Mehemed Fehmy Agha

I learned several things about Mehemed Fehmy Agha, 1896-1778, from conducting research on him over the course of the semester. The first thing I learned was that he was the first person to ever switch titles from "art editor" to "art director" which is quite an accomplishment. He worked at the Paris and Berlin offices of Vogue as an art editor until Condé Nast persuaded him to move to America in 1929 to become art director of the American edition of Vogue. He then became responsible for Vogue, Vanity Fair and House & Garden for 14 years until 1943.

                               1934                                                                                                                                                         1932

Agha made many contributions to the design world. He invented bleed photos, and you can tell from the two magazine covers above that he used that technique a lot. He also invented the double page spread, which has become very popular and is used in almost every magazine today. Agha had an eye for photography and design and will be remembered for his style, personality and inspiration. Because of all he did, he changed not only design during his time, but our time also.