The

Historic Eras
Of
T he designers of the late 1960s
and 1970sworking in this field were
a special breed.They were the first
rockstar graphic designers.Oth-
er designers knew them by name,
and they were promoted along with
the cov- ers.The
styles were loose and
open-end- ed.One cover
might be modernest and
simple; another, com-
plex and decorative.
There was no attachment
to a spe- cific idea.
Each solution might
be radically different from the
last.The industry thrived in Los
Angeles and New York,the two cen-
ters of the music industry.

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The Golden Age

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 J apanese art covers a wide range of art
styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculp-
ture, ink painting and calligraphy on silk and pa-
per, ukiyo-e paintings and woodblock prints, ki-
rigami, origami, dorodango, and more recently
mangamodern Japanese cartooning and comicsalong
with a myriad of other types of works of art. It
has a long history, ranging from the beginnings of
human habitation in Japan, sometime in the 10th
millennium BC, to the present.

Japan has been subject to sudden invasions of new

and strange ideas followed by long periods of min-
imal contact with the outside world. Over time the
Japanese developed the
ability to absorb, imi-
tate, and finally assimilate
those el- ements of foreign
culture that complement-
ed their aesthetic pref-
erences. The earliest com-
plex art in Japan was produced in the 7th and 8th
centuries in connection with [Buddhism]. In the 9th
century, as the Japanese began to turn away from
China and develop indigenous forms of expression,
the secular arts became increasingly important; un-
til the late 15th century, both religious and secu-
lar arts flourished. After the nin War (14671477),
Japan entered a period of political, social, and
economic disruption that lasted for over a century.
In the state that emerged under the leadership of

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Japanese Design

4
 A rt Nouveau was an artistic movement
which peaked in popularity between 1890 and
1905 which was practiced in the fields of art,
architecture and applied art. It is a French
term meaning new art and is characterized
by organic and plant motifs as well as other
highly stylized forms. The organic forms often
took the form of sudden violent curves which
were often referenced by the term whiplash.
Its short success was a reaction against the
late 19th century academic art and was replaced
by the development of 20th century modernist
styles.

Relative to graphic design it was popular in

book production and poster printing, although
it was used by artists for a variety of oth-
er types of work including advertisements, mag-
azines, labels and typography. The typography
was so heavily ornate that it was not desirable
for text faces but great for display work.

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ART NOUVEAU

6
 F or a musical and social move-
ment that snarled in the face of
au- thority and wasnt
averse to spitting
at its friends, punk
has received a great
many shelf inches
in the last 30 years
re- spectfully devot-
ed to histories, reas-
sessments and eye-
witness accounts.
To- day, there is even
an academic journal exclusively de-
voted to the pursuit of punk and
post-punk studies,
which has just pub-
lished its second is-
sue. There cant be
much left to say about

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Punk Design

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 L ate modernism encompasses the
period from the end of World War II
to the early 21st Century. Late mod-
ernism describes movements that both
arise from, and react against trends
in modernism. The late modern peri-
od was dominat-
ed by American
inno- vations
when follow-
ing on from the
war there was a need for more adver-
tising, marketing and packaging.

This movement was in-

spired by European
Avant-Garde early
modern approaches and
from this the Ameri-

9
Late
Modern

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