Sunday, April 28, 2024

Graphic Designs in the 70s: Throwbacks to Inspire You

1970s graphic design

Postmodernist design began to emerge in the 1970s, with designers embracing historical styles that had been rejected. Older styles were adopted and designers experimented with them, making them more exaggerated and fun. Connected to the use of photography in 1970s design was the use of famous faces to promote products. As real people were models in advertisements more, it made sense to have well-known names and faces as the face of a brand. The retro-futuristic visual language of the 70s, characterised by chrome/metal textures, vibrant neon colours, and Space Age motifs, has profoundly impacted contemporary logo and branding work. Designers today integrate and reinterpret these elements into fresh, innovative identities that feel both modern and retro.

Milton Glaser's 'Pop' designs defined the 1960s and '70s - Fast Company

Milton Glaser's 'Pop' designs defined the 1960s and '70s.

Posted: Fri, 24 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Graphic Designs in the 70s: Throwbacks to Inspire You

1970s graphic design

While it first emerged in the late 1950s, Pop Art continued well into the 1960s, popping up everywhere from advertising and comic books to fine art. The trend was made famous by the movement’s leading figures, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, and their iconic Pop Art pieces. Whether you’re looking at a famous 70s rock album or a Coca-Cola ad, you’ll find a lot of persona or character-driven graphics mixed with funky-fresh typefaces throughout the designs of the 70s. “Nightlife plays such an important role in organizing and keeping spirits up during a long fight,” Campbell said of the significance of these items, located at the intersection of celebration and struggle. However, Steinberger says not all the designers featured in the show were early adopters of the computer and digital type. But it wasn’t just geography that allowed for greater aesthetic freedom; the clients with whom these designers worked also made a difference.

The Feminist Center for Creative Work

Scher catapulted onto the design scene in the 1970s and 80s through her innovative work at CBS Records and other major corporations. She began bucking modernist traditions of order and simplicity by incorporating irreverent visual puns, historical references, and absurd juxtapositions into her designs. Her maximalist style was bold, complex, and unapologetically chaotic at times. Over the decades, the “I ♥ NY” logo transcended its original purpose, evolving into a globally recognised symbol of New York City.

Design Articles based on this decade

The logo's ubiquity on t-shirts, hats, posters, and more reflects Glaser's design's timeless, universal appeal. His use of colour, composition, symbolism, and typography combined to create an image that immediately conveys meaning and emotion to viewers worldwide. The bell bottoms of the 1970s originated from a nautical design but took on an exaggerated flare.

1970s graphic design

Seeing everyday people vouch for a product in an ad became the norm, but the ‘70s also saw the beginning of celebrities endorsing brands. And if you’re more into vibrant rainbow hues, learn how you can create and save your own color choices in Vectornator. The PhotoTypositor, manufactured by Visual Graphics Corporation, used large negative film strips with characters next to each other. Users lined up the character they wanted to be printed with a lens, and it was then projected onto photographic paper.

Hippie Patterns & Motifs

The influence of Pop Art on 70s graphic design helped to create a visual language that was both accessible and playful. By incorporating everyday imagery, bold colors, repetition, and comic book-style elements, designers were able to make a lasting impact on the world of design and continue to inspire creatives today. To incorporate the essence of 70s typography into your designs, consider using bold, chunky fonts or experimenting with curvy, hand-drawn lettering. Pay attention to the spacing between letters and don't be afraid to create your own custom typefaces to capture the creative spirit of 70s graphic design.

The 1970s – a decade of social change and creative experimentation that ushered in a new era of graphic design. As the revolutionary counterculture of the 1960s gave way to a more uncertain time, graphic designers responded with bold, psychedelic styles that captured the freewheeling spirit of the times. Vibrant colors, crazy patterns, lycra leggings, and larger than life hairstyles – there’s no denying that the 80s was an eye-catching era. A decade defined by bright colors, fluid patterns and LSD-inspired psychedelia, the 1960s were a massive turning point for graphic design.

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The Glaser Nobody Knows: Milton's Letterhead and Logo Designs of the 1970s - PRINT Magazine

The Glaser Nobody Knows: Milton's Letterhead and Logo Designs of the 1970s.

Posted: Wed, 19 Jan 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The 1970s was a pivotal era in graphic design, characterised by bold colours, geometric shapes, and artistic experimentation. As the revolutionary spirit of the 1960s gave way to a new decade, logo designers embraced creative freedom and innovative techniques. Branding experienced a transformation, moving away from the muted, corporate aesthetic of the 1950s and 60s and towards more expressive and unconventional visual identities. Typography was often combined with photography and used bold and bright colors. Designers were trying to move away from the International Typographic Style, a movement that was famous for its rigidity and cleanliness.

The Nike Swoosh has become one of the world's most iconic and recognisable logos, but its origins stem from humble beginnings in 1971. That year, Phil Knight, founder of Blue Ribbon Sports – the company that would later become Nike, Inc. – was seeking a design for a new brand logo. He reached out to Carolyn Davidson, then a graphic design student at Portland State University. Film and television also saw massive growth, marked by the success of high-concept blockbusters like Star Wars and shows like Charlie's Angels.

Paisley in particular became popular due to the Beatles’ association with the pattern, along with its close association with psychedelia. As we mentioned earlier, new technologies meant that designers had a lot more control when it came to lettering. Type artists moved away from the rigid typographic styles that reigned in the ‘50s and early ‘60s and began experimenting with spacing and hand-drawn letterforms.

Arcade games were introduced in the early 1970s, and Space Invaders came in the late 70s. This famous 70s logo design features a bold sans serif font that's squarish in form, which helps emphasize the digital quality of the game. When incorporating psychedelic patterns into your own designs, don't be afraid to experiment with these characteristics. The more you play with twisting shapes, symmetry, and visual illusions, the closer you'll come to capturing the spirit of 70s graphic design. When you think of the colors of the ‘70s, the warm and inviting mustard yellow, burnt orange, and earthy tones come to mind. Compared to bright colors in '60s psychedelic design, the colors of the ‘70s were pretty toned-down, but perhaps that was due to the social climate of the time.

Content creators often draw from the iconic fonts, colour palettes, fashion, and graphic imagery of the 1970s to evoke nostalgia or pay homage to the era's singular aesthetics. Saville's album art didn't just represent the music – it also came to represent an entire cultural movement. His covers for Factory Records bands like Joy Division and New Order visually defined the Manchester post-punk scene.

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