The History of Graphic Design
Shelby Ly
1. The Invention of Writing
Cuneiform
The Book of the Dead 1550 BCE
Cuneiform’s wedge-shaped writing evolved into an abstract writing langauge from pictographs. It aided the documention of math, religion, history, law, medicine and astronomy.
The Book of the Dead was written to overcome the terrors of the underworld. Egyptians were the first group to create illustrated manuscripts.
Lascaux Cave Paintings 15,000 – 10,000 BCE One of the earliest signs of human markings were found in Southern France and Spain. These marks signal the start of visual communication.
Rosetta Stone c. 197 –196
Code of Hammurabi 1792 – 1750 BCE Contained strict laws to maintain order in society. One of the earlierst writing found in history.
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The slab contained Egyptian hieroglyohics, Egyptian demotic script, and Greek writing. All three langauges contained the same inscription which led to the deciphering of Egyptian hieroplyphics.
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2. Alphabets
Latin Alphabet The Latin alphabet was designed as a timeless beauty by the Romans. They used basic geometric shapes to create monumental letterforms.
Phaistos Disk 2800 BCE One of the most mysterious pieces in archaeology. It contains the North Semetic alphabet.
Greek Alphabet The Greeks transformed the uneven Phoenician characters and made them more visually pleasing. They took visual order and harmony into account. when designing the typeface.
Korean Alphabet 1446 Also known as Hangul, it is known to be one of the most scientific writing systems ever invented.
North Semitic Alphabet The alphabet may have originated in the Western Mediterranean region. It was acrophonic - a pictorial symbol or hieroglyph used to stand for the initial sound of the object.
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Parchment and Codex The parchment proved to be more cost effective and durable than the papyrus. Its efficiency allowed sacred texts to be spread across Europe.
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3. The Asian Contribution
Chiaku-wen 1800- 2000 BCE Also called “bone-andshell” script, it is said to be the earliest known Chinese writing. This script is closely bound to the art of divination.
Chen-shu 630 CE Invention of Paper (105 CE)
The final process in the evolution of Chinese calligraphy. This style has been used for nearly two thousand years.
One of the most important inventions of human civilization is attibuted to Cai Lun, a eunuch and high governmental offcial who served under Emperor Ho.
The Discovery of Printing 3 BCE Invented by the Chinese, printing became one of the major breakthroughs in human history.
Invention of Movable Type 1045 CE Movable type was invented by Pi Sheng. It contributed to the evolution of visual communication.
Invention of Paper Currency 9 BCE The Chinese Society were the first in which ordinary people had daily contact with printed images.
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Diamond Sutra (868 CE) The oldest surviving printed manuscript has seven sheets of text that is five meters long and thirty centimeters high. It contains the Buddhist’s revelations to his follower Subhuti.
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The Vatican Vergil 5 BCE
4. Illuminated Manuscripts
It is the earliest surviving manuscript from the early Christian era.
Caroline Miniscule 9 BCE Charlemagne declared it to be an official writing style throughout his empire. It became the predecessor of the lowercase alphabet.
Mainz Haggadah 1726 Ormesby Psalter 1300s CE The Chinese Society were the first in which ordinary people had daily contact with printed images.
Book of Kells 794-806 CE Contains the four Gospels of the New Testament with many introductory texts and tables.
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Book of Hours 1400s The Chinese Society were the first in which ordinary people had daily contact with printed images.
The Chinese Society were the first in which ordinary people had daily contact with printed images.
Padishahnamah 1700s CE The Chinese Society were the first in which ordinary people had daily contact with printed images.
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5. Printing Comes to Europe Playing Cards c. 1400 Playing cards were the first printed works to shift to an illiterate culture. Games that were only played by the rich could be played by the poor.
Ars Moriendi 1466 The book has eleven ilustrations with the devil and the angel and the final hours of death. It has been thought to be an early example of propganda, urging people to support the church.
Movable Typography in EU 1450 It revolutionized education, religion, and the way people obtain information. It is one of the most important inventions in human history.
