Psychedelia

The psychedelic era began in the 1960's during the hippie subculture. Designs within this era were inspired by psychedelic experiences often induced by drugs, which were popular amongst youth culture at the time. The word 'psychedelic' means 'mind-manifesting' and designs that fit into this era often opted to visually capture the feeling of 'tripping out.' Common elements within psychedelic designs included bold colours, lines creating optical vibrating effects, abstract and curvilinear shapes and typography that was often morphed to fit inside shapes or follow abstract lines.

Three influential designs of this era were Victor Moscoso, Alton Kelley and Wes Wilson. Many psychedelic elements were used within their designs, such as bold colours, skewered typography and abstract shapes and all three produced large amounts of pieces during the 1960s. Below I have included some art works by each artist that represent pieces from this era.

This design is by Wes Wilson and represents this era through morphed lines, typography following these lines and contrasting colours. Often designs from the Psychedelic era had text that was very hard to read and encouraged people to look deeper for meaning. This is an example of really capturing psychedelic feelings through the vibrating lines. I like this poster because of the way it flows and I believe it would have been very appropriate and effective at the time it was produced.

The above is a very famous design by Milton Glaser, founder of Push Pin Studios. Here we can see that the image is abstracted to the max and Glaser has used vibrating colours and morphed lines to form the hair. Push Pin Studios became one of the most influential design studios in graphic design and were one of the first studios that sold many pieces based on their distinctive style. The poster was promoting Bob Dylan and I was attracted to the piece just through the bright colours and abstracted elements.

Swiss/International

Swiss/International 1945-1985

The Swiss style was a major force in graphic design and still holds lots of power in today’s designing world. The attitude of art produced within this era was to make it socially useful, universal and scientific. The idea was to achieve objective clarity and order within designs and as a result extreme abstraction was often created based on pure geometry.

The above is a music poster from 1954 created by Josef Muller-Brockman who was a designer, teacher and writer. It is representative of this era as the lines and text follow the same sloped direction and words are spaced out to contribute to the abstract feel of the poster. The writing is balanced by using a grid format which was popular in this time and used to organise typography in a particular way. To me this design is a bit boring so I don’t think the quality is high, however at the time it was produced it was probably effective.

This piece is by Massimo Vignelli and was produced in 1957. Again it represents the Swiss/International era through abstract shapes, contrasting colours and text following a particular direction. This poster would have been effective because the bold colours catch the audience’s eye and make you want to read the content on the poster.

Late Modern

Late Modern 1945-1970

The late modern period was inspired by European new and original early modern approaches. American artists developed a unique personal style and the result was a new simplicity that gained popular acceptance worldwide.

This era was similar to American Kitsch as it still incorporated geometry, simplicity and clear typography.

The above piece is designed by Paul Rand, who was a large influence throughout this era as he used his intelligence to connect ideas with simplicity and wit. This piece is representative of the Late Modern era as it incorporates shapes, clear font, simplicity and slight abstraction of shapes. Rand often made designs that looked somewhat like collages through shapes and objects being placed on top of each other. I think this magazine cover would have been effective at the time of print as it is attention grabbing and simple, yet still portraying a message of the magazine title.

This is a magazine cover by Lester Beall who was a self taught designed who helped revolutionise American graphic design by using symbols and photography in a layered, collage-like way. Although this design has lots of shapes, casual fonts and a collaged surface, Beall still managed to retain simplicity by balancing his colours. As a result of the overall simplicity I think the quality of this piece is good for the era it was created in.

American Kitsch

American Kitsch 1940-1960

American Kitsch is most commonly known as '50s art.' 'Kitsch' is a German word meaning “in bad taste.” Kitsch is usually used to describe art that is pretentious, vulgar and overly sentimental.

Elements of this era included curves, casual script, typography and sexy and sensual shapes.

The above is a magazine cover designed by one of the most influential designers of the time: Rockwell. He designer over 300 covers for the Saturday Evening Post between 1916 and 1963. This piece is representative of the American Kitsch era through the casual typography, exaggerated expressions and dramatic poses of the boys. I think the quality of this piece is good as it also incorporates a sense of humour as the boys have clearly been in trouble for swimming where they weren’t aloud to.

The above is a poster design from the 1950s and again incorporates an exaggerated pose that is rendered realistically to make the woman look dominant over the highway. Her facially expression is also exaggerated and the font is big and easy to read.

Because American Kitsch is considered “outsider art” this style is not recorded in history books, yet graphic designers seem to have a deep affection for this graphic style.

Reference: Tafe lecturer video – American Kitsch

Art Deco

1925 – 1940

Following Early Modern Era

Art deco styles include geometric shapes, curves, Egyptian zigzags, sunbursts, lightening bolts, airbrushed ray bands, motion lines, aerodynamic and streamline forms. Art Deco was often considered an “early modern” style and designs were rather simple, representing luxury and glamour.

The two images I have chosen to represent this era are both by A.M. Cassandre, believed to be the most influential designer of the Art Deco era. They are both posters promoting various events, one being an event in France and the other for a train line.

Both these designs are representative of this era as they incorporate simplicity, geometric shapes and lines, and clear fonts, which is what attracted me to these pieces.

Early Modernism

1910-1935

Following Art Nouveau

Early modern refers to artists in the early 1900's who broke from tradition. Artists from this era can be described as new and experimental and few gained popular acceptance because they were daring and different. However, artists from this era had a major influence on design styles that followed.

Expressionism also flourished throughout this era and was created by artists who were concerned with the human condition and felt deep empathy for social issues.

The above is a piece by Pablo Picasso where he introduced cubism. During this time Picasso and similar artists invented a new approach to handling space and introduced geometric planes. This is where artists began to change the face of art and challenge more traditional styles. I don't think this piece actually has a specific function, it is obvious that Picasso was experimenting and trying new things. I like the quality of this piece and the use of different shades of colours contrasting with harsh black edges. I can also see how space was beginning to be used more effectively as he effectively covers the whole canvas.

This design is a poster from Germany, 1919 and it's function is to advertise a particular theatre. It represents Early Modernism through the effective use of space and geometrical shapes. Also this design is rather simple and incorporated a similar colour scheme, which was often the case throughout this era.

My attention was drawn to this piece through the colours and effective placement of objects within the poster. I believe this artist was influenced by Picasso as this piece reminds me of the image I included earlier by Picasso.

Arts & Crafts

Following the Victorian Age.

The Arts & Crafts style embraced proportion, simplicity of form, fitness for purpose, honesty to materials and the enhancement of natural textures. As design shifted from the Victorian Age to Arts & Crafts, designs became simplified but still effective. For example with furniture design, materials were often left with their natural textures and finishes, rather than adding varnishes and hundreds of buttons as designers did in the Victorian Age.

The above image is a chair designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the 1900's. I have included this as one of my images because it is so simple and representatve of the drastic change between the Victorian Era and the Arts & Crafts movement. Although this piece is simple, there are still the little details which make it interesting, such as the cut outs in the back of the chair. 

I was attracted to this piece by seeing the huge back rest, which is interested and although it isn't relevant it catches the audience's eye.

The above is a page of a book by William Morris who established the Kelmscott Press, a device which was used to print books. Designs from the Arts & Crafts Movement often incorporated gothic fonts & textures and detailed patterns, which Morris incorporates in the above design. Although there is a lot on the page, the design still remains simple to some sense as it doesn't have too many different things happening and the layout is somewhat simple.

To be honest I am not a huge fan of the Arts & Crafts movement as I like more colours and a bit more going on in designs, but my attention was drawn to the above piece due to the pattern which created the border.

Reference: TAFE lecture movie: Arts & Crafts Movement