History of graphics design?

GEI006 – Visual Graphics

Design
15,000 - 10,000 BC
The first known visual connection with photographs and symbols in the Lascaus
caves in the southern france.
3600 BC
The blau monument, the oldest artifact known to combine words and pictures
ever. These are a pair of inscribed stone objects from Mesopotamia now in the
British Museum
105 AD
Chinese government official Tsiai Lun or Cai Lun credited in inventing paper.
1045 AD
Pi Sheng invents movable type, allowing for characters to be individually placed for
printing
1276
Printing arrives in Europe with a paper mill in Fabriano, Italy
1450
Johann Gensfleisch zum Gutenburg credited with perfecting the system for printing type
in books.
1460
Alberecht Pfister was the first to add illustration to a printed book.
1470
Nicholas Jenson, considered one of the history’s greatest typeface designers
created the new standard font for roman type.
1760
Industrial revolution begins, setting the stage for advances in graphic design.
1816
First sans serif font makes a subtle entrance as one line of a book. A beginning to one
of the most popular fonts.
1880
Development of halftone screen allows for first photo printed with a full range of
skills.
1901
Frank Lloyd Wright - "The Art and Craft of the Machine" basic principles of modern
industrial design; future designers create prototypes for machine production.
1910
AEG (German General Electric). This is the beginning of 'corporate image.
1916
Dada movement. George Grosz, Hannah Hoch, Kurt Schwitters, Marx, Ernst, Marcel
Duchamp, Andre Breton, Hans Arp.
Dada was an art movement formed during the First World War in Zurich in negative reaction to the horrors and folly of the war. The art, poetry and
performance produced by dada artists is often satirical and nonsensical in nature.
1917
The art movement called De Stiji, Dutch for “The style”
was on the rise.

De stiji movement embraced an abstract, pared-down

aesthetic centered in basic visual elements such as
geometric forms and primary colours. Led by painters
Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian.

De stiji artists turned their attention not only to fine art

media such as painting and sculpture, but virtually all
other art forms as well, including industrial design,
typography, even literature and music.
1919
The Bauhaus, a German school is founded, eventually
providing the framework for modern design.

Most influencial modernist art school of the 20th

century, one whose approach to teaching, and
understanding art’s relationship to society and
technology, had a major impact both in Europe and the United States long
after it closed.

Included artists like; Wassily Kandinsky, Josef Alverts, Laszlo

Moholy-Nagy, Paul Klee and Johannes itten, architects Walter Gropius
and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and a designer Marcel Breuer.
1919
Constructivism movement originated in Russia. El Lissitzky,
Alexander Rodchenko, Vladimir Taltin, Naum Gabo.

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that

originated in Russia beggining 1919 by Vladimir Tatlin. This was a
rejection of the idea of autonamous art. He wanted to “construct”
art.

The term “construction art” was first coined by Kasmir

Malevich in reference to the work of Aleksander
Rodchenko. Graphic Design in the constructivism
movement ranged from the production of product
packaging to logos, posters, book covers and
advertisements.
1932
•Stanley Morison oversees design of Times
New Roman font, commissioned by the
Times of London.

•Times New Roman is serif typeface

commissioned by the British newspaper
The Times in 1931, created by Victor
Lardent. It was commissioned after Stanley
Morison of the English branch of printing
equipment company Monotype criticised
the Times for being badly printed and
typographically antiquated.
1932
Stanley Morrison oversees design of Times New Roman font commissioned by
the Times of London.
1947
Swiss design: Armin Hofmann, Emil Ruder. Use of sans-serif typography, grids and
asymmetrical layouts. Combination of typography and photography as a means of
visual communication. The primary influencial works were developed as posters,
which were seen to be the most effective means of communication.
1950
The New York School: Paul Rand, Alexey Brodovich, Henry Wolf, Herb Luvalin,
George Lois.

The term New York School usually refers to both the younger Abstract Expressionists
sometimes also known as 2nd generation Abstract Expressionists and artists directly
influenced by this movement.
1956
Paul Rand designs IBM logo using City Medium typeface.
1957
Max Miedinger designs Neue Haas Grotesk font, later renamed Helvetica.

Max Miedinger was a Swiss typeface designer. He was

famous for creating the Neue Haas Grotesk typeface in
1957 which was renamed Helvetica in 1960. Marketed
as a symbol of cutting-edge Swiss technology,
Helvetica went global at once.

Between 1926 and 1930 Miedinger trained as a

typesetter in Zürich, after which he attended evening
classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zürich.
Logos who used Helvetica Font
1960
Pop art; Pentagram design:
Colin Forbes, Theo Corsby:
Scandinavian Designer: Alvar
Aalto.
1969
Douglas Engelbart develops first computer mouse, setting the stage for the future
tool of graphic design.
1990
•Photoshop version one is released