Gutenberg Bible 1450 CE The first typographic book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the age of the printed book in the West.
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Copperplate Engraving 1450 The image is The Three of Birds by Master of the Playing Cards, an artist who made the earliest known copperplate engravings. It has been speculated that Gutenberg was involved in the development of copperplate engraving.
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Ex Libris design c. 1450
6. The German Illustrated Book
One of the earliest existing bookplates, the inscription reads, “Hans Igler that the hedgehog may kiss you.” In the German language, Igler almost sounds like hedgehog.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1498
Nuremberg Chronicle 1493 An impressive print that is filled with 1,809 woodcut illustrations on 46 by 32 centimeter pages. It is said that Dürer may have had some involvement in the illustrations of the book.
One of Dürer's fifteen woodcuts that depicted the coming apocalypse at the end of the century that sparked fear among people.
Teuerdank 1517 The book depicts and adventure of chivalry and knighthood printed by Johann Schoensperger.
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Der Ackerman aus Böhmen c. 1463
Canterbury Tales 1477
An illustration by Albrecht Pfister, who useed woodblock prints in his book publications. This work is thought to have been the origin of the illustrated typographic book.
William Caxton’s publishing of the book allowed the popularisation of the English language.
Repertorium Morale 1489 Anton Koberger, printer of the large book continued to print books of that size after many opted for smaller sized books.
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7. Renaissance Graphic Design Imagines Mortis 1547 The book was printed by Joannes Frellonius and illustrated by Hans Holbein the Younger. Also called the Dance of Death, it illustrated the terrifying inevitability of death.
Trademarking Books 1481 As printing became more popular, printers designed trademarks for their books. Those trademarks bear resemblence to Egyptian hieroglyphs, which helped give way to symbols.
Hyperotomachia Poliphili 1499 Manitius, with an unknown illustrator, achieved an advanced level of harmony and balance with the typography and imagery, which became the best of their period.
De civitate Dei 1469 Johannes de Spira, printer of the book, was among the first to publish books. In Italy, De Civitate Dei or The City of God, was the first typographic book with printed page numbers.
Calendarium c. 1476 Driven by his interest in astronomy and mathematics, Erhard Ratdolt and his partners Peter Loselein and Bernhard Maler published the scientific book as superstitions were vanishing.
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Champ Fleury 1529 The most influential and important of Geoffroy Tory’s contributions were his three books discussing grammar, the history of typography, and how to construct the alphabet.
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8. An Epoch of Typographic Genius
Medailles folio 1702 A type specimen for Romain du Roi, it was the first book to feature the new types. The typeface created a new category of types that broke with the traditional Venetian “old style” type design.
Book of Thel 1789 Deviating from the clean typographic layout from the 18th century, William Blake integrated typography with imagery instead, creating an illuminated print to go with his poems.
A Letter on our Agricultural Distresses 1822 The origin of the information graphic leads to French philosopher René Descartes. William Playfair is the one credited with creating the new category in graphic design.
Manuel Typographique 1764
Caslon Type Specimen 1734
Pierre Simon Fournier introduced an improved measurement system based on the point. The book contributed to typographic innovations and had a great impact on graphic design.
The typeface, created by Willian Caslon, became one of the most widely used fonts during the British colonial era.
Manuele Tipografico 1818 The book showcases Giambattista Bodoni’s three hundred type fonts.
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9. Graphic Design & the Industrial Rev. Fat Face Style 1803
William Caslon 1693–1766
A major type category design by Robert Thorne, it is a roman face that has a high contrast of weight in their strokes.
Considered to be the grandfather of typography during his time, Caslon created new design possiblilities for type as society quickly became industrialized and urbanized.
Invention of Sans Serif 1816 The third major typographic innovation first appeared in William Caslon IV’s specimen book. The style was also inspired by the Egyptian face, but with the serifs removed.
Invention of Photography 1822 Joseph Niépce was the first person to produce a photographic image. It all started when he was searching for a way to make lithographic prints without drawing.
