Visual Zeitgeist

Graphic design is everywhere: from packaging to airport signage, from fashion magazines to websites. In two volumes, The History of Graphic Design traces the visual history of the past 130 years.

Commissioned by TASCHEN, this is the most comprehensive visual documentation of the history of graphic design from its origins in the 1890s to the present day. Each book is a pictorial atlas, with several thousand illustrations that guide the reader through the history of the profession and the development of contemporary history. Major key works – such as the design of the London Underground or the visual appearance of the 1968 Olympic Games – are presented in detail, and 200 major figures are portrayed. Timelines provide a visual overview of cultural, political and scientific events.

A spread from *The History of Graphic Design* featuring the Russian Constructivist El Lissitzky: the left page shows black-and-white book designs and geometric compositions, while the right page features Soviet propaganda posters in red and black from 1914–1928

“Sidebars and insertions ensure that sensory overkill never occurs despite the abundance of images.”
— Spiegel Online

A spread from *The History of Graphic Design* dated 1991: expressive graphic design from the early 1990s, including album covers and movie posters featuring bold typography

“Jens Müller ambitiously traces not only the evolution of an industry, but also the arc of our aesthetics.”
— Time Magazine

A spread from *The History of Graphic Design* covering the decade 2010–2019 on a green background: magazine covers, posters, and examples of corporate design, including *Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin* and *Washington Post Magazine*

“A great mosaic to discover. A journey into design and contemporary history.”
— WDR 3

The development of the creative industry is traced from its beginnings in poster design through advertising, corporate identity, packaging and editorial design to digital products. Specific topics in design history such as “Posters in the Second World War”, “Humour in Graphics” or “City Branding” are explained with texts and with historical quotations. All texts in the book are printed in English, German and French (or English, Italian, Spanish).

The consistently applied design concept ensures an immediately comprehensible navigation. The book is both an invitation to targeted research and a visual voyage of discovery.