Richard Poulin

Richard Poulin is cofounder, design director, and a principal of Poulin + Morris Inc., an internationally recognized, multidisciplinary design consultancy located in New York City. His work has been recognized by major design organizations, competitions, and publications including the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), Communication Arts, Graphis, Library of Congress, Type Director Club, and the New York Art Directors Club. Richard is a Fellow of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design, the organization's highest honor, and is a past President and board member of the New York Chapter of AIGA. He has been a faculty member of the School of Visual Arts in New York City since 1992 and was previously an adjunct professor at The Cooper Union. Richard is the author of The Language of Graphic Design and is currently writing and designing a new book for Rockport on the history of graphic design (not yet titled), scheduled for release in Fall 2012.

Bruno Monguzzi and Museo Cantonale d'Arte: Design Visionary

Bruno Monguzzi (b. 1941) was born in the small town of Ticino in the southern lake district of Switzerland.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Armin Hofmann and the Austellung Helmhaus: Design Visionary

For over forty years, Armin Hofmann (b. 1920) has devoted his life to teach-ing art, design, and the principles of visual perception and communications.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Ivan Chermayeff and the Modern American Paperback: Design Visionary

In the 1960s, American paperback book publishers and American graphic designers started working together for the first time with a collective, creative objective.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Pattern: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Like texture, pattern is a fundamental design principle that helps define the visual quality of surface activity.

Topics: Design Reference, Packaging, Pattern & Palette

Paul Rand and Goodbye, Columbus: Design Visionary

Paul Rand (1914–1996) was a designer, author, and educator who shaped and influenced the course of twentieth-century graphic design.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Symmetry: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Symmetry is a fundamental and timeless principle of visual perception.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts, Type

Josef Muller-Brockmann and the Zurich Tonhalle Posters: Design Visionary

Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914–1996), designer, writer, artist, and educator, was one of the pioneers of functional, objective graphic design and the Swiss International Typographic Style.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

The Stenberg Brothers and the Russian Avant-Garde Film Poster: Design Visionary

Vladimir Stenberg (1899–1982) and Georgii Stenberg (1900–1933), also known as the Stenberg brothers, were Soviet artists and designers who came to renown following the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Willem Sandberg and Experimenta typographica: Design Visionary

Willem Sandberg (1897–1984) was a Dutch typographer and graphic designer, as well as a unique presence in the Dutch cultural world during the 1940s and 1950s.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Massimo Vignelli and The Herald: Design Visionary

In 1960, after completing his architectural studies in Milan and Venice, Massimo Vignelli (b. 1931) moved to the United States as cofounder and design director of Unimark International, at the time one of the largest design-consulting firms in the world.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Closure: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

In visual communications, closure can basically be described as a visual illusion.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts, Type

Image: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

An image is an artifact usually defined as a two-dimensional picture, idea, or impression of a person or physical object.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts

Asymmetry: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Asymmetry is the opposite of symmetry.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts

Alvin Lustig and New Directions: Design Visionary

One of the most prolific collaborations between a graphic designer and client in twentieth-century American design was the one shared by Alvin Lustig (1915–1955) and the progressive publisher New Directions Books in the 1940s and 1950s.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts, Profiles

A. M. Cassandre and the Art of the Modern Poster: Design Visionary

Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, also known as A.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Herb Lubalin and U&lc: Design Visionary

Herb Lubalin (1918–1981) was a legendary art director, designer, and typographic master who brought humor, sensuality, and a modernist flair to every letterform and typographic element in his work.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles, Type

Max Bill and Swiss Modernism: Design Visionary

Max Bill (1908–1994), born in Winterthur, Switzerland, was an architect, painter, typographer, industrial designer, engineer, sculptor, educator, and graphic designer.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Lester Beall and the REA Posters: Design Visionary

Lester Beall (1903–1969) was a twentieth-century American graphic designer notable as a leading proponent of modernist graphic design in the United States.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Max Huber and the Monza Grand Prix: Design Visionary

Max Huber (1919–1992) was one of the most significant graphic designers of the twentieth century and an influential figure in the history of modern graphic design.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Balance: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Balance occurs when visual elements within a composition are equally distributed and arranged to communicate a feeling of stability and harmony.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts, Type

Herbert Bayer and bauhaus zeitschrift: Design Visionary

Herbert Bayer (1900–1985), was a pioneering designer, typographer, architect, painter, photographer, and educator.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Saul Bass and The Man with the Golden Arm: Design Visionary

Saul Bass (1920–1996) was a graphic designer and Academy Award–winning filmmaker who received global recognition for his work in graphic, film, industrial, and exhibition design but was best known for his animated film-title sequences.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Abstraction: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Abstraction is independent of our visual world.

