This book "addresses how and why elements of Arts and Crafts, Jugendstil, Constructivism, Expressionism, and the other significant methodologies became conventions used by printers, layout artists, and advertising designers for commercial and business purposes." Tracing the roots and development of style, the authors show how graphic design has interacted with the material culture, how it has served both as an adjunct to and as the vanguard in the development of broader period styles. Included is a time line of graphic design from 1820 to 1980.El Lissitzky's poster, "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge," is depicted on page 99; the imagery is completely identical to the Sackner copy of this poster. The photograph was furnished by Szymon Bojko. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Steven Heller contributed an introduction, "Newsletters - No Excuse for Bad Design." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.