Poster, Monument Informal

American graphic designer Michael Bierut rose to prominence during the 1980s after joining the New York City offices of Vignelli Associates one week after graduating from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning in 1980. For ten years Bierut worked closely with Massimo Vignelli (eventually becoming vice president of the firm) exploring graphic design through the studio’s signature use of classical typefaces enlivened with clever, often humorous, concepts. His add date Monument Informal poster for the Architectural League played with this approach by superimposing hand-drawn scribbles over Roman letters , imbuing the formal modern elements with a sense of informality. Production of this print —presented in the 1996 exhibition “Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture,” sandwiched those graffiti-like gestures between two mechanical processes. Each poster was initially offset printed, then the markings were applied by hand with grease pencils, and the final prints were silkscreened.

Poster, Monument Informal; Designed by Michael Bierut (American, b. 1957); Company: Vignelli + Bierut; Published by Architectural League of New York (United States), Formica Corporation; USA; offset lithograph on paper; 48.2 x 48.2 cm (19 x 19 in.); Gift of Michael Bierut; 1996-86-2