Graphic Design: A New History [Hardcover]

Stephen J. Eskilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2007

This exciting new history of graphic design explores its evolution from the late 19th century to the present day. Organized chronologically, the book illuminates the dynamic relationship between design and manufacturing as well as the roles of technology, social change, and commercial forces on the course of design history. The layout of each chapter reflects the unique style of the period it describes, and some 450 illustrations throughout the volume provide a visual record of more than one hundred years of creative achievement in the field.
Under the influence of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement in the late 19th century, a new era began for design arts. Fueled by popular Art Nouveau advertising, the work of graphic designers became central in the growing consumer goods economy. This book traces the emergence of varied modernist design styles in the early 20th century and then examines the wartime politicization of regional styles through American government patronage and revolutionary Soviet ideas. Richly contextualized chapters chronicle the history of the Bauhaus and the rise of the International Style, followed by the postmodern movement of the 1970s and '80s. After highlighting recent developments in graphic design around the globe, the author discusses the impact of inexpensive, powerful design software and the challenges facing designers now.

(20071215)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eskilson’s user-friendly text has excellent coursebook potential for college-level classes in the history of graphic design. The book highlights and defines key terms, visually spotlights central information within chapters, and displays high-quality, detailed images throughout. Graphic Design: A New History will draw students in with exciting imagery and expand their knowledge with an engrossing narrative that presents an evolution of events unfolding as with any captivating plot."—Rebecca Klein Ganz, Savannah College of Art and Design

(Rebecca Klein Ganz 20080401)

“Graphic Design: A New History might well become a new standard in the field of critical graphic design history. A great strength of the book is the author’s attention to the relation of graphic design to larger social issues, especially the formation of national identity. Another is his facility in visual analysis and ability to elucidate the meanings embedded in the formal aspects of design and typography. The book effectively integrates graphic design history into contemporaneous aesthetic debates, and relates the work to fine arts, decorative arts, and architecture. The illustrations are remarkably good, extensive, and well printed. The text has at least a brief discussion of every piece illustrated, which makes it an excellent resource and provides students with a model of how to deal with design analytically. I would recommend this book for college-level history of graphic design courses, and as a general background text for a graduate-level introduction to the field.”—Ethan Robey, Parsons The New School for Design/Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

(Ethan Robey )

“Stephen Eskilson’s new book, Graphic Design: A New History, is a comprehensive, thorough, well-illustrated and up-to-date survey of graphic design history. Amassing almost 500 pages, along with hundreds of color images, Eskilson’s new book should most certainly share shelf space with Philip Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, which until now has really been the only complete history of this relatively young but ever more prevalent design field. Eskilson’s book presents visual examples and contextual descriptions of how print, advertising, and design evolved and responded to currents in mainstream social, cultural, and political affairs. Students should find the book accessible, readable, and full of necessary introductory information. This volume offers enormous amounts of useful facts and background, and without a doubt it would be an appropriate book for any student of graphic design.”—Lucinda Hitchcock, Rhode Island School of Design

(Lucinda Hitchcock )

"An excellent survey of graphic design from the late 19th- to the early 21st century, this book is well written, highly accessible, and demonstrates sound scholarly research. Although the main focus is on the 20th century (unlike Philip B. Meggs''s History of Graphic Design), this work compliments the prior with a much expanded contextual and historical framework. The author establishes connections to social, political, cultural, and technical developments that influenced the aesthetic outcome of graphic design work over time. The book is superbly illustrated in full color, which makes for a much better appreciation, understanding, and absorption of the topics discussed, and includes many lesser known samples from within the design discourse. Lastly, the text truly leads up to the most recent 21st-century developments in design, issues with which design students and professionals are currently grappling. Graphic Design: A New History is excellent for use with coursework in graphic design as well as other cultural studies classes, both at colleges and art schools.”—Henk van Assen, Yale University School of Art

(Henk van Assen )

“Stephen Eskilson has written an expansive new book on the history of modern graphic design. Rather than reconstruct the typical ''pyramids to Picasso'' chronology, he begins with a richly detailed and insightful summary of the later part of the 19th century and assembles a remarkably thorough review of art and communications from the avant-garde and the war years to the international style, post modern design, and digital media. Interspersed with examples of architecture, references to contemporary essays and journals, and both familiar and new illustrations, it is perhaps the most inclusive, thorough, and up-to-date assessment of design available. It will prove accessible to students, authoritative to professionals and educators, and will provide an excellent basis for a comprehensive understanding of essential developments in contemporary visual culture. This is one of the most comprehensive and detailed texts I have encountered and is essential reading for any student or designer studying the history of 20th century design.”—Doug Wadden, University of Washington

(Doug Wadden )

