Mid 1960s – mid 1970s
A movement shaped by counterculture and music, featuring vibrant colour, distorted typography, and surreal imagery.
Psychedelia in graphic design was shaped by the counterculture and music scene of the mid-1960s, featuring vibrant colour, distorted typography, and surreal imagery. Designers Wes Wilson and Victor Moscoso created rock concert posters that became defining documents of the era. In Japan, Tadanori Yokoo developed a parallel psychedelic visual language that drew on Japanese woodblock print tradition, Bollywood film posters, and Western pop art simultaneously. In Britain, the same energy fed into the underground press.
The archive documents psychedelic graphic design through magazines, record sleeves, and the printed matter of the counterculture. See also Punk and 1960s graphic design history.
Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Poster Design, Regional Histories
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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Design & Politics, Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Movements, Regional Histories
The 1960s was an era characterised by political, social, and cultural shifts. The counterculture movement emerged as a response to the perceived failures of the mainstream establishment, sparking a wave of activism and alternative ideologies. And with these an array of printed matter. Counterculture publications, often referred to as the "underground press," became powerful platforms for dissent, expression, and the exploration of new ideas.
Read ArticleExplore designers central to this movement including Victor Moscoso, Barney Bubbles, and Tadanori Yokoo. See also American graphic design history, Punk, and 1960s graphic design history.
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Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Ephemera, Members Only Content
Beyond his books, Dick Bruna's vivid colour and simplified forms found their way onto posters, packaging, murals and stamps, many of which feature in my growing collection.
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Members Only Content, Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles
An article on Valentin Zietara , originally in German, published in Gebrauchsgraphik, 10, 1930, written by H K Frenzel translated by E. T. Scheffauer
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Members Only Content, Designer Profiles, Studios & Collectives
A 1903-1904 article on Die Steglitzer Werkstatt, originally in German, published in Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol. XIII, October 1903–March 1904.
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Regional Histories, Ephemera, Illustration, Members Only Content
A collected visual record of the Kanto, Chubu and Tohoku Lottery tickets.
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Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Movements
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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Illustration, Ephemera, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
A collected visual record of the first eight years of Japan’s Rural Medical Care Promotion Lottery.
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