The Wonder Women of Retro Design

Design movements appear suddenly and sometimes without warning. The design we now term as "Retro" design began by a small number of New York female designers working primarily in the record and book publishing industry. 

A field known in the 1980s for its traditionally conservative ways was rocked by a new approach to cover design. The designers Paula Scher, Louise Fili and Carin Goldberg created works using graphics from the turn of the 20th century and between the World Wars mixing fonts and color combinations that playfully connected the kinky and eccentric typefaces of that period. In these Retro designs, the typography is the key element becoming a star and focal point of the composition.

Paula Scher is––without question––the wonder woman of the movement. In Retro, we see an important historical design lesson to keep our eyes affixed. It’s human nature to cherish a past and forgotten beauty––and in this case, the many grand characteristics found in historical design. Early 20th century design––hidden away like some magician prodigy under the stairs––was just waiting to be re-opened by an experimental designer like Scher. She admits openly that she would have done anything at the time to avoid using the popular Helvetica font (which she unwaveringly still detests). Working at CBS records during the 70s her work attracted national attention.

In 1978 the record industry crashed, as inflation took a powerful toll on what was an industry of healthy photography budgets. Scher used this situation to her advantage creating almost completely typographic solutions. Combining her design history knowledge and a fascination with lesser-known typefaces, Scher applied a Retro design approach to her design solutions.

Most designers would have avoided the forbidden typefaces she used completely, and no doubt, the response to her initial work was under whelming. But Scher’s vision eventually began to gain ground. Her typographic solutions were eye opening, as she pulled from the visual vocabulary of Russian Constructivism and Art Deco, while reinventing them with a modern twist. The Russian Constructivists were dead serious about communicating to the masses to support a new society that emerged after the revolution. Scher puts a whimsical twist on how this type and imagery can be used to communicate in a playful manner.

Not surprisingly, Louise Fili credits Scher as her main influence. Fili took frequent trips to Europe to unwind from the hectic schedule of book publishing at Pantheon books. It was Europe that provided her with the inspiration and a very original approach to American book jacket design in the early part of the 1980s. Wandering the Italian seashore resorts built between the World Wars, she began photographing the antique signage that was commonplace. Her passion continued as she began collecting European graphics from the 1920s, 30s and 40s that she found at French and Italian flea markets. These ornate styles were almost completely forgotten. 

After the Second World War the New Typography movement began as an international graphics style towards clarity, readability and a rejection of superfluous decoration.
Typefaces before then became so unused that they did not even make it into the conversion to photographic or digital form.

Like Scher, Fili reinvents these old typographic specimens adding color and imagery that reflect the spirit of the past while projecting the content of a book in a unique way.

It is in their efforts that the Retro design approach has become a current consideration of any art director’s vision. When used appropriately, Retro design can be a highly effective solution for any designer with an eye on the past.

Use judiciously is my warning. You’ll know when it’s just right to implement a Retro look into your project.