Westvaco Inspiration for Printers No. 202

 

06/14/2023

    Today, my post will discuss the work of Bradbury Thompson. He was a very known graphic designer during the twentieth century, and this was shown by him receiving a number of awards for his work (found in the source at the end of this article). 

    The design I found is called Westvaco Inspiration for Printers No. 202. The magazine spread was created in 1955. Westvaco Inspirations was the magazine company that Thompson worked with through the Westvaco Paper Corporation, where the magazine issues would be produced in mass quantities (also found in the source at the end of this article). This magazine spread (and a number of others Thompson created) is an example of Early Modern design because of a number of different reasons. First, there are two small photographs, and there is the use of typography in a design sense. Also, there are pieces of information being displayed in a zig-zag formation on the left spread, and on the right, there is a capital letter "U" that is placed upside down. Comparing this design to the previous ones that I researched is that Thompson seems to really emphasize the fact that Early Modern Designers would be considered "experimental" and "new" at the time. The audience can see this in the way he placed the text he used along with using type not only for displaying information but also to enhance his design. 

    While this design was created in 1955, it is still relevant in the early modern design movement because of the experimentation with type, photography, and organization that is taking place within Thompson's work. Design changes rapidly, just as history does, so designers did not (and somewhat still do not today) know the standards of what makes a "perfect" layout. As designers, it is their job to find out what is relevant within the past as well as the present, perhaps even the future. 

Image Citation:

Thompson, Bradbury. Westvaco Inspriation for Printers No. 202. 1955. Westvaco Inspirations Magazine Spread. Found the image on June 14th, 2023. Found image information on https://alexanderwwhite.com/bradbury-thompsons-westvaco-inspiration-for-printers-nos-194-202-and-210/. Source: https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/bradbury-thompson.