An independent library Washington, DC

Design, returned to its depths.

Design began as a way of making meaning visible. This library holds readings, annotations, and courses on meaning-making and designing for meaning, read through psychology, mythology, theology, and the history of the craft.

TryC. G. JungM. C. EscherBrand infrastructure

Start readingThe catalogAbout Meaning Layer

18 shown of 13,310 held, from 47 collectionsThe pictures

Meaning Layer

1

The house serial. Each number is one work given the full apparatus — read, listened to, annotated, and printed from one source.

The symbol and the sacred

4

Where meaning outranks mechanism: depth psychology reading the symbol, and the holy read on its own terms.

Design as argument

2

The claim that how a thing is made is a moral statement. Ruskin makes it; Morris takes it to the workshop.

Polemics

4

Public argument at full strength: theses, open letters, and the machinery of persuasion, four centuries apart.

Edward L. Bernays

Propaganda

The ad age's founding confession — the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses, explained cheerfully as a profession, by Freud's nephew.

448 passages1928

Read

The lessons

1

A walk through the library with the reason for each step written down.

Start here The symbol and the sacred. Every step opens, it begins with a book, and each picture in it is joined to its passage by an editor.

  1. The symbol and the sacredFour books and three pictures, in the order that builds the argument. Depth psychology learns to read the symbol, then runs into something it cannot file.8 steps

Readings

1

The pictures

13,310 works

A picture is here because of a passage. Where an editor has read one against the other, the picture stands in its subject beside every hand that took the same subject; the rest of the holding is shelved by era and by collection until a subject is found. Everything is public domain by the holding institution's own account, from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (9965), The Art Institute of Chicago (849), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (772), Cleveland Museum of Art (648) and 43 more collections. The whole index.

The Binding of IsaacGenesis 22:1-19

32 hands · 1492–1754

And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.Genesis 22:10

  1. Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea Mantegna1492Andrea Mantegna
  2. Sacrifice of Isaac, Raphael1511Raphael
  3. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Mariotto Albertinelli1511Mariotto Albertinelli
  4. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Antonio di Donnino di Domenico del Mazziere1525Antonio di Donnino di Domenico del Mazziere
  5. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Brunswick Monogrammist1525Brunswick Monogrammist
  6. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea del Sarto1527Andrea del Sarto
  7. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea del Sarto1527Andrea del Sarto
  8. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea del Sarto1528Andrea del Sarto
  9. Sacrifice of Isaac, Lucas Cranach the Elder1530Lucas Cranach the Elder
  10. Wooded landscape with the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22), Abraham Govaerts1607Abraham GovaertsThe connection
  11. +22more hands on the subject

Wooded landscape with the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22)Abraham Govaerts1607

The Netherlandish landscape tradition takes Genesis 22 as its nominal subject and then gives almost the whole panel to trees and weather. Where the sacrifice sits in the picture — small, far off, easy to miss — is itself a reading of it.

Connected by the editor

David and Bathsheba2 Kings 11:1-27

1 hand · 1643

And it came to pass at the return of the year, at the time when kings…2 Kings 11:1

  1. The Toilet of Bathsheba, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)1643Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)

Esther's banquets, and Mordecai's triumphEsther 5:5

1 hand · 1731

And the king said forthwith: Call ye Aman quickly, that he may obey Esther’s will. So…Esther 5:5

  1. The Triumph of Mordecai, Jean François de Troyca. 1736Jean François de Troy

The six days of creationGenesis 1:3-25

1 hand · 1445

And God said: Be light made. And light was made.Genesis 1:3

  1. The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia)1445Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia)

Creation of man; the Garden of EdenGenesis 1:26

1 hand · 1495

And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have…Genesis 1:26

  1. The Garden of Paradise, Workshop of Hieronymus Boschc. 1500–c. 1520Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch

Temptation and FallGenesis 3:1-7

4 hands · 1495–1504

Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the…Genesis 3:1

  1. The Garden of Paradise, Workshop of Hieronymus Boschc. 1500–c. 1520Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch
  2. Adam and Eve, Albrecht Dürer1504Albrecht Dürer
  3. Adam and Eve, Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)1504Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)
  4. Adam and Eve, Albrecht Dürer1504Albrecht Dürer

Expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradiseGenesis 3:22-24

2 hands · 1445–1495

And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now,…Genesis 3:22

  1. The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia)1445Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia)
  2. The Garden of Paradise, Workshop of Hieronymus Boschc. 1500–c. 1520Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch

Pilate showing Christ to the people, 'Ostentatio Christi', 'Ecce Homo'John 19:4-6

1 hand · 1530

Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them: Behold, I bring him forth unto you,…John 19:4

  1. Christ Crowned with Thorns (Ecce Homo), and the Mourning Virgin (Mater Dolorosa), Adriaen Isenbrantca. 1530–40Adriaen Isenbrant

Story of Samson and DelilahJudges 16:4-21

3 hands · 1528–1615

After this he loved a woman, who dwelt in the valley of Sorec, and she was…Judges 16:4

  1. Samson and Delilah, Lucas Cranach the Elderca. 1528–30Lucas Cranach the Elder
  2. The Capture of Samson, Peter Paul Rubens1609–10Peter Paul Rubens
  3. Samson and Delilah, Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch, 1590–1656)c. 1616Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch, 1590–1656)

