In this day and age, advertising media of all kinds bombards us with new and improved images, type styles, and layouts. It seems that design is always recreating itself, retaining a sort of teenaged glow, eternally young and fresh. But even... [more]

In this day and age, advertising media of all kinds bombards us with new and improved images, type styles, and layouts. It seems that design is always recreating itself, retaining a sort of teenaged glow, eternally young and fresh. But even since the time of the ancient scribes, choices and decisions have been made regarding the size, style, and placement of text, ancillary images, and color selections. Long before the slick and innovative magazine ads of Tibor Kalman or the broad range of work by Laurie Haycock Makela, the learned artisans of yesteryear busied themselves with the pursuits of the rich and powerful, the church and the state. Billions of grains of sand passed through the hourglass as these early graphic designers conscientiously and painstakingly laid out page after page of manuscripts, religious texts, and even tapestries and mosaics. Their skills were broad, covering everything from lettering design to fine art painting skills, and while their modern-day descendants may have similar proficiencies, their tools have changed dramatically. Due to the invention of the Gutenberg printing press in the middle of the 1400s, there was a monumental break with the artisanal nature of graphics in general. Although wood block prints were in production for more than 500 years prior to that time, it was not until the invention of the press that the notion of intentional design for production came into being. Graphic designers have since learned to assimilate and direct cultural modes and mores for their own purposes. Alongside each artistic movement, however obscure, the influence of graphic design has been felt. From the sensuously swirling and flowing designs of the Art Nouveau period to the strict, stern, hard edges of the Swiss International Style, graphic designers rallied to portray the emotion and energy of the particular time period. In present times, with exponential growth in the use of computers for everything from writing to image manipulation, designers are ever more capable of producing more -- and producing it faster. But even now, the average person would be hard-pressed to name even one graphic designer, though their work may be as visually familiar as the headlines on their local newspaper. [show less]