The Evolution of Digital Art

Up until the late 20th century, the graphic-design medium was based on hand-craft processes: layouts were drawn by hand in order to visualize a design; type was specified and ordered from a typesetter; and type proofs and photostats of images were placed into position on heavy paper or board for photo copying and platemaking. During the 1980s and early ’90s, however, rapid changes in digital pc hardware and software radically changed graphic design.

Software for Apple’s 1984 Macintosh pc, such as the MacPaint programme developed by computer programmer Bill Atkinson and graphic designer Susan Kare, had a revolutionary human interface. Tool icons controlled by a mouse or graphics tablet allowed designers and artists to use computer graphics in a new, intuitive manner. The Postscript™ page-description language from Adobe Systems, Inc., allowed for pages of type and images to be placed onto graphic designs on screen. By the mid-1990s, the transition of graphic design from a drafting-table activity to an on-screen computer activity was fundamentally complete.

Digital computers allowed typesetting tools to be placed into the realm of designers, and thence a period of experimentation began in the creation of new and unusual type and page layouts. Type and images were layered, fragmented, and disfigured; type columns were overlapped and run at very long or short line lengths, and the sizes, weights, and typefaces were often changed within single headlines, columns, and words. Much of this type of research occurred in design education at art schools and universities. American designer David Carson, art director of Beach Culture magazine in 1989-91, Surfer in 1991-92, and Ray Gun magazine in 1992-96, captured the imagination of a youthful audience by taking this kind of experimental approach into publication design.

Fast advances in onscreen software also allowed designers to make elements transparent; to stretch, scale, and bend elements; to layer type and images in space; and to amalgamate imagery into complex montages. For example, in a United States postage stamp from 1998, designers Ethel Kessler and Greg Berger digitally montaged John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Frederick Law Olmsted with an image of New York’s Central Park, a site plan, and botanical art to commemorate the landscape architect. Interwoven, these images create a rich expression of Olmsted’s life and work.

The electronic revolution in graphic design was followed quickly by general public access to the Internet. A completely new sphere of graphic design activity blossomed in the mid-1990s when internet commerce became a growing sector of the world-wide economy, causing organisations and businesses to quickly establish Web sites. Designing a web-site involves layout of screens of information rather than of pages, but approaches to the use of type, images, and colour are similar to those used for print. Web design, however, requires a number of new considerations, including designing for navigation through the web-site and for using hypertext links to see additional information. An example of strong web design is the Herman Miller for the Home Web site, designed by BBK Studio in 1998. These designers developed a purposeful visual identity, effective navigation, and informational clarity. Attributes that added to the effectiveness of this Web site included a pleasing colour palette, an informative use of pictures of products, and a scrolling imagery of products.

Because of the world-wide effectiveness and reach of the internet, the graphic-design sector is becoming increasingly global in scope. Moreover, the integration of motion graphics, animation, video feeds, and music into Web-site design has caused the merging of traditional print and broadcast media. As kinetic media expands from motion pictures and basic television to scores of cable-television channels, video games, and animated Web sites, motion graphics are becoming an increasingly important area of graphic design.

In the 21st century, graphic design is ubiquitous; it is a major component of the complex print and electronic information systems. It permeates modern society, delivering information, product identification, entertainment, and persuasive messages. The unstoppable advance of technology has dramatically changed the way graphic designs are created and distributed to a mass audience. However, the basic role of the graphic designer, giving creative form and clarity of content to communicative messages, remains the same.

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