Jan Tschichold
Jan Tschichold (1902-1974) was a book designer, teacher and writer and most importantly, in our case, a typographer. During the first stages of his life he believed and embraced Modernism and even created a book Die neue Typographie. Although, later on in his life he reverted back to more Classism and even went so far as to condemn Modernism and his book for being too authoritarian and inherently fascistic.
During the years 1947-1949 Tschichold lived in England, which is where he oversaw the redesign of 500 paperbacks published by Penguin Books. By doing so he left them with a standardized set of typographic rules, the Penguin Composition Rules. Even though he gave the books a more unified look and enforced a lot of the typographic practices the are mostly taken for granted today, he also allowed for the character of each work to take charge of its own look, with varying covers and title pages.
His pieces, even though done a while ago, are designs that are very visually engaging and impactful. His use of grid and color create a design that is very much a part of today's own design. His design inspires my own to take a step out of the box and use more complex grid systems.
Check out a biography here: retinart.net
I love Bauhaus designers, but have often thought of their work as design for designers so it is really cool to see Tschichold's work on something as widely distributed as penguin books. Though they have updated the design, his influence is still visible today.
ReplyDeleteTschihold's organized, clean design and pure typography are an inspiration to designer's everywhere. The Bauhaus' influence was crucial to modern design as we know it. And the consideration of the letterform is an design element is of great importance, which Bauhaus capitalized.
ReplyDeleteHis designs are amazing! I have never heard of Jan Tschichold or his works before just now, but I am now intrigued! I like how he was able to leave such a large and well know publishing company like Penguin Books with a new design guide! Now thats powerful!
ReplyDeleteWow, the first example is amazing. I love the way he employed perspective to balance his composition. It is an interesting approach when you think about it. Perspective lines are usually removed and are the outline for a final work. Yet he keeps his and it had an even better result in the end. These examples are great as well, and I feel like they have a modern approach with a retro style. Nice:)
ReplyDeleteBauhaus has got to be one of the most amazing typefaces ever, but people who can work with it are especially talented. Tschichold is a pioneer essentially for students like us, I bet a lot of the principles and things we just think we know, actually come from him. I like how he is able to combine ideas in a strategic way. The information is all there, but its still clean and simple.
ReplyDeleteI really like books that have interesting and eye catching covers. His combination of photography and design, make his works a lot more appealing to me. The constant theme for the penguin books is very simple yet it works very well. Thanks for introducing this designer.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I had never really heard of Jam Tschichold before, his designs are really powerful. Especially in the case of penguin book publishing. Although it has changed a little it is inspiring to see that he created such a strong design that withstands time and constant changes in style. I think it's important to try to create a design that will last, and his designs did that.
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