A look back on the beginning of graphic design: Graphic Means documentary
From time to time we stop, look eerily at an actual newspaper, assess the technological advances in printing and revere at the limitless creativity in individuals. Then we casually follow our screen while it easily transposes our imagination into drawing, typography or photography. That’s a taste of graphic design, on fast forward. Just a glimpse into the short history of a business we can’t imagine living without. If this seems confusing to you, I have another thing you will really enjoy. Especially if you are fascinated by the fast-paced evolution of technology, in general.
Graphic Means is a documentary, created by Briar Levit, director and producer, but also Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University. Her material follows the evolution of graphic design in the span of 30 years, from linecaster to PDF. It is an exploration of how design worked in the 1950s through the 1990s. She felt inspired to do this thanks to the collection of manuals she gathered from this period. When nostalgia hit hard, she decided to document the tools, processes, and people, of this brief moment in the design world.
The film premiered at the ByDesign film festival in Seattle in April and got a Kickstarter page. Now it’s already screening festivals and other events. It will also be available for streaming on iTunes and Amazon at the beginning of 2018.
Briar Levit on making Graphic Means from Briar Levit on Vimeo.
No matter for how long you’ve been in the graphic design industry, a trip down memory lane, from the beginning up to today’s technology is mind boggling. To see where it all came from, before the PDF’s, Photoshop and professional tablets in such a short time, truly puts things into perspective. The question on everyone’s lips is: what’s next, how soon can we expect the next revolutionary product in graphic design?
Watch the trailer below:
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