Steven Heller and Greg D’Onofrio on Midcentury Graphic Design

Modernism transformed American graphic design in the mid-twentieth century and established a visual language that still carries tremendous authority. The Moderns: Midcentury American Graphic Design by Steven Heller and Greg D’Onofrio (Abrams Books, 2017) is the first comprehensive survey of this phenomenon that shaped our visual environment, presenting the work and lives of sixty-three graphic designers. Some were émigrés (including five Bauhaus students and faculty) who brought the gospel of Modernism to America from its sources in Europe. Others were homegrown talents who encountered Modernism in schools and offices at home and abroad. Together, they formed a multigenerational community, learning from one another and forging their individual practices through rigorous engagement with the esthetics of the movement.

Please note: this event takes place at New Canaan Library. Please register here. The lecture will begin at 6:30pm, preceded by a reception beginning at 6:00pm.

Steven Heller is co-chair of SVA MFA Design / Designer as Author + Entrepreneur. The author, co-author or editor of over 180 books on design, illustration and related themes, he writes The Daily Heller for Print magazine and is the recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award for Design Mind.

Greg D’Onofrio is a designer, educator, and co-founder of Kind Company and Display, Graphic Design Collection. Greg has curated, lectured, and authored essays on twentieth-century American, Italian and Swiss modern graphic design history. He teaches the History of Graphic Design at the School of Visual Arts and Cooper Union in New York City.

Glass House Presents at New Canaan Library is an occasional series of talks and events about architecture, design, and Modernism in New Canaan and beyond. The series is collaboratively organized by the Glass House and New Canaan Library.

This program is generously supported by the New Canaan Community Foundation.