History

Steven Heller|Essays

When America Leaned Fascist

Steven Heller explores graphic design’s role in early 20th century social-political interventions in America.

Lilly Smith|Interviews

Chain Letters: Elysia Borowy-Reeder

“Information is everywhere now. We need educated, well-versed curators to make sense of it.”

Lilly Smith|Interviews

Chain Letters: Alexander Tochilovsky

"Reading the imprint of past choices can teach us a lot about how to be a designer today."

Steven Heller|Essays

Swastika v. Hammer and Sickle: An Odd Logo Competition

Why is one the symbol of hate while the other is virtually benign?

Lilly Smith|Interviews

Chain Letters: Sean Adams

The point regarding design history is about documentation. If the work is not documented and disseminated, it disappears.

Steven Heller|Essays

Notgeld: Emergency Money in Inflationary Germany

A look at the exemplary artistic quality of emergency substitute paper money created in Germany after WWI.

Steven Heller|Essays

Benjamin Sherbow: The First Typographer?

Steven Heller brings us the story of Benjamin Sherbow, who revolutionized typography in the early 20th century.

Steven Heller|Essays

Should A Designer Be Judged By Ideology?

Should designers and illustrators be judged harshly for choosing to make art on the wrong side of history?

Justine Jablonska|Essays

A Peek Into Poster House

Ten posters from the Poster House collection, selected by Chief Curator Angelina Lippert.

Andre Barnet|Books

The Age of Wreckers and Exterminators

For many people, the sudden appearance of Carson’s and Jacobs’s brilliant and prescient books was one of those moments that seem, in retrospect, to have changed the very order of things.

Steven Heller|Essays

Happiness of Chalk Talk

“Drawn lines are simple things in themselves, yet what power of expression in a few of them appropriately combined!”

Steven Heller|Essays

Cleaning Up Sanitation

The story of New York City’s Sanitation Department, the vanilla trucks, and the lower case Helvetica.