Where Did Graphic Design Come From? The Stimulus: Art Nouveau

As the 19th century was drawing to a close, graphic illustrators incorporated pattern, shape and design into their art. When he died, the man who so influenced graphic design and its elements was a mere 26 years of age. Aubrey Beardsley made his mark on 19th century aestheticism with his unique expression of the art nouveau style. His style has made several resurgences in the modern age.

Oscar Wilde was considered one of the most controversial, important literary figures of his time, who believed art was unto itself, who championed the idea of having a myriad of artistic styles, and didn’t think art should ever be judged based on ethical or moral concerns. Oscar Wilde decided to choose this special young artist to illustrate a certain story which was both perverse and exotic. With the use of sinister eroticism, some elegant sweeping lines and patterns, this young illustrator created clever distortions in his illustrations of this story.

His work features dramatic inter-relationships of black and white. Wilde applied large borders of black to provide variance with dainty patterns frolicking on a surface of white. Large, sweeping, winding curves generate movement across Wilde’s pages. His pieces tend to be asymmetrical. His characters in the illustrations remain simple outlines, and yet the items that they contain, such as their clothing or hair, are usually complicated. The power of his work is perfected by the inter-relationship between the complex and the simple.

A number of late 19th century design professionals were inspired by items imported from Japan and also by a rejuvenated fondness for early Renaissance and medieval artwork. The artist’s pieces were often copied in Europe and America and he gained notoriety due to illustrations having turned up in a series of renowned materials for circulation. To this day, many of his works are being reproduced and hung as posters and framed prints.

It was toward the end of the 19th century that poster art began to evolve from being a medium of commercial advertising into a completely separate art form. As opposed to the typically black and white books of the period, posters were frequently produced in color. The leader in poster design used one sizable, bright, colorful, image to draw in the viewer. Verbiage describing the poster’s subject or topic was intentionally and strictly limited. He knew that the audience’s attention was more easily attracted to simplicity so he used vivid colors and flat, basic shapes. He used lines that were fractured and suggestive much like the Impressionist artists. Tbis artist’s work is therefore widely known as the precursor to the true art nouveau poster aesthetic.

There was another illustrator whose work is considered the first proper art nouveau poster. His pieces are characterized by more fluid contours and stronger, bolder lines. One artist created work which is noted for graceful, young girls with long hair and draped clothing, spreading out into interesting, beautiful forms. Other artists became noteworthy by limiting their canvas to tall, thin shapes, filled with the image of a single woman. There are other styles and pieces as well. Celtic motifs, Byzantine mosaics, Hebrew lettering, Arab and Moorish decoration, and Japanese wood cuts are all considered complex and elaborate patterns rendered on a wide assortment of canvases.

The elegant art of these early graphic designers can be viewed via the many books and reprints of their work. You will also find there are dealers who will specialize in the sale of 19th, and early 20th century poster art. These dealers can frequently be found in stand-alone stalls at big antique markets. Original examples that have been well-maintained can easily cost hundreds, or even upwards of several thousand dollars.

As a person looking for best graphic design outsourcing you should visit that site. If you are in search of info don’t forget to view this resource top graphic design outsourcing.

Karri Owens:

Microsoft Expression Web [OLD VERSION]Build Dynamic Web Sites Product InformationExpression Web is a professional design tool to create modernstandards-based sites which deliver superior quality on the Web.  Easilyintegrate XML data and take advantage of superior support for Microsoft ASP.NETand XHTML.  Bring your Web sites to life with sophisticated CSS designfeatures and tools that give you precise control of page layout andformatting.  Create standards-based CSS and XHTML-compliant Web sites thatdeliver compelling user experiences.Realize greater productivity with Microsoft Expression Web.  Explore newcreative possibilities and deliver superior quality.Product HighlightsCSS Based LayoutCreate CSS-based XHTML 1.0 Transitional-conforming Web sites by default. Workbetter across browsers simplifying deployment and maintenance. Configureflexible schema settings to support all combinations of HTML XHTML StrictTransitional Frameset and CSS 1.0 2.0 and 2.1 plus browser-specific schemas.Validate your site with compatibility and accessibility reporting and againstSection 508 and W3C Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). CSS Layout Generate elegant modern CSS layouts with state-of-the-art surface design tools. Directly manipulate positioning sizing margins and padding. A sophisticated CSS rendering engine inside gives you the confidence to make design decisions on the fly. Try out CSS styles on the page with drag-and-drop style management and migrate them to a central repository. Typing aids and IntelliSense in the Code View make your process efficient and fast. Rich Data Presentation Build and format views of industry-standard XML data using drag-and drop tools for quick visualization. An XPath Expression Builder allows you to create complex queries and XSL Transform (XSLT) support gives you the flexibility to present data any way you want. XML data can be retrieved and presented via li