W.A. Dwiggins didn’t just design books, he designed a new way of thinking about design. As the first to call himself a ‘graphic designer,’ he blended function, beauty, and playful invention into everything he touched, from typefaces to puppets. His quiet legacy shapes how we read, see, and imagine design today.
This project explores the life and legacy of W.A. Dwiggins, a designer whose work still influences how we create and experience visual communication today. By studying his contributions, we hope to better understand the roots of modern design and the creative possibilities that come from thinking across disciplines.
On this site, you’ll find a summary of Dwiggins’s background, an analysis of his unique design style, examples of his most influential work, and critiques from our team. We’ve also included an embedded eBook and a downloadable research paper on the Project Page to help others learn more about his contributions to graphic design.
Full Name: William Addison Dwiggins
Era Active: Primarily in the early to mid-20th century.
Dwiggins lived and worked during a time when printing and graphic design were transforming into more formalized professions.
He was celebrated during the middle of the 20th century as a major contributor to the field and was one of the most prominent type designers of the time
His style combined modular ornamentation, calligraphy, and modern typeface design.
Known for his angular designs, inspired partly by his work with marionettes. He called this angular approach the “M Formula”, where sharp forms translated well both on stage (with puppets) and in print (with typefaces).
He introduced a humanistic touch even in technical designs like infographics, aiming to make information more relatable (see video below).
Coined the Term “Graphic Designer”: In a 1922 article, Dwiggins proposed that commercial artists should now be called graphic designers, recognizing that they were doing more than just creating illustrations—they were orchestrating full visual experiences.
Type Design: Designed over a dozen typefaces, most notably Electra and Caledonia, which were used widely in books. Electra is often cited as his signature typeface, recently revived in digital form.
Book Design: One of the first to separate book design from the job of the printer, treating it as a standalone art and design form. Designed and illustrated books with incredible care to layout, spacing, and typographic hierarchy.
Infographics & Advertising: Created early forms of infographics that were ahead of their time. Authored the influential manual Layout in Advertising (1928), which is still referenced for its insightful approach to layout and visual communication.
Marionettes and Cross-disciplinary Influence: Built detailed marionettes, and his observations from puppet design directly informed how he approached typography—applying angularity and readability from performance to print
This site is for educational purposes only.
Fair Use
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.
Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
Fair Use Definition
Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching or scholarship. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor balancing test.