VISUAL DESIGN IN ACTION

Ladislav Sutnar

Ladislav Sutnar: VISUAL DESIGN IN ACTION. New York: Hastings House, 1961. First edition [published in an edition of 3,000 copies]. Small Folio. natural cloth covers stamped in red and silver. Printed dust jacket. Black endpapers. 188 pp. 36 pp. in color. 342 black and white illustrations. Variety of paper stocks and elaborate graphic design throughout. The Holliston Mills Lynton natural cloth covers bright and white. Spine crown and one tip lightly bruised. Jacket spine sunned with mild wear to heel and crown and light rubbing to front and rear panels. Interior unmarked and very clean. Book design and typography by the author. A nearly fine book in a very good or better dust jacket.

In terms of design, production and contents, this is the most beautiful graphic design monograph I have ever encountered.

8.75 x 12..5 hardcover book with 188 pages; 36 pages in color; 342 black illustrations, printed in both offset and letterpress. A truly magnificent production and one of the true high points of American Graphic Design. My highest recommendation.

In her preface, Mildred Constantine wrote: " There is a force and meaningful consistency in Sutnar's entire body of work, which permits him to express himself with a rich diversity in exhibition design and the broad variations of graphic design. Sutnar has the assured stature of th integrated designer."

Steven Heller provides this background history: "Sutnar's client base was eroding by the early 1960s. He lost his job with Sweet's because the systems in place obviated the need for a full-time art director and information research department. At a particularly difficult time, Sutnar's friends banded together to inform the business community about his work. The result was the traveling exhibition Ladislav Sutnar: Visual Design in Action, which was curated by Allon Schoener but meticulously designed by Sutnar himself.

"The exhibition was the basis for the book of the same name, which, because he could not find a publisher who would pay the high production costs, Sutnar financed out of his own pocket and sold for the hefty price of $15. Sutnar had previously edited Design for Point of Sale (1952) and Package Design (1953), which showcased exemplary work by others, but Visual Design in Action featured his own work as a model on which to base contemporary design. Sales were not very brisk, although today the book is a rare treasure."

That is an understatement.

Visual Design in Action is organized in three sections:

• Principles and Attributes: Visual interest, Visual Simplicity and Visual Continuity. Visual interest is, says Sutnar, " a force of inventive design which will excite and hold attention on the objective. Visual interest draws [viewers] into the process and seeks their participation by arousing their curiosity."
• US Information Design Progress: devoted to the presentation of a series of case studies completed by Sutnar for Addo-X, Knoll + Drake, Vera, Sweet's, Carr's, Theatre Arts and others. Color portfolios demonstrate the realization of Sutnar's principles in advertising, business papers, direct mail, industrial catalogues, exhibits and displays, design for education, magazines, book design, signs, symbol, and information design.
• Early modern Design Concept: traces the emergence of the modern design concept through a showing of Sutnar's formative works done in Europe between 1929 and 1938.

A sample spread from this volume can be viewed here.

out of stock