Jessica Helfand
Encyclopedia
Jessica Helfand is an author, columnist and lecturer on graphic design
. She is the partner of William Drenttel
of Winterhouse Studios, Winterhouse Editions and Winterhouse Institute located in Falls Village, Connecticut
. She is a critic in graphic design at Yale University
, where she earned her M.F.A. in Graphic Design and her B.A. in graphic design and architectural theory. She is a 1978 graduate of The George School
in Newtown, PA. "After graduate school, Jessica joined the staff of a respected magazine design studio, and soon moved on to become Design Director for the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine. She credits those years of relentless photo layouts with teaching her the fundamentals of visual storytelling. In 1992, a seminar on computer imaging sparked her interest in new media, and she began to envision creating her own studio. By 1996 she was back at Yale, this time beginning her long-term faculty association in graphic design with the School of Art, where she is now Senior Critic." "She has lectured at the AIGA National Biennial Conference, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Walker Art Center, Columbia University School of Journalism, the Annenberg School of Public Policy, and the Netherlands Design Institute."
Helfand has written for many national publications, including the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Aperture and The New Republic. She is the author of numerous books on design and cultural criticism, including Paul Rand: American Modernist (1998), Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media and Visual Culture (2001) and Reinventing the Wheel (2002), which formed the basis for an exhibit in 2004 at the Grolier Club in New York City. Her critically acclaimed 'Scrapbooks: An American History' (Yale University Press, 2008) was named that year’s best visual book by 'The New York Times'.
She is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and a recent laureate of the Art Director's Hall of Fame. In 2010, she and William Drenttel were named the first Henry Wolf Residents in Design at the American Academy in Rome. She was appointed by the Postmaster General to the U.S. Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee in 2006, where she chairs the Design Subcommittee.
Jessica Helfand received both her BA in Graphic Design and Architectural Theory and her MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University. She has taught for fifteen years in the graduate program in Graphic Design in the School of Art, where she is currently Senior Critic in Graphic Design and a Lecturer in Yale College, where she teaches the freshman seminar "Studies in Visual Biography."
Helfand is also a "founding writer" of the Design Observer
weblog. with Michael Bierut
, Wiliam Drenttel and Rick Poynor
.
Books by Jessica Helfand:
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
. She is the partner of William Drenttel
William Drenttel
William Drenttel is a graphic designer, editor, a partner in Winterhouse Studios, and President Emeritus of the American Institute of Graphic Arts . Drenttel received a BA in European Cultural Studies from Princeton University....
of Winterhouse Studios, Winterhouse Editions and Winterhouse Institute located in Falls Village, Connecticut
Falls Village, Connecticut
Falls Village is a village and census-designated place in the town of Canaan, Connecticut. Because Falls Village is the town center and principal constituent village in Canaan, the entire town is often referred to as "Falls Village." That usage also avoids confusion of the town with Canaan Village...
. She is a critic in graphic design at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where she earned her M.F.A. in Graphic Design and her B.A. in graphic design and architectural theory. She is a 1978 graduate of The George School
George School
George School is a private Quaker boarding and day high school located on a rural campus near Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded at its present site in 1893, and has grown from a single building to over 20 academic, athletic, and residential buildings...
in Newtown, PA. "After graduate school, Jessica joined the staff of a respected magazine design studio, and soon moved on to become Design Director for the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine. She credits those years of relentless photo layouts with teaching her the fundamentals of visual storytelling. In 1992, a seminar on computer imaging sparked her interest in new media, and she began to envision creating her own studio. By 1996 she was back at Yale, this time beginning her long-term faculty association in graphic design with the School of Art, where she is now Senior Critic." "She has lectured at the AIGA National Biennial Conference, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Walker Art Center, Columbia University School of Journalism, the Annenberg School of Public Policy, and the Netherlands Design Institute."
