Bauhaus, Modernism & the Illustrated Book

Marie bought me this book for X-Mas. I always get awesome books from my wife. She has some great finds.

The title of this book couldn't be simpler. You know exactly what it's about. Alan Bartram walks the reader through a myriad examples of how modernist design principles have been applied to the printed book. He focuses on English and mainland European designers. As an Englishman he can't help but reflect upon how Swiss theory has impacted British design. He gets into some US designers, too, but doesn't really touch upon Modernism's impact on Asia, Africa or South America. That's fine. You can't be all things to everyone all the time.

This tome is definitely scholarly. But Bartram writes with a certain English wit to temper the highbrow theory behind the content. There's a certain duality that British authors (and British people in general) can strike that consists of both heady academic discourse and down-to-earth familiar dialogue. If you lean too far to one side you can come off boring as fuck and difficult to read. If you lean too far on the other side then your credibility gets questioned because you're far too informal. I find most British designers know how to straddle that bridge very well. Bartram has a very subtle sense of humor about his work. But it may get lost if you're not paying close attention.

Having said all that, I certainly didn't fly through this book. It's not a gripping, page-turner. "ooh, I can't wait to find out what example of modern book design he shows next! I just can't sleep without knowing!" But it's a good coffee table book to read. It's good for future reference. It's good to have.

The main thing I took away from it was the brilliance of the Swiss grid. I really need to employ that system at work if I can. So that was my big take-away. Work on the grid.

This is by a Nazi-like Modern typographer and it's for people of like minds. If the cover doesn't move you then you're not the target audience. I find it fucking awesome and very provocative.