Rise of American Editorial and Ad Design 1817 Invention of Antique 1815 The major type category is also called Egyptian slab-serif. Inspired by ancient Egyptian culture, Vincent Figgins created rectangular slab serifs that were chunky and geometric.
Harper and Brothers became the largest printing and publishing firm internationally, paving the foundation for graphic communications in America for half a century.
Woodtype 1827
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Due to the expensiveness, brittleness, and difficulty in using metal type, wood-type became a more popular option for printers like Darius Wells, who invented wood type printing.
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10. The Arts and Crafts Movement
Century Guild 1882 Inspired by Morris’ ideas, Arthur Mackmundo created a group of artists and designers, wanting to elevate all fields of art among painting and sculpture.
Rose Fabric Design 1883 Leader of the English Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris went against the mass production of goods and argued for higher quality of art that showcased a designer’s skill, craft, and purpose.
The Kelmscott Press 1891 Created by Morris to revive incunabula books, the Kelmscott Press aimed to make the book an art form again. Over 18,000 volumes were produced over a seven year period.
Guild of Handicraft 1888 Founded by Charles Ashbee, the guild strived to unify the teaching of design and theory with workshop experience. He sought to revive apprenticeship.
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American Type Founders’ Specimen Book & Catalogue 1923 While the Arts and Crafts movement pushed for the revival of book designing, they also revitalized typography. The book was one of many designs which was influenced by the Italian and French Renaissance.
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11. Art Nouveau
Tournée du Chat Noir de Rudolphe Salis 1883 Steinlen’s love of cats is often shown in his poster work. One of the most popular works in graphic design, the poster was done with lithography.
Monaco Monte Carlo 1883 Done by French art nouveau artist, Alphonse Mucha, his distinct style became the face of the art period. His works often feature graceful women surrounded by flowers.
Influence of Ukiyo-e Late 1700s
Orphée aux Enfers poster 1879
The Studio Cover 1893
Prints like Kitagawa Utamaro’s portrait of a courtesan influenced the European Art Nouveau movement for their subject matter, abstraction, bold shapes, and decorative patterns.
Chéret used animated figures and created harmony between typography and iamge to make the piece more dynamic.
Aubrey Beardsley became a prominant figure in the English art noueveau movement when this cover was featured.
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German Jugendstil Movement 1883 The Jugend cover was done by Otto Eckmann. Jugend magazine was inspired by the Jugendstil movement in Germany, which had French and British influences, but also medieval letterforms paired with art nouveau motifs.
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12. Twentieth Century Design
Glasgow Institution of Fine Arts Poster 1895 Sisters Margaret and Frances MacDonald, part of the Glasgow School, often incorporated complex religious and mystical symbols. Their style is heavily influenced by celtic ornaments and Beardsley’s linear style.
The House Beautiful 1896-97 Besides being an architect, Frank Lloyd Wright was also a graphic designer who was at the forefront of the modern movement as it was emerging. Wright’s border designs feature an intricate lacy pattern of stylized plant forms.
Alfred Roller, designer and illustrator, made an illustrated monthly calendar that was published with editorial content that had articles about artists and their work.
Fromme’s Calendar 1899 Designed by Koloman Moser, the poster features a goddess holding a snake and hourglass, symbols of the circle of life and the passing of time. The design was so successful that the client continued to use it for fifteen years.
The Book of the Home 1900 With Talwin Morris’ generic style, he was able to apply them to widely diverse publications.
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Ver Sacrum Calendar 1903
Dokumente des Modernen Kunstgewerbes 1901 The work showcases Peter Behren’s decorative geometic design and use of san-serif lettering. His works foreshadow the style of art deco of the 1920s and 1930s.
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Cubism early 20th century
Futurism 1883
Called “Man with Violin” by Pablo Picasso, the painting belonged to an art style that borrowed elements of ancient Iberian and African tribal art to the human figure.
