The Evolution of Graphic Design - Coursework Example

The Evolution of Graphic Design As the Post-Modern movement flourished moving into the late 20th century and thus under the influence of new technologies and practices, the introduction of desktop computers into the graphic design world caused an explosion of new ideas and treatments that changed the role of the graphic designer forever. Now it was possible for people such as Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko to create magazines such as Émigré, a tabloid that used typography as its content, and for amateurs playing around on their desktops, to compete for position without training. VanderLans and Licko provided a stage in which artful typographic configurations could be explored to their greatest effect (Chwast, 235) while amateurs have introduced both a splash of new excitement and creativity as well as a cause for concern for the future expectations of quality. With the help of computers, fonts have introduced to the population at large and have allowed individuals to explore letterforms to the fullest extent of legibility. The introduction of graphics specific software like Adobe Photoshop symbolized a breakthrough in graphic design freedom and paved the way for ever more sophisticated programs such as 3DS Max and Macromedia Flash. With these tools, designers are now able to create nearly realistic 3D worlds within the confines of the computer. The degree of realism afforded through such features as lighting, shading and texturing has also sparked new areas of graphic design growth, specifically in the areas of animation and game design. With the advent of the computer, the world was introduced to an awesome new toy that could come up with all kinds of new tricks. One of these new tricks was an ever-increasing ability to digitally produce artwork that could then be manipulated to any degree and reproduced in precise detail any number of times. It was easily manipulated to fit all types of sizes and formats, instantly accessible from numerous sources and quickly printed in a variety of media at once. These attributes meant digital illustration became the wave of the future for graphic design as well as many other forms of art media. It was the perfect solution to advertising needs and the ultimate expression of precise control. As software became more advanced and more user friendly, a greater number of individuals with an idea of an image found it possible to create their own ‘artwork’ simply by following the step-by-step instructions of tutorials or copying and pasting elements of other people’s artwork into their own projects. In addition to introducing questions of originality and issues with protection and copyrights, this digitization of art introduced increasing concerns about the authenticity of art and design – could it still be called art if it was little more than a few digitally-manipulated shapes thrown together? As a result of graphic designers and others fervently exploring the possibilities of these new digital tools, the market soon became saturated with digitization at the expense of individuation. “Crisp digital solutions and a fashion for super-slick-vector-traced-one-size-fits-all-what-you-see-is-what-you-get images has emerged in recent years. In providing more answers than questions, the computer had removed any element of chance. In the crop of recent digital imagery, there has been little room for risk, for failure or, more importantly, for the hand of the artist to shine through – software had taken over. Originality and individualism had become far less important than cool control over a vector curve” (Hand Made, 2007). While digital graphic design offers immense possibility, flexibility and precise control, it was soon realized that this perfection of form was somehow lacking in aesthetic appeal. Images created solely on the computer in graphics programs that can produce flawless vector curves and impossibly straight lines retain a perfection that most Japanese artists and clients are uncomfortable with. “There’s something slightly embarrassing about it – slightly too good, too smart, too egotistical. We like the work to be slightly imperfect, humble if you will, then the client likes that” (cited in Hall, 2001). This seeming lack was recognized first in Japan, but was soon a subject discussed among graphic designers and artists throughout the world. With the advent of these new technological tools, the illustrative world became dominated by the perfect images the computer could produce, but was quickly exposed as lacking an essential spark. “Everything was just so slick for a while – it was all so process-led. I think that it just led straight up a blind alley and as the process itself couldn’t change, it was the artist that needed to initiate that change” (Craig Atkinson cited in Hand Made, 2007). This lack of the human element, the perfection that the Japanese recognized early on as being flawed because of its perfection, could not remain unanswered by those who appreciate the subtleties of professional illustrations. “Design, and the creative disciplines as a whole, is beginning to have a resurgence in popular estimation. Ad campaigns that might at one time have been purely live action are incorporating animation. Illustration is strong across editorial, advertising and TV” (Penfold, 2006). Thus, there have been increasing numbers of graphic designers who have worked out differing ways of combining old methods with new technology. Their concern and guidance to developers led to more sophisticated development of software programs and hardware peripherals that enabled this human element to enter the digital world. For