"What makes this history ''new'' is the author''s focus on the role that technology has played, for better or worse, in the evolution of design style."—Lisa Rossi, Wall Street Journal

(Lisa Rossi Wall Street Journal )

"[Eskilson] has done excellent work. . . . Anyone with a serious design library should consider acquiring Eskilson''s new history. It will serve as a reliable reference and a fruitful compendium of visual ideas."—Ellen Lupton, I.D. International Design Magazine

(Ellen Lupton I.D. International Design )

". . . . To awaken greater appreciation for both the creativity and the impact of this often-discounted art form, art historian Eskilson has created a uniquely comprehensive, discerning, and vital history. . . . Eye-opening on many levels."—Booklist

(Booklist )

About the Author

Stephen Eskilson is associate professor, Art Department, Eastern Illinois University. He is coauthor of Frames of Reference: Art History and the World and publishes frequently on contemporary art and design.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (October 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300120117
• ISBN-13: 978-0300120110
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Arts & Photography > Design & Decorative Arts > Graphic Design

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't wait till your professor assigns this book . . ., February 15, 2008

By 

Robert S. Petersen (Eastern Illinois University) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Graphic Design: A New History (Hardcover)

Eskilson's New History is a long overdue addition to textbooks on Graphic Design that before now have had to largely suffice with the sporadically updated Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Eloquent and illuminating, Eskison spans the modern age and then goes deep into contemporary design with a fine attention to the artistic and technical developments in the field. Eskilson pays special attention to the challenges and creative solutions that graphic designers have devised with valuable insights into the society that these designs were made for. Eskilson is especially effective in drawing out connections between graphic design and larger world events, such as: the growth of British World War I propaganda posters and their subsequent impact on the raw emotional power of propaganda design, the London Underground on popularizing Modernism, and motion graphics and the blurred boundaries of new digital technologies. One of the great strengths of this text over Meggs' text is the way Eskilson ably links innovations in Modern Art and Architecture with developments in Graphic Design. Too often the history of Graphic Design has been treated as a study that only concerns fellow designers and the interactions between Graphic Design and the Fine Art world have been given short shrift.

While Eskilson is chiefly interested in communicating the broad outlines of Graphic Design History for an undergraduate audience, to call this book a textbook is to do a great disservice to the extraordinary design layout, which can certainly hold its own against any other fine art book stacked up on your coffee table. Yale UP and Eskilson are to be praised for the gorgeous selection of large color reproductions. Don't wait till your professor assigns this book, buy this one just for the pleasure of enjoying a great read and a beautiful design.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Meggs., May 16, 2011

By 

Steven J Cox (Santa Ana, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Graphic Design: A New History (Hardcover)

I have read this text (cover to cover) for a History of Graphic Design class I teach. In the past, I have used the classic Meggs History of Graphic Design. I decided to try another text this semester, and I will be going back to Meggs next Spring. I found the higher number of images in Eskilson's book initially appealing, and from a quick scan of the text, it seemed fine. However, digging deeper into the text, I found that the price paid for all the pretty pictures was a less comprehensive text with some weird omissions.

Aside from skipping a significant amount of important territory in early design history (Guttenberg is in the "preface"? Really?), there were other inclusions and omissions that gave this text the feel of an editorial on design history, not a textbook. I don't care - or want to know - the personal design tastes of Eskilson. I don't want to know his political bent. I want to know the facts. Let my students and I evaluate the merits of a given design movement or designer.

The biggest omission (in my opinion) in this book was the complete absence of any work from David Carson. While we can argue the merits of his work, he was clearly a significant, important designer in the 90's. Much more than Tomato(!?) or Art Chantry. The text pertaining to Carson smells of personal distaste, not objective analysis. This, again, has no place in a history text. A book that is a series of critical essays on the history of design? Absolutely! But not a book claiming to be history, not opinion.

Others have mentioned the inaccuracies in the text, so I will leave it at was already said.

OK, one (of many) minor peeve: when writing about the psychedelic posters of the 60's, Eskilson refers to "Richard Griffin". A 5-minute scan online will show that the artists' name is Rick Griffin (I'm not talking about his birth certificate, but how he signed his work - all of it that I know of). Is this a big deal? No, but it communicates a lack of personal knowledge of the field - whether this is justified or not - that reduces the perceived credibility of the author. If I wrote a book on physics, and referred to "Al Einstein", I would not be taken seriously.

Enough. I'm done ranting. If you're really interested in the History of Graphic Design, get the Meggs book and expand out from there. I now view the Eskilson text as an additional resource, not a main reference source.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great textbook, January 26, 2009

By 

M. Harrison (Lake Stevens, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Graphic Design: A New History (Hardcover)

This is the text book for my History of Graphic Design course...the pictures are great and the text is easy to follow, interesting to read. I've enjoyed it so far.