Will Bradley's Graphic Art

Book excerpt: Will Bradley (1868–1962) was among the first American artists to realize the immense possibilities creative design held for the business world. Experimenting with typefaces, decorative illustrations, layouts, and print, he produced posters, advertisements, book designs, and magazine covers that were practical as well as striking and original works of art. At the turn of the century, Bradley was in the forefront of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, and his iconic posters from the 1890s brought Art Nouveau into the forefront of American graphic art and advertising design. This full-color volume contains more than 100 examples of Bradley's finest work, revealing his skills as artist, illustrator, type designer, advertiser, and printer. From his earliest asymmetrical, curvilinear designs through his elegant adaptation of the Art Nouveau style, his bold typefaces, and his book illustrations, this collection reveals the wide and versatile range of Bradley's art. This edition includes Bradley's extremely readable "Notes Toward an Autobiography," tracing the artist's life from his work as a printer's devil in Michigan through his career as an art supervisor for the vast Hearst printing empire. Bradley's reminiscences offer not only a personal introduction to his art but also fascinating glimpses of America during a colorful bygone era.