A (brief) History of Graphic Design Design is subject to fashion and changing moods of the political and economic climate. There is a tend towards casual elegance and conservative design during poor economic times, and hard modern designs during economic booms. Trends tend to move back and forth in a pendulum arc from one extreme to the other over the course of 20-40 years. This has, however, accelerated recently.

Arts & Crafts Movement: late 1800s Tied to the post-industrial age as a backlash against industrialization Artists’ community was interested in skills being lost and forgotten: handmade objects with intricate detailing William Morris was a leader of the A&C Movement – outspoken about decline in quality of goods due to mass production Qualities of the era: ornamentation, gilding, frills, elegance

Art Nouveau: 1900 - 1920 Exploded on the scene at the 1900s World’s Fair Goal was to create an international style Influenced by fluid & organic shapes Like Arts & Crafts, it was a response to the Industrial Revolution Proponents believed all art should work together to create a “total work of art” also known as Gesamtkunstwerk Motifs from Art Nouveau were predominantly based on nature Filigree!!!

Constructivism: 1913 – 1930s Started in Russia by artists influenced by cubism The movement wrote a manifesto known as the “Realist Manifesto” outlining their goals Primary goal was to “construct art”, hence the name constructivism The group declared enthusiasm for machines, technology, industrialism, and modern materials. Despite being artists, they wanted to emulate the practical thinking of engineers. Communist revolution influenced the movement

De Stijl: 1917 - 1928 Means “The Style” Related to Constructivism and primarily located in the Netherlands Artist Piet Mondrian and Architect Theo van Doesburg were leading figures All designs (including typography) were ordered by rules of design economy & simplicity Designers sought to create a universal style in painting, art, architecture, and design using rectangles and squares in geometric shapes with bold primary colors in a grid.

Bauhaus: 1919 - 1933 Similar ideals as De Stijl and Constructivism in unifying all design disciplines Merger of industrial techniques and artistic design standards. FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION “Simplify, simplify, simplify” Stressed clarity of message in design work Bauhaus group had a school in Dessau, Germany

Pictorial Modernism: 1917 - 1950 Grew in parallel to Bauhaus, Constructivism, and De Stijl Ideal illustrations of contemporary society A huge trend in advertising

International Typographic Style: 1950 – 1970s Emerged from Switzerland and Germany post WWII Also known as “Swiss design” While other design movements were somewhat limited in scope, ITS dominated the design world for over 20 years. Goal was to present visual and verbal information in a clearly articulated and easily understood manner This goal achieved through rigorously constructed mathematical grids. Use of sans-serif typefaces, specifically helvetica

New York School: 1950s Borrowed from ITS in a post war America Dawn of corporatism Start of the era of corporate branding and corporate logos Largest designers from this era: Paul Rand and Saul Bass

Psychedelic Era: 1960 – 1970s Design moves away from the sterile and rigid 1950s to revisit fluid and organic concepts Clarity pushed aside in favor of style “If the communication is cool enough, the reader will come to understand it” Started with hippies in San Francisco and spread globally

The Digital Era: 1980s - Today Previous design work had been done manually. The rise of computers allowed the freedom for more interesting, and faster designs Type could be set in seconds, rather than hours or days. Font creation and manipulation was easy Anyone can be a designer without needing to master overly complex tools, machinery, and techniques