The AnnunciationLuke 1:26-38

10 hands · 1177–1887

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of…Luke 1:26

  1. Relief with the Annunciation, Unknownca. 1180–1200Unknown
  2. Shrine of the Virgin, Unknownca. 1300Unknown
  3. The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, Queen of France, Jean Pucelleca. 1324–28Jean Pucelle
  4. Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece), Robert Campinca. 1427–32Robert Campin
  5. The Annunciation, Albert Bouts (Netherlandish, 1451/55–1549)c. 1480Albert Bouts (Netherlandish, 1451/55–1549)
  6. The Annunciation, Hans Memling1480–89Hans Memling
  7. The Annunciation, Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi)ca. 1490Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi)
  8. Christ Is Born as Man's Redeemer (Episode from the Story of the Redemption of Man), Unknown1500–1520Unknown
  9. Annunciation, Niccolò Roccatagliataearly 17th centuryNiccolò Roccatagliata
  10. The Annunciation, George Hitchcock1887George Hitchcock

Story of the birth of ChristLuke 2:1-20

9 hands · 1300–1612

And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar…Luke 2:1

  1. Shrine of the Virgin, Unknownca. 1300Unknown
  2. The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, Queen of France, Jean Pucelleca. 1324–28Jean Pucelle
  3. Crib of the Infant Jesus, Unknown15th centuryUnknown
  4. The Nativity, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)ca. 1406–10Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
  5. The Adoration of the Shepherds, Andrea Mantegnashortly after 1450Andrea Mantegna
  6. Christ Is Born as Man's Redeemer (Episode from the Story of the Redemption of Man), Unknown1500–1520Unknown
  7. The Nativity, Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)c. 1502–3Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)
  8. The Adoration of the Shepherds, El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)ca. 1605–10El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
  9. The Adoration of the Shepherds, El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) and Workshopca. 1612–14El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) and Workshop

Presentation of the Christ-child in the temple, usually Simeon (and Anna) presentLuke 2:22-39

1 hand · 1504

And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they…Luke 2:22

  1. The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)c. 1504–1505Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)

The Adoration of the MagiMatthew 2:1-12

7 hands · 1300–1472

When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold,…Matthew 2:1

  1. Shrine of the Virgin, Unknownca. 1300Unknown
  2. The Adoration of the Magi, Giotto di Bondonepossibly ca. 1320Giotto di Bondone
  3. The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, Queen of France, Jean Pucelleca. 1324–28Jean Pucelle
  4. The Adoration of the Magi, Bartolo di Fredica. 1390Bartolo di Fredi
  5. Adoration of the Magi from Seven Scenes from the Life of Christ, Unknownca. 1390Unknown
  6. Crib of the Infant Jesus, Unknown15th centuryUnknown
  7. The Adoration of the Magi, Joos van Wassenhove1472–74Joos van Wassenhove

The massacre of the innocents and the flight into EgyptMatthew 2:13-23

2 hands · 1470–1503

And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph,…Matthew 2:13

  1. The Flight into Egypt, Cosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura)1470sCosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura)
  2. The Flight into Egypt, Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)c. 1503–5Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)

Story of John the BaptistMatthew 3:1-17

1 hand · 1641

And in those days cometh John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea.Matthew 3:1

  1. The Baptism of Christ, Nicolas Poussin1641/1642Nicolas Poussin

Last Supper (in general)Matthew 26:21-35

4 hands · 1320–1634

And whilst they were eating, he said: Amen I say to you, that one of you…Matthew 26:21

  1. The Last Supper, Ugolino da Siena (Ugolino di Nerio)ca. 1325Ugolino da Siena (Ugolino di Nerio)
  2. The Last Supper, Bernard van Orleyca. 1525–28Bernard van Orley
  3. The Last Supper, Fra Damiano da Bergamo (Damiano di Antoniolo de Zambelli)1548Fra Damiano da Bergamo (Damiano di Antoniolo de Zambelli)
  4. The Last Supper, after Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)1634–35Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)

Institution of the Eucharist, i.e. Christ showing or blessing bread (host) and/or wineMatthew 26:26-27

1 hand · 1719

And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to…Matthew 26:26

  1. Sketch for 'The Last Supper,' St. Mary's, Weymouth, Sir James Thornhillbetween 1719 and 1720Sir James Thornhill

The Agony in the GardenMatthew 26:36-56

3 hands · 1390–1626

Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani; and he said…Matthew 26:36

  1. The Agony in the Garden, Unknownca. 1390Unknown
  2. The Agony in the Garden, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)ca. 1504Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
  3. The Agony in the Garden, Nicolas Poussin1626–27Nicolas Poussin

Story of the denial of PeterMatthew 26:58

2 hands · 1610–1624

And Peter followed him afar off, even to the court of the high priest. And going…Matthew 26:58

  1. The Denial of Saint Peter, Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi)1610Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi)
  2. The Denial of Peter, Peter Wtewael (Dutch, 1596–1660)c. 1624–28Peter Wtewael (Dutch, 1596–1660)

From Pilate's palace to Golgotha: the procession to CalvaryMatthew 27:31-33

2 hands · 1489–1505

And after they had mocked him, they took off the cloak from him, and put on…Matthew 27:31

