Postmodernism was a movement that began in the ’70s that contradicted the order and clarity of modernism. Thinking outside of the box, designers began to bend and break the rules of design with the use of collages, distortion, vivid colours, and abstract types. There were set rules of design that movements like Swiss design set, rules to follow, by breaking these rules, artists and designers saw a new way of thinking about design. Today we spoke about New wave and the influence it had on the world during that type, like the influence it had on the music industry in Britain.
New-wave typography.
Wolfgang Weingart (1941-2021) was a German typographer and graphic designer. With an education in art and a past with typesetting, Weingart was a teacher at the Basel School of Design in typography, and this is what led him to create “New-wave typography”.
Weingart was known for breaking the rules and experimenting, he would break the rules of Swiss typography since he felt like it was “sterile and anonymous”. Weingart claimed that he felt restricted by the Swiss style and that the grid system limited him.
In the early ’70s, Weingart created something unique, using scraps of different materials to create abstract collages, creating a style as we today would call it Swiss punk typography, or New-wave.
April Greiman (1948-) is an American designer and is known to be one of the first designers to embrace computer technology as a tool, as well as to introduce New-Wave to the US. April began studying in Basel, at the Basel school of design in the ’70s under the supervision of Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart. This is where she developed an interest in the Swiss Style as well as the New-wave. April is important in design, not only by her involvement in new-wave and postmodernism but the fact that she was one of the very first to use the computer as a tool for creating. Through her use of the digital tool, she created several pieces that she’s well known for today.
Postmodernism in Britain
Barney Bubbles (Born Colin Fulcher, 1942-1983) was an English graphic designer. He was best known for his contribution to the music scene in the 1970s and early 1980s before he passed. During his career, he worked with several musicians, composing their album covers.
He believed that Postmodernism was to borrow from the past, and use it again, which can be seen in several of his design, influenced by artists such as Alphonse Mucha and Wassily Kandinsky.
Peter Saville (1955-) is an English art director and graphic designer and is predominantly known for his work for the music and fashion industries. During his career, he designed covers for musical artists such as; Joy Civision, Wham!, King Crimson, Ultravox, and many more. A few of his influences in design consisted of Jan Tschichold’s work as well as the book “Pioneers of Modern Typography”, by Herbery Spencers.
Jamie Reid (1947-) is an English artist, and anarchist. He’s well known for his work with Sex Pistols and a few of their covers for both albums and singles. The cover art Jamie created helped define the British punk aesthetic through the bizarre and anarchistic album covers he made, defacing the queen. Influences by the situationist and dadaism can be seen in his work, with the use of collages and photomontages.
David Carson (1955-) is an American graphic designer and art director. Known for his art-directing in the Ray Gun magazine, as well for his grunge typography. One of his more iconic rebellious works is when he used the wingdings font for one issue featuring the interview with Bryan Ferry, which he thought was dull, repetitive, and boring.
