Assignment 10

When the war broke out in Germany it caused a flood of immigrants to come to the United States, many of them artists and designers. There were two major effects that this had on the United States. At large it introduced the modernist view and developments in the Bauhaus to America, but it also changed American advertising forever. The immigration of European designers actually began before the Nazi uprise, with the first wave bringing designers such as Georg Salter, Erté Tirtoff, Agha, Alexey Brodovitch and Alexander Liberman. Salter began his career as a book cover designer, introducing cross over of techniques such as calligraphy, photomontage, airbrush scenes, panoramic colors and pen and ink drawings. The others designers got into editorial design and creating fashion magazine covers for magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar. Dr. Agha took on American Vogue when he first came here and soon joined the Vanity Fair and House & Garden magazine. The most prominent editorial designer in my eyes was Brodovitch, who was art director of the Harper’s Bazaar  from 1934-1958. Brodovitch had a knack for design, seeing the rhythm and movement in art as he did in music, he applied this to his editorial layouts. His strong interest in photography was important as well, as he taught other designers how to use photography and its use soon became a major pillar in advertising and especially fashion. Brodovitch’s presence in America was pertinent at this time during the war so art, design, and fashion would stay alive in America while much of Europe fell to shambles. While some of these designers came to America before the war, 1933 sent a flood over including many Bauhaus students and teachers. America was a safe place at the start of the war and gave space for these designers to continue to practice and nurture their skills. The post war era had a similar effect on advertising just as the first wave of immigrants had on it before the war. Politics and advertising had planted their seeds in the design world before the war, and now that the war was over everyone was looking for a new look, a new start, beauty after the time of chaos. Walter Paecock, head of the CCA packaging company found the answer. He wanted to rebrand his company after the war and he found the answer in commissioning an institutional ad campaign presenting the ideas of western culture. Artists gathered and submitted over 135 posters with their abstract illustrations of the ideas and Paepcke stuck his CCA logo in the corner of it. The entire project was a huge success as it transcended the bounds of advertising before. At this time Brodovitch was still the preeminent designer for magazines and he, also inspired by this project began to scout for photographers and designers for his company. Finding people such as Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. These men redefined fashion to the new world, portraying it with an artistic eye in magazines. For the first time, advertising and life had completely encompassed itself with art. Neither hurt the other, art simply made life better and more beautiful. The Bauhaus tried to do the same, as did William Morris and constructivits; but it was in America that the cross over finally happened. The world of advertising had been changed forever.