Until the late 20th century, the graphic-design area had been based on hand-craft processes: layouts were drawn by hand so as to visualize a design; type was specified and ordered from a typesetter; and type proofs and photostats of images were placed in position on heavy paper or board for photographic copying and platemaking. Over the course of the 1980s and early ’90s, however, rapid advances in digital computer hardware and software radically changed graphic design.
Software for Apple’s 1984 Macintosh pc, such as the MacPaint program created by computer programmer Bill Atkinson and graphic designer Susan Kare, had a majorly revolutionary human interface. Tool icons controlled by a mouse or graphics tablet allowed designers and artists to use computer graphics in a new, intuitive manner. The Postscript™ page-description language from Adobe Systems, Inc., allowed for pages of type and images to be placed onto graphic designs on-screen. By the mid-1990s, the transition of graphic design from drafting-table action to an on-screen computer action was essentially complete.
Digital computers placed typesetting tools into the realm of individual designers, and so a period of experimentation began in the creation of new and unusual type and page layouts. Type and images were layered, fragmented, and disfigured; type columns were overlapped and run at very long or short line lengths, and the sizes, weights, and fonts were sometimes changed within single headlines, columns, and words. Much of this type of research occurred in design education at art schools and universities. American designer David Carson, art director of Beach Culture magazine in 1989-91, Surfer in 1991-92, and Ray Gun magazine in 1992-96, captured the imagination of a youthful audience by taking this kind of experimental approach into graphic design.
Fast growth in onscreen software also enabled designers to make elements transparent; to stretch, scale, and bend elements; to layer type and graphics in space; and to amalgamate imagery into complex montages. For example, in a United States postage stamp from 1998, designers Ethel Kessler and Greg Berger digitally montaged John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Frederick Law Olmsted with a photo of New York’s Central Park, a site plan, and botanical art to commemorate the landscape architect. Interwoven, these images evoke a rich expression of Olmsted’s life and work.
The electronic advancement in graphic design was followed quickly by public access to the internet. A completely new sphere of graphic design activity blossomed in the mid-1990s when Internet commerce became a growing sector of the world-wide economy, causing organisations and businesses to quickly establish Web sites. Designing a website involves layout of screens of information rather than of physical pages, but approaches to the use of type, images, and colour are similar to those used for print. Web design, however, requires a host of new considerations, including designing for navigation through the website and for using hypertext links to jump to additional information. An example of strong Web design is the Herman Miller for the Home Web site, designed by BBK Studio in 1998. These designers developed a strong visual identity, effective navigation, and informational clarity. Attributes that contributed to the effectiveness of this web-site included a consistent colour palette, an informative use of pictures of products, and a scrolling imagery of products.
Because of the world-wide usefulness and reach of the internet, the graphic-design sphere is becoming increasingly global in scope. Moreover, the merging of motion graphics, animation, video feeds, and music into web-site design has brought about the merging of traditional print and broadcast media. As kinetic media expand from motion pictures and basic television to scores of cable-television channels, video games, and animated Web sites, motion graphics are becoming an increasingly important area of graphic design.
In the 21st century, graphic design is ubiquitous; it is the main component of our complex print and electronic information systems. It permeates contemporary society, bringing information, product identification, entertainment, and persuasive messages. The ongoing advance of technology has changed dramatically the way graphic design is created and distributed to a mass market. However, the basic role of the graphic designer, adding creative form and clarity of content to communicative messages, remains the same.
Looking for art supplies? Australia is the lucky country when it comes to canvas art supplies and if you are looking for a painting easel, make sure you consider Discount Art Warehouse.
Sphere: Related Content