example, the common interface of the mouse can begin to bring the hand-drawn element into a developing piece as a click of the button and a carefully manipulated mouse can draw almost in the same way as a giant pencil with whatever type of brush tip desired. As was recommended by Stuart Mealing as long ago as 2000, a more accurate means of drawing directly within the computer space is through a graphics tablet. Although this, too, remains distant from the hand-drawn sketch in that the line does not develop directly under the hand, the line that would have appeared on paper is replicated exactly within the computer, complete with shakes of the hand, obvious points of hesitation or lifts of the pen. As a result, this method is alarmingly similar to the process of drawing on a sketch pad. Other possible peripherals that can help bring hand-drawn images into the computer space include the flatbed scanner, digital camera, video camera and slide scanner (Mealing, 2000). While each of these technologies have contributed immensely to the ability of bringing the hand-drawn element into the digital sphere, there remain several issues to be overcome, such as the lack of a universal and precisely accurate color matching system between the light-produced color on-screen and the ink-produced color off-screen, each of which are based on entirely different spectrums. However, with these types of devices, the hands-on element can be transferred into the computer realm and thus retain, whether drawn in with a stylus and pad, a mouse or on paper and scanned in later, that essential human element that makes illustration artwork rather than flat, uninteresting images. While the computer remains very important in the creation of illustration in the modern world, the consensus of most artists seem to be that the scanner, the camera, the stylus and the plethora of available software are all just more tools to add to the studio. “The computer is no longer an exclusive way of working … thus allowing more hand-crafted techniques as a basis to the work now being created … I’ve always initiated images by hand, it allows my personal style to come through … The computer enables me to turn often quite simple sketches into more complex compositions and images and allows me to color them in various ways using gradients and outlines, something which is impossible by hand” (Corinna Radcliffe cited in Hand Made, 2007). It is this mix of hand-drawn and computer assisted composition that creates true art and denotes the professional illustrator from the computer-savvy space filler. Modern graphic design, meaning since the advent of the computer, has continued to look to the concepts of fine art as guiding principles despite the plethora of images now available for filling space. Holly Wales, for instance, confides, “I’m very interested in traditional design considerations like line, composition and balance – they usually play a big part in shaping my images” (Hand Made, 2007). Wales is talking, of course, about the elements of composition that can make or break an illustration’s ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with its intended audience. When the approach taken is simply to fill an empty space, considerations of how line might lead the eye around the image and in relation to the rest of the page or medium in which the illustration is to be placed are rarely considered. Composition of the image may be considered simply as a question of content rather than the refined approach adopted by a professionally trained illustrator. Balance may receive slightly more attention as the layperson might have an innate sense of what ‘feels’ right in relation to the image, but otherwise ignores the concepts of color, light and weight when working with images. Illustrator Michael Terry explains, “The value of drawing in illustration has always been paramount. Drawing ability is essential. An illustrator’s style is over laid on a sound drawing ability. No amount of stylization will cover up a lack of drawing skill. That lack will always show through or will limit the subject matter an illustrator can handle. Illustration without drawing is a sham. It is not professional it is amateurish” (Can You Draw, 2001). Those in the field only expect the tendency of artists to include hand-drawn elements in their work to increase into the future, once again bringing the artistry of the hand back into the world of illustration. “I think artists will take a variety of traditional styles and mix them with new ideas to create something more progressive with a retrospective edge. Someone like Pablo Pasadas is heavily influenced by decoupage, but adds a contemporary twist by working it up using a variety of programs. There’s also Owen Phillips, who works in a draughtsman storyboard style, then mixes it up with graffiti. This montage of styles and medias will be quite prolific in 2007” (Will Little, design, advertising and editorial agent at Advocate Art cited in Penfold, 2006). This prediction is seconded by Jonathan Kenyon, founder of New York based design house Vault49: “There’s going to be a shift towards process-driven concepts and imagery that focuses on crafted creative origins, rather than scans and imitation. With so much style impersonation by anyone computer literate, it becomes more important to highlight skills away from the keyboard and mouse” (Penfold, 2006). The artists themselves have indicated the missing element of computer graphics. One example can be found through Brett Ryder. His work is characterized by a blend of hand and digitally-rendered drawing and painting combined with collage. While he initially turned to the computer in desperation when his early