Herbert Bayer

Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) was an Austrian graphic designer. He apprenticed under the artist Georg Schmidthammer in Linz. Leaving the workshop to study at the Viennese Darmstadt Artists Colony, he became interested in Walter Gropius's Bauhaus manifesto. When Bayer had studied for four years at the Bauhaus, Gropius appointed him director of printing and advertising. He adopted an all-lowercase alphabet as hallmark of all Bauhaus publications, and designed a custom geometric sans-serif font, "universal". In 1928, Bayer left the Bauhaus to become art director of Vogue magazine's Berlin office. Ten years later, he settled in New York City where he had a long and distinguished career in nearly every aspect of the graphic arts.