Graphic Design, A History – Steven J. Eskilon

Thoughts before / during the introduction

Eskilon’s view of 19th century design is extremely negative. He justifies this by the cluttered styling and the ‘more is more’ design style.

I don’t agree with Eskilon that the 19th century graphic design is a disgrace to graphic design. Yes, they had (and we still do have) a lot to learn, but from a historical perspective we can see that many designer’s and printer’s were experimenting with the many new typographic styles that the invention of the printing press allowed. It is also important to remember that at that point in time, designers were limited in terms of resources other than the printing press, so therefore the designs had to rely mostly on type.

It is important that we don’t just look at the designs in a positive light because of the limitations of the designers, or the fact that graphic design was only just beginning. It is important to realise how these designs have lasted throughout history. The specifically victorian styling has had a place throughout history, and still today. Originally many people would have seen poster’s with the 19th century styling and probably would have felt excitement through seeing the results of the printing press in a new way than just the small words on the page, but in a more exciting context.

Nowadays, many people see poster’s in a similar styling to above and immediately emotions of joy, excitement and comfort are invoked. This is advertising for an event or more specifically, an experience, designer’s will still use many elements of 19th century design, such as the poster for Disneyland’s splash mountain ride below.

During reading

During the 19th century, Europe was a place full of hardship during the industrial revolution. Mass production was a massive part of life for most Europeans. Along with the mass production of machinery and products came the ability for mass print runs, having a large impact in the way designers produced their work.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel’s wrote the Manifesto of the communist party in 1847. They acknowledged the ‘hardships of urban life for the poor’ (Eskilon, 2012, pg. 30). This caused many designers to see their role in society as to bring joy in an otherwise difficult and ugly social context.

Graphic design soon became for catalysing force for social change which has continued throughout history and is still the case today.

Technology

The invention of new technologies which allowed design to spread far further than it ever had allowed designer’s to have a far bigger impact on social change than they ever had before. Technologies such as the Lithograph allowed illustrations to be shared to a much wider audience, this was common in newspapers and was loved by audiences.

The ‘undisciplined electism’ (Eskilon, 2012, pg. 33) of 19th century design, shouldn’t be seen negatively, but rather as a response by designers of freedom, despite the hardships felt by society as a whole.

After Reading

After finishing the excerpt from Eskilon’s, graphic design a history, I think that the 19th century was an important turning point for design. Before the 19th century, the field of design almost didn’t exist. Any design was extremely niche as artisans were more prevalent due to the nature of distribution. With the industrial revolutions, the ability for mass production and distribution was possible. This allowed designer’s to design for audiences in order to spread information (through newspaper’s, posters, lithography) as well as to campaign for social change through these means.

The style of 19th century design is heavily typographic and electic as a representation of both the machinery they had available to them as well as a means of escaping the negative factory environments.

I think 19th century design is heavily romanticised in the 21st century as it represents the sense of excitement that would have been invoked by the audience of the new and different design style in the Victorian era. For that reason, current designers may choose to use the Victorian era as inspiration for their designs when they appeal to an individuals excitement and want for an out of this world experience.

The 19th century design styles represent many influential factors of the time period and whilst not necessarily pleasing to the eye trained to 21st century design, it is influential on the design periods that followed and still has its place in the present day.