Helfand has written for many national publications, including the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Aperture and The New Republic. She is the author of numerous books on design and cultural criticism, including Paul Rand: American Modernist (1998), Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media and Visual Culture (2001) and Reinventing the Wheel (2002), which formed the basis for an exhibit in 2004 at the Grolier Club in New York City. Her critically acclaimed 'Scrapbooks: An American History' (Yale University Press, 2008) was named that year’s best visual book by 'The New York Times'.
She is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and a recent laureate of the Art Director's Hall of Fame. In 2010, she and William Drenttel were named the first Henry Wolf Residents in Design at the American Academy in Rome. She was appointed by the Postmaster General to the U.S. Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee in 2006, where she chairs the Design Subcommittee.
Jessica Helfand received both her BA in Graphic Design and Architectural Theory and her MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University. She has taught for fifteen years in the graduate program in Graphic Design in the School of Art, where she is currently Senior Critic in Graphic Design and a Lecturer in Yale College, where she teaches the freshman seminar "Studies in Visual Biography."
Helfand is also a "founding writer" of the Design Observer
Design Observer
Design Observer is a website devoted to a broad range of design topics centered on graphic design, communications arts, print, typography and criticism. The content of the site is composed of short essays and articles...
weblog. with Michael Bierut
Michael Bierut
Michael Bierut is a graphic designer, design critic and educator.Bierut was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning....
, Wiliam Drenttel and Rick Poynor
Rick Poynor
Rick Poynor is a British writer on design, graphic design, typography and visual culture. He began as a general visual arts journalist, working on Blueprint magazine in London. After founding Eye magazine , which he edited from 1990 to 1997, he focused increasingly on visual communication...
.
Scrapbooks: An American History
Helfand, a graphic designer and scrapbook collector, examines the evolution of scrapbooks from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present, concentrating on the first half of the twentieth century. She includes color photographs from more than two hundred scrapbooks, some made by private individuals and others by the famous, including Zelda Fitzgerald, Lillian Hellman, Anne Sexton, Hilda Doolittle, and Carl Van Vechten. Scrapbooks, while generally made by amateurs, represent a striking and authoritative form of visual autobiography, Helfand finds, and when viewed collectively they offer a unique perspective on the changing pulses of American cultural life.Books by Jessica Helfand:
- Scrapbooks: An American History", Yale University Press. (ISBN 978-0300126358)
- Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Culture, with John Maeda, Princeton Architectural Press. (ISBN ´978-1568983103)
- Reinventing the Wheel, Princeton Architectural Press. (ISBN 978-1568985961)
- Looking Closer 3, Vol. 3: Classic Writings on Graphic Design with Michael BierutMichael BierutMichael Bierut is a graphic designer, design critic and educator.Bierut was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning....
, Steven HellerSteven Heller (graphic design)Steven Heller is an American art director, journalist, critic, author, and editor who specializes on topics related to graphic design....
and Rick Poynor, Allworth Press. (ISBN 978-1581150223) - Paul Rand: American Modernist, William Drenttel Editions. (ISBN 978-1884381164)
- Graphic Design America 2: The work of many of the best and brightest design firms from across the United States, with DK Holland and Chip KiddChip KiddChip Kidd is an American author, editor, and graphic designer, best known for his book covers.- Early life :Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up in the Reading suburb of Shillington, strongly influenced by American popular culture...
, Rockport Publishers. (ISBN 978-1564966810)
External links
- Short biography from Yale University School of Art
- Winterhouse Studios (formerly Jessica Helfand | William Drenttel)
- Design Observer (includes short biography of Helfand).
- Me, the Undersigned, A Manifesto by Jessica Helfand
See also
- First Things First 2000 manifestoFirst things first 2000 ManifestoThe First Things First 2000 manifesto, launched by Adbusters magazine in 1999, was an updated version of the earlier First Things First manifesto written and published in 1964 by Ken Garland, a British designer....
- EmigreEmigre magazineEmigre was a graphic design magazine published by Emigre Graphics between 1984 and 2005; it was first published in 1984 in San Francisco, California, USA...
51: First Things First, 1999. http://www.emigre.com/EMag.php?issue=51