  1. Christ Bearing the Cross, Nicolaos Tzafouris1489Nicolaos Tzafouris
  2. Christ Carrying the Cross, Hans Malerc. 1510Hans Maler

The crucifixion of Christ: Christ's death on the cross; GolgothaMatthew 27:45-58

2 hands · 1436–1627

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour.Matthew 27:45

  1. The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment, Jan van Eyckca. 1436–38Jan van Eyck
  2. The Crucifixion, Francisco de Zurbarán1627Francisco de Zurbarán

From Christ's deposition to his entombmentMatthew 27:58-66

7 hands · 1324–1780

He went to Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body…Matthew 27:58

  1. The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, Queen of France, Jean Pucelleca. 1324–28Jean Pucelle
  2. The Lamentation of Christ, Simon Marmionca. 1473Simon Marmion
  3. Altar Frontal with the Lamentation, Cosimo Tura (Italian, c. 1430–1495); Rubinetto de Francia (Italian, active 1457–1483)c. 1474Cosimo Tura (Italian, c. 1430–1495); Rubinetto de Francia (Italian, active 1457–1483)
  4. The Entombment, Moretto da Brescia (Alessandro Bonvicino)1554Moretto da Brescia (Alessandro Bonvicino)
  5. The Lamentation, Ludovico Carraccica. 1582Ludovico Carracci
  6. Lamentation, Claude Mellan1683Claude Mellan
  7. Study of the Lamentation on the Dead Christ, Benjamin Westca. 1785Benjamin West

Antiquity to 1400

351
Marble female figure, Bastis Master
Marble female figureBastis Master2600–2400 BCEMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Statuette of a Female Figure, Ancient Greek
Statuette of a Female FigureAncient GreekEarly Bronze Age, 2600–2400 BCEThe Art Institute of Chicago
Relief Fragment with a Ship Under Sail, Unknown
Relief Fragment with a Ship Under SailUnknownca. 2465–2458 BCEMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Tomb Chapel of Raemkai: South Wall, Unknown
Tomb Chapel of Raemkai: South WallUnknownca. 2446–2389 BCEMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
West wall of the chapel of the mastaba Kaemsenu with niches for Iretnub, Kaemsenu and Werdjedptah, Unknown
West wall of the chapel of the mastaba Kaemsenu with niches for Iretnub, Kaemsenu and WerdjedptahUnknownca. 2420–2250 BCEMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Relief of Nyankhnesut Seated, Unknown
Relief of Nyankhnesut SeatedUnknownc. 2311–2281 BCECleveland Museum of Art
Design amulet, Cow and Calf on the Back, Device showing Antithetical Falcons Flanking an Ankh Sign over a Crouching Lion, Unknown
Design amulet, Cow and Calf on the Back, Device showing Antithetical Falcons Flanking an Ankh Sign over a Crouching LionUnknownca. 2150–2100 B.C.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Design Amulet, Pyramidal Back with Horizontal Piercing, Device showing Two Falcons Flanking what is meant to be an Ankh Sign, Unknown
Design Amulet, Pyramidal Back with Horizontal Piercing, Device showing Two Falcons Flanking what is meant to be an Ankh SignUnknownca. 2150–2010 B.C.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Design Amulet, Cow Nursing Calf and also a Kneeling Suckling Man Visible on Opposite Side on the Back, Device showing Antithetical Falcons with an Ankh Sign over a Lion, Unknown
Design Amulet, Cow Nursing Calf and also a Kneeling Suckling Man Visible on Opposite Side on the Back, Device showing Antithetical Falcons with an Ankh Sign over a LionUnknownca. 2150–2100 B.C.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Design Amulet, Back in the Form of a Woman Suckling a Child, Device showing Two Lizards Head-to-tail, Unknown
Design Amulet, Back in the Form of a Woman Suckling a Child, Device showing Two Lizards Head-to-tailUnknownca. 2100–2080 B.C.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

1400 to 1800

4109
Armenian Manuscript Bifolium, Illuminator Minas (?)
Armenian Manuscript BifoliumIlluminator Minas (?)15th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Fork, Unknown
ForkUnknown15th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Leaf from an Antiphonary: Coronation of the Virgin, Master of the Beffi Triptych (Italian, active 1390–1425)
Leaf from an Antiphonary: Coronation of the VirginMaster of the Beffi Triptych (Italian, active 1390–1425)1400sCleveland Museum of Art
Wine Cask with Stamped Floral Decoration, Unknown
Wine Cask with Stamped Floral DecorationUnknown1400sCleveland Museum of Art
Cabinet frontal with panels from two Embriachi caskets, Baldassare degli Embriachi
Cabinet frontal with panels from two Embriachi casketsBaldassare degli Embriachica. 1400–1409Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Textile, Unknown
TextileUnknown1400–1600Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Head of Xilonen, the Goddess of Young Maize, Mexica (Aztec)
Head of Xilonen, the Goddess of Young MaizeMexica (Aztec)1400–1500The Art Institute of Chicago
Crib of the Infant Jesus, Unknown
Crib of the Infant JesusUnknown15th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
["A warning to usurers" - man showing open book to usurers seated around table. 15th Century?], Unknown
["A warning to usurers" - man showing open book to usurers seated around table. 15th Century?]Unknown[15th century?]Library of Congress
The Annunciation, Schongauer, Martin, active 15th century, artist
The AnnunciationSchongauer, Martin, active 15th century, artist[14--]Library of Congress

