Graphic designers could do with some of the revolutionary spirit of ISO Recommendation R216 It is all too easy to feel discouraged today. The contemporary graphic designer is being encouraged to turn their back on the past, to accept that we are responsible for past mistakes (real or invented) made by those who came before. That we must atone by being better, more ethical designers, activists in the service of social justice. Graphic design is being recast as a moral imperati

Vertigo: a film poster by Saul Bass. A masterclass in graphic communication Film director Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Vertigo is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made: a story of morbid, doomed romance and a degenerate, illusory love. The story of the film’s poster designer, Saul Bass, is an equally thrilling one. In the late 1950s, he revolutionised the graphic presentation of the feature film through his treatment of the title sequence and the poster. Bass is crit

[From the archive] When safe is not sound. The spirit of the age seems to be one of scaremongering, with ads feeding on all our fears. We need a more positive outlook as we enter the new millennium As we approach 1999 and the 365-day countdown to the new millennium, we should expect a host of documentaries, exhibitions and books about the current and future prospects for humanity. A tall order, but an irresistible project nonetheless. Who could shy away from a debate about re