Icons of Graphic Design

by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić

Icons of Graphic Design presents a unique history of design documenting a century of creative brilliance - a showcase that illustrates how the best ideas perpetuate themselves over time, one great concept inspiring the next. Organized chronologically, examples are grouped in themes and include works from both famous and anonymous graphic artists throughout the century - from Toulouse Lautrec through Milton Glaser to Neville Brody and Art Chantry - that visually juxtapose each example to related designs from the past and future. Authors Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic illuminate their selections with revealing commentary on the graphic styles, devices and influences working together to reach new heights of effectiveness and originality.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Art Design

Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Steven Heller writes a monthly column on graphic design books for The New York Times Book Review and is co-chair of MFA Design at the School of Visual Arts. He has written more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century, Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design Second Edition, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, Graphic Design History, Citizen Designer, Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer, The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration, Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. He edits VOICE: The AIGA Online Journal of Graphic Design, and writes for Baseline, Design Observer, Eye, Grafik, I.D., Metropolis, Print, and Step. Steven is the recipient of the Art Directors Club Special Educators Award, the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the School of Visual Arts' Masters Series Award.

Reviews

[Emir · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book by Steven Heller and Mirko Ilić. Spans 208 pages and is entirely organized around reproductions. Starting from 1900 to 1999 editors picked a significant theme, style or mannerism such as "protest symbols," "flat color" "news overprint," "chaos principle," etc. and showed a significant piece of graphic design from that year. On the facing page are four more reproductions, two which came before the signature piece (presumably influenced it) and two which were produced after the signature piece (were influenced by it).

Although there is a huge number of reproductions, most of them are fairly small in size. I used this book for research on "Dada and Contemporary Graphic Design" paper, but ended up not using any references from it.

North Light Books, Cincinatti, OH, 2001.

[Tuuli Platner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book with some fascinating insights into graphic design. The book covers the common recurring themes, mechanics, fashions, traits, and quirks of graphic design over a century. The theory behind the book is to examine the shared visual language, its various dialects and the many contributions that have been applied over the past century.

[Jamil · Rating 2 out of 5]

if you're (over-) obsessed with graphic design comme moi, nothing revelatory. but as a general survey, it's nice & well illustrated, the spreads structured along lines of reference, quotation & influence, intentional and accidental.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite design books...very comprehensive and inspiring.