10
Crucial Lessons From
History’s Greatest
Graphic Designers
SIMPLIFY, VISUALIZE, KNOW YOUR USER: THE LESSONS OF
THESE DESIGN PIONEERS, FROM EL LISSITZKY TO PAULA SCHER,
ARE AS RELEVANT AS EVER.
John Clifford
Many people know the names of influential architects, artists, and fashion designers; far fewer know the names of graphic
designers. It’s strange to me, since graphic designers create so much of our everyday world. And it’s not only civilians with
a general interest in design who lack that knowledge. I have also encountered many design professionals and students who
don’t know Herbert Bayer from Herbert Matter. I wanted to change that.
I wrote Graphic Icons: Visionaries Who Shaped Modern
Graphic Design to highlight pioneers of graphic design,
from El Lissitzky to Paula Scher. In the course of researching
the book, I came to realize that each of these figures offers
key lessons for today’s designers. Early 20th-century German designer Lucian Bernhard favored a flat minimalism that echoes
the pared-down design popular in many contemporary user interfaces. Swiss designer Joseph Müller-Brockmann embraced
and mastered the use of the grid, an important part of modern web design. Here’s a look at how can we take inspiration from
these figures--not by copying their style, but by creating something new that is informed by their pioneering spirits.
DON’T MAKE THE WORLD MORE HIGHTECH, MAKE IT MORE HUMANE.
LUCIAN BERNHARD: SIMPLIFY
Lucian Bernhard was in his early twenties
in 1905 when he entered his design in an
advertising poster contest sponsored by Priester
matches. Although Art Nouveau was popular at
the time, with its complex ornaments and floral
embellishments, Bernhard took a different
creative direction, painting a simple scene
showing a smoking cigar in an ashtray with
matches. A friend saw the artwork and thought
it advertised cigars. So Bernhard reduced all
unnecessary detail until all that remained was
a pair of red matches. He then painted the
brand name. There was no slogan, nothing to
distract from the visual of the product and its
name.
Not only did Bernhard’s design win the
contest, it launched a new, straightforward
style of advertising that he continued for clients
such as Excelsior Tires and Adler Typewriters.
German companies in particular embraced this new flat minimalism, which they called Sachplakat (object poster, which led to
the broader Plakatstil, or poster style--advertisers felt that Art Nouveau’s intricate decoration could obscure or compete with
their product.