Book Description
The aesthetics and spirit of popular culture have been increasingly relevant to British graphic designers over the past several decades. Communicate offers a fascinating selection of this innovative work, examining closely the influence of youth culture, pop music, and new wave aesthetics on graphic design during the 1960s and ever since.
Illustrated in full color, Communicate features 350 images that range from classic designs of the sixties to the work of today’s emerging design teams, including record album covers for groups including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Roxy Music; political protest posters; psychedelic concert posters; typeface projects and signage; and designs for books, magazines, and film.
Focusing on work from small, independent studios where creativity, rather than the bottom line, is paramount, the book includes projects by some 60 outstanding designers including Derek Birdsall, Richard Hollis, Neville Brody, Why Not Associates, and Scott King. Contributors to the volume trace how and why British graphic design has developed as it has, and interviews with ten key designers—Julian House, Ian Anderson, and Margaret Calvert among them—provide unique insider views of the design world.
About the Author
Rick Poynor is series editor of Monographics, published by Yale University Press. He founded Eye, the international review of graphic design, and was its editor from 1990 to 1997.
Communicate: Independent British Graphic Design since the Sixties FROM THE PUBLISHER
In the 1960s youth culture and pop music became an important influence on British design. Key examples include the pop art collages of artists like Richard Hamilton and the psychedelic, punk, and new wave aesthetics of groups like Roxy Music and Pink Floyd. Images and illustrations were used in balance with letterforms to convey design concepts and ideas. The influence of popular culture is still relevant to contemporary British designers. Communicate focuses on the smaller independent design studios and teams that are credited with producing the most creative and innovative design over the past four decades and explores how and why British design has developed during this period.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
This companion volume to a recent exhibition at London's Barbican Art Gallery illustrates how a vibrant, independent graphic design sensibility developed in Britain in the 1960s and continues to flourish today. Editor Poynor (No More Rules) has assembled the works of some 60 designers, including Derek Birdsall, Robert Brownjohn, and Malcolm Garrett, into an album of 350 full-color illustrations. By way of 15 interviews with key figures in British graphic design, he also offers an inside look at how an aesthetic deeply influenced by popular culture, fine art, and fashion has evolved. The excitement here comes from seeing a vibrant, independent language of visual communication find its voice through media as ephemeral as rock and pop album covers, popular book and magazine covers, film titles, and political posters. The reader will come away with a clearer understanding of the power, reach, and eloquence of visual communication. An essay on the history of British web design offers additional depth and nuance. A valuable reference not only for graphic design libraries but also for collections that seek titles exploring the history and language of visual communication.-Michael Dashkin, QUALCOMM, San Diego Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Art & Photography
Book Info
