The course will provide an overview of modernist graphic design with a particular emphasis on the important contributions of the MIT Office of Design Services in the 1960s-1980s and its designers, Jacqueline Casey, Muriel Cooper, Ralph Coburn and Dietmar Winkler. The MIT design office was one of the most innovative design practices in the country at this time, and made important contributions to the assimilation of Swiss graphic design in America. 

By visiting and examining graphic design collections in Boston we offer insights in the design process including the influence of printing and layout techniques. We will discuss how graphic design artifacts can be used as a source for research, and we will investigate how the history of design is written and how it differs from similar disciplines such as art history.

Led by Gary Van Zante, Curator, MIT Museum; and Julia Meer, Design Historian, Humboldt University, Berlin (visiting faculty, MIT SA+P).  Sponsored by the MIT Museum.

For information, contact Gary Van Zante, 617-253-2825.