[Too Much Coffee Woman]

It's gotta be Lester Beall or Paul Rand...

their designs were so simple and effective but they have my vote as being the best of all time.

i know paul rand did the ibm logo....but we can forgive him

(i'm doing my best to make this art/graphics design forum more excitng! )

[Paco500]

Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Paco

[himself]

I don't know about the best of "all time"...

But I would have to pick three:

Paul Rand
Jan Tischold
Wolfgang Weingart

...but this is just my opinion.

[Too Much Coffee Woman]

excellent choices so far....

paula scher is a great modern day designer and stephan sagmeister

[MikeM32]

Best designer of all time? Well that'd have to be me

(humility is not one of my strong-points, even though I'm Irish)

Mike

[Too Much Coffee Woman]

your sig alone is masterpiece in itself...

[godzookie2k]

Tibor Kalman
Kyle Cooper
The Infamous David Carson
Chip Kidd
Everyone At Pentagram
Chuck S. Anderson (a very nice guy too)
Duh, Me (link to:'coming soon' page )


(all in no particular order)

edit: Nick approves of Paula Scher but she falls under the pentagram listing.

[ 04-14-2002: Message edited by: godzookie2k ]

[godzookie2k]

Originally posted by Too Much Coffee Woman:
<STRONG>

your sig alone is masterpiece in itself...</STRONG>

ooooohhh, Burn.

[Too Much Coffee Woman]

well, i expect a little better from the self described "best designer"

[jchan]

Hmm, well whaddya know, I disappear from MacNN for a while and a design forum pops up and I get demoted back to "new member" after all that work I did to gain "junior member" status too. Argh.

Hmm.... I don't know about a lot of these designers/firms mentioned... Sure, some have done great work but some have also been known to "borrow" heavily from their students and then wham-bam, they crank up their business skills and then buy a new BMW with the fruits of their "brave new designs."

If I'm going to canonize any designer, I'll have to choose a group of people way before design was used with a capital "D." I choose the folks at the tail end of the silk route that put visual form to Chan/Zen Buddhism; creating ultra simple yet expressive marks and ideologies still impactful to this day.

Sees yas,

-j

p.s. I love this little tongue guy so much, I have to use him at least once here:

[baryonyx]

Don't forget Alexander Liberman. The work he did at Vogue years ago was the single best stuff anywhere for a while.

Andy

[Miami]

ludwig mies van der rohe

john lautner

jonathan ive

[jholmes]

How about Raymond Loewy or Herb Lubalin.

Sorry gang, I'm old school.

[zigzag]

Edward Johnston has to be mentioned, for the London Transport typeface and graphics, perhaps the most influential of the past century, which still look fresh after 85 years.

[ 04-16-2002: Message edited by: zigzag ]

[art_director]

some great names have been thrown out. here are some others:

- joe duffy
- alexi brodovich
- sharon werner
- todd waterbury
- steve tollensen
- dan olson
- neville brody
- jennifer morla

charles spencer anderson is a brilliant marketer and an even smarter thief of graphic design.

[Simon X]

Originally posted by zigzag:
<STRONG>Edward Johnston has to be mentioned, for the London Transport typeface and graphics, perhaps the most influential of the past century, which still look fresh after 85 years.

[ 04-16-2002: Message edited by: zigzag ]</STRONG>

Good call. And remember that Gill Sans, a great typeface and one of my favourites, is a close variant of the Johnston Underground typeface. Freely acknowledged by Eric Gill, who was a student of Johnston.
On a similar note I'd like to mention Harry Beck's diagrammatic London Underground map. A truly inspired design.
(And yes I'm an Underground design buff)


Another great pair of designers are Charles and Ray Eames. Eams Office

[godzookie2k]

Originally posted by art_director:
<STRONG>some great names have been thrown out. here are some others:

- joe duffy
</STRONG>

All you minneapolisites just looooovvvveee stickin together doncha? well, then again:

charles spencer anderson is a brilliant marketer and an even smarter thief of graphic design.

what do you mean? (curiosities sake, he seems nice enough in my few run ins with him)

Nick

[zigzag]

Originally posted by Simon X:
<STRONG>(And yes I'm an Underground design buff)
[/URL]</STRONG>

Me too, except I'm not a graphic designer, just a lay person with an interest in good design, and I live in the US so I don't get to enjoy The Tube as often as I'd like. But my refrigerator is plastered with Tube magnets.

