Graphics Art History
Graphics arts was first known as a way to "interlink" the arts with design. Graphic arts can be traced as far back as the 1790's. Newspapers used lithography and were significantly enhanced, with visuals added to words to display a story or advertise a product. Over two hundred years later we still use graphic arts to interlink designs and enhance products and we do so with cutting edge technologies.
Early 1900's
At the Sixth Secession Exhibition, Japanese graphic arts was displayed to explain a two-dimensional art form. Geometric shapes and lines were used to create "rhythms," instead of representations. Windows turned into designs of art with stained glass. Textured patterns and designs with strong lines and heavy patterns represented an art of technology and machinery. During the WWI era, art took on a form to represent grief with jumbled images and combined with letters to make bold image patterns.
1950-60's
Designers and artists were moving towards graphic designs that included photography and were straying away from simple illustrations. Advertising took off by marketing iconic companies that we know from their logos today, such as Shell and UPS. Consumers were targeted as an audience to appease, which would mean using art as a marketing device. Basic blues, reds and yellows were used on posters and leaflet advertisements to market products.
1980's
Graphic arts were used to design architecture and furniture during this period. Patterns with bright, bold colors were used to make statements. Industrial materials were used to build structures and in sculptures to represent basic, low-cost played down designs. Messy designs, mistakes and blurred photographs were used to represent the idea of being not perfect.
2000's
Today graphic arts designs consist of 3D designs, in video games, on the Internet and are used in print media still. Graphic design technology has come a long way since the early 1900's, but we still use graphic arts designs to represent an idea or an object. Marketing and advertising relies on graphic designs to sell products or introduce a new movement. It will be amazing to see where graphic designs will be in another couple hundred years.