The art movement was created by Filippo Marinetti, the artist of this piece. His work, titled “Zang Tumb Tumb” (1914), demonstrates the era’s enthusiasm for war, machinery, and speed.
13. The Influence of Modern Art Surrealism 1924 Founded by André Breton, Surrealism existed to explore the world of dreams, intuition, and the subconcious. In René Magritte’s illustration for “Les Chants de Maldoror”.
Dada 1915 Dada was a movement that reacted against WWII, claiming to be anti-art and anti-tradition. Marchel Duchamp’s urinal is often seen as a representative of Dada art.
Expressionism 1905 Expressionist artists focused on depicting emotions and personal responses to subjects and events. In Paul Klee’s “Fish Magic” (1925), he goes against conventional aesthetic forms and invents a new world.
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14. Pictorial Modernism
Plakatstil early 20th century A self-taught artist, Lucian Bernhard unknowingly advanced graphic communication by simplifying and reducing naturalism into a visual language of sign with his flat color design.
Kassama Poster 1894 Avoiding the floral art nouveau, the Beggarstaffs, a pseudonyme that the brother-in-laws made for themselves, created collage work that used multiple, but flat planes of color.
Five million copies of James Montgomery Flagg’s poster were made, making it one of the most widely reporduced posters in history. Uncle Sam is a self portrait of Flagg.
Germany’s Eighth Bond Drive poster 1917 Posters like Julius Klinger’s were helpful propoganda mediums during WWI. They helped the government recruit armies and boost public morale.
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Military Recruiting poster 1917
Deutsche Lufthansa 1936 Shown in this poster, Ludwig Hohlwein combines powerful shapes with more naturalistic images. Because of his bold and dynamic style, the Nazi party commissioned him to make propaganda posters.
L’ Atlantique 1931 Fascinated by the beauty and grandeur of machines, Cassandre often portrayed them as monolithic to symbolize strength and safety.
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Layout for a Broom cover 1922
15. The New Language of Form
Created by El Lissitzky. he creates letters that are flipped horizontally and vertically, achieving a sense of balance in his work.
De Stijl Movement 1917
Suprematist Composition 1915 The composition and colors of the rectangular shapes create an expression of pure feeling. Kasimir Malevich’s works often involved the creation of concrete shapes and colors to evoke feeling.
De Stijl artists like Piet Mondrian worked in an abstract geometric style, trying to add balance and harmony for art. Mondrian’s “Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue” stemmed from Cubism.
Jim Dollar cover 1924 Part of a series, Alexander Rodchenko uses structure and photo montages to tie in the rest of the covers.
Spartakiada Postcard 1928 Master of the propaganda photomontage, Gustave Klutsis used heroic images to echo the accomplishments of the Soviet Union.
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110 title spread 1929 Inspired by De Stijl principles and constructivism, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy incorporated both of them to his typographic work.
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16. The Bauhaus and Typography Elementare Typographie 1925 Bauhaus at Weimar 1919–24
Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar 1919–24
The Bauhaus in Weimar were inspired by expressionism. The Bauhaus seal, done by Oscar Schlemmer in 1922, shows geometric and mechanical themes.
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, artist of the title page design, made a large impact on Bauhaus design. He advocated the legibility for typography, calling it a tool of communications.
In Jan Tschihold’s cover design, he uses the grid to create a sparse, but functional layout.
Universal Alphabet 1925 Herbert Bayer created a typeface that was geometric,. curvy, minimal, and simple. The form follows function.
Futura 1927-30 The variety of sizes and weights provided great contrast for printers and designers, making it one of the most widely used typefaces today.
Dessau Bauhaus Building 1925-26 Desgined by Walter Gropius, the building contains classrooms, dormitories, administrative structures, and workshops.
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Gill Sans Type Family 1928-30 A widely used typeface in England, Eric Gill drew inspiration from Trajan’s column and the Caroline miniscules.
