Graphic design has been a part of humanity since its earliest days. The first humans felt the need to express themselves in the form of cave paintings.
Ancient art from all around the globe features what can be termed early graphic design. The period from the mid-20th century through today, however, is particularly interesting. We have seen significant changes in approaches and interesting innovations since the beginning of World War II.
World War II spurred a massive
surge in poster art and design.
In an effort to propagandize and to recruit support for the war, both Axis and Allied nations communicated their messages via poster. While the United States tended to feature drab, straightforward design in these efforts, the British and French took more creative approaches. During the war years, France’s Jean Carlu combined newer artistic traditions (particularly Cubism) with a strong sense of composition to create bold and interesting poster art. Many argue that Carlu’s work presaged and may have significantly influenced corporate graphic design and logo creation.
The post-war economic boom in the United States and elsewhere created an increased demand for graphic design. While much of the work was rather straightforward commercial design exhibiting few innovations, there were exceptions to that rule.
The Bauhaus school, which entered the U.S. in the late 1930s via German émigrés, became especially influential following the war. Paul Rand and others applied the approach to the creation of corporate identities.
The commercial nature of graphic design, embodied in the power and influence of New York’s Madison Avenue advertising firms, was briefly challenged on the economic outskirts by the growing counter-culture movement. Psychedelic art, for instance, gained a strong foothold in graphic design. Any threat to the power structure was averted, however, as the ad firms co-opted the unique graphical presentations. Psychedelia was tamed and retrained to serve its commercial master, becoming part of mainstream advertising and corporate identity structures.
While the bulk of graphic design in the 1970s and 1980s followed the relatively tame and structured approach of the European “international typography”, there was also room for pop art and a new wave aesthetic to leave a mark on the field. Designers like Neville Brody and David Carson laid the groundwork for a 90s look that celebrated experimentation and that played with structural expectations.
Today, graphic design is in
an interesting state of flux.
Designers are drawing from a variety of approaches, creating hybrids and exploring new space with technologically-drive innovations. Both legitimate nostalgia and ironic sampling from the past function side by side in many spaces. It is as if the world of design is a simmering volcano, waiting for the eruption of the next big movement.
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Graphic Design Since World War II
Graphic design has been a part of humanity since its earliest days. The first humans felt the need to express themselves in the form of cave paintings.
Ancient art from all around the globe features what can be termed early graphic design. The period from the mid-20th century through today, however, is particularly interesting. We have seen significant changes in approaches and interesting innovations since the beginning of World War II.
World War II spurred a massive
surge in poster art and design.
In an effort to propagandize and to recruit support for the war, both Axis and Allied nations communicated their messages via poster. While the United States tended to feature drab, straightforward design in these efforts, the British and French took more creative approaches. During the war years, France’s Jean Carlu combined newer artistic traditions (particularly Cubism) with a strong sense of composition to create bold and interesting poster art. Many argue that Carlu’s work presaged and may have significantly influenced corporate graphic design and logo creation.
The post-war economic boom in the United States and elsewhere created an increased demand for graphic design. While much of the work was rather straightforward commercial design exhibiting few innovations, there were exceptions to that rule.
The Bauhaus school, which entered the U.S. in the late 1930s via German émigrés, became especially influential following the war. Paul Rand and others applied the approach to the creation of corporate identities.
The commercial nature of graphic design, embodied in the power and influence of New York’s Madison Avenue advertising firms, was briefly challenged on the economic outskirts by the growing counter-culture movement. Psychedelic art, for instance, gained a strong foothold in graphic design. Any threat to the power structure was averted, however, as the ad firms co-opted the unique graphical presentations. Psychedelia was tamed and retrained to serve its commercial master, becoming part of mainstream advertising and corporate identity structures.
While the bulk of graphic design in the 1970s and 1980s followed the relatively tame and structured approach of the European “international typography”, there was also room for pop art and a new wave aesthetic to leave a mark on the field. Designers like Neville Brody and David Carson laid the groundwork for a 90s look that celebrated experimentation and that played with structural expectations.
Today, graphic design is in
an interesting state of flux.
Designers are drawing from a variety of approaches, creating hybrids and exploring new space with technologically-drive innovations. Both legitimate nostalgia and ironic sampling from the past function side by side in many spaces. It is as if the world of design is a simmering volcano, waiting for the eruption of the next big movement.
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