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1439
Invention of the Gutenberg Press- 1439
Johannes Gutenberg brought moveable type to Europe in 1439, introducing mass communication to Western culture and forever changing civilization. With the Gutenberg press, people no longer had to rely on lengthy scholarly reproductions of books, opening up literature (and literacy) to the masses and making it affordable. The Gutenberg press paved the way for more commercial uses of design, which ushered in the era of graphic design as we know it. -
First Print Advertisements- 1620s
The printing press gave way to the “coranto,” the precursor to the newspaper. And in the early 1600s, these corantos featured the first printed advertisements. (To be fair, written advertisements date back to ancient Egypt, but this is the first time we see images in mass-produced ads.) -
Chromolithography- 1837
Technological advancements continued to fuel the progression of graphic design, such as the ability to print in color, or chromolithography. While used primarily for recreating paintings for home decor, chromolithography also opened new doors for advertising. -
The Wiener Werkstatte- 1903
With more and more companies recognizing the benefit of graphic design, it was just a matter of time before the first graphic design agency emerged. That honor belongs to Austria’s Wiener, an organization who made contributions to design style and business alike. Meaning simply Vienna workshop, the Wiener was the first such organization of visual artists, including painters, architects, and early graphic designers. Organizationally, it set the precedent for all other agencies to follow. -
Staatliches Bauhaus- 1919
Furthering what the Wiener Werkstätte started, the Staatliches Bauhaus, or just simply “Bauhaus,” first opened its doors in Weimar, Germany in 1919. Theirs was an ambitious goal: to create a Gesamtkunstwerk, an artistic ideal that encompasses or synthesizes existing art forms into one perfect work. The interesting thing is they actually succeeded: Bauhaus was one of the central driving forces behind the popularization of the modernist style. -
The term, "Graphic Design" appears for the first time- 1922
In his article “New Kind of Printing Calls for New Design” (printed in the Boston Evening Transcript, August 29, 1922), book designer William Addison Dwiggins first used the term “graphic design” to describe exactly what his role was in structuring and managing the visuals in book design. From day one, designers were struggling to explain to non-designers what, exactly, they did. -
Paul Rand publishes Thoughts on Design- 1947
With one foot in modernism and the other in post-modernism, legendary designer Paul Rand helped lead graphic design into its current form. He posted his theories and ideologies in the seminal work Thoughts on Design, which largely shaped the future of the entire graphic design industry. -
A glimpse into the digital era- 1950/1970
From the 1950s onward, the world began its slow approach to the digital era we’re currently enjoying. The mass-adoption of home computers is a technological advancement comparable to the invention of the printing press, ushering in a new age for mass communication and granting access to esoteric art styles and digital software for new methods of creating art. -
Present time Graphic Design- Hey that Rhymes
Graphic Design continues today and has improved immensely since it was first created. At first we had handprints and paint. Now we have so much technology and resources to help us improve graphic design even farther than it already is.