Imaging words : book design in France between 1945 and 1975

In the thesis, I examine book design as a form of image production in France from 1945 to 1975. The modernization of printing and the rise of visual media (TV, cinema) led to a social and cultural transition, in Michel Ragon’s words, from the “temps de l’écriture” to the “temps de l’image.” In this visual society, books featured more images and colours, and book designers became crucial actors in the chain of production. I argue that book designers shaped their practice by deploying styles and techniques from the twentieth-century avant-gardes and contemporary art. Art history has largely sidestepped commercial book design, as it seems to belong primarily to marketing strategies rather than art, narrowly defined. However, I show that books and their maquettes became a medium for avant-garde experimentation for an emerging profession: the book designer. Moreover, the close study of book design reveals the important degree to which books were artistic, cultural, social, and politicized objects. The thesis is archival-based and analyses materials from publishers’, thinkers’ and designers’ archives, including unpublished documents such as the maquette. I focus on the book maquette as a support for book designers’ creativity and avant-garde experimentation, demonstrating their interest in collage and photomontage. The range of book designs includes luxury books, paperbacks, and book clubs, to identify designers’ personal creativity and contribution to the field. Among book designers, I present the understudied work of female designers, including Jeanine Fricker and Aline Elmayan, alongside well-known male counterparts, such as Pierre Faucheux, Robert Massin, and Roman Cieslewicz. The thesis aims to bring to light book design as an integral field of artistic experimentation aligned with its time, in which a group of people simultaneously defined modern book design and the role of the book designer.