Merz to Emigre and beyond : avant-garde magazine design of the twentieth century /

This is a fully documented study of the history of the avant-garde magazine and examines the publications that have been at the forefront of design this century: the journals, magazines and printed manifestos that have challenged design convention, providing a platform for the dissemination of the ideas of the most radical design movements of the 20th century. These avant-garde approaches permeated all the arts - art and literature as well as the graphic arts. This book concentrates on the journals, magazines and pamphlets whose very ephemerality allowed spontaneity, experimentation and risk, exploring ways in which words and images could be presented on a page, illustrating design ideas and cultural ideals. The book features an extensive selection of international publications from Europe and the USA, including "Merz" (1920s), "View" (1940s), "East Village Other" (1960s), "Punk" (1970s), "Raw" (1980s) and "Emigre" (1990s). The design of these magazines, often raucous and undisciplined, was as ground-breaking as the ideas they disseminated. Many were linked with controversial art, literary and political movements such as Dada, Surrealism, Modernism, the New Left and Deconstruction. They contain the work of many leading experimental artists and designers of their time - from Kurt Schwitters and El Lissitzky in the 1920s and 30s, to Art Spiegelman and Rudy Vanderland in the 1980s and 90s. This book explores the typography and layout of these journals, and also places the avant-garde notions these magazines represented in their broader artistic, cultural and political contexts.