Historical Poster Series

Project Brief:

Throughout the history of graphic design, poster design has evolved so much. This goal of this series is to capture the evolution of poster design throughout the years by replicating landmark styles that occurred over the course of graphic design's timeline. I will begin with a take on wood block printing and work my way up to more modern interpretations of front facing design. The series will consist of 8 posters created to mimic these styles while taking time to understand the design elements at work in each poster. There will be a poster every week so a total of 8 weeks will be spent on this project. There will also be a variety of programs used ranging from Adobe Illustrator, to Adobe Fresco.

The Idea:

This series was an opportunity to appreciate the history of graphic design and how it is constantly evolving over the years. I wanted to take a trip back in time to view how wood block printing affected the limitations of print material, and also step into the world of art nouveau where beauty and decor was priority. Editorial design was also a huge part in the evolution of graphic design as this was where the grid played a huge part. The hierarchy associated will be defined by scale, proportion, and often times color. For each execution I wanted to experiment with paper texture overlays to really get the feel of a vintage poster.

Process:

This series was a lot of fun to create. I learned a lot about the processes associated with each poster and have a newfound respect for the history of graphic design and its landmarks. The 8 posters I will create will be wood block print, art nouveau, Bernhard object, constructivism, bauhaus, vogue cover, Swiss design, and a fused metaphor. These milestones in graphic design history will allow me to view its progression from the early 1800's to the mid 1900's.

Solution: