Chapter 20

World War II brought about many technological advances. People began to consume more and more and art became the means of making this occur. "good design is good business", was the motto for the graphic design community during the 1950s. Design became a way to convince customers of the reliability and quality of an object.

Even though visual symbols had been used for identification for centuries, the visual identification system of the 1950s took the ideas of the past even farther than simple trademarks and symbols. This began with designers putting their personal mark on the works they developed for clients. This started with Behrens at AEG with Olivetti Corporation.

The Columbia Broadcasting Stystem, otherwise known as CBS in New York City became a forerunner for the corporate identity system. This was mostly due to the president, Frank Stanton who realized that art and design had serious potential when it came to their business. He came up with the idea for a single typeface and overall design to be used in all aspects of the company.

The US government eventually began th Federal Design Improvement Program in the 1970s. This was due to the realization that design is an important tool for achieving goals. It was organized by the Architectural and Environmental Arts Program. All areas of federal design was upgraded due to this program.

Most Interesting:

What I found most interesting of this chapter was how the MTV logo was manipulated in Pat Gorman and Frank Olinsky's logo. It was called the "puzzle" logo and was assembled, dismantled, melted, shattered, but still was identified by the audience.