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17. The Modern Movement in America
US Office of War Information poster 1943 The Power of Print and Men 1936
William Addison Dwiggins became known for his uncommon title-page arrangements and two-column book formats. Dwiggins combines cubist elements with traditional ornaments.
Illustrated by John Atherton, the poster warns of the consequences that could occur with a slip of the tongue about troop movements.
Polio research poster 1949
Done by Herbert Bayer of the Bauhaus period, he creates a poster that supports polio research. He illustrates a promising future of a polio cure by having the test tube emitting light.
Rural Electrification Administration poster 1937
Lester Beall’s design combines an image of rural people and connects the wooden fence to American stripes., creating a bond between the farmers and the nation.
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Harper’s Bazaar advertisement 1937
A leading contemporary designer, Alexey Brodovitch liked having white space and using sharp type on open pages. The open space that he uses balances with the text.
Knoll Chair brochure 1956
Herbert Matter turned to photographic solutions to convey concepts with images.
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18. International Typographic Style Borsalino Hats poster 1949
Although a number of Max Huber’s work are often chaotic, yet orderly, some of his works like this poster is more straightforward. The design devices below the hat enable multiple posters to be linked when placed next to each other.
Palatino, Melior, and Optima 1950, 1952, 1958
With a deep understanding of calligraphy and Renaissance typography, Hermann Zapf also designed the typefaces to express the current century and to keep them timeless.
Giselle poster 1959
Created by Armin Hofmann, he uses an organic and soft photographic image to contrast with the intense, statuc and sharp geometric typographic shapes.
Rietberg Museum Poster 1955
Public awareness poster 1960
To convey clarity and intensity, Josef Müller-Brockmann manipulates scale and camera angles. The image becomes an objective symbol.
The initiator of Swiss graphic design, Ernst Keller’s works often feature diverse solutions. In this poster, it shows is affinity for symbolic imagery, geometric forms, and vibrant contrasting color.
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19. The New York School Harper’s Bazaar cover 1959 Henry Wolf utilizes the colors on a peacock’s feather to echo the eye makeup next to it.
Direction magazine cover 1940
At first glance, Paul Rand’s design features a seasonal packaged gift with ribbons and decorations. Upon closer inspection, the package actually has barbed wire and blood.
Pages from McCall’s 1959
Ranked among the major innovators of the period, Otto Storch’s use of playful typography and contrasting colors create a dynamic visual.
A Season in Hell book cover 1945 Alvin Lustig’s use of sharp black-and-white organic shapes in front of a red background signify hell.
Westvaco Inspirations 1958
Bradbury Thompson explores using a multiple-exposure photograph of a saxophone player. His design was the beginning of his typographic invention of gaining expression through scale and color.
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Volkswagen Advertisement 1960
Helmut Krone and Julian Koenig use exaggerated imagery and literal text to create a lovable image for the car.
Esquire cover (May) 1969
Conceptualized by George Lois, Lois shows Andy Warhol, a figure of the American avant-garde, being sucked in a giant can of Campbell’s Soup.
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Olivetti poster 1949
20. Corporate Identity and Visual Syst.
Giovanni Pintori was a designer who worked for the Olivetti Corporation for thirty-one years. In the picture, Olivetti’s products are suggested by the variety of numbers.
AT & T logo 1984
Designed by Saul Bass & Associates, the popular logo which is still used today depicts information bits circling a globe.
Eye Bee M poster 1981
CBS Television trademark 1951
Designed by Paul Rand for IBM’s Golden Circle award, it was initially banned for fear that IBM staff would be take liberties with the IBM logo.
William Golden is the designer responsible for creating one of the most successful trademarks of the twentieth century.
Chase bank logo 1960
Instead of using alphabetic, pictographic, or figurative connotations, Chermayeff & Geismar Associates moved to the forefront of the corporate identity movement with their abstract logo design.
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Shell and Exxon Logo 1971 and 1966 Raymond Loewy transformed the way industrial designers engaged with corporate design culture by having more control over industrial and visual campaigns. These logos included identity designs.