Do you know of any good books on the subject of the Transport designs? Nothing too technical, just a good photographic/graphic collection?

[art_director]

Originally posted by godzookie2k:
<STRONG>

what do you mean? (curiosities sake, he seems nice enough in my few run ins with him)

Nick</STRONG>

yes, we do flock together, don't we?

first let me say that charles spencer anderson learned the business of graphic design from joe duffy. he wanted to be a partner at duffy's original shop but was snubbed and went out on his own. his success is well documented by ca, print, the smithsonian, etc.

yes, csa is a very nice fellow...unless you work for him.

the "thief" remark...

well, the entire csa archive and most of his design and "illustrations" come from a library at the university of minnesota (wilson library to be exact). he sent interns and hired hands into their bound periodicals archive to photocopy EVERYTHING that fell into public domain. he then assigned every junior designer / intern for many years to redraw the thousands of illustrations / designs to make them slightly different and thus able to be copyrighted in his name. now he puts them online and in a bound book and charges through the nose for what he "borrowed" from public domain. it's his "stock". this is all true. i know because i have friends who strip mined the library for him and i have friends who redrew the stacks of photocopies that were assigned on a daily basis while interning / working for him.

as i said, a brilliant marketer but his retro style is yesterday. wait, make that the day before yesterday.

[ 04-17-2002: Message edited by: art_director ]

[Simon X]

Originally posted by zigzag:
<STRONG>

Me too, except I'm not a graphic designer, just a lay person with an interest in good design, and I live in the US so I don't get to enjoy The Tube as often as I'd like. But my refrigerator is plastered with Tube magnets.

Do you know of any good books on the subject of the Transport designs? Nothing too technical, just a good photographic/graphic collection?</STRONG>

Just by behind me are a stack of books on this very subject.
You might have trouble finding some of these, perhaps from a specialist design book store.

A Logo For London - David Lawrence
On the history and design of the London Transport roundel, i.e. the bar and circle symbol. A good book with illustrations and photos.

Pleasure Trips by Underground - Jonathan Diddell
This book covers the London Underground posters with many from the 20's and 30's, the high point of the Underground. I recommend this one as the content is great and the book itself is really nice. (I'm also a bit of a book fetishist as well )

Underground Art - Oliver Green
This one is similar to "Pleasure Trips by Underground" though with posters up to 1989 and extensive notes on the artists. This may have more info than the previous book but I still prefer "Pleasure Trips".Pleasure Trips by Underground

Now the next two really deal with the Underground in depth. So if you were to get just one or two books these should be the ones.

Designed for London - Oliver Green and Jeremy Rewse-Davies
The book covers both the architecture and the design as a whole, including the people behind them. Excellent collection of photos too.

Underground Architecture - David Lawrence
The name says it all. Quite detailed with plenty of excellent photos.

I'll also send you an e-mail.

[ 04-18-2002: Message edited by: Simon X ]

[ironknee]

Paul Rand
Mike McGinn
Charles Goslin
Ted Mastura

[scottiB]

Not one mention of Saul Bass? Not saying he's the best (that can't be ascertained), but not one mention?

Kyle Cooper's opening credits for Se7en were phenomenal and groundbreaking.

As far as ID goes, gotta throw in Henry Dreyfuss.

[art_director]

good call on saul bass.

however, mr. se7en credits hardly deserves to be listed here. one project a design legend does not make. my old agency hired him for a title project for a campaign of :30s and he phoned it in. i think there's something to be said for being professinal as well. one bad move like that can make all creatives look bad.

