Until the late 20th century, the graphic-design medium had been based on handicraft processes: layouts that were stylised by hand in order to visualise an idea; type was specified and ordered from a typesetter; and type proofs and photostats of images were placed into position on heavy paper or board for photo reproduction and platemaking. During the 1980s and early ’90s, however, rapid advances in digital computer hardware and software utterly altered 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 revolutionary human interface. Tool icons controlled by a mouse or graphics tablet allowed designers and artists to use computer graphics in an intuitive manner. The Postscript™ page-description language from Adobe Systems, Inc., allowed for pages of type and images to be placed into graphic designs on-screen. By the mid-1990s, the transition of design from drafting-table action to an on-screen computer activity was practically complete.
Personal computers placed typesetting tools into the homes of individual designers, and so a period of experimentation occurred in the design of new and unusual fonts 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 typefaces were changed within single headlines, columns, and words. Much of this type of research took place in design training 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 such an experimental approach into graphic design.
Rapid advances in onscreen software also enabled designers to make elements transparent; to stretch, scale, and bend elements; to layer type and images in mid-space; and to combine 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 show a rich expression of Olmsted’s life and work.
The digital transition in graphic design was shortly followed by general public access to the Internet. A whole new operation of graphic-design activity mushroomed in the mid-1990s when internet business became a fast growing sector of the world-wide economy, causing companies and businesses to quickly establish Web sites. Designing a website involves the 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 myriad of new considerations, including designing for navigation around the web-site and for using hypertext links to see 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 created a purposeful visual identity, effective navigation, and informational clarity. Attributes that contributed to the effectiveness of this web-site included a pleasing colour palette, an informative use of pictures of products, and a scrolling imagery of products.
Because of the universal attraction and reach of the Internet, the graphic-design domain is becoming increasingly global in scope. Moreover, the blending of motion graphics, animation, video feeds, and music into web-site design has caused the merging of traditional print and broadcast media. As kinetic media expands 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 everywhere; it is the main component of our complex print and electronic information systems. It permeates contemporary society, delivering information, product identification, entertainment, and persuasive messages. The ongoing advance of technology has dramatically changed the way graphic design is created and distributed to a mass audience. However, the fundamental role of the graphic designer, giving creative form and clarity of content to communicative messages, remains the same.
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