Term Paper on "History of Graphic Design Technology"

Term Paper 10 pages (3422 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

History Of Graphic Design Technology

In today's world, everything seems to be easily done with the use of computers. From writing stuffs, to presentation and even communication, computers really paved the way. One of the latest movements in computer technology use is the introduction of graphic designs.

Graphic designing is the 'art and profession' of choosing and organizing visual elements to transmit a message. The various types of visual elements involved in this are typography, images, symbols, and colors. Graphic design is also commonly called as "visual communications" which can be attributed to that collaboration of disciplines involved in this method such as the writers' production of words, the photographers' and illustrators' creation of images and the designers' incorporation of all these things into a 'complete visual message' (Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2006, para 1). With the advent of graphic design technology, the world of art, advertising, education and even marketing became more colorful.

This paper is aimed at highlighting the history of graphic design technology. Specifically, this paper is intended for:

Identifying the proponents of the use of graphic design technology

Classifying the milestones related to the use of such technology (from the date it was introduced to the dates of its modifications)

Discovering the future that lies ahead for graphic design technology

Graphic Design

Graphic designing is a method of incorporating images and texts to express a single meaning to the viewers or audience. The very purpose

Continue scrolling to

download full paper ⤓

of graphic designing is to convey a message to the target audience. This message should either attack the audience psychological, emotional and physiological well being. Graphic design should than have all the factors needed to make it understandable for the audience.

To come up with a suitable graphic design, there are a number of things that must be done first. First is knowing all the information related to the design that should be made. This includes the subject of the design, the target audience and the type of design suited for the subject and the audience (Rieber and Kini 1991, p 85). These are all important information because to these lie the very idea of the design to be made. More so, this information will be the sole basis for the design and will be the deciding factors if the graphic design made is effective and efficient or not.

Second thing to ensure is the people that will be involved in designing. It must be noted that the graphic design does not only contain text nor pictures alone. Sometimes a combination of these two is needed. Hence a right and effective concept must be incorporated in the design so reach the target audience (Rieber and Kini 1991, p 85). The most common people involved in graphic designing are the writers (who think of the texts to use), the artists or the designers (who analyze the apt images for the texts) and sometimes the models that are used as part of the designs.

The information above has just reiterated how important graphic designing is. Graphic design is a very good method that aide in the information dissemination to a wider set of audience.

The Initiator of Graphic Designing

The use of text and art to produce to convey a message was a common thing in the world of communication but it was William Addison Dwiggins who started the use of graphic designing. In 1922, he made use of his professional experience and his deep passion and interest with designs. This paved the way for graphic designing and a number of graphic designers designer (Dwiggins, 1922, p 121).

Dwiggins initially worked as an illustrator, advertising artist, typographer, and book designer. He was a participant in the Boston printing renaissance and a founding member of the American Institute of Graphic arts (ALGA) in 1914 (Dwiggins, 1922, p 121). Two of the most disturbing questions he had in mind back then were (Dwiggins, 1922, p 123)::

Was 'art' something applied for added value?

Was it something used to make a product easier to sell?

In trying to find answers to such questions, he was able to distinguish the three classes of printing: practical printing (which according to him was without art); bookmaking (which he considered as the work of great art); and printing for the purpose of advertising (which is now known as the 'graphic design'). In that same year (1922), Dwiggins coined the term 'graphic designer' and he urged the 'graphic designers' to uphold standards of their 'profession.' (Dwiggins, 1922, p 123). By upholding, he meant looking for every possible means of continuously upgrading that method of art and trying out every ways of conveying better messages to the audience.

The Start of Graphic Design Technology

The use and method of graphic designing were already used even before 1950s. The approach was a bit easier and less complicated then. People were using the designs to express information which could not be expressed by words or by pictures alone. Graphic designing was very creatively done by real artistic people. However, these artistic people came to a point where they could no longer get any satisfaction with the kind of designs there were having. This was the time that designers themselves think of better ways and newer methods to create variation in their designs, thus the changes in graphic designs methods, approaches, techniques, tools and equipments and even on graphic design education.

Such changes marked the birth of graphic design technology.

Changes in the Methods

The idea of improving the methods of designing came up on early years of the 1950s. Several young designers of that time were trying to position themselves as commercial artists who were trained in studio art programs as either painters or printmakers. These drastic changes in goal was inspired by several European designers who ensured that their practice is used in more ways than just by appending artistic devices in selling soaps or other consumer products. The said designers were also the ones who revealed that they serve as between the client and the public. They filter information with the pursuit of placing the contents into visual contexts thereby enabling broader understanding. The same designers from Europe paved the way for other designers and aspiring ones to earn deep respect from their predecessors and colleagues particularly during the 1950s up to the 1960s (Thornton, 1996 para 4).