[Too Much Coffee Woman]

no saul bass???

ahhhh.....i'm such a loser!!!!!

this thread should cease to exist without him

[Taloston Man]

Originally posted by godzookie2k:
<STRONG>Tibor Kalman
Kyle Cooper
The Infamous David Carson
Chip Kidd
Everyone At Pentagram
Chuck S. Anderson (a very nice guy too)
Duh, Me (link to:'coming soon' page )


(all in no particular order)

edit: Nick approves of Paula Scher but she falls under the pentagram listing.

[ 04-14-2002: Message edited by: godzookie2k ]</STRONG>

Man, I saw David Carson speak in Toronto about a year ago at the Design Exchange. He was a great speaker, very cynical and pleasantly wry, despite the fact that he showed up nearly two hours late and that the last hour of his presentation was an experimental video montage that was one of the absolute worst things I'd ever seen.
Put to NIN music, not my biggest fave at that time.
LOVE his designs and ramblings though....

[scottiB]

I agree Cooper doesn't have the stature or longevity, but those credits were really good.

[Sven G]

Originally posted by zigzag:
<STRONG>

Me too, except I'm not a graphic designer, just a lay person with an interest in good design, and I live in the US so I don't get to enjoy The Tube as often as I'd like. But my refrigerator is plastered with Tube magnets.

Do you know of any good books on the subject of the Transport designs? Nothing too technical, just a good photographic/graphic collection?</STRONG>

In addition to Simon X's great choices, here are two more:

- Rassegna n. 66: Londra sotterranea ("Underground London"), CIPIA srl, Bologna 1996, ISBN 88-85322-24-7, ISSN 0393/0203: it's a magazine directed by the world-famous architect Vittorio Gregotti (probably, the second most-known Italian architect after Renzo Piano) - in Italian;

- U-Bahn Architektur in M�nchen (Christoph Hackelsberger), Prestel Verlag, Munich/New York 1997, ISBN 3-7913-1827-6: an interesting book on the Munich metro design and architecture - in German *and* English.

[art_director]

Originally posted by scottiB:
<STRONG>I agree Cooper doesn't have the stature or longevity, but those credits were really good.</STRONG>

They were lovely.

Attic Design and Imaginary Forces do beautiful title work as well.

[fletch007]

Alfonso Iannelli (and wife Margaret for a time) of Iannelli Studios.
Way ahead of their time!

[godzookie2k]

Originally posted by art_director:
<STRONG>well, the entire csa archive and most of his design and "illustrations" come from a library at the university of minnesota (wilson library to be exact). he sent interns and hired hands into their bound periodicals archive to photocopy EVERYTHING &lt;snip&gt;

as i said, a brilliant marketer but his retro style is yesterday. wait, make that the day before yesterday.

[ 04-17-2002: Message edited by: art_director ]</STRONG>

Wow, I had no idea! Thats hillarious. I'll throw that story into my mental archive of "Myths and Legends of the Design World" As for his style, I'd have to agree. Quite dated.

re: Kyle Cooper

Throwing the seven credit sequence aside, I think Coopers work is still pretty damn incredible. The Seven credit sequence is good, (arguable) but that doesn't negate the point that their entire portfolio isn't pretty bad ass. IMO

[ajprice]

Neville Brody
David Carson
Stanley Donwood (Sometimes goes by other names, but he has done Radiohead's album covers since The Bends)
Me Company (A design company, not an individual designer, but what the hell)

[ 04-21-2002: Message edited by: ajprice ]

[art_director]

re: Kyle Cooper

Does he have a web site?

[ringo]

Richard Saul Wurman

[godzookie2k]

Originally posted by art_director:
<STRONG>re: Kyle Cooper

Does he have a web site?</STRONG>

in case you didn't get my PM.

Kyleiebaby

[Judge_Fire]

(I'm straying outside graphic design, but hey, the question wasn't spesific )

Well, one person alone gets only so far.

Individuals break barriers and define new, but many times at the expense of something else. I recall this quote from an interview of architect Oscar Niemeyer:

"Q:How do you reconcile your ideas of beauty and the client's requirements?
A: I don't give a **** about the client. Beauty and form are my goals. Architecture is invention."

