OUGD401 - Essay Research - Postmodernity

Of all movements in art and design history, post-modernism is perhaps the most controversial. This era defies definition; an unstable mix of the theatrical and theoretical, post-modernism was a visually thrilling multifaceted style that ranged from the colourful to the ruinous, the ludicrous to the luxurious.

Post-modernism was a drastic departure from modernism’s utopian visions, which had been based on clarity and simplicity. The modernists wanted to open a window onto a new world; post-modernism's key principles were complexity and contradiction. If modernist objects suggested utopia, progress and machine-like perfection, then the post-modern object seemed to come from a dystopian and far-from-perfect future. Designers salvaged and distressed materials to produce an aesthetic of urban apocalypse.

As the 1980's approached, post-modernism went into high gear. What had begun as a radical fringe movement became the dominant look of the ‘designer decade’. Vivid colour, theatricality and exaggeration: everything was a style statement. Whether surfaces were glossy, faked or deliberately distressed, they reflected the desire to combine subversive statements with commercial appeal. The most important delivery systems for this new phase in post-modernism were magazines and music. The work of Italian designers – especially the groups Studio Alchymia and Memphis – travelled round the world through publications like Domus. Meanwhile, the energy of post-punk subculture was broadcast far and wide through music videos and cutting-edge graphics.

Of all the essay questions on offer, 'To what extent has post-modernism impacted graphic design' enticed me the most. My own style and graphic design practice is influenced greatly by this movement, and I admire everything it set out and continues to do. That is why I really want to look at this essay question in depth.

I really want to see through research if post-modernism in fact ever went away, because a lot of creative's debate that post-modernism ended in the early 00's/ It is fair to say that post-modernism is extremely to define and pin down and this is why some people say that we are currently living in a 'post-post-modernist' world. I aim to investigate this through my research as well.

Work by designers/artists such as David Carson really capture my imagination. Post-modernist graphic design pushes the rules out of the window and really abstracts and breaks down the barriers between art and design, I love it.