Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne have written a book about the 100 ideas that changed graphic design, which can be taken as a sort of chronological history for graphic design as a whole. The book makes consideration for everything, from body types and teen magazines to sexual taboo busting and designer websites, it’s a great look at the roots of design.
You’ll need to buy the book to get a deeper dive on some of these ideas that’ve changed graphic design but the full list is below.
1. The Book
2. Body Type
3. Rub-on Designs
4. Rays
5. Pastiche
6. Pointing Fingers
7. Vanitas
8. Clenched Fists
9. Monumental Images
10. Female Archetypes
11. Colour Blocks
12. Ornamentation
13. Decorative Logotypes
14. Naive Mascots
15. Entrepreneurship
16. Metaphoric Lettering
17. Swashes on Caps
18. Text as Images
19. Visual Puns
20. The Square Format
21. Primitive Figuration
22. Propaganda
23. The Object Poster
24. Paper Cutouts
25. Manifestos
26. Graphic Design Magazines
27. Botanical Geometry
28. Calligrams
29. Loud Typography
30. Asymmetric Typography
31. Red with Black
32. Supergraphics
33. Supreme Geometry
34. Funny Faces
35. Expression of Speed
36. Corporate Identity
37. Dust Jackets
38. Found Typography
39. Ransom Notes
40. Design Handbooks
41. Avant-garde Zines
42. Collages
43. Riddles and Rebuses
44. Photomontage
45. Pictograms
46. Floating Heads
47. Abstraction
48. Triangulation
49. Extreme Close-ups
50. The Provocative Gesture
51. Motion Graphics
52. Night Spectaculars
53. Shadow Play
54. Good Design
55. Forced Obsolescence
56. Vibrating Colour
57. Strips and Panels
58. Frame by Frame
59. Perfect Rectangles
60. Abstract Graphs
61. Dynamic Diagonals
62. Stencil Type
63. Comic Lettering
64. Parody
65. Sustainable Packaging
66. Public Service Campaigns
67. Branding Campaigns
68. Layering and Overprinting
69. Design Thinking
70. The Grid
71. Brand Narratives
72. White Space
73. Less is More
74. Mono-Alphabets
75. Film Title Sequences
76. Big Book Look
77. Nostalgia
78. Illegibility
79. Scan Lines
80. Teen Magazines
81. Culture Jamming
82. High Contrast
83. Psychedelia
84. Split Fountain
85. Underground Comics
86. Record Album Covers
87. Street Slogans
88. Sexual Taboo Busting
89. Self-Promotional Publishing
90. Tags
91. Universal Pricing Code
92. Vernacular
93. French Theory
94. Do It Yourself
95. The Fine Print
96. Magazine Coverlines
97. Guerrilla Advertising
98. Pixellation
99. Ambigrams
100. Designers’ Websites
A lovely, lovely book. Design has more reason than you think. [Laurence King via Kottke]
