POP: How Graphic Design Shapes Popular Culture

298 Pages·2010·5.9 MB·English

by  Steven Heller

Pop
How Graphic Design Shapes
Popular Culture
By Steven Heller

© 2010 by Steven Heller All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal
Copyright Convention, and Pan American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
Published by Allworth Press
An imprint of Allworth Communications, Inc.
10 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010
14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design by James Victore
Interior design/page composition/typography by James Victore ISBN: 978-1-58115715-4
eBook ISBN: 978-1-58115-768-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heller, Steven.
Pop : how graphic design shapes popular culture / by Steven Heller.
p. cm.
“The essays in this book were written for various periodicals, Web site journals, and blogs, including Print
magazine, Eye magazine, Baseline magazine, Metropolis magazine, Grafik magazine, DesignObserver.com,
Voice: AIGA Journal of Design, and The New York Times T Magazine’s “The Moment” blog”--
Acknowledgments.
ISBN 978-1-58115715-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Art and society. 2. Graphic arts. 3. Popular culture. I. Title. II. Title: How graphic design shapes popular
culture.
N72.S6H392 2010
741.6--dc22
2010009935
Printed in the United States of America
Acknowledgments
This book would not be possible if not for the encouragement of Tad Crawford,
publisher of Allworth Press. His support spans over thirty books I’ve done for
and with Allworth. For this, and his generosity of spirit and humor, I am forever
grateful.
The essays in this book were written for various periodicals, Web site
journals, and blogs, including Print magazine, Eye magazine, Baseline
magazine, Metropolis magazine, Grafik magazine, DesignObserver.com, Voice:
AIGA Journal of Design, and the New York Times T Magazine’s “The Moment”
blog.
I’d like to thank the following editors for their continued support (and great
editing): Martin Fox and Joyce Rutter Kaye, Emily Gordon (formerly of Print),
James Gaddy (Print), John Walters (Eye), Hans Dieter Riechert (Baseline),
Martin Pedersen (Metropolis), Angharad Lewis (Grafik), William Drenttel,
Jessica Helfand, Michael Bierut, Julie Lasky and Jade-Snow Carroll
(DesignObserver), Sue Apfelbaum (Voice), and Pilar Viladas (T Magazine).
Also thanks to Sam Tanenhaus, Robert Harris, and David Kelly, my editors
at the New York Times Book Review.
I could not accomplish any of my goals if not for the support of my “family”
at The School of Visual Arts. First and foremost, Lita Talarico, co-chair of the
MFA Designer as Author program. Our work together has been an exceptional
experience. Much gratitude to David Rhodes, president, for his consistent
presence in my career, and Anthony Rhodes, executive vice president of SVA,
for his generosity. Also many tips of the hat to my other SVA collaborators,
Alice Twemlow (chair of MFA D-Crit), Liz Danzico (chair of MFA Interaction),
Debbie Millman (chair of MPS Branding), and Maro Chermayeff (chair of MFA
Social Documentary Film).
Thanks also to Esther Ro-Schofield and Matt Shapoff in the MFA Designer
as Author program.
Finally, but certainly never the least, love and respect to my wife, Louise Fili,
for the requisite putting up with my obsessions and inspiring me in the bargain.
And to my son Nick, the next great American filmmaker.
- Steven Heller
Table Of Contents
Introduction
Snap, Crackle, Pop!
Section One
What’s Cool, What’s Not
When It’s Cool to Say Cool
Curse of the “D” Word
The Decade of Dirty Design
Give a Hand to Hand Lettering
You’re Not Just a Designer Anymore … or Are You?
Section Two
Pop Icons
Design for Obama
Shepard Fairey Is Not a Crook
Father of Shrek, Grandfather of Tweet
When the One-Eyed Man Was King
A Snippet of Interview History
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Last Loving Parody of The First Family
The Design of Necromancy
A Kodak Moment
Take Me Out to the Old Yankee Stadium
Section Three
Design Literacy
Cult of the Squiggly
When Bad Things Happen to Good Logos
A Good Trademark: A Historical Perspective
Design Patois
The Return of Stencil Lettering
Velvet Touch Lettering Redux
Clipping Art, One Engraving at a Time
Berthold’s 1924 Hebrew Type Catalogue
First on Deco
The Missing Link: Graphic Design Trade Magazines and the Modern Avant
Garde
Better than Real: Graphic Design Facsimiles Steal the Stage
Illusionism Meet Dimensionalism
The Adtritus of Viral and Guerilla Advertising
Section Four
Beware!
Got Flu? The Art of H1N1 Posters
Japanese Face Masks
Névrivitamine, Sérifer, Hémoluol, and Pancriol
Hey Stinky, You’re Too Fat, and Your Skin’s Bad Too!
Topanga, We Hardly Knew Ya
The Sky Is Falling
Section Five
Art for Art’s Sake
SMS – Shit Must Stop: Art to Go, Sixties Style
Another Side of Ladislav Sutnar
The Arthur Szyk Renaissance
Why Does John Baeder Paint Diners?
Section Six
Intelligent Design
Who Owns Intelligent Design?
A Designer by Any Other Name. . .
How Not to Be Motivated
Section Seven
Art For the Masses
How Much Is That Artifact in the Window?
A Mass for Mass-Market Paperbacks
Confessions of a Book Catalogue Reader
Music Design: Think Small
Blue Q: Novelty Typecasting
Titling Home Movies, Mitten’s Way
Notgeld: The Design of Emergency Money
The Art and Craft of Grocery Signs
And the Trophy for the Most Generic Trophy Goes to . . .
Canned Laughter
Tracking the Street Measles
Section Eight
Nothing Sacred
You Mean, Not All Designers Are Liberal?
When Satire Was More than Funny
My First Taste of Political Satire
Once Upon a Time, There Was a Big Bad President
The Model President: George W. Bush Advertising Star
Where Have You Gone, R. Cobb?
Mad Music
Covering Weirdo [Magazine]
Introduction
Snap,
Crackle,
Pop!