Printed Matter
Considering his cache of bold-faced employers, the Swiss-born graphic designer and photographer Herbert Matter (1907–1984) should loom larger in the mid-century design canon than he does. His clients included Knoll (he was a design consultant on their ads, logos, and catalogs from 1946 to 1966) the Eames Office, Le Corbusier, and Yale University, where he taught photography and graphic design. His friends, luminaries of the art world, often became subjects of his work. He photographed Jackson Pollock on Long Island weekends, shot a film for MoMA about Alexander Calder, and made a decades-long pictoral study of fellow Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti.
In the mid-1930s Matter made a quick name for himself as a graphic designer with a set of bold, avant-garde-inspired travel posters for the Swiss National Tourist Office. His deft use of angular photography and collage presaged what would become a life-long fascination with the camera. His interdisciplinary 50-year career included magazine covers for Condé Nast, communication design for the U.S. government, and the graphic identity for the New Haven Railroad. Herbert Matter warrants a second look—here’s ours.
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Articles
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Herbert Matter at Design Philadelphia
Last night I stopped into one of the many Design Philadelphia events going on this week: a screening of Reto Caduff's new documentary film, The Visual Language of Herbert Matter. The Mitchell…
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Matter: Logo Evolution
In our May issue I wrote about the undersung Swiss mid-century modernist Herbert Matter, a graphic designer and photographer who left his mark on Vogue Magazine, Knoll furniture, Yale University…
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This Place Matters
May is National Preservation Month at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and to celebrate, they've rolled out a new online project called "This Place Matters." The idea is to…
Products
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All Good Things Print
Wishing everyone all good things today. Happy eating! Happy thanksing! Happy giving! Enormous Champion's fantastic letterpress print would make a perfect greeting or bit of art for your very own…
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Florence Knoll Settee
Available in more than 100 Knoll fabrics and leathers
Tips
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Consider Weighty Topics
Avoid chairs that are really heavy and hard to pull in and out of the table. Think about comfort, especially with the host and hostess chairs, which could have dual purposes and also be used at the…
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Every Inch of Storage Counts
The undersides of beds are wasted spaces unless you put stuff underneath. Find a bed frame with drawers or space for storage boxes on wheels.
Events
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Knoll Textiles, 1945 – 2010
This soon-to-close exhibition looks at the individuals and ideas that helped shape KnollTextiles.
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Lecture: Florence Knoll: Textiles as Interior Architecture
Among her many innovations, Florence Knoll introduced padded and tufted upholstered chair seats without armrests, so that space flowed effortlessly around them, and custom-colored curtains to…
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All Good Things Print
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