1800 to now

5260
Martin Vanden Bogaert Desjardins, Gérard Edelinck
Martin Vanden Bogaert DesjardinsGérard Edelinckn.d.The Art Institute of Chicago
Woodblock, Unknown
WoodblockUnknown19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Woodblock, Unknown
WoodblockUnknown19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Woodblock, Unknown
WoodblockUnknown19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Woodblock, Unknown
WoodblockUnknown19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Woodblock, Unknown
WoodblockUnknown19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Woodblock, Unknown
WoodblockUnknown19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Narcisa Barañano Gayoso de Goicoechea, Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
Narcisa Barañano Gayoso de GoicoecheaGoya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)ca. 1805Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Antonio Berini
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)Antonio Beriniearly 19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Michelangelo, Friedrich Beer
MichelangeloFriedrich Beer19th centuryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Design research

10478
Vessel with Abstract Feline Mask and Bird-Head Spout, Paracas
Vessel with Abstract Feline Mask and Bird-Head SpoutParacas650–150 BCEThe Art Institute of Chicago
Negative-Painted Spotted Vessel with Bird-Head Spout, Paracas
Negative-Painted Spotted Vessel with Bird-Head SpoutParacas650–150 BCEThe Art Institute of Chicago
Polychrome Bowl with Geometric Designs and Face in Relief on Shoulder, Chupícuaro
Polychrome Bowl with Geometric Designs and Face in Relief on ShoulderChupícuaroc. 400 BCEThe Art Institute of Chicago
Black-Figure Nikosthenic Amphora (Storage Vessel): Dancing Youths; Sphinxes and Lions; Satyrs and Maenads, Nikosthenes (Greek, Attic, active c. 545–510 BCE); Painter N, Thiasos Group (Greek, c. 530–510 BC)
Black-Figure Nikosthenic Amphora (Storage Vessel): Dancing Youths; Sphinxes and Lions; Satyrs and MaenadsNikosthenes (Greek, Attic, active c. 545–510 BCE); Painter N, Thiasos Group (Greek, c. 530–510 BC)c. 530–510 BCECleveland Museum of Art
Black-Figure Dinos (Mixing Vessel): Warships (Int.); Heroic Scenes (Top), Antimenes Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 530–510 BCE)
Black-Figure Dinos (Mixing Vessel): Warships (Int.); Heroic Scenes (Top)Antimenes Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 530–510 BCE)c. 520–515 BCECleveland Museum of Art
White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Atalanta and Erotes, Douris (Greek, Attic, active c. 500–470 BCE)
White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Atalanta and ErotesDouris (Greek, Attic, active c. 500–470 BCE)c. 500–490 BCECleveland Museum of Art
Black-Figure White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena between Cocks and Hieropoioi (Officials), Athena Painter (Greek, c. 500–475 BCE)
Black-Figure White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena between Cocks and Hieropoioi (Officials)Athena Painter (Greek, c. 500–475 BCE)500–485 BCECleveland Museum of Art
Standing Female Holding a Child in Her Arms, Chupícuaro
Standing Female Holding a Child in Her ArmsChupícuaro500–300 BCEThe Art Institute of Chicago
Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena Slaying Giant (body); Satyr between Maenads (shoulder), Berlin Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 505–460 BC); Painter of Goluchow 37 (Greek, Attic, active c. 490–460 BC)
Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena Slaying Giant (body); Satyr between Maenads (shoulder)Berlin Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 505–460 BC); Painter of Goluchow 37 (Greek, Attic, active c. 490–460 BC)c. 490 BCECleveland Museum of Art
Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Warrior Cutting Hair, Oionokles Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 480–460 BCE)
Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Warrior Cutting HairOionokles Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 480–460 BCE)c. 480–470 BCECleveland Museum of Art

The stacks

105 held

Pulled down and ledgered, not yet set. Every file below lives on the library host with its rights recorded; an edition is what a holding becomes once the house sets it.

Hermeneutics

10

The art of reading itself: what a text can mean, and by what right a reader says so.

Semiotics and the machine

10

Signs, logic, and the notations that taught machines to read: Peirce to Boole to Babbage.

The eye and the craft

72

What the art courses read from: seeing, making, and the argument between them.

Cited, not held

113 cited

Work the library points at rather than owns. Open collections release almost nothing published after 1930, and most of what design argues about came after, so these rows carry the record and the link and leave the copy where it belongs.

The magazines that fought about legibility

15

Where it was conducted, issue by issue, in public. Held by their publishers, not by us.

1934

Harpers Bazaar art direction

Alexey Brodovitchperiodical run

Twenty four years of spreads that treated the page turn as the unit. The origin of modern art direction.

Held by MoMA

1947

Seventeen, Charm and Mademoiselle art direction

Cipe Pinelesperiodical run

First woman admitted to the Art Directors Club. She commissioned fine artists to illustrate magazines aimed at teenage girls, which was an argument about who deserves serious work.

