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(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
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Writing & research for graphic designers
(Text)
50
availability of countless digitized rare and valuable documents,
creates intense research potential.
Warning: If you are a research nerd, try to stick with your
strategy. It is very easy to get sidetracked and wander off. Make
a note of other areas of interest and revisit them after you’ve
done your intended work. I know what I’m talking about,
because even as I write this, an amazing gravitational force
is pulling me toward an archive on . . . .
Library and Museum Research
Sitting at home in front of the computer is convenient (even
cozy) and expedient, but not altogether useful for hands-on
research. You can read. You can see. But you cannot touch,
feel, or smell. When writing about design—even digital or
virtual design—you want to hold the object. You must physi-
cally experience, in whatever way you can, its manufacture,
tactility, and functionality to determine whether it meets its
goal or your expectation. The comfort, or lack thereof, in a
beautifully ornamented chair can only be tested in person.
A beautifully typeset printed book may be flawed because
of the paper it uses. This cannot be determined on-screen.
Libraries and museums (and museum libraries) offer an op-
portunity to lay your hands on a variety of materials. If some
are so fragile that firsthand contact is prohibited, at the very
least you can view the original materials from a safe distance.
Visiting the library, talking with the librarian, and skimming
through the card or online catalogue may be time-consuming,
but it is often time well spent.
Primary Resources
Primary resources are those rarities you uncover for yourself.
They are the seminal documents; the original work; the
forgotten copy. Whatever has not already been prodded,
investigated, and analyzed by someone else, is primary.
A primary resource can be a personal library or archive,
corporate repository, or library and museum holdings—and
let’s not forget the firsthand interview. Some are catalogued,
others are not. By way of example, there are three significant
archives that specifically focus on graphic design research:
The Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives, a
division of the Visual Arts Foundation, is “dedicated to
preserving and making accessible design works of significant
artistic, cultural, and historical value by preeminent designers,
illustrators, and art directors who have close ties to the School
of Visual Arts. The collections represent the artistic and
intellectual vitality of the SVA community, and provide an
invaluable resource to students, designers, and researchers
who wish to study the breadth of a designer’s work.”
The Archives acquires materials in many formats with
the intent to document the design process from conception
to completion. Among the media held by the Archives are
posters, works of art on paper, printed samples and ephemera,
photographs, audio tapes and videotapes, publications, scrap-
books, slides, and personal papers.
The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography
in the School of Art was founded in 1985 by The Cooper
Union and friends of the late Herb Lubalin. According
to its website, “Its mission is to focus on the preservation
of design history through its core collection of the work
of Herb Lubalin and extensive library and archive of design
ephemera. The Study Center and its archive are important
central resources for the students and faculty as well as the
professional and general public. All materials are fully available
by appointment and are regularly highlighted through
the center’s public exhibitions and lecture programming.”
The Graphic Design Archives at Rochester Institute of
Technology, founded in 1984, documents and preserves the
work of significant American graphic designers active from
the 1920s to the 1950s, as well as selected contemporary
designers working in the modernist traditions, including
Walter Allner, Hans J. Barschel, Saul Bass, Lester Beall,
Alexey Brodovitch, Will Burtin, Tom Carnase, Chermayeff
& Geismar, Louis Danziger, Estelle Ellis, Mary Faulconer,
George Giusti, William Golden, Rob Roy Kelly, Leo Lionni,
Alvin Lustig, Joyce Morrow, Cipe Pineles, Paul Rand, Alex
Steinweiss, Ladislav Sutnar, Ceil Smith Thayer, Bradbury
Thompson, Fred Troller, and Massimo and Lella Vignelli. The
collections contain original source materials documenting
the designers’ working lives, and include such unique items
as original artwork, sketchbooks, sculptures, architectural
(Ray)
(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
09-C67944 #175 Dtp:225 Page:50
018-055_C67944.indd 50 9/22/12 11:25 AM
section 1
the three r’s : reading, writing, and research
(Text)
51
Posters by Heinz Edelman at the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives.
