AdamsMorioka, Managing the Design Process by Terry Stone, book cover

There is a rather severe difference of opinion about using a cliché in the design world. I like them. They are clichés because we all understand them. As long as the idea is presented in an unexpected way, it’s all good with me. An arrow is cliché. “Oh, Sean,” I’ve heard, “Arrows are so 20th-century.” But, why be oblique and complicated when it is so easy to point someone in the right direction?

Arrows are wonderful because they are symbols that command. The viewer is not being asked, “Would you prefer to turn right, perhaps?” An arrow screams, “TURN RIGHT! TURN NOW!” How many other symbols can do that? Lester Beall introduced me to the wonderful world of arrows. Not, Lester, personally, but through Lou Danziger’s vast historical knowledge. At a time when design was racing faster toward more is more with less and less clarity, the arrow was a revelation. The zeitgeist of that time was , “make less with more.” I wanted to make more with less (follow me? More meaning, less stuff.). I could put an arrow on a poster next to a headline and the viewer would read this first. Who knew?

Unfortunately, arrows are a temptation. Like all wonderful things, too much is not good. Judicious usage is needed. As Groucho Marx said: “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.”

Mieczlaw Berman, collage, 1927

Herbert Bayer, sketch for a poster, 1923

Kurt Schwitters, Cover of Merz 11, 1924

Jan Tschichold, film poster Napoleon, 1927

Lester Beall, Poster for Rural Electrification Agency, 1937

Lester Beall, spread from PM magazine, 1937

Max Huber, poster for a race, 1948

Giovanni Pintori, poster for Olivetti, 1956

Paul Rand, poster, 1965

Shigeo Fukuda, poster for his work, 1971

Tadanoori Yokoo, poster for concert, 1963

Paul Rand, poster, 1948

Paul Rand, Cumins Annual Report, 1976

Chermayeff & Geismar, SeaTrain logo, 1960s

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Chermayeff and Geismar, Pan Am poster, 1971

The hardest thing to do as a designer is nothing. Not as in, “I’ll sit on the sofa and stare at the carpet.” What I am talking about here is the restraint to let something be what it is. One of the tenets of modernism is to be true to materials. Steel should look like steel. It shouldn’t be painted to simulate wood. The idea then is to let something be what it is.

The first thing I do as a designer is reach into my bag of tricks. I can put the image inside the typography, make a bright background, overprint a big yellow word, or create a grid of interesting colors. Fortunately, I move on to actually thinking and do something different (unless a big yellow word makes sense that day). Often, the subject matter is more than enough visual interest. Or it is complex conceptually and doesn’t need flying triangles to assist in the message.

When we worked on the reface of the Sundance Channel, we built a system that had one rule: use one typeface, Bob, in all caps, the same size, on a centerline horizon. Anything behind the type was fair game. This was a network about film and ideas, not graphic tricks. It worked great for about a year, and then someone got antsy and decided to add a colored box. Then the floodgates opened and the flying boxes and graphics ran back in.

When I look at Chermayeff and Geismar’s 1971 campaign for Pan Am, or Doyle Dane Bernbach’s 1964 campaign for Jamaica, I see how this restraint and faith in the subject works. Lou Danziger’s poster for UCLA Extension is genius in it’s obviousness and simplicity. It’s not easy to walk into a client’s office and say, “I don’t want to do anything. I just want to focus on the subject in the simplest way possible,” and then send an invoice. A great subject will always make a great solution, unless you get in the way.

Chermayeff and Geismar, Pan Am poster, 1971

Chermayeff and Geismar, Pan Am poster, 1971

Chermayeff and Geismar, Pan Am poster, 1971

Doyle Dane Bernbach, Jamaica Tourism Board ad, 1964

Doyle Dane Bernbach, Jamaica Tourism Board ad, 1964

Gan Hosaya, Yamaha poster, 1969

Ruedi Külling, Bic Pens ad, 1961

Paul Rand, IBM poster, 1982

William Golden, The Vice Presidency on CBS ad, 1950s

William Golden, The Vice Presidency on CBS ad, 1950s

Lou Danziger, UCLA Extension poster

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Chase Manhattan Bank signage, Chermeyeff & Geismar, 1961

This is a combo type nerd/sign nerd post; so if you hate type or signs, go no further. One of the challenges of working within ADA signage codes is the size. When code requires 1-inch tall letters, you tend to find condensed typefaces. Otherwise you can end up with a “Stairwell” sign that is several feet long. I was enormously jealous when I stumbled upon the Chermayeff & Geismar signage system for Chase Manhattan in 1961. The ability to use beautiful extended letterforms on signs is a luxury we no longer share. The forms are so incredibly sleek and sophisticated. The signs take advantage and exaggerate the horizontality. The incredibly long Directory is perfect in a world of black suits, white shirts, and thin ties. My favorite item, however, is the round Directory. It is like a satellite that has landed in an office lobby.

The period between 1960 and 1980, the sexual revolution, was a brief moment in the history of man when having sex did not lead to life threatening issues. So free love reigned. Do Tom and Ivan know how lucky they were to live in a time when “free-type” was the norm. This was a short period when it was safe to use light extended type when you felt the urge. I can imagine the horror on a client’s face if I presented a 15-foot directory with sleek long type. They would run screaming from the room, yelling, “Why? Why? Why so long?”

Chase Manhattan Bank signage, Chermeyeff & Geismar, 1961

Chase Manhattan Bank signage, Chermeyeff & Geismar, 1961

Chase Manhattan Bank signage, Chermeyeff & Geismar, 1961

Chase Manhattan Bank signage, Chermeyeff & Geismar, 1961

Chase Manhattan Bank signage, Chermeyeff & Geismar, 1961

Chase Manhattan Bank signage, Chermeyeff & Geismar, 1961

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