Held by Cooper Hewitt and the Pineles estate

1959

Twen

Willy Fleckhausperiodical run

A twelve column grid used with almost violent scale contrast. Still the most copied magazine nobody has read.

Held by Die Neue Sammlung

1963

Harpers Bazaar art direction

Ruth Anselperiodical run

Co-directed Bazaar at 26. Pairs with Brodovitch to show what changed and what did not.

Held by Cooper Hewitt

1967

The Black Panther newspaper

Emory Douglasperiodical run

A weekly paper as an organizing tool. The clearest case in the course of design doing political work with no budget.

Held by MoMA and the Oakland Museum

1978

Time magazine explanatory graphics

Nigel Holmesperiodical run

The opposite pole from Tufte: illustration used to make a number stick. Teach them together and let the class fight.

Held by Nigel Holmes and Print archive

1981

The Face

Neville Brodyperiodical run

Brody built a new masthead almost every issue, which made the magazine identity an ongoing act rather than a fixed mark.

Held by the V&A, which collects his work

1984

Emigre (issues 1 to 69)

Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Lickoperiodical run

The magazine where the typography carried the editorial position instead of serving it. Licko drew the faces, VanderLans set the pages, and the two jobs stopped being separate. Back issues are sold by Emigre directly.

Held by Emigre Inc.

1986

Does It Make Sense?

April Greimanperiodical run

An entire issue as one digital image, made when that was barely possible.

Held by Design Quarterly and Walker Art Center

1987

Black Designers: Missing in Action

Cheryl D. Millermagazine

The essay that named the absence. Assign it alongside the canon, not after it.

Held by Print Magazine archive

1990

Eye

Rick Poynor, founding editorperiodical run

Where design criticism actually happens. Useful for teaching students to write about work, not just make it.

Held by Eye Magazine

1991

Colors

Tibor Kalman and Oliviero Toscaniperiodical run

A Benetton-funded magazine that spent the budget on race, AIDS, and war. Good for the ethics unit: who paid, and what did they get.

Held by Benetton Group, which published it

1991

FUSE

Neville Brody and Jon Wozencroftperiodical run

Typefaces published as experiments, four to an issue with a poster each. Nobody was expected to set text in them.

Held by Taschen (collected edition)

1992

Ray Gun (1992 to 2000)

David Carson, editor Marvin Scott Jarrettperiodical run

The test case for whether legibility is the same thing as communication. Carson set an interview in a symbol font. Useful in class precisely because students disagree about it.

Held by Ray Gun Publishing and private collections

Identity as a system

17

Marks, programs and the manuals that made them repeatable. The deliverable is the system, not the logo.

1956

IBM logo and design program

Paul Randidentity

The case that a mark is the smallest part of an identity. The program, not the logo, is the deliverable.

Held by IBM

1957

Chermayeff and Geismar identity work

Chermayeff and Geismar and Havividentity

Decades of marks from one office, which lets students compare a house method against changing fashion.

Held by Chermayeff and Geismar and Haviv

1958

Brazilian corporate identity programs

Alexandre Wollneridentity

Ulm method applied in Sao Paulo. Good for asking what travels and what does not.

Held by Museu da Casa Brasileira and Lars Muller

1960

Westinghouse identity

Paul Randidentity

Shows Rand solving the same problem twice in different registers, which makes the reasoning visible.

Held by IBM and AIGA Design Archives

1966

Sea Ranch supergraphics

Barbara Stauffacher Solomonsignage

Swiss training turned loose on architecture at full wall scale.

Held by SFMOMA

1967

American Airlines identity

Massimo Vignelliidentity

Survived almost fifty years untouched, which is what restraint buys.

Held by Vignelli Center for Design Studies

1968

Mexico 1968 Olympic identity

Lance Wymanidentity

Op art, Huichol pattern and the Games logotype fused into one system that ran the whole city.

Held by Cooper Hewitt

1972

New York City Subway diagram

Massimo Vignelli and Unimarksignage

The clearest fight in the course: a diagram that is right about the network and wrong about the city. It was replaced in 1979.

Held by MoMA

1972

Munich 1972 Olympic design program

Otl Aicheridentity

Pictograms built on one grid, so an entire wayfinding language stays consistent. The origin of most airport symbols in use now.

Held by Die Neue Sammlung, The Design Museum Munich

1977

I Love NY

Milton Glaseridentity

A mark that escaped its owner. Good for the unit on ownership and trademark.

Held by New York State and MoMA

1990

Pentagram identity work

Michael Bierutidentity

A partner model where the designer stays the author. Relevant to the business half of the course.

Held by Pentagram

1994

The Public Theater identity

Paula Scheridentity

Typography doing the work of illustration. A system loose enough to keep generating new work.

Held by Pentagram

1998

Census 2000 communication design

Sylvia Harrisidentity

Public information design at national scale, judged by whether people actually responded.

Held by AIGA and the Sylvia Harris estate

2002

Muji art direction

Kenya Haraidentity

Emptiness argued as a brand position. Pairs against maximalist identity work.

Held by Nippon Design Center and Lars Muller

The books that taught the method

32

Swiss practice written down by the people who ran it, and still in print.

1922

Of Two Squares

El Lissitzkybook

A book that tells a story with geometry alone. Useful against the assumption that narrative requires pictures.

