Typography & Typographers
Developed in 1957, Edward Hoffman and Max Miedinger designed this famous typeface.
What is Helvetica?
Helvetica was a perfect, minimalist reflection of the Swiss Style Movement
Although he died in 1926, his most famous building might possibly be completed in time for the 100th anniversary of the Catalan architect's death.
Who was Antoni Gaudi?
Gaudi's most famous work is the Sagrada Familia. Started in 1882, the church is likely to be completed in 2026.
One of the fathers of American Industrial Design, this multi-talented designer is credited with designs for a wide range of products and clients, including Harley-Davidson, Miller Brewing, Formica, and Oscar Mayer.
Who Is Brooks Stevens?
Brooks Stevens was an influential American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles, passenger railroad cars, and motorcycles, as well as a graphic designer and stylist. One of his most famous design in the Wienermobile.
This German conceptual sculptor, photographer, and internationally acclaimed installation artist currently lives and works in London and Berlin. His series “No Clean State” features text portraits, where word and image merge.
Who is Ralph Ueltzhoeffer?
His portraits have faces of the celebrities – people that have been made popular by the media – inscribed with the text of their biographies. He has done text portraits for pop and fashion stars such as Madonna, Kate Moss, Serge Gainsbourg, and the Dalai Lama.
Considered to be the first graphic designer, his work includes logos for ABC, IBM, and UPS.
Who was Paul Rand?
Rand's most widely known contributions to design are his corporate identities, many of which are still in use. Although the logos may be interpreted as simplistic, Rand was quick to point out that "ideas do not need to be esoteric to be original or exciting."
This typeface was developed in 1968 for the redesign of Charles de Gaul Airport but it was not introduced to the public until 1976.
What is Frutiger?
Adrian Frutiger's eponymous typeface is one example of how Frutiger advanced and adapted typography for the digital age. Other examples include President and Univers. Frutiger's highly legible typefaces can be seen on signs in London and Disney World.
Known as a practitioner of parametricism, this architect cites the buildings of Iraq as a major influence.
Who is Zaha Hadid?
Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) were known for using parametricism, a contemporary architectural style that uses advanced design and computation methods to create form.
Featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1949, this designer's work included the interior of the Concorde airliner and the packaging for Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Who was Raymond Loewy?
Considered one of the most influential designers of all time, Loewy's designs included the Shell, Exxon, TWA and the former BP logos, the Greyhound Scenicruiser bus interior, Coca-Cola vending machines and bottle redesign, the Studebaker Avanti, and the Air Force One livery.
When writer Guy de Maupassant was asked why he enjoyed lunch in the restaurant of this structure, he supposedly replied it was because the restaurant was the only place in teh city where he could not see it.
What is the Eiffel Tower?
She got her start in design after the head of Blue Ribbon Sports overheard her saying she couldn't afford art supplies, so he asked her to do some work for him. This led to her designing one of the most recognized logos of the twentieth century.
Who was Carolyn Davidson?
Davidson designed the Swoosh in 1971 while a graphic design student at Portland State University. Phil Knight, who was teaching an accounting class at the university, overheard Davidson say that she couldn't afford oil painting supplies and asked her to do some work for what was then Blue Ribbon Sports, Inc. (later Nike).
Designed in the 1750's, this transitional typeface is still in use today, appearing in things like the Kate Spade wordmark and Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
What is Baskerville?
Designed by John Baskerville in Birmingham, England, Baskerville is considered a transitional typeface. It was intended to refine what are now called old-style typefaces of the era, especially those created by Baskerville's contemporary, William Caslon.
One of the most admired and most detested architects of the twentieth century, this architect known for both his ground breaking designs and his dubious politics.
Who was Le Corbusier?
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. His alleged ties to fascism, antisemitism, eugenics, have resulted in some continuing contention about his legacy.
This designer is best known for his work for Braun and his ten principles of good design.
Who is Dieter Rams?
Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer who is most closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtrusive approach and belief in "less, but better" design has influenced the practice of design, as well as 20th century aesthetics and culture.
