OUGD601 - Research - Jan Tschichold and Penguin

Jan Tschichold was a modernist typographer and book designer. He revolutionised modernist book design through his writings, his most famous of which: The New Typography, guided designers on how editorials should be produced in a form follows function manner. His work gave instructions on everything from what typeface should be used to where images should be placed on the page. He also identified the importance of using grids and canons. The Van de Graaf canon was popularised by Tschichold in his book, the form of a book.

One of his most notable points was that communication in the modern age should be functional, shot, simple, compelling and objective. He preferred non-centre justified compositions and the use of sans serif typefaces, whilst also establishing a purpose for the various styles and weights. Within layout, Tschichold promoted the use of bars, rule and rectangles to enhance the composition. His work has remained a standardised guide to modernist typography to this day.

Penguin
Between 1947 and 1949 Tschichold oversaw the redesign of 500 paperbacks at penguin books. Although he was unable to change much of the iconic orange striped front cover, after spending some time at the famous publishers, he created a guide to designing a Penguin book. Much of the considerations he created are still in use today. Many of his modernist ideas were in place at Penguin by the time Tschichold left England 3 years after arriving.