ELECTRONICS
A NEW SCIENCE FOR A NEW WORLD
Herbert Bayer
Herbert Bayer (designer): ELECTRONICS -- A NEW SCIENCE FOR A NEW WORLD. Ottawa: Canadian General Electric Co. Ltd, 1943. Original edition. A very good to near-fine oblong booklet in photographically-printed self-wrappers: light wear to spine edge. Canadian edition of a General Electric (Electronic Division) booklet published in Schenectady in 1942, with several variant layouts. Rare.
11 x 8.25 saddle-stitched booklet printed in four-color throughout with magnificent original examples of painting, photography, photomontage, illustration and typography. An early American tour-de-force by Bauhaus master and recent emigrant Bayer. Awarded the 1943 ADC award for distinctive merit; Art directed by Leo Lionni for N. W. Ayer and Sons. [The Art Directors Club: 22ND ANNUAL OF ADVERTISING ART. NYC: Watson-Guptill, 1943. Page 38].
Bayer and Lionni truly outdid themselves with this assignment for General Electrics -- a true synthesis of artistic vision in t he service of commerce. Bayer produced color artwork for every page, employing his formidable arsenal: painting, photography, photomontage, illustration and typography. General Electric wanted a brochure to prepare consumers for the near-future when every American would be able to personally benefit from the harnessing of electricity and its inevitable outcome: the birth of the electronics industry.
Quite possibly the finest pieces of Graphic Design produced in the United States during World War II-- my highest recommendation.
Of all the artists to pass through the Bauhaus, none lived the Bauhaus ideal of total integration of the arts into life like Herbert Bayer (1900 - 1985). He was a graphic designer, typographer, photographer, painter, environmental designer, sculptor and exhibition designer. He entered the Bauhaus in 1921 and was greatly influenced by Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky. He left in 1923, but returned in 1925 to become a master in the school. During his tenure as a Bauhaus master he produced many designs that became standards of a Bauhaus "style." Bayer was instrumental in moving the Bauhaus to purely sans serif usage in all its work. In 1928 he left the Bauhaus to work in Berlin. He primarily worked as a designer and art director for the Dorland Agency, an international firm. During his years at Dorland a Bayer style was established. Bayer emigrated to the United States in 1938 and set up practice in New York. His US design included work for NW Ayers, consultant art director for J. Walter Thompson and design work for GE. From 1946 on he worked exclusively for Container Corporation of America (CCA) and the Atlantic Richfield Corporation. In 1946 he moved to Aspen to become design consultant to CCA. In 1956 he became chairman of the department of design, a position he held until 1965. He was awarded the AIGA medal in 1970. Bayer's late work included work for ARCO and many personal projects including several environmental designs.
Leo Lionni (1910 - ) was born in Amsterdam and trained as an economist in italy from 1931 - 1935. He began his career in graphic design in 1933 as an art director for the Italian food supplier Motta. Lionni emigrated to the United States in 1939 and began work as an Art Director for N. W. Ayer and Sons advertising agency in Philadelphia, where he coined the slogan "never underestimate the power of a woman. Lionni stayed with Ayer until 1947. In 1949 he succeeded Will Burtin as Art Director of Fortune magazine. At Fortune he developed his distinctive visual style utilizing photography and illustration. His work with Bayer for GE certainly helped move Lionni towards the visual identity he perfected in later years.
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