Beijing 2008 emblem 2008
Wang Min, design director for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and his team of designers created a comprehensive design system for the games. Their extensive branding helped reaffirm the Olympic spirit.
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21. The Conceptual Image
Modern Art in Your Life cover 1949
Paul Rand juxtaposes art tools and a fork together to showcase the accessibility of modern art and to perhaps marry the two topics together as one idea. The paint palette almost looks like a plate and the paintbrush looks like a knife.
New York School poster 1966
Lou Danzinger married the New York urban landscape with paint tubes to show the connection and create a visual metaphor of art with the state.
Pirelli poster 1954
Influenced by the Bauhaus and furturism, Armando Testa also incorporated surrealism by combining the image of a tire with recognizable symbols. The image is the primary means of communication and he reduces verbal content to a few words.
Bob Dylan poster 1967
Created by legend Milton Glaser, the are nouveau-inspired image became a symbollic icon of its time. Six million copies of the poster were produced.
Ulica Hanby poster 1959
Waldemar Ĺšwierzy uses painterly lettering to create an extension of the lipstick. He drew on folk art and twentieth-century fine art for inspiration. He created more than a thousand posters using various media.
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Sea Ranch supergraphics 1966
Barbrara Stauffacher used supergraphics that contained vibrant primary colors, san-serif letters, arcs, and slashing diagonals to form a strong contrast against the the architectural structure and sunlight.
22. Postmodern Design
Michael Graves poster 1983
Even though the letterforms are abstracted into decorative geometric forms, William Longhauser was able to retain the legibility of the letterforms. Graves’ first name is shrinked down and used as a repeating pattern in the background.
Typographic permutations 1970
The set of typographic variations were made with instructor Dan Friedman and student Rosalie Hanson. Friedman’s students exlored typographic contrasts in their class assignments.
Swiss poster of the year 1996
Exhibition poster 1981
Wolfgang Weingart used layered film positives to create moirĂŠ patterns.
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A design tendency that Rosmarie Tissi adopted into her art was placing text typography on shapes whose configuration was generated by the line lengths of the text.
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Graphis cover 1965
Pentagram’s Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, and Bob Gill created the cover for Graphis by mailing a parcel from London to Zurich. The designers used the markings on the parcel as the design cover.
23. National Visions in a Global Dia.
Tree-planting poster 1961
“Meet the Cast” 2006
Ryuchi Yamashiro uses a medley of Japanese characters for tree, grove, and forest to create a forest.
Designed by Experimental Jetset studio, the word cast can cleverly mean a group of actors or can refer to the casting of type.
Lou Reed poster 1996
Stefan Sagmeister wrote the lyrics over Lou Reed’s face to showcase how the lyrics were extremely personal.
Peace 2001
Luba Lukova combines an assortment of weapons to construct a dove.
Keio department store poster 1975 Senei Ikenobo 1974
Made by Ikko Tanaka, the rhythmic sequence of blue and blue-green stripes under a gritty tan sky evoke the mountains and waves of traditional Japanese woodblock prints.
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Shigeo Fukuda uses an optical illusion in the poster, a common element that he often incorporates into his unconventional work.
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24. The Digital Revolution–and Beyond Seduction Symposium poster 2000 Charlemagne, Lithos, and Trajan typefaces 1989
Hanging at Carmine Street 1991
Carol Twombly translated the script of the ancient world into the digital world. All of them have become popular typefaces in the modern era.
To go along with the title of the editorial, David Carson was inspired to “hang some type”.
@issue magazine c. 1997–2003
Kit Hinrichs of Pentagram used the masthead to unify the different cover designs. His editorial work is often influenced by typefaces and their designers from the predigital and postdigital revolution.
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A collaboration between Michael Bierut and Marian Bantjes made this poster design happen. The expressive calligraphy is bound to a strict, but flexible grid.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang main title design 2005
A self-taught designer, Danny Yount has created opening sequences for many notable productions. This opening sequence illicited a compliment that said his work was worthy of Saul Bass.
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