As the title of my blog is meant to express, my initial
thought upon finding this course in the catalog was I had no awareness of
graphic design really having much of a history. I guess I just sort of thought
that it was a modern invention—assuming that graphic design consisted of mostly
digitally generated advertisements. You can imagine my shock when I picked up
the text book and realized my ignorance on the subject.
The preface for this edition explained when it comes to the
term graphic design, I wasn’t too far off. Apparently it was coined in 1922 and
was not even popular until the 1950’s. Reading on I find that prior to this
era, graphic designers were know as commercial artists which again makes me
think of advertisements. Then in the original preface Meggs summed it up
nicely, “activities as an individual who brought who brought structural order
to and more visual form to printed communications.” He goes on to mention a few
examples from history and it clicks, graphic design has been around as long as humans
have been communicating.
Flipping through the images this concept of communication
was evident. Before alphabets, people would draw pictures of cave walls or on a
pyramid. Then I realized my assumption of digital images wasn’t completely
incorrect either. Technology played a huge part in the development of
communication and therefore graphic design. Once paper and ink were invented,
people could communicate through design more easily. Then movable type and the
printing press advanced graphic design even further, as the drawing on page 151
shows. I was reminded of a documentary about typography I watched a couple
years back, “Helvetica,” where they explore the subtleties of designing what we
know call fonts. I flipped on and saw more of what I imagined graphic design to
be, but older. The use of startling or seductive imagery, along with stylized,
complimentary typeface used to convince someone of something—Propaganda.
Colorful military and political posters telling you who to vote for or that the
third reich is coming. Then I get to the good stuff, rock and roll concerts!
Even as I reach the end and finally see digitally rendered design, it’s still
all about communication. Whether an artist is causing a few abstract thoughts
or an ad pries a little money from your pocket—graphic design turns out to be
much more than I though it was.
