Modernist Era / Mid-Century
[ Styles from 1950-1959]
Post-war, the style was most commonly used across advertisements, book covers, record sleeves and the famed corporate identity work
by artist like mid-century modernists:
Paul Rand,
Massimo Vignelli,
Herb Lubalin,
Alvin Cohen
Elaine Lustig Cohen.
/ United State /
In the advertising scene grew and led to a playful approach in typography.
/ Switzerland /
An effect of avant-garde lead to minimalistic layout, lettering and imagery.
/ Poland /
A kind of quasi-expressionist posters
Paul Rand
Graphic Designer
August 15, 1914 – November 26, 1996
He was born in Peretz Rosenbaum; was an American art director and graphic designer. He was best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, and NeXT. He developed an American Modernistic style from European influences and was one of the first American commercial artists to embrace and practice the Swiss Style of graphic design.
Rand was a professor emeritus of graphic design at Yale University.
Massimo Vignelli
Graphic Designer
(January 10, 1931 – May 27, 2014)
Massimo Vignelli; was an Italian designer who worked in a number of areas including packaging, houseware, furniture, public signage, and showroom design. He was the co-founder of Vignelli Associates, with his wife, Lella. His motto was, "If you can design one thing, you can design everything," which the broad range of his work reflects.
Vignelli worked firmly within the modernist tradition. His style stressed simplicity by using basic geometric shapes.
Herb Lubalin
Graphic Designers
March 17, 1918
Herb Lubalin was born in New York. There he lived with his parents, older sister, and twin brother. His parents were very appreciative of the arts and were supportive of his artistic capabilities and talent. Early into his education, his parents realized that he was color blind.
Lubalin created the trademark for the World Trade Center at its opening (1973). He designed versions of Reader's Digest, New Leader and the entire series of Eros magazine, the last of which was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case on obscenity, Ginzburg v. United States 383 U.S. 463 (1966).
