Moving to America

Alexander Liberman , Vogue Cover 1945.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s graphic design in America was still very much intact with traditional illustrations so much so, that when European graphic designers started to migrate to America, there was commotion and people started to protest.  These new principles were not accepted until the late 1930s when they were slowly being introduced and seen in editorial designs, book covers as well as commercial graphics. The artists that brought these new ideas and the ideas themselves contributed greatly to the development of graphic design within America. Among these artist there were the Russian-born artists Erte, Dr Mehemed Fehmy Agha , Alexey Brodovitch and Alexander Liberman. These artists worked mainly on editorial design for fashion magazines.

Erte is well known for his work with Harper`s Bazaar magazine. After becoming a well-known illustrator and set designer in Paris, he went to work for the magazine. His style was quite art deco along with stylized drawings which are influenced from synthetic cubism, exotic ornaments and sophistication of high fashion. Erte is actually sometimes called ‘Father of Art Deco’. Furthermore, his cover art reflect greatly his love for colour and glamour. Erte not only designed covers but he also did fashion designs and set designs for theater.

Harper's Bazaar magazine
by Erte.

Erte`s shoe design for
Delman`s shoes/

Dr Mehemed Fehmy Agha  Vogue
cover

Whist Dr Mehemed Fehmy Agha was an art director for Vogue`s magazine, he introduced new principles that are still used to date such as bleed photography, double page spreads, machine set sans-serif typography, the use of white space as well as asymmetrical layouts. Furthermore Fehmy Agha removed the use of italic type. He also worked with vanity fair were his works reflected influences form European modernism.  He created a very energetic and lively spread by using the spread as if it was a canvas. The way he used simplified type, the use of margins , the placement of images and white space all helped in order to create a very intriguing and at that time innovative design. It is because of the way he designed magazines during that time and his avant- garde style that we have magazines as we know them today, especially the use of a double page spread.

Dr Mehemed Fehmy Agha Vanity Fair
spread

Vogue Double page Spread.

Alexey Brodovitch`s Bazaar magazine
cover.

Alexey Brodovitch on the other hand was the art director of Harper`s bazaar. Brodovitch was also very much fascinated with white space. Furthermore in his works, he utilized sharp typography on clear, open pages changing the way to approach editorial design.Megg`s in his book states that Brodovitch looked for a ‘musical feeling’ through the flow of text and images. Contrast was an important tool in his works along with the movement in each spread. He also revolutionized the way we crop, expand and combine the images in a spread. Brodovitch`s work very much influenced American magazine designs as well as artists that came afterwards such as Henry wolf and Otto Storch.

Alexey Brodovitch Magazine Spread

Otto Storch Magazine Spread

Bazaar spread 2013

I personally find these works extremely interesting especially the magazine spread by Alexey Brodovitch. I found it very intriguing the way the text reflects the image. I have also found it very interesting the way Storch plays with the white space and how he placed the text.
References:

Philip B. Meggs, 2011. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. 5 Edition. Wiley.

The Erté Years - 1915-36 - 140 Years of Bazaar - Harper's BAZAAR Magazine. 2014. The Erté Years - 1915-36 - 140 Years of Bazaar - Harper's BAZAAR Magazine. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/bazaar-140-0307. [Accessed 29 November 2014].

First Art Director - Mehemed Fehmy Agha | Magazine Designing. 2014. First Art Director - Mehemed Fehmy Agha | Magazine Designing. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.magazinedesigning.com/mehemed-fehmy-agha-first-art-director/. [Accessed 29 November 2014].

The Art Directors Who Came From Europe. 2014. The Art Directors Who Came From Europe. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.designhistory.org/Advertising_pages/ArtDirector.html. [Accessed 29 November 2014].