Public Programs And Events

AIGA AT PARSONS LECTURE SERIES PRESENTS:

Modernism transformed American graphic design in the mid-twentieth century and established a visual language that still carries tremendous authority. The Moderns: Midcentury American Graphic Design by Steven Heller and Greg D’Onofrio (Abrams Books, 2017) is the first comprehensive survey of this phenomenon, showcasing sixty-three graphic designers. Some were émigrés (including five Bauhaus students and faculty) who brought the gospel of Modernism to America from its sources in Europe. Others were homegrown talents who encountered Modernism in schools and studios at home and abroad. They formed a multigenerational community, learning from one another, and forging individual practices through engagement with the esthetics of the movement.

The Moderns focuses on the principals and disciples who continued the Modern legacy in the design capitals of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles from around 1937 with the founding of the New Bauhaus to 1970, the height of the International Typographic Style. Like Modernism itself, the designers included had varying methods yet were bound by governing principles of function, clarity, and simplicity. Some of these designers are well-known, others are celebrated in this volume for the first time.

Introduction by Debbie Millman.

This evening includes a talk by the authors and panel with some of the designers and a book signing.

Learn more about the event's speakers here!

Presented by AIGA and Parsons School of Art, Media, and Technology.