Design School Reader: A Course Companion for Students of Graphic Design

by Steven Heller

Overview

An Essential Collection of Essays and Musings on Graphic Design from One of the Field's Leading Educators

In this wide-ranging compilation, art director, writer, and lecturer Steven Heller shares his passion for graphic design with readers, whom he invites to consider that design can be discerned in all things natural and manmade. Developed as content for a class devoted to reading, this collection is not overtly about conventional design, but about a variety of topics viewed through the lens of design. Offered as a primer for undergraduate and graduate students, Design School Reader presents more than forty essays on subjects such as:

• The role of design in politics
• Visual culture and the social impact of design
• Key moments in the history of typography
• Technological innovations
• The power of branding and logos
• Ethical considerations and dilemmas
• Important figures in the design world

Divided into five parts—Design Language; Design Dialects; Politics, Ideology, Design; Business and Commerce; and Inspiration and Discoveries—each section features a collection of essays culled from Heller’s extensive publications from the past several decades. At the end of every essay, readers will find discussion points to prompt further lines of inquiry. As Heller notes, “The key is to read, discuss, and debate.” Students, aficionados, and anyone with a healthy curiosity will thoroughly enjoy this illuminating and thought-provoking assemblage of perspectives on the practice.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621536901
Publisher:	Allworth
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Steven Heller is the co-chair of the School of Visual Arts MFA Design / Designer as Author + Entrepreneur Program. He is the author, coauthor, and editor of over 170 books on design, social satire, and visual culture. He is the recipient of the 2011 Smithsonian National Design Award for "Design Mind." He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Prologue viii

Introduction 1

Foreword

My Favorite Read; Ben Shahn's The Shape of Content

1 Design Language

Cult of the Ugly 8

The Legibility Wars 17

The Decade of Dirty Design 24

The PoMo Brouhaha 28

The Cult of the Squiggly 36

Recalling the Sixties 39

Evolution of Design Conceits 78

2 Design Dialects

Illustration: From Then to Now and Back Again 88

The Play Principle: Paul Rand and Graphic Design 94

The Emigre Font Legacy 99

Ray Gun and Apoplexy 103

Noticing the Public Notice 109

Signs of All Times 113

All Greek to Me 116

Ralph Nader: Design Critic 118

3 Politics, Ideology, Design

Are There Limits to Free Speech? 126

Should a Designer Be Judged by Politics? 129

When America Leaned Fascist 134

Norman Rockwell's Radical Painting 137

A Day Trip into Darkness 141

My Dystopian Reading List 146

Tolerance: Spreading the Word 150

Welcome to Bizarro Land 155

The Unsmiley Face 159

Rebels with Cause: Ramparts and Scanlan's 162

The Plastic Wars 167

4 Business and Commerce

Commercial Art or Whatever You Call It … 172

A Designer by Any Other Name 175

What a Way to Earn a Living 181

Identity Theft Can Destroy Type Families 184

Flipping My Lid 189

Catalog Design Progress Is Still Progressive 192

Cough, Hack, Cough, Cough 201

5 Inspiration and Discoveries

Visions of the Future 206

Nostalgia for Futures Past 211

Man as Industrial Palace 214

Be Careful What You Dream For 218

Toy Story 221

Anthropomorphic Simians 227

The Letterhead: Necessity or Accessory? 229

The Roots of Design 233

Curse of the "D" Word 237

Afterword

Harsh Words Redux 240

Acknowledgments 245

Index 246