Late Modern

Late Modern 1945-1970

The late modern period was inspired by European new and original early modern approaches. American artists developed a unique personal style and the result was a new simplicity that gained popular acceptance worldwide.

This era was similar to American Kitsch as it still incorporated geometry, simplicity and clear typography.

The above piece is designed by Paul Rand, who was a large influence throughout this era as he used his intelligence to connect ideas with simplicity and wit. This piece is representative of the Late Modern era as it incorporates shapes, clear font, simplicity and slight abstraction of shapes. Rand often made designs that looked somewhat like collages through shapes and objects being placed on top of each other. I think this magazine cover would have been effective at the time of print as it is attention grabbing and simple, yet still portraying a message of the magazine title.

This is a magazine cover by Lester Beall who was a self taught designed who helped revolutionise American graphic design by using symbols and photography in a layered, collage-like way. Although this design has lots of shapes, casual fonts and a collaged surface, Beall still managed to retain simplicity by balancing his colours. As a result of the overall simplicity I think the quality of this piece is good for the era it was created in.