The Cyclical Politics of Graphic Design
The history of graphic art and the cycle of politicization, depoliticization and then repoliticization span the late 19th century through and into the 21st century. Evolving from humble beginnings into the commercial behemoth it’s become to today this essay will explore graphic design’s evolution and the politics that affected this growing art movement during this influential timeline.
Graphic design set its first roots in Germany in 1455 with the introduction of the Blackletter typeface and Johannes Gutenberg’s Gutenberg Bible. Coined as the godfather of printing Gutenberg helped to spread Blackletter in popularity. With the advent of Martin Luther’s New Testament, however, a schism was created between those that chose to use Blackletter and the rising popularity of Roman type, which was cleaner and easier to read.
There weren’t huge strides in graphic design, until a few hundred years later when in 1750 the Industrial Revolution changed mass urban culture and the entire world. This transition marked not only social and economic change, from agriculture and commercial society to the modern urban areas. It also brought with it new machinery such as the steam engine, and the use of iron and coal as new energy sources. Retail, transportation and factories became a vital part of the work forces and so changed the way graphic art was not only designed but also the way it was marketed. Printing became all about mass communication in the 19th century. This rise of mass communication brought with it inevitable change and revelations. The first being that newspapers like Winslow Homer’s Baillou’s Pictorial and Honore Daumier’s Macaire Bill Poster were overdone and unnecessarily ornamented. The second revelation of the Industrial Revolution was that artists were becoming aware of the public’s reaction to these advertisements and those negative reactions. Because of this artist’s of the time decided to take design more seriously in the future. With these big, busy
Graphic design set its first roots in Germany in 1455 with the introduction of the Blackletter typeface and Johannes Gutenberg’s Gutenberg Bible. Coined as the godfather of printing Gutenberg helped to spread Blackletter in popularity. With the advent of Martin Luther’s New Testament, however, a schism was created between those that chose to use Blackletter and the rising popularity of Roman type, which was cleaner and easier to read.
There weren’t huge strides in graphic design, until a few hundred years later when in 1750 the Industrial Revolution changed mass urban culture and the entire world. This transition marked not only social and economic change, from agriculture and commercial society to the modern urban areas. It also brought with it new machinery such as the steam engine, and the use of iron and coal as new energy sources. Retail, transportation and factories became a vital part of the work forces and so changed the way graphic art was not only designed but also the way it was marketed. Printing became all about mass communication in the 19th century. This rise of mass communication brought with it inevitable change and revelations. The first being that newspapers like Winslow Homer’s Baillou’s Pictorial and Honore Daumier’s Macaire Bill Poster were overdone and unnecessarily ornamented. The second revelation of the Industrial Revolution was that artists were becoming aware of the public’s reaction to these advertisements and those negative reactions. Because of this artist’s of the time decided to take design more seriously in the future. With these big, busy