Ideas from the History of Graphic Design

This condensed survey course focuses on four key periods or themes from the history of design. Together we’ll trace the emergence of design as a recognized practice, why things look the way they do, and how designers approached specific design problems in their work.

Each week, a short quiz will test your knowledge of concepts, and a short reflective assignment will give you the opportunity to analyze the questions designers ask themselves today.

This is an essential course for emerging designers entering the field, or for students interested in learning more about visual culture and analysis. No previous experience is required.

• Early Mass Marketing
• This week we are going to take a look at the effects of industrialization in the late 19th century, and how goods were produced, sold, and marketed.
• The Bauhaus
• This week, we'll look at how the work and teachings of The Bauhaus (1919-1933), and how design emerged as a recognized practice.
• Modernism in America
• Modernism in mid-century America through the eyes of four key designers.
• Graphic Design Radicalism
• Design practice in the late 1950s to early 1970s was new, radical and divergent. To show you just how varied it was, we’ll look at the work of four key players/movements.