1.1 Introduction
Alex Hass
Learning Objectives
- Identify the unique attributes of major modern graphic design styles, beginning with William Morris. The design styles discussed will be those that have a presence or an influence in our current visual culture:
- Morris
- Werkbund
- Bauhaus
- Dada
- International Typographic Style (ITS)
- Late Modern
- Post Modern
- Evaluate the influence of past design styles on one another
- Explain the influence of culture on major modern graphic design styles
- Identify the cross-cultural influences of visual culture that impacted graphic design style
- Identify the technological influences that affected and advanced graphic design
Industrial Revolution Overview
The Craftsman
Before the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840 in Britain) most aspects of design and all aspects of production were commonly united in the person of the craftsman. The tailor, mason, cobbler, potter, brewer, and any other kind of craftsman integrated their personal design aesthetic into each stage of product development. In print, this meant that the printer designed the fonts, the page size, and the layout of the book or broadsheet; the printer chose (even at times made) the paper and ran the press and bindery. Unity of design was implicit.
Typography in this pre-industrial era was predominantly used for books and broadsheets. The visual flavour of the fonts was based on the historic styles of western cultural tradition — roman, black letter, italic, and grotesque fonts were the mainstay of the industry. Typography was naturally small scale — needed only for sheets and pages — and was only large when it was chiseled into buildings and monuments.
Technological Shift
The Industrial Revolution radically changed the structure of society, socially and economically, by moving vast numbers of the population from agrarian-based subsistence living to cities where manufacturing anchored and dominated employment and wealth. Agrarian-based society was tied to an aristocracy overseeing the land and controlling and directing production through the use of human labour. In contrast, urban production, though still very much in need of human labour (female and child labour in particular was in huge demand), was dominated by the mechanized production of goods, directed and controlled by industrialists instead of the aristocracy. The factories were powered initially by steam, and eventually by gasoline and electricity. These new manufacturing models were dominated by an engineering mentality that valued optimization of mechanical processes for high yields and introduced a compartmentalized approach to production.
Design and Production Separate
The design process was separated from the production-based process for a number of reasons. Primary was the efficiency-oriented mindset of the manufacturers who were focused on creating products with low unit costs and high yield outcomes, rather than on pleasing aesthetics or high-quality materials. Design process is ti