7 Midcentury Modern Graphic Designers You Should Know

We all know midcentury modern designers and architects like Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, George Nelson, and Richard Neutra, but what about the era’s graphic designers? My new book Graphic Icons: Visionaries Who Shaped Modern Graphic Design, profiles the field’s pioneers who pushed modernism during this time. Here are a few you should know:

1. Saul Bass

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Pioneered the art of film title design

Developed comprehensive ad campaigns for movies

Designed many well-known corporate identity programs

2. Herbert Matter

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Excelled at design, photography, and teaching

Broadened the use of photography in design

Experimented throughout his career

3. Alvin Lustig

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Designed groundbreaking book covers

Worked in multiple design disciplines

Took an intellectual approach to solving problems

4. Cipe Pineles

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Became the first female art director of a mass-market American magazine

Inducted into the New York Art Directors Club and elected to its Hall of Fame as the first woman

Hired fine artists to illustrate mainstream magazines

5. Erik Nitsche

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Designed iconic scientific posters

Understood that design could shape a company’s public image

Elevated the standard for nonfiction book design

6. Georg Olden

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Pioneered on-air television graphics

Became the first notable African American graphic designer

7. Josef Müller-Brockmann

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Advocated the use of the grid, sans serif type, and objective photography

Founded Neue Grafik to promote Swiss Style

Wrote the first comprehensive history of graphic design

John Clifford is the author of Graphic Icons: Visionaries Who Shaped Modern Graphic Design, and the creative director of NYC design firm Think Studio, focusing on identity, digital, publishing, and print design. He teaches graphic design history at Parsons School of Design.

excerpted from Graphic Icons: Visionaries Who Shaped Modern Graphic Design by John Clifford. Copyright © 2014. Used with permission of Pearson Education, Inc. and Peachpit Press.