1980s Graphic Design History

Design Articles based on this decade

Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Movements

April Greiman and her Hybrid Imagery

April Greiman is known for her experimental approach to graphic design, her role in the development of Californian New Wave and being one of the first designers to fully embrace the computer in her work.

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84 Tickets from the Rural Medical Care Promotion Lottery, Japan, 1974–82

Illustration, Ephemera, Members Only Content, Regional Histories

Japan

84 Tickets from the Rural Medical Care Promotion Lottery, Japan, 1974–82

A collected visual record of the first eight years of Japan’s Rural Medical Care Promotion Lottery.

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Advertising Design, Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Regional Histories

Women Graphic Designers in 1980s America

This article is part of my ongoing effort to spotlight the unsung heroes of design history. I'm especially passionate about sharing voices and designs that have been overlooked or forgotten. In this piece, I focus on the work of 1980s American graphic designers, in particular, the women who broke boundaries and shaped American visual culture.

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Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Movements

A New Visual Language: From New Wave to Postmodernism in Graphic Design

A 1,500 essay on the transformative era of graphic design from the 1970s to the 1990s. Moving beyond the constraints of modernism, designers like Wolfgang Weingart and April Greiman redefined visual communication through bold experimentation with type, colour, and early computer graphics. This essay highlights how postmodernism and New Wave design introduced complexity, individuality, and digital innovation in to graphic design.

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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Poster Design, Regional Histories

“Kissho, Shofuku, Hanjo” Tadanori Yokoo’s Silkscreen Poster Exhibition in 1997

In 1997 Tadanori Yokoo showcased 31 new silkscreens at the Ginza Graphic Gallery in Tokyo. Many of these works were previously unseen, and I was fortunate enough to discover a feature in a back issue of Idea magazine that showcased the full collection of silkscreen posters.

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Systematic Surface Design by Tobias Christoph, 1980

Corporate Identity & Branding, Design Archive Feature

Germany

Systematic Surface Design by Tobias Christoph, 1980

Systematic Surface Design eliminating the hindrance of searching for strategies and starting points, allowing designers to quickly find optimal solutions.

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19*0s Graphic Design

Herbert Leupin, Postcard for Deutsche Bierwerbung e.V., Bonn-Bad Godesberg, c.1980s

From the graphic design archive:

Germany

Herbert Leupin, Postcard for Deutsche Bierwerbung e.V., Bonn-Bad Godesberg, c.1980s

Format: Postcard
Designer/s: Herbert Leupin
Year: 1980s

1980s Graphic Design History

Design Articles based on this decade

19*0s Graphic Design

The archive is free to explore