Many people are familiar with modernist aesthetics in architecture, art, and product design. We recognize a moment of tremendous technological achievement in soaring glass towers or minimalist canvases that reinforced human beings' potential to modify their environment and to break, fundamentally, from the traditions or limits of the past. The distillation of modernism in graphic design is less well-known, but no less fascinating.
Jens Müller's groundbreaking TASCHEN publication brings together around 6,000 trademarks from 1940 to 1980 to analyze how modernist ideas and imperatives gave rise to corporate identity. The comprehensive examination, which includes media companies, retail giants, airlines, and art galleries, is divided into three design-focused chapters: Geometric, Effect, and Typographic. Each chapter is then broken into form and style-led sections like alphabet, overlay, dots, and squares.
Along with the extensive catalog, the book includes an introduction to the history of logos by Jens Müller and an article on modernism and graphic design by R. Roger Remington. There are also eight designer profiles and eight instructive case studies, including a deep look at the lives and works of luminaries like as Paul Rand, Yusaku Kamekura, and Anton Stankowski, as well as notable projects such as Fiat, The Daiei Inc., and the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games. Logo Modernism is an unmatched resource for graphic designers, advertisers, and branding specialists, as well as anybody interested in social, cultural, and corporate history, as well as the pure persuasive power of image and form.