Poster and sketch by Milton
Glaser
for the School of
Visual Arts, New York
In researching design materials, what is the most
valuable resource?
As an archivist, I’m generally most interested in track-
ing down materials that reside in archives. The best
place to start this kind of research is WorldCat.org, a
collaborative library catalog that allows you to search
the holdings of thousands of libraries. It is best used
as a jumping-off point, a place to begin with a general-
ized search based on a designer or client or subject area,
which can lead to more item-specific information in a
library catalog or archival finding aid.
As a researcher what tool or tip do you have for
organizing and retaining information?
My background as an archivist and librarian seems to
permeate all aspects of my life; I categorize obsessively.
When I’m doing online research, I make generous use
of Delicious bookmarks (http://delicious.com), using
the same subject and material tags that I use in my
work.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
researching in an archive?
Archival research has some built-in difficulties.
Archives can be a bit daunting to the uninitiated:
They require an advance appointment and (often)
the researcher’s ability to specify exactly what they’re
interested in seeing; they are not designed for brows-
ing. Archives’ holdings are described in detailed text
inventories called “finding aids,” which can be tricky
to interpret, especially when you’re dealing with visual
materials. The upside is, obviously, access to original
materials and a window into the designer’s process,
thanks to sketches, original art, and any other support-
ing materials. Archives adhere to the organizational
principle of original order, so the opportunity to see
materials in the order in which the creator arranged
them can reveal something about how that person
viewed their own work. Finally, archives provide the
tantalizing possibility of uncovering something that is
unpublished and as-yet-unseen by the general public.
Beth Kleber is the archivist at Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives, School of Visual Arts, New York.
Beth Kleber Talks about Research
PART THREE : RESEARCH
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(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
09-C67944 #175 Dtp:225 Page:51
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(Ray)
(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
#175 Dtp:225 Page:50
018-055_28858.indd 50 8/30/12 4:42 PM
(Ray)
(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
#175 Dtp:225 Page:51
018-055_28858.indd 51 8/30/12 4:42 PM
Writing & research for graphic designers
(Text)
50
availability of countless digitized rare and valuable documents,
creates intense research potential.
Warning: If you are a research nerd, try to stick with your
strategy. It is very easy to get sidetracked and wander off. Make
a note of other areas of interest and revisit them after you’ve
done your intended work. I know what I’m talking about,
because even as I write this, an amazing gravitational force
is pulling me toward an archive on . . . .
Library and Museum Research
Sitting at home in front of the computer is convenient (even
cozy) and expedient, but not altogether useful for hands-on
research. You can read. You can see. But you cannot touch,
feel, or smell. When writing about design—even digital or
virtual design—you want to hold the object. You must physi-
cally experience, in whatever way you can, its manufacture,
tactility, and functionality to determine whether it meets its
goal or your expectation. The comfort, or lack thereof, in a
beautifully ornamented chair can only be tested in person.
A beautifully typeset printed book may be flawed because
of the paper it uses. This cannot be determined on-screen.
Libraries and museums (and museum libraries) offer an op-
portunity to lay your hands on a variety of materials. If some
are so fragile that firsthand contact is prohibited, at the very
least you can view the original materials from a safe distance.
Visiting the library, talking with the librarian, and skimming
through the card or online catalogue may be time-consuming,
but it is often time well spent.
Primary Resources
Primary resources are those rarities you uncover for yourself.
They are the seminal documents; the original work; the
forgotten copy. Whatever has not already been prodded,
investigated, and analyzed by someone else, is primary.
A primary resource can be a personal library or archive,
corporate repository, or library and museum holdings—and
let’s not forget the firsthand interview. Some are catalogued,
others are not. By way of example, there are three significant
archives that specifically focus on graphic design research:
The Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives, a
division of the Visual Arts Foundation, is “dedicated to
preserving and making accessible design works of significant
artistic, cultural, and historical value by preeminent designers,
illustrators, and art directors who have close ties to the School
of Visual Arts. The collections represent the artistic and
intellectual vitality of the SVA community, and provide an
invaluable resource to students, designers, and researchers
who wish to study the breadth of a designer’s work.”