Held by MoMA

1925

Isotype

Otto and Marie Neurath with Gerd Arntzbook

Statistics as repeatable pictograms, built so an unschooled reader could check the claim. The origin of the whole pictogram tradition.

Held by University of Reading Otto and Marie Neurath Collection; published by Hyphen Press

1927

Bauhaus weaving workshop

Gunta Stolzlbook

The only woman to run a Bauhaus workshop. Worth naming when the school is taught as a list of men.

Held by Bauhaus-Archiv

1928

Die neue Typographie

Jan Tschicholdbook

The manifesto, then his own later retreat from it. Teach both halves.

Held by University of California Press (translation in print)

1928

NKF cable catalogues

Piet Zwartbook

Technical information made genuinely clear, decades before anyone called it information design.

Held by Stedelijk Museum

1941

New Directions book covers

Alvin Lustigbook

Covers that interpret rather than illustrate. Good for the brief on abstraction.

Held by AIGA Design Archives

1947

Thoughts on Design

Paul Randbook

Still the shortest good statement of why a designer should be able to explain a choice.

Held by Chronicle Books (in print)

1950

Catalog Design Progress

Ladislav Sutnarbook

Where information design becomes a discipline with rules. Parentheses around area codes are his.

Held by Cooper Hewitt

1958

Meridian and New Directions covers

Elaine Lustig Cohenbook

Took over the studio after Alvin Lustig died and became a stronger designer than the reputation allows. Good for talking about attribution and whose name survives.

Held by Cooper Hewitt

1964

Designing Programmes

Karl Gerstnerbook

Design as a rule set that generates outcomes. The direct ancestor of design systems, and worth saying so in class.

Held by Lars Muller (in print)

1964

First Things First Manifesto

Ken Garland, later Adbustersbook

Two versions, 1964 and 2000. Reading them together shows what the profession did and did not learn.

Held by Eye Magazine

1965

Graphic Design Manual

Armin Hofmannbook

Basel teaching written down: contrast, scale, and figure and ground as exercises.

Held by Niggli (in print)

1965

On Weaving and the Bauhaus textile work

Anni Albersbook

The Bauhaus sent women to the weaving workshop. She made it the most rigorous department in the building.

Held by Josef and Anni Albers Foundation; published by Princeton University Press

1966

Design as Art

Bruno Munaribook

Short pieces that make method feel like play without making it trivial.

Held by Penguin and Phaidon

1971

Design for the Real World

Victor Papanekbook

Opens by calling industrial design a harmful profession. Assign it early so the ethics unit is not an afterthought.

Held by Thames and Hudson

1975

Visible Language Workshop and MIT Press work

Muriel Cooperbook

Ran MIT Press design, then built the lab where typography met the screen. The direct ancestor of everything interface typography does now.

Held by MIT Museum and Cooper Hewitt

1975

NASA Graphics Standards Manual

Richard Danne and Bruce Blackburnbook

The worm, and the system around it. Shows an identity manual as a legal and operational document.

Held by Standards Manual

1981

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

Josef Muller-Brockmannbook

The book the studio unit is built on. Explains the grid as a way of deciding, not a way of decorating.

Held by Niggli (in print)

1987

Apple Human Interface Guidelines

Applebook

The first widely read argument that consistency across applications is a design responsibility, not a limitation.

Held by Apple

1988

The Design of Everyday Things

Don Normanbook

Affordance and feedback, explained with doors. The book that made usability legible to non-designers.

Held by Basic Books

1992

The Elements of Typographic Style

Robert Bringhurstbook

The reference students actually keep. Opinionated in a way a manual usually is not.

Held by Hartley and Marks

1995

The End of Print

David Carsonbook

The book that took Ray Gun off the newsstand and onto every design student's shelf.

Held by Chronicle Books

1996

Information Architects

Richard Saul Wurmanbook

Named the job before the job existed.

Held by Graphis and Papress

1996

Book design as an object

Irma Boombook

Books where the physical object carries the argument. Pairs with the printing history the library owns outright.

Held by Irma Boom Office and Lars Muller

2004

Thinking with Type

Ellen Luptonbook

The best first typography book, and it takes the reader seriously.

Held by Princeton Architectural Press

2006

Designing Interactions

Bill Moggridgebook

Interviews with the people who built the field. Names interaction design as a discipline with a history.

Held by MIT Press

2017

Now You See It

Michael Bierutbook

A working designer explaining decisions in plain language. Good writing model for the studio reports.

Held by Princeton Architectural Press

Type with a position

10

Faces drawn to say something about what reading is for.

1949

Palatino, Optima and Zapfino

Hermann Zapftypeface

Calligraphic judgment carried into metal, then photo, then digital.

Held by Klingspor Museum and Letterform Archive

1957

Univers and Frutiger

Adrian Frutigertypeface

A family planned as a grid of weights and widths before any of it was drawn.

Held by Die Neue Sammlung

1967

New Alphabet

Wim Crouweltypeface

A face shaped by what a CRT could actually render. Deliberately close to unreadable, and Crouwel published it anyway.

Held by Stedelijk Museum

1985

Emigre type: Oakland, Emperor, Matrix, Mrs Eaves

Zuzana Lickotypeface

Faces drawn for the screen resolution of the moment, then defended as legitimate rather than apologized for. Mrs Eaves later showed the same designer working entirely inside history.

