History of Graphic Design - Pioneers of Modern Graphics and Industrial Design

Pioneers of Modern Graphics and Industrial Design

• In 1907, AEG (Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gessellschaft) retained Peter Behrens, a German architect and designer, as artistic consultant. He designed the entire corporate identity (logotype, product design, publicity, etc.) and for that he is considered the first industrial designer in history. He never became an employee of AEG, but worked as an artistic consultant.

• Paul Rand an American graphic designer, is best known for his corporate logo designs. His career began with a part-time position creating stock images for a syndicate that supplied graphics to various newspapers and magazines. Between his class assignments and his work, Rand was able to amass a fairly large portfolio, largely influenced by the German advertising style Sachplakat (object poster) as well as the works of Gustav Jensen.

Raymond Loewy was one of the best known industrial designers of the 20th century. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States. Among his many contributions were the Shell logo, the Greyhound bus, the S-1 locomotive, the Lucky Strike package, Coldspot refrigerators and the Studebaker Avanti. Loewy was first approached by the greyhound corporation to redesign its logo. The company's logo looked like a 'fat mongrel' he said. So, he created a slimmed-down version that is still used today.

William Golden is one of the pioneers of American graphic design. He was born in lower Manhattan, the youngest of twelve children. His only formal schooling was at the Vocational School for Boys, where he learned photoengraving and the basics of commercial design. In conjunction with the Didot typeface, Golden developed the famous CBS Eye logo. It has been suggested that the eye was inspired by an article in Alexey Brodovitch's Portfolio about the subject of Shaker design.