Design and Science: The Life and Work of Will Burtin

Remington, R. Roger; Fripp, Robert S. P.

ISBN 10: 0853319685 / ISBN 13: 9780853319689

Published by Lund Humphries, Hampshire, England, 2007

About this Item

Presumed first edition w/NAP, hardcover, has a shallow lean to the binding, slight bumps to the spine ends and cover corners, and a very faint hint of toning to the page edges, otherwise a solid, tight, clean Very Good+ copy in a like dust jacket, which has very light bumps to the spine ends and corners, mild rubbing with a few faint smudges to the covers, and a touch of wear with some minor toning to the cover edges. Jacket is wrapped in a Mylar cover.

Seller Inventory # 105155

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Design and Science: The Life and Work of Will Burtin
• Publisher: Lund Humphries, Hampshire, England
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0853319685
• ISBN 13: 9780853319689
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Very Good+
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+
• Seller catalogs:
  • Design
  • Art
  • Biography

About this title

Synopsis

It has been said that Will Burtin (1908-1972) was to graphic design what Albert Einstein was to physics.Burtin pioneered important contributions to international typography and visual design. He is best known as the world leader in using design to interpret science; as a proponent of 'clean', uncluttered sans-serif typography; and for his large-scale three-dimensional models, which carried the craft and the art of display to new heights. His walk-through models included a human blood cell (1958) and brain functions (1960). His major achievement, his clarity and ingenuity with models and graphics made complex information easy to assimilate.Early success in his native Germany brought Burtin unwelcome attention from Nazi leaders courting his services. He fled with his Jewish wife to the United States. Within months he won the prestigious contract to create the Federal Works Agency exhibit for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The wartime Office of Strategic Services drafted Burtin to create Air Force gunnery manuals, cutting recruits' training from six months to six weeks. In 1945, with the U.S. still at war, Fortune magazine lobbied to extract Burtin from the army in order to appoint him Art Director. By the late 1950s he was designing the walk-through exhibits for which he is renowned.The first monograph on Burtin, Design and Science illustrates his leadership in five fields: using graphics to visualize science and information (pre-war); corporate identity (from the mid-1940s); multimedia (which he called 'Integration', from 1948); large-scale scientific visualization in 3-D (from 1958, foreshadowing computer-assisted virtual environments, i.e. CAVE-space); and, with others, promoting Helvetica in North America. Illustrations of Burtin's work that have never before been published make this invaluable book essential reading for design professionals and all those interested in design, visualization, imaging and information technology.

About the Author

R. Roger Remington is Professor of Graphic Design at Rochester Institute of Technology. His books include American Modernism - Graphic Design: 1920 to 1960 (2003). Robert S. P. Fripp is a writer and producer. As a student in the 1960s, he worked as a junior assistant to Will Burtin and is married to Burtin's daughter, Carol.