🔖 Can We Teach Graphic Design History Without the Cult of Hero Worship? (archive)
Graphic design history is often taught through styles, or iconic designers and not through the lens of society, culture or the audience of the work. The connect to technological, economic and political contexts is equally, if not more important.
- Tschichold responded to economic considerations by standardizing Penguin book covers
- Dadaist photomontage was used to protest World War I
- Modernists dreamt of universal communication after emerging from war-torn societies
We should stop perpetuating the idea that designers somehow act on culture from outside of it, and instead focus on the complex worlds in which they did their practice.