Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide

Graphic Design History traces the social and cultural role of visual communication from prehistory to the present, connecting what designers do every day to a history of innovative graphic forms and effects. It offers a unique and exciting set of critical lenses for thinking about the cultural purpose and historical dimensions of the graphic designer’s work, placing emphasis on the relevance of the history to the practices of designers today. Designed by the authors, the book is beautiful, spacious, and elegant. Clearly organized into three content-rich layers, it is informative yet lively and driven by ideas that offer ways of thinking about graphic design from a wealth of historical examples

Johanna Drucker is the Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has been on the faculty of Yale University, SUNY Purchase, Columbia University, and the University of Virginia, as well as holding a Mellon Faculty Fellowship at Harvard, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a Getty Fellowship. Her previous publications include The Alphabetic Labyrinth (1995), The Century of Artists’ Books (1995), The Visible Word (1994), and Sweet Dreams (2005). She is also known for her work as a book artist and visual poet.

 

Emily McVarish is Associate Professor of Graphic Design at California College of the Arts, where she teaches experimental typography and writing, design history and theory, and topical studios. A writer, designer, and book artist, she has maintained a hybrid practice in San Francisco since 1990. Her work has been exhibited internationally, published by Granary Books, and collected by Harvard University and the British Library, among other major libraries and museums. Her writing has been featured in Visible Language and Design and Culture.