"First published in the USA in 1991 to accompany the exhibition, 'The ABCs of [triangle, square, circle]: The Bauhaus and Design Theory from Preschool to Post-Modernism"--Colophon.

Profiles the Basic Course taught by Johannes Itten at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany and discusses how it helped students determine their creative talents, choose a career, learn elementary design.

The Bauhaus, the school of art and design founded in Germany in 1919 and shut down by the Nazis in 1933, brought together artists, architects and designers in an extraordinary conversation about modern art. Bauhaus 1919-1933, published to accompany a major multimedia exhibition at MoMA, is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject by MoMA since 1938 and offers a new generational perspective on the 20th century's most influential experiment in artistic education. It brings together works in a broad range of mediums, including industrial design, furniture, architecture, graphics, photography, textiles, ceramics, theatre and costume design, and painting and sculpture - many of which have rarely if ever been seen outside of Germany. Featuring about 400 colour plates and a rich range of documentary images, this publication includes two overarching images by the exhibition's curators, Leah Dickerman and Barry Bergdoll, concise interpretive essays on key objects by over twenty leading scholars, and an illustrated, narrative chronology.

For the first time, the history of typography is told in comic strip form Typography confronts us everywhere: in books and newspapers, on road signs, in product packaging, and on political leaflets. It is ubiquitous to the point of mundanity. But while the typeface might be secondary to the message, it remains crucial to the way we respond. Fonts spark emotions; they evoke eras and ideologies. Some, like Edward Johnson's for the London Underground, have become iconic. Others, like Comic Sans, are loathed. Each one has its own place in history. The ABC of Typography traces 3,500 years of type from Sumerian pictographs through Roman calligraphy to Gutenberg, the Bauhaus, and beyond. Brimming with insight and anecdote, this witty and well-informed graphic guide explores the historical, technological, and cultural shifts that have defined the look of the words we read.

In the early 1960s Italian design legend Bruno Munari published his visual case studies on shapes: Circle, Square, and, a decade later, Triangle. Using examples from ancient Greece and Egypt, as well as works by Buckminster Fuller, Le Corbusier, and Alvar Aalto, Munari invests the three shapes with specific qualities: the circle relates to the divine, the square signifies safety and enclosure, and the triangle provides a key connective form for designers. One of the great designers of the twentieth century, Munari contributed to the fields of painting, sculpture, design, and photography while teaching throughout his seventy-year career. After World War II he began to focus on book design, creating children's books known for their simplicity and playfulness.

"The Bauhaus continues to radiate exuberance 90 years after it was founded. The Bauhaus as a school, where handicrafts, art and technology were taught together, has outlived the subsequent fashions in architecture and design. This volume provides an insight into the historical, cultural philosophical, political and pedagogical circumstances of the early years. In the process it portrays the famous Bauhaus directors and teachers, shows the Bauhaus pedagogical methods and accompanies the readers through the individual workshops, where they can rediscover a wealth of form and ideas which retains its uniqueness today. The essays about the current discussion about the Bauhaus as „fixed star of the avant-garde", the fill of in part unpublished visual material as well as the multitude of the aspects covered constitute a comprehensive representation of one of the most significant institutions in the art and cultural history of the Modern. "

High design, brilliant graphics, essential learning skills—these features distinguish the TouchThinkLearn titles, presenting knowledge in a new dimension. Xavier Deneux applies the same unique vision that informed TouchThink-Learn: ABC to this year's most innovative counting book. Die-cut numerals and shapes stimulate understanding of essential concepts, inviting youngest readers to engage in a meaningful and tangible hands-on experience of numbers by tracing figures and shapes to coordinate concepts and images.