Brief:
In the lesson, we looked at some articles that focus on key events in the past century that have impacted modern graphic design.
Choose five of these key events and do more research on each.
In your own words, using the extra knowledge you have gained in your research, write a paragraph about each, explaining what impact it had on graphic design. Include visual examples if you have.
This week, we looked at some articles that focus on key events in the past century that have impacted graphic design. We were to choose five of these key events and do more research and present our findings.
The beginning
Even though graphic design didnt start till after the invention of the printing press in 1440, there are clear evidence that people used visual represantations to communicate all the way back to caveman times. Subjects varied from animals to hand imprints to events like hunting, and they’ve been found all over the world.
The Sumerians created one of the first written languages.
These earliest languages were logographic—icons represented entire words instead of phonetic sounds. This use of icons is still at large in present days, as graphic designers rely on simple icons to representwords or concepts in a limited space.
Industrial revolution (1760-1840)
The Industrial revolution was the transition to manufacturing processes. This included going from hand production to machines, increasing use of water and steam power and development of machine tools to name a few. The Industrial revolution was a turning point in history and close to every aspect of daily life was affected, the average income and population grew massively.
The inventions created in this era impacted the growth of graphic design and typography. The range of typographic letterform and styles (ex. Sans-serif) was immense and with mechanized printers, the printed material had almost no limits and saved time and cost. Posters became the most popular medium. It also had a negative effect, where punchcutters, type casters, type setters and printers lost their jobs.
Art Nouveau – 1890
In 1890 a new global design movement emerged that influenced architecture, fashion and graphic design. It was important for the evolvement of graphic design, because with its characteristics of sinuous lines and flowing organic shapes it encouraged artists to illustrate their subjects not as they appeared, but rather an interpretation of what the artist pictured. This was expressed with forms of movements and abstract representation, changing the ”rules” of design and created creative freedom.
Art Deco – 1920-30s
World War 1 brought about a change in graphic design style. People longed for luxury and abundance after trying years of hardship from the war and from that grew Art Deco. Art Deco was a style that was symmetrical and visually pleasing. It was seen everywhere and on everything and was the first true international style in graphic design, and contributed to the era of Modernism. This style is still a big player today, as its usage of simple and clear lines are often found in Logos.
The knoll brothers
in 1987 Thomas and John Knoll developed a program that would later become Photoshop. After a few years they started a cooperation with adobe, and released Photoshop in 1990. With the release of photoshop a revolution was created in the world of graphic design. The changes in computer technology and ease of work, the artist had a lot more control. Now they could add layers, fragmentation, colours, opacity\transparency, scaling to name a few. With photo manipulation they could easily blend together illustrations, photos, colours and logos. A brand new way of creating and working began.
Sources
https://designshack.net/articles/trends/art-deco-graphic-design/
http://www.designhistory.org/Arts_Crafts_pages/IndustrialRevolution.html
https://medium.com/@brandywilletts/how-the-industrial-revolution-impacted-graphic-design-6140fad2cca
https://customlogos.com/blog/history-graphic-design/