The industrial age brought about a series of political, economical
and social changes that were generally reflected by the art works created
at that time. We can think of many such works: Dickens and his novels of
course or some of the paintings of mid-19th century. These works of art
reflected not only a period of change for the society, but also the use of
new means of production that endured faster made and usually better quality
This is also the case of graphic design- in many ways, it followed
the evolution of any other industry. The Gutenberg press was in use for
several centuries when the steam engine was invented in the 18th century.
"The development of the steam engine impacted on the mechanization of the
printing presses"[1]. As in any other industry, the apparition and
development of the steam engine and the "mechanization" of the design
process made it possible to create more in much less time[2]. Even thus,
as in many other areas, the negative consequences of graphics designs was
quite high: an increase in speed was usually not reflected in the quality
of the final product and the usual case was that the graphic designs were
not of the same quality as before. The workers' experience and quality had
also decreased and, in the end, it all impacted the quality of art.
The graphic designs art began to pick up a serious commercial air in
the second half of the 19th century, when the works began to be more than
works of art and more related to the economic issues of the times. The
label designs began to be registered as trademarks and were more and more
used as commercial products rather than works of art. It was also during
this period that the label with signature, attesting the product's quality
that we see today in many commercials made its appearance.
However, as I have shown in the lines above, this quest for speed and
...