On the years that followed (1970s-1980s) the new generation of designers raised some issue regarding the International Style that promoted structured, anonymous designs. The said inquiries were insinuated by some architects who were then trying to redefine modernism by calling it Post-Modern designs. Thus, various inspirations, patterns and models were then studied and used as the new basis for use in graphic designing. Some used the concept of Russian Constructivism (from the 1920s) and others used the same development of technology as inspirations (Thornton, 1996 para 5).

However it was during the era of the 1980s when the bigger change to graphic designing came into being. During this time, computer prototypes and imaging software was introduced and became the primary tool for the professional designers. Eventually, designers learned how to use photographic imaging and digitizing it through the Scitex Response System. Such procedure is used and found to be capable of manipulating colors, dimensions, and even content of the designs (Thornton, 1996 para 6).

Designers were already enjoying the new approach of graphic designing. They were already maximizing the capabilities of such approach to make their designs more expressive and of course more saleable. However, curiosity never ceased. They eventually search for other ways to improve an already usable and advanced approach. On mid-1980s, another milestone of graphic imaging was designed and this time, it was in the form of storing and further changing or reforming the images. More so, text and electronic images were being used and combined as layers of information. This further improvement is now coined as the 'New Wave Design' (Thornton, 1996 para 6).

Changes in Text Tools

Changes in methods were already being established. But enhancements in graphic designing will not be successful if the other aspects of designing will not be improved also. This is the very reason why the elements of graphic designs were also further enhanced and developed.

In graphic designing, images are not the only important aspects of the designs. Texts also play a pivotal role and to emphasize text, fonts are then used. The advent of the computer also enables dramatic changes in the type of fonts.

During the early years of designing, there are very few choices of typefaces. Consumers or viewers were limited to what the common print shops and/or stores could offer them. Much worst, if the designers do not have any connections with larger type house, the alternatives were even more restricted. Today, this is not a problem anymore. There are thousands of sites who offers download of lots of typefaces and there are some who are only requiring not-so-big amounts to get access with the numbers of typefaces and/or styles… READ MORE

Download Full Paper

Write a New Paper for Me

Quoted Instructions for "History of Graphic Design Technology" Assignment:

“

I need a MINIMUM of 10 sources, all of which mUST be cited, and of which a maximum of only 2 (TWO) can be from the Internet (unless coming from a reputable newspaper website, an academic journal, library article search, online encyclopedia, and things such as that). Wikipedia is NOT considered reputable enough to be considered a non-Internet source. As an additional source to the 10 required, I had to interview someone in the field, and that person's responses I will include later, and some of which MUST be used in the paper and cited correctly.

The works cited page must be in MLA style. Sources must be cited within the paper MLA style (Parenthetical citations - NO footnotes). Notice it is a WORKS CITED page, not just a bibliography. A separate Annotated Bibliography must be included as well. I can make a cover page myself. None of these are counted as part of the 10-pages of the paper itself int he grading.

Paper should be in the "5 Paragraph Essay" format, though is not limited to just 5 paragraphs. Basically, what I mean is it should have an opening paragraph with a thesis statement, content in the middle, and a concluding paragraph. This is a research paper on the history of technology in graphic design, so the content in between should be mostly in some sort of chronological order.

Here's the interview info in case it gets screwed up later:

Name of Interviewed: Nicole Hickman

Position of Interviewed: Production Artist

1. As far back as you can remember, what is your earliest memory of

becoming interested in your field?

I first started working part-time with my mom and dad in a small company they had typesetting and producing musical textbooks.

Later, when I was looking for a better way to make money outside of being a typist in a law firm, my mom suggested that I look for a typesetting job. This was back in late 1976. I interviewed at a typeshop, for a trainee position, and was hired.

2. Were you taught what you know, or did you figure most of it out for

yourself? (a percentage here would be nice in addition, eg. 40%

taught/60% learned on own)

I was trained on the job initially. Subsequently, I taught myself a lot of stuff about what I was doing, with the help of people I was working with. I'd say the percentage was 35% taught/65% learned on my

own. I've always been the type of person to present myself with a

challenge and then figure out how to do it.

3. In your personal experiences, how has the technology evolved since

you got started in your field?

