 pages devoted to 'Homegrown' designers interestingly includes some who were not particularly well known but contributed to the Modernist style, for example, John and Mary Condon, Donald and Ann Crews, Charles Goslin, Burton Kramer and Alexander Ross. Most of the names in the chapter are, of course, well known including my favorites Saul Bass, Rudolf de Harak, Lou Dorfsman, Herb Lubalin, John Massey, Reid Miles and Bradbury Thompson, designers, who in fact, influenced my creative output in the decades from 1960.The design of the book is itself a reflection of Modernism, clean typography and straightforward, elegant page design. Each name starts on the left-hand page with a portrait and a several hundred word essay, the right has work examples and these continue onto the next spread and in some cases another spread, too. There are 765 work examples (in the two designer chapters) all sufficiently big enough to appreciate the design, captions give the date and client and nicely some include background detail about the designer's intentions. The back pages have a comprenhensive bibliography and index.Anyone who is interested in mid-century graphic design, or who was working creatively through these years, will find this book fascinating and design students should read a copy to understand and appreciate their graphic heritage. Look inside the book at Westread Book Reviews then click 2017 and September.