HISTORY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN

A Reference to Important Events

Beginning of Writing/ Alphabet/ Type

3100 BCE Early Sumerian Pictographic script 2039 BCE Cuneiform writing 2012 BCE First evidence of papyrus 16501200 BCE Stamp cylinder 1500 BCE Abstract Phoenician writing 1000 BCE Greek alphabet 1000 BCE Parchment
Greek Alphabet Pictographic Script

400500 BC Collapse of Roman Empire 800 Carolingian Minuscules 1000 BC Paper arrives to Europe through Arabs/Egyptians 1300 Invention of movable printed woodblocks 1400 Woodblock printed cards 1452 Gutenbergs printing press 1470 Old Style typefaces
Gutenbergs printing press Carolingian Minuscules

1700s Transitional typefaces 1800 Modern typefaces 1850 Square Serifs typefaces
Square Serif Typeface

105 CE Paper invented in China 300 BCE Roman alphabet 300 CE Codex Augustus
Roman Alphabet

Early Art/ Design

1450s Gutenbergs printing press 16001750 Baroque Art 16031867 Tocuwaga period of seclusion in Japan Early 1700s Rococo Art 17601840 Industrial Revolution 1796 Lithography by Senefelder 1800 NeoClassical Art (and Victorian style) 1818 Harper Brothers Printing Firm 1839 Daguerreotype
Daguerrotype Lithography

Early Art/ Design

1846 American Chromolitography 1841 First publicity agency, US 1871 Photoengraving Lithography 1880 Photoprinting (half-tone screens) 18911898 Kelmscott Press
Chromolithography

Photoprinting

Arts and Crafts Movement

1880-1890s
The Arts and Crafts Movement was against social, moral and artistic confusion of the Industrial Revolution. It advocated for handicraft, and was against mass production. It focused on the harmony between production and human life. 1834-1896 William Morris He was the leader of the Arts and Crafts movement. Called for:Fitness of purpose, truth to nature of materials,individual expression. He was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin. 1819-1900 John Ruskin The Arts and Crafts philosophy was influenced by Ruskins social criticism, which sought to relate the moral and social health of a nation to the qualities of its architecture and design. Ruskin thought machinery was to blame for many social ills and that a healthy society depended on skilled and creative workers. Like Ruskin, Arts and Crafts artists tended to oppose the division of labor and to prefer craft production, in which the whole item was made and assembled by an individual or small group.

Characteristics of Arts and Crafts art include symmetry, ornament, detail, realism/idealism, and the glorification of past

Art Nouveau
1890-1910
Generic name for different approaches to an international, decorative style. Decorative Style, Asian influence. A reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants but also in curved lines. Architects tried to harmonize with the natural environment. Art Nouveau was inspired by Asian art, which was flat but expressed forms of nature. Such artists includeUkiyo-e, Katsushika Hokusai, Ando Hiroshige. Geometry Pattern Simplification Atmosphere, gesture, expression Interpretation of the foreign and the old, into new forms 18361933 Jules Cheret Considered the Father of the modern poster 18631957 Van de Velde Belgium (and Netherlands) Called for a New Art (Nieuwe Kunst), contemporary in concept and form, with vitality and ethical integrity of the past

Other important artists include Eugne Grasset, Alphonse Mucha, Peter Behrens 1898 Vienna Secession

CUBISM
1890-1910
Important artists include Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Fernand Lger. Mainly an art movement. Influence from tribal art. Fragments of objects to create figures. Insinuating movements in their artwork. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted forminstead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context.[3]

Futurism
1909-1916
It was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the aeroplane and the industrial city. Important artists include Filippo Marinetti, Stphane Mallarm, and Guillaume Apollinaire

Dada
1916-1924
The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature, poetry, art manifestoes, art theory, theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a rejection of the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. It was a reaction to the horros of WWI. Dadaists were against war and violenc. Their art was considered anti-art. It was a form of rebellion. The intent was to provoke emotion. Important artists include Marcel Duchamp, Tristan Tzara, and Jean (Hans) Arp

Constructivism
1919-1920s
Originated in Russia beginning in 1919 Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Visual Discourse, objects mean something- symbolic. It included geometric shapes, photomontage, and bold lettering in order to catch the viewers eye. Important artists include El Lissitzky, and Vladimir Vasilevich Lebedev

De Stijl
1917-1931
Proponents of De Stijl advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour; they simplified visual compositions to the vertical and horizontal directions, and used only primary colors along with black and white. Horizontal, Vertical, primary colors and blocks. Important artists include Tho van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian.

Art Deco
1925-1940s
Art Decois an influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France after WWI, flourishing internationally in the 1930s and 1940s before its popularity waned after World War II.[1] It is an eclectic style that combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials. The style is often characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation. It was considered decorative art, and focused mostly on style. A.M. Cassandre was an important figure during this time.

Bauhaus
1919-1933
Bauhaus was a school in Weimar, Germany, founded by Walter Gropius, that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It was founded with the idea of creating a total work of art in which all arts, including architecture, would eventually be brought together. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design. It had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.

International Typographic Style

1950s
This was a design style, also known as the Swiss Style, that originated in Switzerland which emphasizes readability, and cleanliness. It promoted asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces and flush left, ragged right text. It advocated for the use of photographs instead of illustration. In the 1920-1940s, the Isotype Movement created by Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz wanted to create a world language without words using pictographic symbols that were geometric in shape that everyone could understand. Important artists of this time include Herbert Matter, Emil Ruder, Josef Mller-Brockmann, Armin Hofmann, and Adrian Frutiger.

New York School

1950s - 1960s
The New York School was known as The Abstract Expressionists, in which a variety of different fields, including poets, dancers, composers, and artists, began creating work that explored new directions in art. They wanted to break away from what was socially acceptable. It placed emphasis on expression, and incorporated abstract ideas and forms. Influential designers of this time include Henry Wolf, Charles and Rae Eames, Saul Bass, Bradbury Thompson, Alvin Lustig, and Paul Rand.

Postmodernism
1950s This design movement felt that Modernist design was too uniform, boring, and sterile, and challenged the structure and clarity that was so prevalent in the earlier movement. It brought back earlier forms of design such as ornamentation and the vernacular in order to expand the range of design possibilities. It let go of the idea that all design had to have functionality and embraced the idea of experimentation for personal fulfillment. Post-modern art and design can be described as highly expressive, allowing the artist to engage with the audience through his or her work. Often times, it could be chaotic and irrational. Although it had separate ideas from Modernism, it still utilized counterforms and restrictions such as grids to enhance their designs. Influential designers of this time include Paula Scher, Carin Goldberg, Neville Brody, Milton Glaser, and Wolfgang Weingart.

Digital Age
1984With the creation of computers came the creation of digital design. The first designs incoporated pixels, creating a jagged like effects to the designs that were produced. Type was transformed into an object with points. This era created many new typefaces for the computer and also revived some old styles and alphabets. Superfamilies were created to give typefaces more variety. Computer design also allowed for images to overlap, which could not be done before. The invention of the world wide web allowed for everyone to have access to all sorts of ideas and things, such as type, and things to read. People could talk to anyone around the world. Everyone is a potential publisher as they could post their work on the internet for the world to see.