Did you know?
The Wiener Werkstätte was the first graphic design agency– 1903
With more and more companies recognizing the benefit of graphic design, it was just a matter of time before the first graphic design agency emerged. That honor belongs to Austria’s Wiener Werkstätte, an organization who made contributions to design style and business alike.
Meaning simply “Vienna workshop,” the Wiener Werkstätte was the first such organization of visual artists, including painters, architects, and early graphic designers. Organizationally, it set the precedent for all other collaborative agencies to follow.
Perhaps its greatest legacy was stylistic innovation, such as cubism. And as a group of professional artists working together, they held great influence over establishing design standards for upcoming generations of artists, particular those after World War I when cultural attitudes were changing worldwide. The work done at the Wiener Werkstätte set the stage for the popular Bauhaus and Art Deco styles that soon followed.