Held by Emigre Inc.

1991

FF Meta

Erik Spiekermanntypeface

Designed for a specific client problem, then general. The commissioning unit.

Held by FontFont and Monotype; sold via MyFonts

1996

Mrs Eaves

Zuzana Lickotypeface

A revival that is openly an interpretation. Good for the authenticity discussion.

Held by Emigre Inc.

2000

Gotham

Tobias Frere-Jones and Jonathan Hoeflertypeface

Drawn from New York lettering, then used everywhere. Shows a face acquiring meaning through use.

Held by Frere-Jones Type

Posters, titles and packages

21

The work itself, where it can still be seen.

1935

Swiss travel posters

Herbert Matterposter

Photomontage and scale contrast used commercially, years before the Swiss school formalized it.

Held by MoMA

1953

Polish poster school work

Henryk Tomaszewskiposter

Painted, handmade posters made under a state monopoly. Shows constraint producing a school rather than a style.

Held by Museum of Modern Art and Polish poster collections

1954

Push Pin Studios work

Seymour Chwast and Milton Glaserposter

Illustration, historical pastiche, and warmth, in the same years Swiss neutrality was winning.

Held by Push Pin and AIGA Design Archives

1955

Film title sequences

Saul Bassfilm title

Titles that set up the film rather than label it. The clearest example of design carrying narrative.

Held by Academy Film Archive

1955

Tonhalle concert posters

Josef Muller-Brockmannposter

Music rendered as geometry. Shows a method holding up across a long series. The Zurich collection is searchable rather than addressable, so the link opens eMuseum and the series is found from there.

Held by Museum fur Gestaltung Zurich

1956

Blue Note album covers

Reid Milespackaging

Type, one photograph, two colours, several hundred times. The best argument in the course for a system that stays interesting.

Held by Blue Note and MoMA

1964

Tokyo 1964 Olympic posters

Yusaku Kamekuraposter

Photography and the flag reduced to geometry. The first Olympic identity that worked as a system.

Held by MoMA

1966

OSPAAAL solidarity posters

Various, Havanaposter

Posters folded into a magazine and mailed worldwide. Distribution as part of the design problem.

Held by Library of Congress and MoMA

1974

Pink and the Womens Design Program

Sheila Levrant de Brettevilleposter

Design taught as a political question. Useful when students assume neutrality is available.

Held by Getty Research Institute

1975

Victory 1945

Shigeo Fukudaposter

A shell returning to the barrel. One image, no words, no ambiguity.

Held by MoMA

1977

Stiff Records sleeves

Barney Bubblespackaging

A designer who worked anonymously and quoted modernism as a joke.

Held by Victoria and Albert Museum

1979

Factory Records sleeves

Peter Savillepackaging

Sleeves that refused to name the band. Worth arguing about whether that is confidence or contempt.

Held by Design Museum

1981

Nihon Buyo and theatre posters

Ikko Tanakaposter

A Noh face built from flat rectangles. Swiss method and Japanese tradition without either giving way.

Held by MoMA

1983

4AD sleeves

Vaughan Oliver and Nigel Griersonpackaging

Atmosphere as the brief. Nearly unreadable and completely coherent.

Held by Victoria and Albert Museum

1987

Detroit focus gallery announcements

Ed Fellaposter

Deliberate error as a method. The strongest test of whether students can separate taste from judgement.

Held by Letterform Archive

1997

Experimental Jetset work and writing

Experimental Jetsetposter

Modernism practised deliberately and self consciously after everyone declared it over.

Held by Roma Publications and Eye

1999

AIGA Detroit lecture poster

Stefan Sagmeisterposter

Useful for the ethics discussion about what a designer owes the audience and themselves.

Held by Sagmeister and Walsh

2007

Helvetica

Gary Hustwitfilm title

A documentary students actually finish. Everyone from Vignelli to Sagmeister on one typeface, agreeing about nothing.

Held by Hustwit

Shapes in paint, stone and sound

18

Paintings, prints, buildings, floors and music built on the mathematical objects in Shapes. Most are in copyright or are not files at all.

1231

Cosmati pavement, Anagni Cathedral

Cosmati workshoppavement

Thirteenth-century marble floors where a triangle is filled with smaller triangles at least three levels deep. The resemblance to the Sierpinski triangle is a modern reading of the pattern; nothing records it as the masons’ intent.

Held by Cattedrale di Santa Maria, Anagni

1430

Small stellated dodecahedron, marble floor inlay

attributed to Paolo Uccellopavement

An inlay in the basilica floor showing the small stellated dodecahedron, often dated about 1430, two centuries before Kepler described the solid. The attribution to Uccello is repeated widely and documented thinly.

Held by Basilica di San Marco, Venice

1495

Portrait of Luca Pacioli

attributed to Jacopo de’ Barbaripainting

Pacioli demonstrates Euclid at a table while a glass rhombicuboctahedron, half full of water, hangs beside him. The attribution and the sitter beside him are both disputed.

Held by Museo di Capodimonte, Naples

1896

Shukhov Tower, Polibino

Vladimir Shukhovbuilding

The first hyperboloid tower, a water tower made entirely of straight steel members. Two families of straight beams lean against each other and make a curved lattice.

