New York School (updated)

Based on the research i have done the New York School emphasised mostly on the direct presentation of information and on the expression of ideas. 

Before and during World War 1, an influx of European designers to the United States from Europe gave rise to a wave of modern design. This influx had a great impact on American  design. The Europeans provided the Americans with first hand introduction the European avant-garde. New York was served a a cultural incubator in the middle of the 20th centuryPhilip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 390

The pioneers of the New York School were Paul Rand, Bradbury Tompson, Saul Bass, Cipes Pinele, Iven Chermayeff, Henry Wolf, George Lois, and Herb Labalin.

 Work by Bradbury Tompson 

Bradbury Tompson was one of the most influential designers of post war America. Tompson had a thorough knowledge of printing and typesetting and experimented with both great success this allowed him to expend the range of design  possibilities. 

For the spread on the left Tompson used large, bold, organic and geometric shapes to bring a graphic and symbolic power to the page. Letterforms and patterns were often enlarged and used as a design elements or to create visual patterns and movements and often over printed to create new colours. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 393

The image on the right is a spread from Westvaco inspirations 1958 by Bradbury Tompson the photograph of the saxophone player has a multiple exposure. The saxophone player is reversed from a black circle on the left then on the right it is over printed in primary colours. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

Tompson than turned to classic approach to book and editorial design focusing on the readability, formality, and old style typefaces. 

With this design on the right Tompson combined the text "Learning Never Ends" with homage to the square "GLOW" that was painted by Josef Alberts.  Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

Work by Saul Bass 

Saul Bass took a lot of inspirations from Paul Rand 

Paul Rand and Saul Bass both relied heavily on simplified shapes, but they were far more expressive that minimalist designs seen in constructivism. Bass cut out shapes by hand and assemble his design leaving uneven edges and corners which added a casual ability to forms. Bass's ability to evoke strong emotions from simplified forms is most apparent in the crooked arm from his work on the "Man with the Golden Arm"Biography | Saul Bass. 2014. Biography | Saul Bass. [ONLINE] Available at:http://thejoshparker.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/biography/. [Accessed 09 March 2014].

His work inspired many contemporary designs both in print and the film industry. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

Left billboard for Pabco paints early 1950. The proocess of painting is reduced to a multicoloured stripe, while happy customers are articulated by 3 simple marks. 

Bass had a remarkable ability to express design with images that became glyphs or elemental pictorial sins that exert great graphic power.  Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 394

For the above poster Bass created a pictograph of arm reaching and struggling for refle, conveying the violence and strife connected with the birth of the nation of Israel. Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.pg 395

References

Philip B. meggs. and Alston W. Purvis.eds., 2012. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Fifth Edition. Hoboken Canada: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.