This is the inaugural volume in Electas latest series on design and graphics, and presents an annotated selection of the many texts written by the distinguished Italian architecture and design historian Sergio Polano over the last ten years. Some of the essays - of both historical and popular nature - are well known, having been published several times, while others were delivered as lectures and still others are previously unpublished. In the first part the author summarizes the main problems faced by a designer working in the field of graphics. This is followed by a series of clear and concise chapters examining the work of the principal graphic designers of the twentieth century, from Peter Behrens to Tibor Kalman, from El Lissitzky to Maz Huber, and from Alexander Rodchenko to Ed Fella. The images and apparatus criticus selected and compiled by Pierpaolo Vetta supplement and illustrate the subjects covered by the texts.