Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires and Riots

Includes books and magazines designed by Merle Armitage, Alvin Lustig, Herbert Matter and Sheila Levrant DeBretteville; posters for Disneyland, Cream and Herman Miller; Marget Larsen’s print ads for Joseph Magnin; title cards or title sequences for Lassie and other hit TV shows; title sequences for films including Taxi Driver; motion graphics; immersive live shows; architectural supergraphics by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon and Alexander Girard; print and environmental designs by Gere Kavanaugh and Deborah Sussman; and much more The first ever book to focus solely on the great outpouring of graphic design from California during the 20th century. According to the cliché, California is the place where anything goes and everyone does their own thing. Maybe that’s because everyone knows that in California there’s no terra firma: earthquakes, mudslides, fires, and the occasional civil uprising cause constant upheaval and change. It is also legendary as fertile ground for creativity, freedom, and social consciousness, where the status quo undergoes constant renovation. This book is the first to capture the enormous body of distinctive and visually ecstatic graphic design that emanated from this great state throughout most of the twentieth century. Edited and designed by graphic designer Louise Sandhaus, this raucous gathering of smart, offbeat, groundbreaking graphic design from the ‘Left Coast’ will amaze readers with its breadth and richness. Louise Sandhaus is the former Program Director and current faculty in the Graphic Design Program at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). She runs her own design company, LSD (Louise Sandhaus Design)