A Brief History of Graphic Design and Its Evolution

Graphic design can be found everywhere in the world. From advertisements in a magazine to the artwork on a paper cup of coffee to the logo on your sneakers, it can draw us in or make us cringe. For any business, brand recognition is vitally important to building a consumer base that is aware and interested in your company. It is for this reason that graphic design is something absolutely essential in our lives.

Styles of graphic design change throughout history as well.

The 1920s and 30s had the Art Deco/Nouveau style, with bold shapes and colors, silhouettes, and lots of ornate lettering. This style has become iconic and has stood as a timeless visual style with everything from art, architecture, and advertisements to planes, trains, and automobiles!

Another widespread graphic movement came in the 1960s and 70s. The Hippie culture influenced a lot of the “earth tones” of browns, yellows, and oranges that swept magazine pages and billboards throughout the era. Doritos recently hearkened back to this design era with a bag design for their taco chips. Flat, unshaded letters and a tan, orange, yellow, and brown color palette really captured the 70s perfectly. The 60s had earth tones as well and incorporated psychedelic imagery and floral patterns with lots of colors. Also, in terms of typefaces, bubble letters and oversized, flowing typefaces dominated proceedings.

The 1980s were characterized by “futuristic” design elements. There were many sharp edges, metallic or chrome treatments (think of any rock album cover from the era, as well as movie posters). Neon, bright colors were also definitely in vogue, and any and all references to the brand new computers and their untapped potential. All design in the 80s tended toward the angular, and the typefaces of the era (think of the film Tron, or the band logos for Metallica or Iron Maiden) were no different. It is also worth noting that through the 1980s, virtually all graphic design was done by hand, making a graphic artist a very exclusive position with only a few quality practitioners.

In the 1990s, computers started being used for design, and while the 1990s were not a particularly influential or inspiring era (especially with album covers), this change to more computer based work was important. It meant that talented artists could create great work without having to rent studio space and that more and more businesses could get quality work, with a greater talent pool.

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