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This is a
three spread editorial. Its main influences are clearly evident, through the
use of red, white and black there is direct indication towards Constructivism.
There is also an element of Bauhaus through the use of block text and
photography placed within shapes. Tschicholds characteristics certainly stand
out through the use of clarity, order and legibility.
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Tschichold was a key German typographic advisor and
graphic designer in the 20th-century. Tschichold’s work left such a pronounced
impression upon the world of graphic design that it is impossible not to
comprehend what he achieved.
Tschichold’s entry into the world of
graphic design came from his father, who was a sign-writer by trade. This gave
his son an introduction to the world of lettering. An interest in calligraphy
formed, fuelled by his by his personal studies.
At the age of twenty-one Tschichold
attended his first Bauhaus exhibition and was immediately inspired by the
concepts and ideas of the Bauhaus and Russian Constructivists work.
‘Elementare Typographie’, was Tschicholds first entry
into the design world. He designed a twenty four-page insert show casing
asymmetrical typography to printers and designers. Each page was printed in red
and black and featured innovative modern work to which Tschichold ran clear
commentary beside.
In 1928 he moved to
Switzerland due to pressure from the Nazis and published a book called 'Die Neue
Typographie'. Disgusted with “degenerate typefaces and arrangements,” his
objective was functional design by the most straightforward means. In this book
he emphasizes the importance of asymmetry, sans serif type, reduction of form
in basic geometry, and the use of photographs and illustrations.
Tschichold impressively
presented how the modern-art movement could relate to graphic design. He did so
by combining his understanding of typography and its past with new experiments
that were applicable to the moment in time.
(A History of Graphic Design, 2012)
However in the 1940's
Tschichold started to question and even rejected the New Typography, as he saw
this to be too much associated with German Fascism. So he looked at the master
typographers of the past. He led an international revival of classical
typography re introducing serif but with more artistic expression.
Tschichold went on to redesign
all the Penguin Books publications in the late 40’s. He oversaw the redesign of
500 paperbacks, leaving them with a standardized set of typographic rules. He
moved to Switzerland for the last years of his life.
After World War II the
new topographic style principals were applied by Moholy Nagy and Herbert Bayer
in America and in Switzerland the style developed into the new style.
What’s so impressive
about Tschicholds works is that some things barely changed. If we had to look
at the new Penguin books, although the colours changed, the style is more or
less the same.
Just as seen in the
images, the layout of the cover has always been divided into three with a
design or photograph at the top, the main type in the center and the logo at
the bottom.
Tschicholds involvement
to typography shaped the future on how designers use and will continue to use
typography in graphic design.
Bibliography
5B4, 2009. Jan Tschichold Master Typographer: His Life,
Work and Legacy. [Online] Available at: http://5b4.blogspot.com/2009/01/jan-tschichold-master-typographer-his.html [Accessed 2 December 2014].
A History of Graphic
Design, 2012. Chapter 16 – The Bauhaus and the New Typography.
[Online] Available at: http://www.historyofgraphicdesign.weareswift.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Week-6-The-Bauhaus-and-the-New-Typography.pdf [Accessed 2 December 2014].
Airey, D., 2013. Graphic
Icons - Jan Tschichold. [Online] Available at: http://www.davidairey.com/graphic-icons-jan-tschichold/ [Accessed 2 December 2014].
DesignIsHistory,
2010. Jan Tschichold. [Online] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/jan-tschichold/ [Accessed 2 December 2014].
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