Between 1947 and 1953, the Austrian-born, Bauhaus-trained artist Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) oversaw the design and production of the World Geo-Graphic Atlas, a landmark work of graphic design and data visualization. Commissioned by Container Corporation of America to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Chicago-based company's founding, the Atlas's imaginative presentation methods have had a lasting impact within the fields of information design and visual education, transforming the look and character of subsequent geographic atlases and popular scientific illustration. In Herbert Bayer's World Geo-Graphic Atlas and Information Design at Midcentury, Benjamin Benus tells the story behind this work's creation. Richly illustrated and drawing on extensive archival documentation, Benus's study offers broader insights into the roles twentieth-century artists and designers played in popularizing scientific knowledge and shaping audiences' geographical worldviews.
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Commended for Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards (Art) 2024.
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 LESSONS AND LEGACY OF THE BAUHAUS
1.1. Weimar-Dessau-Berlin 25
1.2. New York-Aspen 33
2 PRODUCTION AND STYLE
2.1. Technical and Logistical Considerations
2.2. The Printers' Maps 51
2.3. Illustration and Graphic Form
2.4. "Toward the Book of the Future" 67
3 SOURCES AND METHODS
3.1. Collaborations and Appropriations 77
3.2. Visual Education and Isotype 83
3.3. Picturing Populations 93
3.4. Picturing Processes 103
4 ADVERTISING AND INFORMATION
4.1. "The Realms of Education and Good Taste" 111
4.2. Visual Identity at Container Corporation of America 115
4.3. Modern Art in Advertising 123
4.4. "Political Inferences" 129
4.5. "The Complete Task of the Graphic Designer" 139
Conclusion 145
Bibliography 151
Index 155
Benjamin Benus is an associate professor of art and design history at Loyola University New Orleans. He specializes in the history of modern art, with a focus on twentieth-century graphic design in Europe and the United States. He completed his PhD in art history at the University of Maryland in College Park, and he earned a BFA and an MS in art history from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