The Archives acquires materials in many formats with
the intent to document the design process from conception
to completion. Among the media held by the Archives are
posters, works of art on paper, printed samples and ephemera,
photographs, audio tapes and videotapes, publications, scrap-
books, slides, and personal papers.
The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography
in the School of Art was founded in 1985 by The Cooper
Union and friends of the late Herb Lubalin. According
to its website, “Its mission is to focus on the preservation
of design history through its core collection of the work
of Herb Lubalin and extensive library and archive of design
ephemera. The Study Center and its archive are important
central resources for the students and faculty as well as the
professional and general public. All materials are fully available
by appointment and are regularly highlighted through
the center’s public exhibitions and lecture programming.”
The Graphic Design Archives at Rochester Institute of
Technology, founded in 1984, documents and preserves the
work of significant American graphic designers active from
the 1920s to the 1950s, as well as selected contemporary
designers working in the modernist traditions, including
Walter Allner, Hans J. Barschel, Saul Bass, Lester Beall,
Alexey Brodovitch, Will Burtin, Tom Carnase, Chermayeff
& Geismar, Louis Danziger, Estelle Ellis, Mary Faulconer,
George Giusti, William Golden, Rob Roy Kelly, Leo Lionni,
Alvin Lustig, Joyce Morrow, Cipe Pineles, Paul Rand, Alex
Steinweiss, Ladislav Sutnar, Ceil Smith Thayer, Bradbury
Thompson, Fred Troller, and Massimo and Lella Vignelli. The
collections contain original source materials documenting
the designers’ working lives, and include such unique items
as original artwork, sketchbooks, sculptures, architectural
(Ray)
(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
09-C67944 #175 Dtp:225 Page:50
018-055_C67944.indd 50 9/22/12 11:25 AM
section 1
the three r’s : reading, writing, and research
(Text)
51
Posters by Heinz Edelman at the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives.
Poster and sketch by Milton
Glaser
for the School of
Visual Arts, New York
In researching design materials, what is the most
valuable resource?
As an archivist, I’m generally most interested in track-
ing down materials that reside in archives. The best
place to start this kind of research is WorldCat.org, a
collaborative library catalog that allows you to search
the holdings of thousands of libraries. It is best used
as a jumping-off point, a place to begin with a general-
ized search based on a designer or client or subject area,
which can lead to more item-specific information in a
library catalog or archival finding aid.
As a researcher what tool or tip do you have for
organizing and retaining information?
My background as an archivist and librarian seems to
permeate all aspects of my life; I categorize obsessively.
When I’m doing online research, I make generous use
of Delicious bookmarks (http://delicious.com), using
the same subject and material tags that I use in my
work.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
researching in an archive?
Archival research has some built-in difficulties.
Archives can be a bit daunting to the uninitiated:
They require an advance appointment and (often)
the researcher’s ability to specify exactly what they’re
interested in seeing; they are not designed for brows-
ing. Archives’ holdings are described in detailed text
inventories called “finding aids,” which can be tricky
to interpret, especially when you’re dealing with visual
materials. The upside is, obviously, access to original
materials and a window into the designer’s process,
thanks to sketches, original art, and any other support-
ing materials. Archives adhere to the organizational
principle of original order, so the opportunity to see
materials in the order in which the creator arranged
them can reveal something about how that person
viewed their own work. Finally, archives provide the
tantalizing possibility of uncovering something that is
unpublished and as-yet-unseen by the general public.
Beth Kleber is the archivist at Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives, School of Visual Arts, New York.
Beth Kleber Talks about Research
PART THREE : RESEARCH
(Ray)
(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
09-C67944 #175 Dtp:225 Page:51
018-055_C67944.indd 51 9/22/12 11:25 AM
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