Held by Polibino, Lipetsk Oblast

1937

Stringed Figure

Henry Mooresculpture

Cherrywood and string. Moore named the string models in the Science Museum, London, as the source: straight threads strung between two frames to make a curved surface you can see through.

Held by Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution

1948

Shakespearean Equation, King Lear

Man Raypainting

Painted from Man Ray’s 1934 photograph of a plaster model at the Institut Henri Poincaré, a Kummer surface with eight real double points. He named it for the drips that ran down the canvas like tears.

Held by Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution

1949

Double Planetoid

M. C. Escherprint

Two tetrahedra pierce each other as a stella octangula. One is built over with houses and roads, the other is wild, and Escher wrote that they fit together without knowing about each other.

Held by National Gallery of Art, Washington

1952

Gravitation

M. C. Escherprint

A small stellated dodecahedron with a creature caught in each of its twelve star points, neck and legs pushed out through the openings.

Held by M.C. Escher Foundation, shown at Escher in Het Paleis, The Hague

1954

Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)

Salvador Dalípainting

Christ hangs before a cross made of eight cubes: the net of a tesseract, the four-dimensional cube unfolded into our space the way a cube unfolds into six squares.

Held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1954

Metastaseis

Iannis Xenakismusic

For 61 players, first heard at Donaueschingen in 1955. Each string glissando is a straight line on Xenakis’s pitch and time graph, and together the lines sweep curved surfaces, which he later built in concrete.

Held by Boosey & Hawkes

1955

The Sacrament of the Last Supper

Salvador Dalípainting

The supper takes place inside a vast transparent dodecahedron. Dalí tied its twelve pentagonal faces to the twelve apostles, and the gallery reads the enclosure as the room of the scene.

Held by National Gallery of Art, Washington

1958

Philips Pavilion, Expo 58, Brussels

Le Corbusier and Iannis Xenakisbuilding

A tent of hyperbolic paraboloid shells. Xenakis said he had built the ideas of Metastaseis in it: the straight lines of the glissandi became the straight lines of the shells.

Held by Demolished in 1959

1963

Möbius Strip II (Red Ants)

M. C. Escherprint

Ants walk the band in single file. Each one passes over both faces of the strip and comes back to its start, because the strip has only one face.

Held by National Gallery of Art, Washington

1990

Jurassic Park

Michael Crichtonnovel

Each section of the novel opens with a further iteration of the dragon curve, under Ian Malcolm’s lines about how a system turns unpredictable.

Held by Alfred A. Knopf

1991

Boy’s surface

Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, a gift of Mercedes-Benzsculpture

A steel model of Boy’s surface, installed outside the institute on 28 January 1991. Its strips follow a polar grid under the parametrization of Robert Bryant and Rob Kusner.

Held by Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach

1995

Klein bottle, single surface model

Alan Bennettobject

One of a series of glass Klein bottles blown for the Science Museum. Some in the series are cut open to show the two Möbius bands a Klein bottle is made of.

Held by Science Museum Group, London

2004

Mandelbrot Set

Jonathan Coultonmusic

A pop song about the set, from the album Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow. It names the Sierpinski gasket on the way.

Held by Jonathan Coulton

Scripture

The Holy Bible

Douay-Rheims, 1899

The Douay-Rheims American Edition of 1899 — Challoner’s revision of the translation made at Reims and Douai from the Latin Vulgate, and the English Catholic Bible that was in print before the King James. Seventy-three books in the order the Vulgate puts them, under the names the translation itself uses, including the seven the Protestant canon sets apart. Every verse is a block, and every citation is an address.

73 books35,811 verses

The books

The classroom

2
ART 220

Digital Illustration

Charleston Southern UniversityFall 202628 sessions

This course is about illustration as a means of communicating ideas. Concepts and sketches come first, on paper. The computer, industry standard software on the lab machines, is the tool that finishes the piece, not the place the idea starts. The semester covers three toolsets in order: vector, raster, and motion. Four projects put them to work: an editorial hero with its spots, an illustrated poster drawn by hand and finished digitally, a packaging illustration, and an animated loop. Class time splits between taught workshops and worked studio time, and every project ends in a critique. Every project is marked on the same four things: participation and process, concept, formal resolution, and craft.

ART 418

The Business of Design

Charleston Southern UniversityFall 202628 sessions

AI is changing how design gets made, and the profession is still working out what the medium is. This course takes both halves seriously. You learn design practice and process the way the discipline has always taught it: research, iteration, critique, craft. And you learn to make work with AI the way working studios use it now, on real production, with your name on the output. You carry one project across the whole semester. It starts the way a startup starts: with a real product or technology that has no market yet. You research who could want it, choose an audience, pitch your creative strategy to the room in September, and set the brand's direction out of the October explorations. Then you build the brand, write it down as rules a machine can follow, and use it to make the product's case: a brand book with the product-market fit plan inside it, and a landing page for signup. Along the way we read the people who built the discipline and look at how the best teams and brands are working right now. The field is being redrawn while you are entering it, and you should have a hand in it.

The catalog

31

The works the project is built on, and the seed of the shop. Each record names the edition worth owning and where to get it: a book is only listed where the library already engages with it.

0:00–0:00