Reading 3....Response

The Modern Movement in America

For starters this reading get extremely hard and complicated to read because 4 pages were missing but from what I did understand was that it spoke about the history of art and design around the war period in America leading up to the Bauhaus period. It spoke about different arts and art movements as well as design projects for example the Federal Art Project and the National Recovery Act.

- Modernist European design was not a major influence in America but around the 1930s this started to become the case.
- Lester Beall (1903-1969) was a self-taught artist and graphic designer who was a native of Kansas City but then originated to Chicago.
- After gaining much experience in the 1920's he broke the traditional American advertising layout.
- He worked on designs and masterpieces during the Depression era.
- Designs made it into an art museum

Migrants to America
- Cultural leaders from Europe who were mainly graphic designers migrated to the country of America
- Georg Salter (1897-1967) - was one of the more prominent book designers of the day.
- Two thirds of his commissions were actually book jackets and this ended up becoming his trademark.
- He was a modernist and focused mainly on calligraphy, photo montage, airbrush scenes, panoramic watercolours and pen/ink drawings.
- He died in 1967
- Erte was another illustrator and designer but from Paris. He worked during the art deco era and designers covers and fashion illustrations for Harper's Bazaar magazine.
- His work consisted of styled drawing such as a cubism approach, an exotic decorative-ness and a sophisticated fashion look.

The Works Progress Administration Poster Project
- The Federal Art Project - massive 'hit' and worked really well
- Many poster designs were created and over 2 million copies were printed of about 35 different designs.
- Influences included the Bauhaus, pictorial modernism and constructivism...this is how the modernist approach was created.

Fascism
 - Art movement
- Due to the rise of this movement in Europe it created one of the biggest transnational migrations of intellectual and creative talent.
- Will Burton - significant designer
- Was recognised as one of Germany's designers after he refused to work for the Nazi regime
- Skill included bringing together structural and symbolic formations
- Was extremely influential as he made a major contribute to the visual interpretation of graphic information.

Patron on Design 
- Major figure in the developmet of American modern design
- National Recovery Act - Federally funded organisations 
- During the war period - helped with the Depression period
- Trauma of the war disrupted many governments and this then moved onto the producing of propaganda.
- Painters, illustrators and designers were then hired by the government to produce graphics of war information.

After the war 
- George Giusti (Italian and Swiss decent) moved to New York City in 1938 to produce simplified and minimal essence designs.

Information and scientific graphics 
- Ladislav Sutnar - design director
- Information design - defined as a synthesis of function, flow and form
- Format included: signs, numbers and words.
- Underlining size and weights contrasts spacing and reversing
- The designer Herbert Bayer created an atlas called "World Geo-Graphic Atlas"
- America benefited greatly from the European migrants thoughts and ideas.