So when for example thinking of great design of say, complex systems, I wouldn't have Oscar Niemeyer designing the OS of the 'computer for the rest of us' or the flow and information systems for navigating my local airport. Not him alone. Still, I think he wouldn't work well with a team.

Personally, I simply value the silent, hard work of multidisciplinary teams as much, or even more, than any single superstar.

J

[ 04-28-2002: Message edited by: Judge_Fire ]

[art_director]

i agree with judge. however, design by commitee is a recipe for disaster. there needs to be a leader, a visionary. then you get the best of both worlds. this view comes from experience.

[realeyz]

designer of what?

[idjeff]

Hmmmmm, I guess that I'd vote for any of the original members of the Bauhaus; Mies van der Rohe, Gropius, Nagy, Kadinsky, Breuer, Le Courbusier(?), etc. These geniuses are responsible for modern industrial design and architecture, typeface, graphic design. It amazes me that their designs still look extremely modern and that their main purpose was to create for the masses (Commies).

Frank Lloyd Wright was incredible too, but I hear he was kind of a prick

[godzookie2k]

Originally posted by idjeff:
<STRONG>Hmmmmm, I guess that I'd vote for any of the original members of the Bauhaus;</STRONG>

AMEN TO THAT!

[KaptainKaya]

All of these are great. I'll also have to second the Jonathan Ives mention.

[Griggsy]

Thirding J Ives, due to reinvention of an Industrial design Standard with the iMac. Also Norman Foster, the Greatest Architect of the 90's and of the coming Millenium. Also yer man who did the London Underground map... timeless!

Slightly off kilter would have to be Jim Henson, who took an existing medium, reinvented the concept and made it a commercial success, whilst at the same time satisfying a moral and intellectual standard, all that with a couple of pieces of Felt.

Good Design is not necessarily how something looks/acts but surely it's the interpretation of a creative challenge in any field, but that's just my 2p

[ 05-01-2002: Message edited by: Griggsy ]

[atomium]

I have to throw in a vote for Roger van den Bergh. You may know him as the guy who developed the entire standards for NYC's Metropolitan Transit Authority, including subway signage, wayfinding, etc. Also the guy behind Continental's redesign (the yellow wireframe globe on the blue field).

Also quite partial to Tibor Kalman. Nice obituary here.

-atomium

[zilmer]

Ive. Definitely Ive.

[Miami]

the question wasn't very specific, that's why i first mentioned van der rohe, lautner and ive, which, at least in my book, had immense influence on modern design.
however when it comes to typefaces one of my favorites is called adrian frutiger, the inventor of the "frutiger" and "univers" font.

modern design is indeed one of the greatest inventions in human history.

[Sven G]

Renzo Piano and Meinhard Von Gerkan (at least on the public transport design front) are quite impressive - even if, of course, it's difficult, and really not so appropriate, to try to select *the* best architect/designer, as there are many of them who are equally (and differently) interesting and valid...

http://www.renzopiano.it

http://www.gmp-architekten.de

[ 05-04-2002: Message edited by: Sven G ]

[Giles Booth]

nobody mentioned one of my favourites The Designers Republic - http://www.thedesignersrepublic.com

or 8vo - never been able to find a website for them, but they did some breathtaking work for Factory Records / Durutti Column

[art_director]

Giles: Thanks for posting that url. The Designers Republic is da bomb.

[miro7]

I'll add some modern names to the mix to contrast a little with the Bauhausian mentions (of which I don't think that you could include Le Corbusier).

Rem Koolhaus of OMA

Bernard Tschumi Architects

Clark and Menafee

Peter Eisenman (perhaps more his ideas than his design)

Nathalie de Vries and Jacob van Rijs of MVRDV

I could go on an on. I tried linking to specific websites, but google searches mostly turn up articles about the above people rather than any home websites that they may have for their firms.

[curse10]

i would say tibor kalman and ray and charles eames. i find everything they did inspiring and breath taking.

[curse10]

i would say tibor kalman and ray and charles eames. i find everything they did inspiring and breath taking.