#graphis inc.

Decorative Sunday

A few months ago, I posted images from the first Graphis Annual, check out that post for some background on the early days of Graphis. Since that inaugural Graphis Annual in 1952/53, the Graphis family of publications has expanded to include a number of annual reviews, starting with the Graphis Photo Annual in 1966 and the Graphis Poster Annual in 1973. The images here are from the Design Annual 2022, published by Graphis Inc. in New York, NY. Graphis also now publishes annuals in advertising as well as a New Talent Annual highlighting exceptional student work.

It is interesting to compare more current Graphis Annuals with earlier ones, not only to note changes in aesthetic sensibility, but also to note the expansion of ambitious design work into areas like corporate annuals and/or environmental reports. The image above that looks like the cover of a manga, for example, is actually the annual report for Nissin Foods Holdings Co., LTD., a Japanese company that specialized in convenience foods like Cup Noodles (which I was very surprised to learn hasn’t been called Cup O’ Noodles since 1993 ... Mandela effect?). I was also pleased to see how much book design was featured in the annual, though I do admit to over-representing book design in my choices here. I just couldn’t help myself!

Find more Decorative Sunday posts here. 

Decorative Sunday

I had some internal debate about whether these pages from the first Graphis Annual really fit with our Decorative Sunday theme. If we consider the most general definition of decorative arts: the creation of objects that are both beautiful and functional, there is certainly plenty of overlap between commercial design and decorative arts.

Walter Herdeg and Dr. Walter Amstutz, the editors of the bi-montly Graphis Magazine (founded 1944), introduced the annual publication with the ‘52/53 edition, featured here, as a place to feature material that didn’t fit into the structure of the magazine. In their words:

“They intend not only to create in Graphis Annual a ready pictorial reference volume for designers, advertisers, advertising agents and prints, but hope to present a book which can be used to great advantage by teachers of technical colleges and students, and trust that the surveys leading into each section, together with the detailed captions, will assist in the achievement of this purpose. The layout of the Annual should in itself serve as an example of clear arrangement and display.”

Under the direction of Herdeg, the text of the Annual was produced in English, French, and German. The European edition of the Annual was published by Amstutz & Herdeg in Zurich. We hold the American edition, published in New York by Pellegrini & Cudahy (which merged with Farrar, Straus and Young in April of 1953). Herdeg was responsible for the book design, with text provided by Charles Rosner. Herdeg would become sole publisher in 1962, and would pass on publishing responsibilities to his lawyer son, Marcel Herdeg, so he could focus totally on the design aspects of the Graphis Inc. family of publications. 

As much as some might be tempted to thumb their nose at commercial art, we live in a graphic society and, given that, I would rather the graphic inundation we face on a daily basis be aesthetically interesting! Plus, artists have to eat and pay rent like the rest of us, and many a fine artist has paid their dues in commercial endeavors. 

Explore more Decorative Sunday posts here.