Writing for Poster

CONTEMPORARY 

DESIGN PRACTICES EXIST ONLY 

BECAUSE OF WHAT HAS COME BEFORE.

ALTHOUGH MANY GRAPHIC 

DESIGN HISTORIANS WOULD ARGUE THAT THE FUNDAMENTAL 

PRACTICES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN DATE BACK TO MARK MAKINGS CREATED IN A PREHISTORIC ERA, IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE 20TH CENTURY WHEN GRAPHIC DESIGN AS WE UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE IT TODAY BEGAN TO EMERGE AND TAKE SHAPE.  WILLIAM ADDISON DWIGGERY, A NOTED TYPE DESIGNER, WHO WAS ORIGINALLY NAMED AS A  

COMMERCIAL ARTIST, WAS THE FIRST PERSON, IN 1922,TO BEGIN TO 

DESCRIBE HIMSELF AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER, AND SINCE THEN,THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INDUSTRY OF 

GRAPHIC DESIGN HAVE BEEN SUBSTANTIAL AND REMARKABLE, ADAPTING TO, AND INFLUENCING AN EVOLVING SOCIETY, BOTH IN TERMS OF CONSUMERIST NEEDS AND THE ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY. 

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CONTEMPORARY DESIGNER?IT IS ARGUABLE THAT WE ARE STILL IN WHAT IS DEFINED AS THE POST MODERN ERA WHICH WAS ORGINALLY A REACTION TO THE DESIGN  PRINCIPLES  

OF THE MODERNIST MOVEMENT. 

WHILST THE IDEOLOGY OF MODERNISM WAS TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE TRADITIONAL TO CREATE 

SOMETHING NEW, EMBRACING THE ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY AND A FUTURIST AESTHETIC, 

POST MODERNISM SOUGHT TO CHALLENGE THE MOVEMENT AND REACT IN OPPOSITION.

WHERE MODERNISM WAS DEFINED BY A LACK OF ORNAMENTATION AND THE IDEA OF FUNCTION BEFORE FORM, POST MODERN DESIGN SOUGHT A RETURN TO DECORATION, REVISITING AND REFERENCING DESIGN STYLES OF THE PAST.

COMMON TERMS ATTATCHED TO POST MODERNISM INCLUDE ‘PASTICHE’ AND ‘APPROPRIATION’ - WHERE GRAPHIC DESIGN BORROWS AND QUOTES PAST DESIGN STYLES,  OFTEN COMBINING THEM TO REAPPROPRIATE THEIR MEANING, CREATING A NEW CONTEXT. IT WAS IMPORTANT TO DESIGNERS TO PLAY WITH THEIR WORK, EMPLOYING THE USE OF HUMOUR AND IRONY, SEEMINGLY SHRUGGING OFF THE 

SERIOUSNESS OF MODERNISM AND ITS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES.

THIS REFERENCING OF PAST STYLES HAS BEEN A CONTINUOUS TREND IN DESIGN FOR SOME TIME NOW, 

SUPPORTING THE ARGUMENT THAT GRAPHIC DESIGN CAN NOW NO LONGER BE ORIGINAL. HOWEVER, AS PAUL RAND STATED, DESIGN DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ORIGINAL, IT JUST HAS TO BE GOOD. 

CONTEMPORARY GRAPHIC DESIGN ENCOMPASSES SUCH A VAST AMOUNT AND RANGE OF WORK THAT IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TIE IT DOWN OR DEFINE IT. 

WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN GRAPHIC DESIGN IS NOT FITTING INTO A PRESCRIBED BOX, OR CONCERNING

YOURSELF WITH BEING ORIGINAL AND INNOVATIVE FOR ITS OWN SAKE. INSTEAD, UNDERSTANDING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PRACTICE AND HONING THE SKILLS REQUIRED TO COMPETE IN THIS INDUSTRY WILL DETERMINE HOW SUCCESSFUL YOU WILL BE AS A DESIGNER IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE.