Learning from the Past

I am a big believer in learning history--especially art history. Some of my fondest college moments were spent sitting in a darkened auditorium watching slide shows. When my old college professors received complaints about our cumbersome art history requirements, they used to respond "how can you paint, if you do not know what has already been painted."

The same concept applies to design. It is hard to create good, meaningful design without knowing what is out there, what design has been successful in the past, and what has been a complete flop. As we discussed in last night's class, technology is creating even more design possibilities for the web and other new media. Having an understanding of tenets of good design is now more important than ever.

Whenever I am stumped on a project, I reach for my graphic design books to see what kind of inspiration I can gather from the masters. Here are a few classic designs that still look fresh and relevant today.

Logos by Saul Bass:

As a side note Saul Bass is a great inspiration for movie poster design.

Logos by Paul Rand:

Design by Milton Glaser:

More Resources & Inspiration
Here are a few more cool resources to consider when looking for design inspiration.
AIGA Design Archives
Grain Edit
Hatch Design
JDK