Topics: Design Reference, Random

Jan Tschichold and Die Neue Typographie: Design Visionary

Jan Tschichold (1902–1974) was born in Leipzig, Germany, the eldest son of a sign painter and calligrapher.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles, Type

Expression: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Expression is a design principle fully dependent on the graphic designer's individual ideas, personal moods, sole emotional outlook on the world, and place within it.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts, Type

Light: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Light is a constant source of kinetic energy, ever changing on the infinite continuum of day into night.

Topics: Design Reference, Random

Ludwig Hohlwein and the Hermann Scherrer style: Design Visionary

Ludwig Hohlwein (1847–1949) was trained and practiced as an architect until 1906, when he became interested in graphic design and the visual arts.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Proportion: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Proportion is the systematic relationship of one thing to another in any given composition.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts

Typography: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Typography is designing with type.

Topics: Design Reference, Packaging, Type

Scale: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

The visual principle of scale is defined as a relative, progressive classifi-cation of proportion or adegree of size, amount, importance, and rank in a composition.

Topic: Design Reference

Piet Zwart and Laga Company: Design Visionary

Piet Zwart (1885–1977), a Dutch craftsman, draftsman, and architect, was born in Zaandijk, an industrial area north of Amsterdam.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Form: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Basic forms are derived from basic shapes—a square becomes a cube, a circle becomes a sphere, a triangle becomes a pyramid.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts

Color: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Color is one of the most powerful and communicative elements in a graphic designer's language.

Topics: Color, Design Reference, Random

Figure-Ground: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Figure–ground is primarily the visual relationship between the foreground and background of a composition.

Topic: Design Reference

Jan Tschichold and the Penguin Classics: Design Visionary

In 1947, Jan Tschichold (1902–1974) emigrated from Switzerland to Great Britain to accept a position at Penguin Books as its new design director.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Emil Ruder and Typographie: Design Visionary

Emil Ruder (1914–1970) was a Swiss typographer, graphic designer, author, and educator instrumental in starting the Allegmeine Gewerbeschule (Basel School of Design), as well as developing the International Typographic Style or the Swiss School.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles, Type

Peter Behrens and the AEG Brand: Design Visionary

Peter Behrens (1868–1940) was a true visionary and the first Renaissance designer of the modern age, moving with ease from one discipline to another—painting, architecture, product design, furniture design, and graphic design.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Takenobu Igarashi and the Aluminum Alphabet Series: Design Visionary

Takenobu Igarashi (b. 1944) is a sculptor and designer who has continually explored the fusion of two-dimensional and three-dimensional form.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles

Jacqueline Casey at MIT: Design Visionary

In 1955, Jacqueline Casey (1927–1991) started her professional career as a graphic designer when she joined the Office of Publications (Design Services Office) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge under the design direction of fellow classmate Muriel Cooper.

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Adrian Frutiger and Univers: Design Visionary

Adrian Frutiger (b. 1928) is one of the most prominent typographers of the twentieth century and the designer of one of the most notable typeface families ever to be created—the sans serif Univers.

Topics: Design Reference, Profiles, Type

Movement: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Movement is defined as the act or process of moving or a change of place, position, or effort.

Topics: Design Reference, Type

Space: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Space is an essential design element in all visual communications.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts

Tension: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

The principle of tension in visual communications is critical to effective graphic design.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts

Tone: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

In visual communications, tone (also identified as value or shade) means the degree of lightness or darkness apparent on the surface of an object.

Topics: Color, Design Reference

Contrast: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Contrast is a visual principle that fundamentally provides the eye with a noticeable difference between two things or objects—large and small, red and green, light and dark, or hot and cold.

Topics: Color, Design Reference, Layouts

Frame: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

In basic terms, a frame is an enclosure to a visual image.

Topics: Branding Identity, Design Reference, Packaging

Grid: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Fundamentally, a grid is composed of a series of horizontal and vertical lines that provide alignments and intersections for the graphic designer to use in an obvious or subtle manner.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts, Type

Texture: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

Texture is defined as the look and feel of any surface.

Topics: Layouts, Type

Line: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

One of the most basic and pervasive visual elements of a graphic designer's visual vocabulary is a line.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts, Type

Shape: One of 26 essential elements in the language of graphic design.

From ancient glyphs to contemporary symbols, shape is one of the fundamental elements of a graphic designer's vocabulary.

Topics: Design Reference, Layouts

Point: The fundamental building block of all design elements

A point is the fundamental building block of all visualcommunication elements and principles.

Topics: Design Reference, Random, Type