use

The real beefy parts of this database are found in the Library section, where objects, people, methods and movements are interlinked. The timeline (which offers an overview of how things work together in time) is definitely a work in progress, and the whole system is optimized to work best on Firefox.

gerd (gestaltung recherche datenbank) or
design history database

This database is the brainchild of Manuel Fleig, who at the end of his Bachelor’s Degree studies in graphic design (at the University of Applied Sciences in Constance, Germany) created it (in a way showing off) as an extension of his thesis project a photography history archive named ULFF (you’ll have to ask him what that stands for). In any case during his presentation Manuel looks at me (as usual sitting near the front of the audience) and says “oh by the way Brian, I made a graphic design history archive too—named GERD.” It wasn’t really very full, and at the time of this writing it isn’t very far either, but the ground work has been laid.

a work in progress

Well as you might imagine, Manuel’s comment couldn’t be ignored, and I really liked what i saw and how he had approached the whole thing—using Kirby as a CMS and all that. What Manuel didn’t know is that I had been trying for years to get funding (and still am) to develop a graphic design history database to use as a teaching (and maybe some day research) database. So I asked Manuel if he would be interested in developing the database further, on the side of his day job, and i would pay him as we went. To my pleasant surprise he said yes in his usual nonchalant manner.

We were off to the races, brainstorming and looking at what a database would need and trying things out, after some weeks or months of that, we settled down and decided to agree on a set of back-end and front-end functionalities and get those working. More months passed, often I was too busy or distracted, other times Manuel was busy with his jobs. Fridays became our day for irregular but fruitful check-ins and debugging sessions. About one month ago we decided it was ready enough for me to start seriously uploading content. And now the hard part begins.

So yes it is a work in progress with gaps and errors and so on, be patient and tell me about mistakes you find or additions you would like. Obviously, the database has my voice, my perspective, my attitude, and as such should be viewed as a work created with a (my) point of view and with all my biases. It is intended to support the course I teach on graphic design history at the University of Applied Sciences, and hopefully inspire the young people who use it to dive into the history of their field. It is all for academic use only, so no payment is required, and images should be left where they are. Enjoy.

Professor Brian Switzer, April 2021