Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design [Hardcover]

Steven Heller (Author), Mirko Ilic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001

A chronological showcase of graphic art throughout the century -- from Toulouse Lautrec to Art Chantry. Each example is visually juxtaposed to related designs from the past and future.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891349375
• ISBN-13: 978-0891349372
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #890,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius Moves Beyond the Predictable, December 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design (Hardcover)

For almost a decade, New York Times art director Steven Heller has contributed a column to PRINT magazine called "Separated at Birth," inwhich he features twin-like pairs of otherwise unrelated designs. In 1993, he and Julie Lasky wrote an entire book on "appropriation" in design, titled Borrowed Design: Use and Abuse of Historical Form (Van Nostrand Reinhold). This book is in part an extension of that, in the sense that it unearths and juxtaposes examples of graphic design that seem to be indebted to earlier efforts in art and design. It is shown convincingly, for example, that the abstract crosses in the work of the Russian Constructivists were probably inspired by the clerical garb of Russian Orthodox priests in the 15th century; or that the famous pointing hand in James Montgomery Flagg's "I Want You For the U.S. Army" poster (1917) was anticipated by a ubiquitous advertising display for a drink called Moxie (1911) and a World War I recruiting poster (1914) in which Lord Kitchener (in a pose identical to that of Uncle Sam) "points a finger" at unenlisted British males. For good or bad, this book has very little text: Other than a brief paragraph that introduces each icon, its only commentary is a well-written opening essay. But it offers an almost unparalleled wealth of more than 500 full-color illustrations of historic examples of graphic design. -Roy Behrens, Ballast

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recurring themes and styles, April 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design (Hardcover)

This book illustrates the recurring ideas, themes, styles, and forms that graphic designers have used over the past century. It shows me that nothing is really new, but it takes a talented designer to make the old seem like never before.