Technology has changed a great deal since I started as a typesetter,

back in late 1976. In those days, there was no WYSIWYG, layouts were

produced entirely with coding. You saw the results of your work only

after it came out on the imagesetter. Since then, everything is

produced on-screen, and later printed, and apart for things like color

correction, you can pretty much rely on the fact that what you see on

the screen is what your layout will look like, because you have a

preview.

4. How have you adapted to these changes in technology? Were there any speedbumps along the way?

Personally, I didn't hit any speedbumps, as it's always been my nature

to keep learning new things. I do know that there were speedbumps for

many who had trouble adjusting to the new way of doing things.

5. In your opinion, have these advancements made things easier?

Better? Stifled creativity?

I think that to a certain extent they've made things easier, but I

also think that whereas in the pre-WYSIWYG days layout and production

were handed off by art directors to typesetters and stripping

departments, now, there seems to be a bigger burden on art directors

to produce print-ready materials. In my opinion, this makes it harder

for art directors to just create things. In addition, because the

tools nowadays make it easier for an art director to take things all

the way to the point of final production, it's had an impact on people

whose jobs were based on doing the production themselves. Many have

lost their jobs as a result.

6. What would you say, in your opinion, has been the best innovation

in your field and why? The worst?

Without a doubt, Postscript was a huge revolution in the way things

were done. Whereas before, things that were done with special

equipment, or just not done at all, suddenly these things became

possible with Postscript imaging technology. The ability to set type

to an unlimited size without degradation of the quality of the type

outlines made typositor machines a thing of the past. As Macs became

more advanced and faster, and software like Adobe Photoshop, Quark and

Illustrator made it possible to do more complicated layouts and

composition incorporating photography and type effects, things that

would have been too expensive to produce in the past became a matter

of course.

I'd say the worst impact has been that the art of typography has

suffered, because most people are not taught true typographic skills

in schools anymore, and where in the earlier days of phototypesetting

typographers were the arbiters of typography, now, inexperienced art

directors without a good typographic sense are setting the type, to

less than optimal result.

7. Did you learn more of what you need in the field in college, or in

the "real world"?

I've never been to college for what I do. Everything I've learned I've

learned in the real world.

8. Where do you see the technology going in the next 5 years? 15

years? 50 years?

I think there will be more integration in the direction of say, the

Adobe Creative Suite, where a suite of applications work in an

integrated fashion to produce a product. I also see another upheaval

coming in terms of the final reproduction of people's works. Direct to

plate, digital printing, all of these will eventually supplant

traditional film output. I'm not sure that will be the best thing for

a lot of the vendors who still work in the old school way.

9. If you could invent one thing to help you in your line of work,

what would it be/what would it do?

Hmm. I think it would be a truly easy to understand way to calibrate

color between a large number of output devices.

10. Are you concerned about anything related to your field and the

technology and where it is headed?

As someone who is more involved in the production end of things than

in the design end, I am concerned about the impact of software as a

replacement for skilled production people like myself. In the early

days of the Mac, as more and more ad agencies took their work in-house

and bought Macs for in-house production departments, a lot of

typeshops were forced to close their doors, or do what they could to

stay afloat. Some became pre-press shops, rather than typeshops.

Nevertheless, many lost their jobs during that time. I see another

wave like this coming.

11. What is your opinion of the new/fresh graduates appearing in your

field? Any suggestions or words of wisdom for them?

I can't say that I have an opinion, outside of people I encounter on

the forum where you posted these questions. A lot of enthusiasm, with

the right attitude, they'll go far.

My advice would be to stay humble, listen to those around you with

more experience, stay open to learning new things constantly, and

don't discouraged if you don't make a big bang in the field right

away. It's highly competitive, and persistence will pay off.

How to Reference "History of Graphic Design Technology" Term Paper in a Bibliography

“History of Graphic Design Technology.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2006, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263. Accessed 6 Jul 2024.

History of Graphic Design Technology (2006). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263

A1-TermPaper.com. (2006). History of Graphic Design Technology. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263 [Accessed 6 Jul, 2024].

”History of Graphic Design Technology” 2006. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263.

”History of Graphic Design Technology” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263.

[1] ”History of Graphic Design Technology”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2006. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263. [Accessed: 6-Jul-2024].

1. History of Graphic Design Technology [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2006 [cited 6 July 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263

1. History of Graphic Design Technology. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/history-graphic-design-technology/4099263. Published 2006. Accessed July 6, 2024.

Related Term Papers: