In an industry so focused on the cutting edge of technologies latest and greatest it is easy to overlook the history behind the industry of today. In a series of blogger post I intend to open the time capsule and share the knowledge with the masses.
Professor Richard Guyatt did he or did he not coin the phrase of an industry… GRAPHIC DESIGN in 1948. Others feel William Addison Dwiggins coined the phrase, yet that is for another post on another day, month, or year at the rate it takes me to sit down and write.
Professor Richard Guyatt (May 8, 1914 - October 17, 2007), emerged in a time when people were revolting against Victorian typeface and classical forms of illustration. The American Marketing and Advertising firms were refashioning the direction of the design industry.
The British Royal College of Art (RCA) wanted nothing to do with this new American approach. The Americans generated imagery for the modern audience. Vibrant colors depicting lest say a house wife or laughing family adorned product packaging and advertising. This method was far sever to the British institutions tastes, which were educating a 50 year old design style of classical form catering to Victorian authors. How many reprints of a book can an industry produce to employee a graduating class. Not many , which is why students were going from the class room to the unemployment line.
Unlike his colleges Guyatt saw the needs to change the academic teaching curriculum of RCA to suit the modern and future market demands. Richard harmonized the RCA classical design academic curriculum and modern design trends. In 1948 he reformed the Royal College Art school of design for publicity as Graphic Design. He taught this curriculum at the RCA for 34 years and several times at Yale.
An Investigation into the Physical Properties of Books which is published in Typographers on Type: An Illustrated Anthology from William Morris to the Present Day ( a copy of this text is on
http://www.archive.org/details/extractsfrominve00socirich. ) This book, written by Guyatt, reflects the concerns of the modern day designer and client; Cost, Public Demand, Sales, Quality and Style.

Below are a few of my favorite passages:
- Illustration is a trade as well as an art.
- "There are certain precise and matured standards of workmanship in the printing craft; these standards are the results of experiment through nearly five hundred years. …— Those standards,… are what you would call academic.
- …they turned their backs on the standards of the publishing business and became merchandisers
How I enjoyed the prose justifying the importance of a modern skilled design in the simple application of attractive book covers back in early 1900's. He antagonized the curriculum to heed the appeals of the public audience in the sense of what is attractive on the page and not the statistics of the sales and management department. The sales department, which caters to the retailer(client), can sell a withered and moldy cardboard box as a castle to a queen. The concerns of the management focuses on keeping the prices low and profit high. Quality is not a factor in sales and management. The tradesman(designer) is closest to the consumer, focused on what is appealing to the eye of the buyer. Similar arguments still are discussed among design, marketing and management today. Guyatt proved that modern graphic design can increase revenue of consumer purchasing, giving the design an integral part of business profit gains.
Guyatt's design philosophy was heavily inspired by PD Ouspensky a russian philosopher who went against the traditional forms of academia and in turn was inspired greatly by the mystic G. I.
Gurdjieff. Ouspensky's "practical proposition" which spoke on how to find one's creative voice by observing emotions, thoughts and the life around them objectively.
Guyatt's 50 year career shared the spotlight as an educator, business owner, and designer to royalty. In 1972 he c0-founded Guyatt/Jenkins Design Group. His partner Nicholas Jenkins is still an active designer today. (
http://www.nicholasjenkins.com/ )
Guyatt's Notable Works
Racing Motorists for These Men Use Shell
1951 Festival of Britain rolled into town promising the British a rejuvenation of goods and designs after the great war had left an echo of strength and stature of Britain's role in the war. For most attendees the festival did not deliver to the hype. The British design voice was a mere whisper against the impressive and stylish foreign contemporary design.
However, Guyatt's Lion and Unicorn Pavilion had a sense of royal grandeur echoing the powerful ageless stature of Britain.
He was also commissioned to design coins, postal order forms, postage stamps and china for the royal family and Britain.
The Royal Wedgwood China designs which are still collectible antiques.
click images to learn moreTill next post of thoughts, research and ramblings this has been a a mere cliff note review on the life of Professor Richard Guyatt. I hope it inspires further readings into understanding the world of Graphic Design.
I leave you all with one last quote:
- The applied arts of design gain their strength from serving something other than themselves — industry in its widest sense — and in so doing they infuse their love of art into the practical levels of our lives,” - Guyatt 1967.