work wasn’t moving, he said it has remained only a minor tool within his studio. “I turned to the computer as I thought it could help solve the aesthetic problems I was encountering. It really is just the degree to which I draw or collage – my use of digital know-how fluctuates” (Ryder cited in Digital Illustration, 2006). Ryder now is a regular illustrator for many big-name clients such as The New York Times, GQ Magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine and The Daily Telegraph all located within the US (Digital Illustration, 2006). Artists such as Ryder, more accustomed to working with traditional art forms, took a little longer to embrace the easy-seeming shortcuts of the computer. In this respect, it was the least respected and newest members of the illustration world that helped show the way. Other examples of postmodern artwork transitioning into the world of digital graphic design can be found within the world of the graffiti artist. Graffiti artists were much more accustomed to working quickly and knowing what they were going to do before attempting to execute it and get out of the area before being discovered ‘tagging’ private or public property. It was not surprising to discover the graffiti artists using the new tools the computer offered to explore the expressiveness of various font styles to use within their designs. “The main feature of graffiti – indeed its most basic concern – is lettering. Graffiti could be described as typeface design on the hoof, and many of the early graffiti artists went on to design their own fonts in later life. Bristol’s Nick Walker is just one who took the skills he learned on the street and adapted them to the world he was creating on his Mac, taking influences from dystopian science fiction as well as graffiti, and creating alien alphabets” (Blackshaw, 2007). Walker wasn’t the only individual graffiti artist to make the transition from the streets to the professional world. SheOne, for example, continued to develop his letterforms into increasingly abstract illustrations that continue to appear in his professional work. “My G4 laptop is the most natural way of assembling my largescale paintings into viable product design,” he says. “I start by digitally photographing paints, either in the gallery, on canvas or in illegal locations around the globe. This raw data is edited, shaken and stirred in Photoshop, and assembled into a finished product. I guess you call this design. I enjoy the instant rendering of ideas available through this method. One can travel with the laptop and camera – it’s an instant interface, and allows for complete authorisation of one’s own language” (SheOne cited in Blackshaw, 2007). Walker and SheOne represent one end of an artistic spectrum, in which designs in the computer translate into physical representation created by hand outside of the computer space. However, this original starting point provides accessibility of these designs for other applications as SheOne indicates: “My painting can be simply applied to pretty much any brief: my current project is the SheCamo, a fabric design for the Addict clothing brand, in which painted details are used to create a repeat pattern fabric and used for high-end winter jackets, which come in a box also carrying the motifs” (SheOne cited in Blackshaw, 2007). Thus modern graphic design has entered a new phase of life in which designers are under more pressure and have more access to greater tools than ever before. From its earliest beginnings, graphic design has continued to be shaped and changed over time by the influences of the fine art world as it has shifted focus, definition and attention on various theories and philosophies influenced by the technological advancements of the digital age. Investigations into the theories and concepts of art movements such as cubism and realism have continued to shape and change the world of graphic design, causing artists to explore these concepts within the commercial realm made more accessible by the computer and software of the modern age. With the advent of new technology, new ability was discovered to quickly create more expressive typefaces as well as to bring the designs created by graphic artists to a much larger and more diverse realm. However, the extreme precision introduced with these new tools created a ‘return’ to the hand-made such as what was seen at the beginning of the Arts and Crafts Movement at the beginning of the last century. As we move into the future, it can be expected that the processes involved in the development of art over the past century will receive the same kind of development and thoughtful integration into the world of graphic design even as graphic design comes into its own and begins to shape and change the world of fine art. Through it all, the graphic designer will be hard pressed to keep pace with the rapid changes and expectations. Works Cited Blackshaw, Ric. “Urban Digital.” Computer Arts. Bath: Future Publishing Limited. November 30, 2009 “Can You Draw Part I.” AOI Information. (June 1, 2001). November 30, 2009 Chwast, Seymour and Steven Heller. Graphic Style: From Victorian to Digital. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000. “Digital Illustration.” Computer Arts. Bath: Future Publishing Limited, (2006). November 30, 2009 Hall, Andrew. “Illustration in Tokyo.” AOI Information. (August 1, 2001). November 30, 2009 “Hand Made!” Computer Arts. Bath: Future Publishing Limited, (2007). November 30, 2009 Mealing, Stuart. “Getting Digital.” AOI Information. (October 1, 2000). November 30, 2009 Penfold, Mark. “Future Trends.” Computer Arts. Bath: Future Publishing Limited, (2006). November 30, 2009 Read More