Ladislav

Sutnar
Claudia González
Ladislav Sutnar
Czechoslovakia

Was a pioneer of information design and information

architecture.
He worked with many media including print, painting, products
and interior design.
He studied painting at the School of Applied Arts in Prague,
architecture at Charles University, and mathematics at the
Czech Technical University.

1897 - 1976
His life Czechoslovakia to New York

» Sutnar was a key figure in the modernist art and design circles in
Prague between World War I and II.
» In 1923, he became the professor of design at the State School of
Graphic Arts in Prague.
» In Europe, he gained recognition for typography and exhibition
design.
» In 1939 he chose to settle in New York leaving his family behind in
Prague as Nazi control continued there.
» In 1941, he became art director of F.W. Dodge’s Sweet’s Catalog
Service from 1941 until 1960.
Work
Book design Poster design Toy design Exhibition design

Build the Town Building Block Set

Catalog Design, New Patterns in Product Information

Sutnar was very much He liked the idea of creating
involved with printing, so contrast between colors
he designed a lot of book and black and white
covers. images, which he often
used in posters.
Starting in 1924, Ladislav He did a lot of exhibitions in
designed toys consisting of his life.
simple geometric structures
of animals and puppets.
Style He was heavily influenced by Modernism, Bauhaus, Dej Stil
and European Avant-gardism.

He used vivid colors, but was very attracted to orange.

Grids and strict layout were so important in his style.
He often used geometric shapes to guide the layout but also asymmetrical
composition to draw visual interest.
A distinguishing feature of his work is the use of punctuation symbols to organize
information.

His designs transformed the face of business data, organizing massive

amounts of information into not only comprehendible but visually interesting
displays, so he obviously continues to influence design today.
Strip street
1963

Strip street was an album of 12 erotic silk-screen prints

Personally I was surprised to see this series of works in

his work, as it is very different from what he does, both
in terms of design and theme.
But I found interesting the contrast between the colors,
which are vivid but he still uses only a few. And even
though it looks very asymmetrical, all the prints have a
balance.
Further Reading:

• https://www.artic.edu/artists/25278/ladislav-sutnar