Forms in Modernism: The Unity of Typography, Architecture and the Design Arts 1920s-1970s [Paperback]

Virginia Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

What do typefaces and buildings have in common? A great deal, according to typographic design expert, and former university professor, Virginia Smith. Smith believes that typography is the unifying discipline through which we can understand, analyze, and compare form in a wide range of visual media. This visually delightful book sets out to prove that point, by studying forms - shapes and their varieties and permutations - in all of the other design arts. The main focus is on architecture, but the book also looks at fashion, furniture, and common artifacts. Smith believes that there is a "visual landscape" of periods in design, where all of the visual arts treat form in similar ways. FORMS IN MODERNISM identifies some of these similarities - including striping, skewing, stretching, compressing, and elongating - across media. All of her examples appeared in the first half of the 20th Century, and lasted from early European modernism up through the American mid-century and the International Style. More than just a book designed to prove a thesis, FORMS IN MODERNISM provides an interesting visual journey through the styles of the first half of the last century.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Virginia Smith was a professor at Baruch College of the City University of New York from 1986 to 2003. While there, she developed the Graphic Design Department, writing all the courses for all levels from introductory to advanced.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Amphoto Books (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823056244
• ISBN-13: 978-0823056248
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,666,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolutely Stunning Book, October 11, 2005

By 

Elizabeth Smith Brownstein (Author of Lincoln's Other White House) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forms in Modernism: The Unity of Typography, Architecture and the Design Arts 1920s-1970s (Paperback)

I was attracted first to the cover, which is exceptionally stylish and elegant. Then I was intrigued by the subtitle, The Unity of Typography, Architecture, & the Design Arts. This seemed to me to imply that the book would be of interest, not only to specialists in each of those fields, but to anyone interested in the aesthetics of one's surroundings. The content lived up to expectations, melding fashion, furnishings, architecture, and graphic design in an original but approachable, beautifully organized whole. I recommend it highly.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fascinating history of visual forms, February 23, 2007

By 

Jane (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Forms in Modernism: The Unity of Typography, Architecture and the Design Arts 1920s-1970s (Paperback)

For anyone who is interested in comparative aesthetics, this book is an eye-opener. Showing and illustrating esthetic connections between typefaces and various designed objects, from architecture to clothing, the author points out developments and correlations in multiple areas of twentieth-century design. Typography is not an art in itself but part of a larger visual universe.

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent text, May 9, 2011

By 

Diana (Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Forms in Modernism: The Unity of Typography, Architecture and the Design Arts 1920s-1970s (Paperback)

Very useful and informative. Provides an excellent overview of the development of modernism in typography, architecture and the design arts and very effectively "identifies shared actions on form - including stripping, fragmenting , compressing, elongating, and more". I've found it a very useful text to refer some of my students to (English as a Second Language Students who are studying Design), as the language is quite accessible and the text is well supported by illustrations. For example, in one section titled "the New Spirit in Couture", Virginia Smith writes about Chanel's black wool jersey dress of 1926 (often called "The Dress of the Century"). She writes, "In one black dress it incorporates many principles of Modernism: the exclusion of ornament (stripping), freedom from tradition, and geometric simplicity and utility". This is very helpful for students, particularly when it comes to providing a model for a short visual analysis where the object/design is placed within the context of the Modernist movement. I've asked our library to order copies.