Modernist Graphic Design in Britain

The years following the second world war in Britain saw the emergence of what has become known as graphic design. Designers of that period believed their efforts aligned with the rebuilding of society and its infrastructure. Despite acute austerity there was a very positive optimism to what they could contribute. Many challenged developments such as nuclear weapons, apartheid, and promoting trivial products. Modernist graphic design is characterised by visual attributes such as simple sans-serif typography, the dynamic use of space and grid systems, reductive drawing and cropped photography. Innovative technological advances are embraced, in a functional, economic, and rational ethos. The authors contend that much of British Modernist graphic design includes an under appreciated and unique sense of wit.