Words and letters are central to graphic design art.
Graphic design art has been used for thousands of years to communicate messages through the use of words, images and symbols. Dating back to cave paintings and the origin of handwriting, graphic design art has been used for purposes ranging from funerary commemoration to selling consumer goods. The critical historical moment for graphic design may have been the invention of the printing press, but today's explosion of electronic media rivals its significance as graphic artists scramble to keep up with technology, while taking delight in its capability.
Symbols
Symbols have a long history predating the written word, with cave paintings in France dating back some 17,000 years. Symbols are simple visual pictures that distill an idea into a icon, such as a corporate logo. Very specific ideas, such as group affiliation or ownership, can be communicated by symbols without using words.
Early writing
As agriculture developed in Mesopotamia, symbols were developed to keep track of agricultural production and surplus. As early as 8000 BC, clay tokens called bullae were developed with specific shapes to represent various livestock and crops. Around 3100 BC, the tokens were discarded. The shapes themselves were drawn into wet clay tablets. Known as cuneiform, it is the oldest recorded human writing. In Egypt, hieroglyphics were developed around 2600 BC, a style of writing featuring relief carving, with meaning communicated by both phonetic symbols and pictures. The classic Roman alphabet was in place by the first century AD.
Gutenberg and Movable Type
Johann Gutenberg is credited with perfecting a movable type system in Germany around 1450 AD. Simple printing systems had been used before, but Gutenberg's innovation was the creation of a modular system for composing pages. It was possible to print multiple copies of books for the first time, using the movable type in simple wooden printing presses. Within a few decades, printers set up shop all over Europe, sometimes clashing with authorities over the ideas disseminated in their printed works. During the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, a series of designers refined typography. William Caslon, John Baskerville and others created type styles that are still used today.
Industry and Art in the 19th Century
With the industrial revolution, British society in the 19th century had the means and prosperity to create arts and crafts that could be bought by the middle class. Artists such as William Morris seized the initiative and created beautiful graphic designs. He founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891, dedicated to producing beautifully designed and printed books. Other British presses such as the Golden Cockerel Press and Doves Press followed Morris' example in the field.
20th-century Developments
The significance of the poster in graphic design art surged in the 20th century, with a combination of improved printing techniques and the influence of modern art styles. Reputable artists such as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec designed posters for theaters. The Art Nouveau movement with its naturalistic pro-nature approach influenced graphic design as well as architecture and industrial design. Cubism and futurism in turn influenced graphic design art in posters, publications and advertisements. The Bauhaus was a modern art school of the early 20th century that profoundly influenced graphic design and architecture with an emphasis on clean, elegant design that communicated clearly.
Advertising
With the postwar prosperity of American in the 1950s, graphic artists were called upon to produce images in the service of selling consumer products to the growing middle class. Magazine circulation was up as artists created advertising to market everything from cigarettes to luxury cars. Sophisticated photos and illustrations were employed to convince the target audience to buy.
The Digital Revolution
By the late 1980s, graphic design was changing from photo mechanical production techniques to digital techniques, making it easier than ever to create graphic images with type, illustrations, photos and color. Today's professional graphic artists are creating interactive 3D images for the new digital media, as well as traditional graphic design art for printing.
