Some key dates in the History of Graphic Design. Lecture for BA Digital Media Design, LCC, University of the Arts London

1. Some Key Dates of
Graphic Design History
BA DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGN
Lesson: Design for Digital Media
London College of Communication
University of the Arts London
Angela Michanitzi

2. 15,000 - 10,000 BC
• The first known visual communication, with pictographs
and symbols in the Lascaux caves in southern France.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzShXDxm2v8

3. 3600 BC
• The Blau Monument, the oldest artifact
known to combine words and pictures.

4. 105 AD
• Chinese government official Tsíai Lun or
Cai Lun credited with inventing paper.

5. 1045 AD
• Pi Sheng invents movable type, allowing
for characters to be individually placed for
printing.

6. 1276
• Printing arrives in Europe with a
paper mill in Fabriano, Italy.

7. 1450
• Johann Gensfleisch zum Gutenburg credited
with perfecting the system for printing type in
books.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=qexDBgWM2X8&feat
ure=related

8. 1460
• Albrecht Pfister the first to add illustrations
to a printed book.

9. 1470
• Nicolas Jenson, considered one of
history’s greatest typeface designers,
sets news standard for Roman type.

10. 1530
• Claude Garamond opens first type foundry,
developing and selling fonts to printers.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KubB0PQAK5g

11. 1722
• First Caslon Old Style font developed.

12. 1760
• Industrial Revolution begins, setting the
stage for advances in graphic design
production.

13. 1796
• Author Aloys Senefelder develops
lithography.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=JHw5_1Hops
c&feature=related

14. 1800
• Lord Stanhope invents first printing press
made of all cast-iron parts, requiring 1/10
the manual labor and doubling the possible
paper size.

15. 1816
• First sans-serif font makes a subtle
entrance as one line of a book.

16. 1860
• Arts and Crafts Movement - John Ruskin,
William Morris, Gustav Stickley.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVjcyH72Vfo

17. 1861
• Williams Morris, who became a highly influential
figure in design history, sets up art-decorating firm.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3kLR4N10Qg

18. 1880
• Development of halftone screen allows
for first photo printed with a full range
of tones.

19. 1890
• Art Nouveau movement begins and changes
design, making its way into all types of
commercial design and utilizing all
types of arts.

20. 1901
• Frank Lloyd Wright - 'The Art and Craft of the
Machine'; basic principles of modern industrial
design; future designers create prototypes for
machine production.

21. 1910
• AEG (German General Electric). This is
the beginning of ʻcorporate imageʼ.

22. 1916
• Dada Movement. George Grosz, Hannah
Hoch, Kurt Schwitters, Marx, Ernst,
Marcel Duchamp, Andre Breton, Hans
Arp.

23. 1917
• The Art movement called De Stijl, Dutch for ʻThe
Styleʼ was on the rise.

24. 1919
• The Bauhaus, a German school, is founded,
eventually providing the framework for
modern design.

25. 1919
• Constructivism movement originated in Russia. El
Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko, Vladimir Taltin, Naum
Gabo.

26. 1932
• Stanley Morison oversees design of
Times New Roman font, commissioned
by the Times of London.

27. 1947
• Swiss design: Armin Hofmann, Emil
Ruder.

28. 1950
• The New York School: Paul Rand, Alexey
Brodovich, Henry Wolf, Herb Lubalin, George
Lois.

29. 1956
• Paul Rand designs IBM logo using City
Medium typeface.

30. 1957
• Max Miedinger designs Neue Haas
Grotesk font, later renamed Helvetica.

31. 1960
• Pop art; Pentagram Design: Colin Forbes,
Theo Crosby; Scandinavian Designer: Alvar
Aalto.

32. 1961
• Italian Designer: Ettore Sottsass,
Memphis group Movement.

33. 1968
• Post-Modernism: Wolfgang Weingart,
Steff Geissbuhler, Odermatt & Tissi.

34. 1969
• Douglas Engelbart develops first computer
mouse, setting the stage for the future tool
of graphic design.

35. 1970
• Corporate graphics: Olivetti, CBS, CIBA,
Chase, Mobil.

36. 1979
• New Wave: April Greiman, Kenneth
Hiebert, Paula Scher.

37. 1984
• Apple releases first Macintosh computer,
featuring bitmap graphics.

38. 1985
• Aldus, formed by Paul Brainerd, develops
PageMaker software. Brainerd coins the
phrase Desktop Publishing.

39. 1990
• Photoshop version one is released.

40. 1990
• Physicist Tim Berners-Lee develops the
world wide web, along with HTML and
the concept of website addresses.

41. Brief 1
• Research, predict and record the
development of the Graphic Design from
1990 to 2020. In your blog instigate your
own timeline for your findings.
• Deadline and Critique: End of Term 1