Digital 1985-present

Poster for "Shakespeare in the Park" by Paula Scher created in 1997.
sourced from www.pentagram.com

Although Digital designers work mainly on computers, the style looks handmade. This poster uses a hand-drawn font and a layered print with deliberate off registration. The text is drawn every which way adding to the chaotic layered look. The colour scheme and the layout breaks all the rules of the previous design styles like Swiss and Contemporary. However you can see that there is symmetry and balance in the main elements. This influential designer has made many posters for the New York Theater and her aim is to push the boundaries associated with classic art and theater.

Art Chantry's poster (part of)  for the DTs "Filthy Beasts" concert.
sourced from www.cfinch3.blogspot.com

This poster is reminiscent of 1950s Kitsch design, with its comic book  dots, flat blocks of colour and typed text applied over the main image. It also has a feel of urban graffiti about it, which is part of the rebellious surf/skate subculture drawn on for Digital design. Once again this poster looks as though it has been made by hand in someone's garage, rather than using all the computer design graphics available. This deliberately chaotic look is expressive and approachable to people involved in the music and art communities.

I like some Digital design, especially when it draws on historical influences. It looks cool and edgy without appearing to try too hard. I think its great that even with all the technology available, designers still strive for a handmade element in their work, often with unpredictable results.

Contemporary 1975-present

"Your body is a battleground" poster by Barbara Kruger, created in 1989.
sourced from www.tfaoi.com

This poster is one of a series in the same vein, and is set out in a grid similar to Swiss and Bauhaus principles. The use of a sanserif italicised font and red, black and white colour scheme is also reminiscent of Constructivist design. Contemporary design like this one, draws on this history to create simple, concise work with a streamlined look.  The use of Photoshop in this work, especially the postive/negative image, is also typical.

"Jelly" GK100 watch made in 1983 by Swatch.
sourced from www.schmid-muller.com

This watch has all the hallmarks of Contemporary design. The transparency of the product allows us to see the mechanism inside it, and the absence of colour looks modern and clean. The design purely functional, this creating style in itself. Contemporary design with its use of industrial finishes, has made objects such as this watch into cult status items.

I don't like this style of design as much as others, because it can be clinical and cold if it doesn't have some quirkiness. However its simple classic style is useful for many graphic design tasks.