Graphic design: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 23, 2026

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Facts

Also Known As	visual communications

Photos

Egyptian Book of the Dead

Neẓāmī: Khamseh illustration

Gutenberg Bible

Title page for Regiomontanus's Calendarium (1476).

Two-page spread from the Aldine Press's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499).

Black-and-white print of an engraved trading card by Robert Clee, 18th century.

Two-page spread from Jean de La Fontaine's Contes et nouvelles en vers (1762), printed by Joseph Gerard Barbou and illustrated by Charles Eisen.

Two-page spread from Bucolica, Georgica, et Aeneis, a book containing three works by Virgil, printed by Pierre l'aîné Didot, 1798.

Poster for the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, 1854.

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Topics

Lorem ipsum The arts Interior design Printmaking Drawing stagecraft garden and landscape design Industrial design Rock art computer graphics Frame design South Asian arts

Key People

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Jan Tschichold

German typographer and author

A legendary graphic designer

Milton Glaser

American graphic designer and illustrator

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Alexey Brodovitch

American graphic designer

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Jules Chéret

French artist