Mark Zuckerberg was in the news recently for this commissioned sculpture.
What is a 7-foot tall statue resembling his wife?
Mark Zuckerberg caused a stir after sharing an image on Instagram of a 7-foot-tall statue resembling his wife, Priscilla Chan. The statue’s design, with its flowing silver garment, looks like a mashup of ancient Roman Sculpture and the T-1000 from Terminator 2.
He was instrumental in developing the Swiss Style and set new standards for teaching design that were adopted by education institutions around the world.
Who was Armin Hoffman?
Hoffman's independent insights as an educator, married with his rich and innovative powers of visual expression, created a body of work enormously varied – books, exhibitions, stage sets, logotypes, symbols, typography, posters, sign systems, and environmental graphics.
He's not a dingbat, he is a pioneer in the development of computerized typography!
Who is Hermann Zapf?
Zapf pioneered the move from press printing to computerized typography. In addition to creating a typesetting program that was a blueprint for many current softwares, he also developed many typefaces like Palatino, Optima, and Zapf Dingbats.
Since his proposal for a tower in Chicago failed, you will need to go to Milwaukee to see an example of this architect's work.
Who is Santiago Calatrava?
The Milwaukee Art Museum was Calatrava's first building in the United States, and his first museum. It displayed the technical innovations and forms he had first used in his railway stations and airports, but with more freedom of form and architectural theatrics.
Considered to be the first industrial designer, this German architect was heavily influenced by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.
Who was Peter Behrens?
Behrens was a leading member of the Deutscher Werkbund (founded in 1907), a society of artists, architects, and craftsmen akin to English arts-and-crafts societies. He designed not only industrial buildings but also small electrical appliances, corporate identity, packaging, and advertising.
This 95-year-old Japanese artist features this gourd in many of her works.
What is a pumpkin?
Yayoi Kusama is known for her immersive installations, intricate paintings, and large-scale sculptures. Since 1946, pumpkins (known as kabocha in the artist’s native Japan) have featured regularly in her practice.
Contrary to the Swiss movement, this designer's expressive style involved fusing design and illustration in original and playful ways.
Who is Seymour Chwast?
Chwast is famous for his commercial artwork, which includes posters, food packaging, magazine covers, and publicity art. Often referred to as "the left-handed designer," Chwast's unique graphic design melded social commentary and a distinctive style of illustration which he refers to as his "Roxy Style".
This Adrian Frutiger designed typeface is known for its optical construction.
What is Avenir?
Frutiger intended Avenir to be a more organic, humanist interpretation of these highly geometric typefaces like Futura or Avant Garde.
Best known for the Terminal One station at LAX, she is the first African American to become a member of the AIA and has been heralded as the "Rosa Parks of architecture."
Who was Norma Merrick Sklarek?
Skalarek was the first African American woman to become a licensed architect in the state sof New York and California, the first African American woman member of the American Institute of Architects, and the first African American woman to be elevated to the AIA College of Fellows.
Once known as l'enfant terrible of design, this French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles
Who is Philippe Starck?
The French designer rose to pop hero status in the 1980s as the bad boy of design who flunked college, roared around Paris on his motorcycle, locked himself away for weeks to concentrate on generating his prolific outpouring of drawings, and tormented manufacturers by tweeking designs at the very last minute.
It's not a tribute to Alan Turing, a Bible reference, or a reflection on the idea that "simple can be harder than complex."
What is the Apple logo?
Rob Janoff has said that the logo doesn't have a symbolic meaning and that the bite was added for practical reasons so the apple wouldn't look like a cherry. Steve Jobs has also publicly expressed regret that there isn't a hidden meaning to the name, saying that he just really liked apples.
This designer needed only Futura, Helvetica, Bodoni, Times New Roman, and Century.
Who was Massimo Vignelli?
"In the new computer age, the proliferation of typefaces and type manipulations represents a new level of visual pollution threatening our culture. Out of thousands of typefaces, all we need are a few basic ones and trash the rest." -- Massimo Vignelli