# Brodovitch Editorial Design (Harper's Bazaar)

> A magazine-spread idiom in which the photograph is treated as a cinematic sequence: bled, unexpectedly cropped, grainy and blurred images set against generous white space, a Didone masthead and an expressive second colour that varied by issue. Improvised rather than gridded, it made the fashion magazine an art-directed object and shaped a generation of photographers.

- Period: 1934–1958
- Where: North America
- Origin: New York: Alexey Brodovitch, a Russian émigré who worked in Paris as a poster and stage designer, art director of Harper's Bazaar under editor Carmel Snow (1934–1958) and teacher at the Design Laboratory (begun at the Philadelphia museum school in the 1930s, later held in New York)
- Branch: Rational modernism
- Also known as: Brodovitch style, Harper's Bazaar 1934–58 layout, Design Laboratory school
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/brodovitch-harpers-bazaar/

## How it works

- Bleed photographs off the page and crop them where the eye does not expect.
- Sequence images across the spread like film stills, letting blur and grain stay in.
- Treat white space as an active shape and pit tiny captions against large images.
- Use a single second colour expressively instead of a full palette.
- Set elegant high-contrast type sparingly, as a counterweight to the picture.
- Break the photograph with surrealist devices such as torn edges and isolated body parts.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (defining)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (defining)
- [Broken grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/broken-grid/) (characteristic)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Didone](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/didone/) (characteristic)
- [Transitional serif](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/transitional-serif/) (occasional)
- [Flush left, ragged right](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flush-left-ragged-right/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (occasional)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (occasional)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (defining)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (defining)
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (characteristic)
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Luxurious & glamorous](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/luxurious-and-glamorous/) (characteristic)

Avoids: Abundant decoration, Horror vacui, Central symmetry, Ornamented display, Eclectic mixing, Modular grid

Palette: #f4efe6, #111111, #d3202f, #e8b4b8

Typefaces: Didot (Bazaar masthead and display), Al-Bro (Brodovitch, 1949)

Known for: Harper's Bazaar (art direction 1934–1958); Brodovitch, Ballet (1945): about 104 blurred, grainy photographs of ballet performances taken 1935–37; Portfolio magazine (1949, three issues); Design Laboratory (1930s–): students included Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Lillian Bassman; Robert Frank studied with Brodovitch; Le Bal Banal poster competition, first prize (Paris, 1924)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Surrealist Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/surrealism.md) (1924–1960)
- Influenced by: [Die Neue Typographie](https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-typography.md) (1923–1940)
- Influenced by: [American Mid-Century Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/american-modernism.md) (1940–1970)
- Alike in its design choices: [Blue Note Jazz Sleeve Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/blue-note-sleeve.md) (1956–1967), 58% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [ECM Sleeve Aesthetic (Munich)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ecm-sleeve.md) (1969–present), 56% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Post-Punk Record Sleeve (Stiff, Factory, 4AD)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/post-punk-sleeve.md) (1977–1990), 54% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Nordic Noir Book Cover](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nordic-noir-cover.md) (2005–present), 52% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [West German Conceptual Film & Culture Poster (Hillmann and Rambow)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/neue-filmkunst-poster.md) (1953–1990), 51% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Contemporary Chinese Book Design ('Most Beautiful Books of China')](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chinese-contemporary-book-design.md) (2003–present), 50% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Brodovitch
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Bazaar
- https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/153967
- Kerry William Purcell, Alexey Brodovitch (Phaidon, 2002)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Brodovitch Editorial Design (Harper's Bazaar)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/brodovitch-harpers-bazaar/