postmodern design

Postmodernism rejected concepts of the Grand Narrative, the Enlightenment, and Modernism. The Grand Narrative was the history of white male success. A famous quote describes it as "storytelling in the interest of the powerful". Modernism encompassed individual perception, subjectivity, knowledge for the value of knowing, and art for art's sake. The Enlightenment extolled the progress of science, logic, rational objectivity, and reason. The Enlightenment also claimed that science is the basis for any and all socially useful forms of knowledge and that language is transparent.

postmodern design involved a lot of reusing of older design (appropriation). Postmodernism proclaims the end of originality because everything has been done. There is a blending of all styles from all time periods. The past was considered invented and not only used for nostalgia.

Consumers of this period outgrew the use of message in graphic design and design of the post modern period started to use humor and self-consciousness.

structuralism was the idea that there are structural rules and relationships making words into a language. structuralism claims that structure is an essential part of all forms of communication.

Post structuralism strives to challenge the hierarchy of Structuralism, especially the binary opposites that characterize both Structuralism and Western metaphysics such as the metaphysic pairs of mind/body, presence/absence, etc.

Deconstruction is a part of post structuralism. It criticized Saussure's structural linguistics, questions motives, and looks for impurities in a critical process.

Traits of Modernist design are form, purpose, design, hierarchy, art objective, happening, presence, catering, genre, and root.

Anti-form, play, chance, anarchy, process, absence, dispersal, text, and surface are all elements of postmodern design

Swiss postmodern designers initiated the "New Wave" typographic style in the 70s. Some of the important Swiss designers of this time who utilized the "New Wave" were Wolfgang Wiengart, Rosmarie Tissi, Willi Zunz, and Steff Geissbuhler.

The "New Wave" style is characterized by wide letter spacing, bold stair stepped rules, rule lines punctuating space, diagonal type, mixing typefaces and weight in different parts of the same words, and reversal of type from a series of bars.

Wolfgang Weingart designed intuitively and did not trust forms born purely out of order. He was also one of the first people to use a MAC computer for his experimental designs and he possessed broad technical knowledge. He was skilled in creating rich visual effects.

Neither Paula Scher and Charles Anderson considered the artistic producer an original genius.

Paula Scher coined the term appropriation or "to quote" to describe copying instead of merely plagiarism. The implication was that originality has come to an end and art can only be repeated.