Until the late 20th century, the graphic-design area had been based on handicraft processes: layouts that were made by hand in order to actualise a design; type was specified and ordered from a typesetter; and type proofs and photostats of images were placed in position on heavy paper or card for photographic copying and platemaking. Over the course of the 1980s and early ’90s, however, rapid advances in digital pc hardware and software radically altered graphic design.

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

Digital computers placed typesetting tools into the hands of individual designers, and so a time of experimentation began in the design of new and unusual fonts and page layouts. Type and graphics were layered, fragmented, and disfigured; type columns were overlapped and run at very long or short line lengths, and the sizes, weights, and fonts were sometimes changed within single headlines, columns, and words. Much of this type of research happened in design training 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, caught the imagination of a youthful audience by taking such an experimental approach into publication design.

Rapid growth in onscreen software also allowed designers to make elements transparent; to stretch, scale, and bend them; to layer type and graphics in mid-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. Together, these images evoke a rich expression of Olmsted’s life and work.

The electronic advancement in graphic design was followed quickly by public access to the internet. A whole new operation of graphic-design activity mushroomed in the mid-1990s when internet business became a fast growing sector of the global economy, causing companies and businesses to scramble to establish Web sites. Designing a web-site involves the layout of screens of information rather than of physical pages, but approaches to the use of type, images, and colour are similar to those used for print. Web design, however, requires a myriad of new things to consider, including designing for navigation through the site and for using hypertext links to be taken to 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 created a strong visual identity, effective navigation, and informational clarity. Attributes that contributed 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 global effectiveness and reach of the Internet, the graphic-design domain is becoming increasingly global in scope. Additionally, the blending of motion graphics, animation, video feeds, and music into website 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 universal; it is the main component of our complex print and electronic information systems. It permeates modern society, bringing information, product identification, entertainment, and persuasive messages. The relentless advance of technology has dramatically changed the way graphic design is created and distributed to a mass market. However, the basic role of the graphic designer, adding expressive form and clarity of content to communicative messages, remains the same.

Looking for art supplies? Australia is the lucky country when it comes to canvas art supplies and if you are looking for a painting easel, make sure you consider Discount Art Warehouse.