-
It seems like humans have always had an inherent drive towards art, evidenced by the early cave paintings dating back to prehistoric times. Subjects vary from animals to hand imprints to events like hunting, and they’ve been found all over the world
-
As far as we know, the Sumerians created one of the first written languages, most likely as a means of recording trader inventories to ensure couriers didn’t steal anything on deliveries.
-
In the Middle Ages, typography started to take off as humanity started expanding its aesthetic horizons into the letters and words themselves. Because texts in this period were produced and replicated by hand, a little artistry made the books more valuable and set certain scholars apart from others.
-
n the 14th century, beer and ale were viable if not preferable alternatives for drinking water at a time when most water sources were polluted. King Richard II of England made a law that ale houses must have signs out front so the public could find them easier.
-
It was the printing industry that first used logos, although they were limited to just marks on their own documents. It wasn’t just a branding device, but also a means to show off your printing skill—how well your logo was printed reflected how well everything was printed.
-
Technological advancements continued to fuel the progression of graphic design, such as the ability to print in color, or chromolithography. Brands were now able to use a lot of the familiar marketing tools we know today, such as characteristic color schemes and building emotional connections through slice-of-life scenes. Before, visuals were stilted by the tech of the time.
-
With more and more companies recognizing the benefit of graphic design, it was just a matter of time before the first graphic design agency emerged. That honor belongs to Austria’s Wiener Werkstätte, an organization who made contributions to design style and business alike.
-
Furthering what the Wiener Werkstätte started, the Staatliches Bauhaus, or just simply “Bauhaus,” first opened its doors in Weimar, Germany in 1919. Theirs was an ambitious goal: to create a Gesamtkunstwerk, an artistic ideal that encompasses or synthesizes existing art forms into one perfect work. The interesting thing is they actually succeeded
-
With one foot in modernism and the other in postmodernism, legendary designer Paul Rand helped lead graphic design into its current form. He posted his theories and ideologies in the seminal work Thoughts on Design, which largely shaped the future of the entire graphic design industry.
-
From the 1950s onward, the world began its slow approach to the digital era we’re currently enjoying. The mass-adoption of home computers is a technological advancement comparable to the invention of the printing press, ushering in a new age for mass communication and granting access to esoteric art styles and digital software for new methods of creating art. Adobe Photoshop—first released in 1990—even on its own changed the face of graphic design
