Old School Graphic Design?
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- omahadesigns
How did graphic design work in the 30's or 40's or 50's? Some of the bigger companies hired "agencies," but was most of this kind of work done by sign painters or artists or sign shops? Before there was a word for "graphic design"?:
All those look great. Did they at the time?
Not to complain but why are today's amateur designers so crappy? The invention of the PC?:
- fadein110
just copies of better design/culture of the time - like The Jetsons lol
- Horp0
- Less people doing it.
- Access to the tools to do it were almost no-existent unless you'd undertaken an apprenticeship which you were able to do because you had demonstrated a base-level talent for aesthetics.
- It was a slower, linear process, in the age before commitee, where everyone involved knew the investments being made and had no choice but to operate with due care. No 'last minute changes' when you've commissioned a plate etching, giant 3D sign etc, unless you accept the costs and delays.
- It was a simpler time, with less visual material and far fewer platforms, so the objctives were different and the work could have a sense of grace and restraint that would render it dull and invisible in the modern world.
- monospaced0
Post WW2 marks a massive boom in design, actually, and it was as far from sign painting for Pizza Hut as you can imagine. Not only was it big then, it was the beginning of what we consider modern design today. Check this out:
- MrAbominable0
Art Departments.
- omg0
- doesnotexist0
people like this
- cannonball19780
Like anything manufactured, design will look more "same-ey" when you use a computer by the very fact that you are adding a machine to the process. You get more out of introducing paper and pencil every time, and at every chance you get. This extends to digital products as well.
- This in response to how things looked to people then vs how they look to people now.
cannonball1978
- This in response to how things looked to people then vs how they look to people now.
- Miguex0
technically graphic design was used way before the 30s
I mean warriors during medieval times had crests to identify their allies and enemies.- or just different patterns of plaid... so textile designers not graphic designersdoesnotexist
- Let's stick to the 20th century.omahadesigns
- I disagree, crests were some of the first logos, not really talking about the patterns or colors, which is a good pointMiguex
- cannonball19780
^ cave paintings ftw
- gramme0
Before we were graphic designers, we were commercial artists.
- sinjun0
Came across this in a bookshop today if you want to dig deeper.
- webazoot0
Vinyl banners are my pet hate.
Presumably very few people with any kind of design eye or training go into the sign printing or making business these days. So much awful signage I see going up.
- monNom0
The mac and DTP software made 'design' accessible to anyone. As a result, people with no business doing design could now deliver 'professional' (but awful) output.
Vinyl signs are no different. Anybody can buy a vinyl cutter and start making signs. Get yourself a copy of corel draw and you're in business, innate skill be damned.
Also 'graphic design' has been around since at least the ancient Egyptians. Who do you think was designing/painting all those hieroglyphics? They actually had grid-systems to formalize proportions of their figures.
- boobs0
I blame the awful filters in Adobe products. I mean, what kind of anus would use the craquelure filter anyway? Or the default set of graphic styles?
- fredddddd0
^ We can prob. blame every handwritten font or distressed filter ever made too.
And comic sans, papyrus, marker felt. Arial. dafont.com. Home color printers.