Neshan 38

Publishers of graphic design books produce two types of books: those focused on the work collections of one person, subject or event; and theoretical books, whether educational or about fundamental issues such as the philosophy of graphic design. There are also books that recount the personal experience or achievements of graphic designers. Since these books also have an educational aspect, they can be classified under the second category. During the past two decades, the rapid growth of graphic design education centers and entrance of massi... > more

The current article focuses on Iman Safai’s graphic designs for art and cultural centers, and on a few of his bodies of work. In his teenage years, Iman Safai recognized that he would not become a doctor or an engineer. Thanks to his father’s job, he spent his summers in the cultural center of the head office of the Ministry of Education, helping the center’s designer and, in the meantime, amateurishly experiencing calligraphy, fabric banner writing, and drawing. He completed his high school education in the Malek Ashtar Vocational School a... > more

During the past half-century, the publication of graphic design books in Iran has faced several ebbs and flows. After a thorough search (via libraries, the field, the Internet, and other study methods), 320 books were identified and reviewed for writing the following article. However, it is worth noting that The bibliography of Iranian graphic design, edited by Hussein Chanani (2004, Honar-e Iran Publications), has already inspected the same subject up to 1997, and is the only published reference in this field. In the present study, the review... > more

With a tradition of more than 500 years, the city of Leipzig is one of the most distinguished places in Germany for the printing and publishing industry. For centuries the city was the unofficial capital of the so called “black arts“. Geographically located between the Bauhaus-cities Weimar and Dessau, Leipzig has retained its bond to tradition for a long time. For example, Jan Tschichold, who studied at the local design school in the 1920s, received a most traditional education and did not find his modernist approach before leaving Leipzig. A... > more

Publishing at its core is an act of sharing ideas in order to initiate a discussion with the public or a particular group of like-minded people. For centuries, since the advent of movable type by Gutenberg, printed pages have been the most dominant form of publishing. Publishing, as one of the major products of technological advancement, has marked a new turn in the history of the so-called Modern era. Ever since, its forms have been strongly tied to technology. In the mid-20th century, the first sparks of another turn in history were born wit... > more

You were born in Oslo, Norway. You moved to the Netherlands and worked in Wim Crouwel’s studio for one year, and finally you migrated to Switzerland. Why did you choose Switzerland? I was born in Norway and am still a Norwegian citizen, visiting the country frequently and having friends and family there. Moving to Switzerland was not a choice. My mother married a Swiss architect when I was eight years old. I had little say then, whereas my move to the Netherlands and working with Wim Crouwel was a conscious decision. As a young designer, I ad... > more

Graphis publications have been an integral part of the design world and have contributed to its visual and intellectual elegance since 1944 when Walter Herdeg and Walter Amstutz printed the first issue of Graphis magazine in Switzerland. In 1986, Herdeg was awarded the AIGA Medal2 for his exceptional achievements and contributions to the field of design and visual communication. That same year, B. Martin Pedersen bought the Graphis Company and later moved it to New York City. He continued publishing the magazine (as well as annuals and books... > more

The political situation was critical. Hitler seized power in 1933 and, as a consequence of his fast-propagating, backward National Socialist ideology, many creatives left Germany. A large number of them moved to Switzerland. Among the early émigré was Jan Tschichold, who arrived in Basel in 1933. This year also marks the birth of the Swiss typographic journal, Typografische Monatsblätter. TM was a unique vehicle for showcasing new techniques, ideas and methodologies of the time, amid the socio-economical anxiety of great depression ... > more

Graphic design evolved during the late nineteenth century from a sideline of the printing industry into an autonomous field. The missing link in this evolution is trade magazines. Initially they established standards for printing, typesetting, and bookbinding yet viewed ornamental design as ephemeral. However, by the turn of the century, trade magazine editors were forced to analyze and critique new advances. These magazines did not just reflexively report the current trends instead some aggressively codified key methods and mannerisms that de... > more

In the 1960s, books were revived in the form of an independent genre, i.e. the artists’ book, with goals such as availability, ease of production, and to bypass the commercial art system. Due to several communication options today, books have ventured into contemporary art territory through self-publishing activities. Within a few decades since its existence, this visual-verbal phenomenon has traveled a multimedia path. The artists’ book “is a book with no obligation to explain or describe, or even to illustrate anything; it has rather turn... > more

“Novelty and naivety are two close friends.” “Iranian design” as a visual idea was first mentioned by Reza Lavassani in Rouyesh magazine. In that collective interview with illustrators, he explains why the montage of traditional elements must not be used as a basis for Iranianization and he points to the necessity of innovative design in the Iranian visual world. In fact, what Lavassani cautioned turned into a plague in Iran’s artistic environment in the next decades. Graphic design based on playful lettering, ornamental illustration, exotic ... > more