Design Literacy (Continued): Understanding Graphic Design

A sequel to its popular forerunner, this edition casts the net even further in examining the reasons and history behind various objects of design that have had a significant impact on our culture. The objects discussed range from the vintage posters that promoted concerts and fairs during the 1930s to a Rolling Stones' CD cover from the 1990s. This volume also investigates larger movements and phenomena, including Norman Rockwell's affect on Americana and Cartoon Network's hold on children. Like the first volume, this is an eclectic look at how, why, and if graphic design, in the broadest sense, works as an influence on the public eye. Designers, students, and anyone interested in the history and dynamics of graphics as art and craft will find this an engaging and instructive read.

Steven Heller is editor of the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design and the chair of the MFA design department at the School of Visual Arts. He is the author or editor of more than seventy books on graphic design, and he is a contributor or contributing editor to nearly 25 magazines, including Print, U&lc, Eye Magazine, Communications Arts, ID magazine, Graphis, Design Issues, and Mother Jones. Since 1986 he has been senior art director of the New York Times, which he first joined as an art director in 1974. From 1967-1973, he served as art director for numerous publications, including Interview magazine, The New York Free Press, Rock Magazine, Screw magazine, Mobster Times, Evergreen Review, and the Irish Arts Center.



He was awarded three design grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, in 1986,1988, and 1990. In 1996, he received a Special Educators Award from The Art Director's Club of New York. He has been the curator of ten design exhibitions, including "The Art of Satire" at the Pratt Graphics Center and "Art Against War" at the Parsons School of Design. Since 1986, he has directed "Modernism & Eclecticism: A History of American Graphic Design," an annual symposium at the School of Visual Arts. He lives in New York.