Last week students studying in the field of graphic design were given the opportunity to learn from an expert about a progressive 20th century designer.
On Thursday, Feb. 20, visiting artist Richard Doubleday held a lecture on the renowned 20th century German graphic designer and typographer Jan Tschichold in the Contemporary Art Gallery. Doubleday, who is a graphic design professor at Louisiana State University, has written extensively on Tschichold, even publishing a book entitled “Jan Tschichold, Designer: The Penguin Years.”
Tschichold was the son of a sign painter and trained in classical art at the Leipzig Academy of Graphic Arts and Book Production, taking classes in calligraphy and design. When visiting the 1923 exhibition of the Bauhaus at Weimar, he was introduced to Modernist design, which rejected traditional fonts and symmetrical composition, instead embracing sans-serif typefaces, geometric construction and asymmetrical composition. Tschichold became one of Modernist design’s major advocates, and his writings and work helped spread the movement throughout the world.
After being arrested by the Nazi’s in 1933, Tschichold fled to Switzerland and started working more in Classical design, using more traditional typefaces and layouts, in part due to his belief that modernist design was too authoritarian and too closely related to fascism. He became a design consultant for the Hoffman-La Roche pharmaceutical company, and designed the Sabon typeface, which is still commonly used today. From 1947 to 1949, Tschichold was typographic designer for Penguin Books in London, redesigning over 500 title pages and putting typographic standards in place for future productions.
Tschichold had a long career in graphic design, and his work shows a clear evolution of artistic style. Richard Doubleday, as well as many of the students attending, seemed to prefer his earlier, Modernist work.
“I liked his earlier work. Right when he was really enthusiastic about the asymmetrical, simplistic forms,” said Sabra Wilson, a freshman graphic designer. “I realized my own work, before any of this, that’s how I tend to gravitate-towards the simplistic side. But I like the idea of a variety of inspirations, so that it’s not all shaded-like it’s all not one perspective. I can integrate his later classical ideas into my work… I like the idea of him evolving, and personally, I know I need to evolve in different ways myself.”
Despite the age of Tschichold’s work, attendees of the lecture felt that much of it held a timeless quality, still feeling fresh in modern society. Doubleday commented that he tries to emulate this quality in his own work, though it is not always possible.
“A lot of times with graphic design today, when we work for a client, we’re working with images. Images of course, that reflect today, 2014. When we look at that work 20 years from now, it’s going to feel dated,” said Doubleday, addressing the audience.
He shared the ways he achieves undated designs in his work. He attempts fresh looks that can last up to 100 years by being conscious while designing.
“I always try to think that way as a designer,” he added. “Sometimes it’s impossible to do. You’re working for a client, and certain constraints or limitations are placed on you.”
Doubleday expressed hopes that his lecture will help inspire students to start thinking about each person as a designer, looking at ways of finding what they are passionate about and what inspires them and using those things as resources for their own work.