The Evolution of Digital Art

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Up until the late 20th century, the graphic-design medium had been based on hand-craft processes: layouts that were stylised by hand to create a design; type was specified and ordered from a typesetter; and type proofs and photostats of images were placed into position on heavy paper or board for photo copying and platemaking. During the 1980s and early '90s, however, rapid advances in digital pc hardware and software completely altered graphic design.

Software for Apple's 1984 Macintosh pc, such as the MacPaint programme 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 a new, intuitive manner. The Postscript page-description language from Adobe Systems, Inc., enabled pages of type and graphics to be assembled into graphic designs on screen. By the mid-1990s, the development of design from a drafting-table activity to an on-screen computer activity was virtually complete.

Digital computers placed typesetting tools into the realm of designers, and thus a time of experimentation occurred in the design of new and unusual typefaces and page layouts. Type and images were layered, fragmented, and disfigured; type columns were overlapped and run at very long or short line lengths, and the sizes, weights, and typefaces were changed within single headlines, columns, and words. Much of this 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, captured the imagination of a youthful audience by taking this kind of experimental approach into graphic design.

Rapid growth in onscreen software also enabled designers to make elements transparent; to stretch, scale, and bend them; to layer type and graphics in space; and to combine 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 a photo of New York's Central Park, a site plan, and botanical art to commemorate the landscape architect. Interwoven, these images create a rich expression of Olmsted's life and work.

The digital transition in graphic design was followed quickly by public access to the Internet. A completely new sphere of graphic-design activity blossomed in the mid-1990s when Internet business became a growth sector of the world-wide economy, causing organisations and businesses to quickly establish websites. Designing a website involves 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 number of new considerations, 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 purposeful visual identity, effective navigation, and informational clarity. Attributes that contributed to the effectiveness of this website included a consistent colour palette, an informative use of pictures of products, and a scrolling imagery of products.

Because of the international usefulness and reach of the Internet, the graphic-design profession is becoming increasingly global in scope. Moreover, the merging of motion graphics, animation, video feeds, and music into web-site design has brought about the merging of traditional print and broadcast media. As kinetic media expand 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 far-reaching; it is the main component of the complex print and electronic information systems. It permeates contemporary society, bringing information, product identification, entertainment, and persuasive messages. The ongoing advance of technology has changed dramatically the way graphic designs are created and distributed to a mass audience. However, the fundamental role of the graphic designer, giving expressive form and clarity of content to communicative messages, remains the same.

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