Graphic design history is a territory where multiple interests converge but where views may diverge, especially those of design practitioners and historians. How do historical narratives shape the definition of the field of practice? Conversely, how does graphic design practice contribute, or how can it contribute, to defining the ways to access and disseminate historical knowledge? How does history help to develop critical discourse about the design practice? How do designers use and embed history in their practice? Finally, are the visions and agendas of practitioners and academic historians really so incompatible and distant from one another?

The papers in this volume—the proceedings of the conference Graphic Design: History and Practice, held at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Faculty of Design and Art, in 2014—attempt to answer those questions through the voice of both designers and historians who have been extensively involved with the making of design history.

Papers include: “History and the Graphic Designer” / Richard Hollis; “Women and Graphic Design in the History of Design and in Design History” / Gerda Breuer; “Preservation/Exhibition/Education: Shifting Views on Graphic Design History” / Esther Cleven; “Graphic Design and the History of Graphic Design in Italy” / Mario Piazza; “Changing Attitudes to Graphic Design History in the Digital Age” / Adrian Shaughnessy; “Beyond Forms” / Annick Lantenois; “Imagining History” / Giorgio Camuffo; “Entering Digital Design History” / Maddalena Dalla Mura; “Graphic Design History within Design Education: A View from Italy” / Carlo Vinti

Transcribed discussions which followed papers at the conference are also included. These offer a glimpse of the kinds of conversations and observations prompted by these papers, as well as further thinking about topics by the participants.

Design by MadSerif

Edited by Antonino Benincasa, Giorgio Camuffo, Maddalena Dalla Mura, Christian Upmedier, and Carlo Vinti

Published by Bozen-Bolzano University Press, 2016

Softcover, 234 pages, color and b&w illustrations, 6.75 × 9.5 inches

ISBN: 978-88-6046-090-5