Analysis of Chip Kidd and Herbert Bayer
Graphic design includes the creative use and manipulation of visual representation to convey ideas using such aspects as photography, typography, imagery, form, and illustration. It is an art that has developed over the centuries covering various movements, including the Bauhaus to which Herbert Bayer belonged. This movement covered the period between 1919 to 1933 when the Nazi regime shut it down (Moonan, n. p). The German school sought to bridge the gap between art and technical craft and characterized it by simple, elegant geometric shapes, combined with bold primary colors. Some writers may attribute Chip Kidd’s work to the information visualization movement. This movement focuses on using data to convey information effectively through visual means. Kidd studied under Lanny Sommese and graduated in 1986 from Penn State. He moved to New York City and got a job at Knopf Publishing House that he has stayed at for almost all his life. Herbert studied under the artist Georg Schmidthammer and then later at the Bauhaus under such instructors as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Both men have won several awards and honors for their excellent contribution to the world of graphic design. Some of Bayer’s most famous works include the proposal for a universal typeface, the self-portrait, and the double ascension, among others (Russo, 139). Kidd’s notable works include the cover designs that he did for comic books covering such heroes as batman, and Jurassic pack and also his book, The Cheese Monkeys.
While belonging to distinct movements and rising to prominence at different times, the works of the two designers convey diverse information and have various points of similarities and differences. The two designers lived at unalike points in time; hence their designs may have fewer similarities and differences. One such similarity in the two works, that is the Jurassic Park for Chip Kidd and Bayer’s works such as the double ascension is the catchy imagery. The Jurassic park conveys an image that captures what the book is about and what a reader should expect. It captures one’s attention through the use of explicit imagery and words. This instance enables the readers to grasp and develop more interest in the book’s content. Bayer’s ascension is also a captivating three-dimension structure. It is not a cover design, hence not portraying the contents of any book. It is a 20 by 30 feet sculpture depicting two stairways that start at dissimilar points but meet at a flat surface. The work is simple, although very intriguing. The other similarities between the two designers are in their works, the proposal for a universal typeface that Bayer did, and Kidd’s design for Lorrie Moore’s book, ‘see what can be done’. The similarity between the two is striking because of their use of lower-case playfully. Bayer used San serif typeface and placed the words geometrically in rounds and straight lines. According to Dargan (n. p), Kidd loves various forms of fonts and paid attention to what each would look like. Both designers also preferred the minimalist approach that conveyed simplicity, thus making their works more appealing.
However, the two also had some differences. The primary one is that while Bayer focused on typography, photography, and painting, his work did not represent any other content. Kidd is a designer for other works and a novelist. As a result, his work illustrates more than itself. Bayer loved shapes including planes and lines and would also use vibrant colors. Kidd is a designer in a digital era, and he can computerize his work. Dargan’s analysis of his work points out the use of an effective thumbnail image with a high resolution on sites such as Amazon.
Works Cited
Dargan, James. “The Chip Kidd school of graphic design”. Muzli. (2019). https://medium.muz.li/the-chip-kidd-school-of-graphic-design-7fd0bd6a1e62
Moonan, Wendy. “The pioneering work of graphic artist Herbert Bayer”. Smithsonian magazine. (2020) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-graphic-artist-regrettable-past-gains-attention-180974014/
Russo, Dario. “Universal Typeface. Innovation without Style.” AGATHÓN| International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design 5 (2019): 137-144.
