L S{ }ladislav sutnar

a compilation by michael morales

Air Cargo Empire 1b pg. 4

ls Ladislav Sutnar was the father of the current practice of information graphics (infographics). Sutnar developed graphics for a huge range of American businesses, that clarified large amounts of complex information, transforming business data into practical, readable amounts.

Maxitorq Tire Infographic

famous works

"Graphic design was forced to develop higher standards of performance to speed up the transmission of information."

A holiday card designed by Ladislav Sutnar. 1948–50.

#“Design is evaluated as a process culminating in an entity which intensifies comprehension,”

( $ In the early 1920s Sutnar was born in Pilsen in 1897 and finished his studies concurrently at the Prague School of Decorative Arts, Charles University and Czech Technical University, and by then he wasconsidered a Modernist. In addi- tion to tab and grids, Sutnar made common punctuation, such as commas, colons and exclamation points, into linguistic traffic signsby making them large and repeat- ing them. He claims universalityand he possessed a graphic person-

ality that was so distinctive from others practicing the International Style that his work did not even require a credit line, although healways used one. Sutnar’s diffi- culties with spoken English as a second language speaks to why his design was so straightforward. One of the most significant of Sutnar’s innovations was the use of spreads. He was one of the first designers to design double spreads rather than single pages. Like other pioneer

!# )“Design is evaluated as a process culminating in an entity which intensifies comprehension,”

Modernists, he always believed thathe had the right answers and every- one else was wrong. His philosophy is very clear by his words: “Good visual design is serious in purpose. Its aimis not to attain popular success by go- ing back to the nostalgia of the past, or by sinking to the infantile level of a mythical public taste. It aspires to uplift the public to an expert design level. To inspire improvement and progress demands that the designer perform to the fullest limits of his ability. The designer must think first, work later.” Sutnar left a legacy of work and writing that prove his vitality as a designer and hispassion for design. Many design-

ers are able to claim to have one or more pieces in their legacy, but few can claim, as Sutnar can, that these works are as viable today as they were when first designed.Many design students—conscious-

ly or not—have borrowed and applied his signature graphics to a.post-Modern style

Style

prague __ new york __ design in action

sutnar's venus silkscreen series 1963

Pladislav sutnar

Addo-X Swedish Adding Machine. 1958-1959

sutnar's venus silkscreen series 1963

Style

NYprague __ new york __ design in action exhibition 2003

Addo-X Swedish Adding Machine. 1958-1959