Pop and Protest

Pop Culture and Style

Although the International Typographical Style continued to prevail during this period, hip graphic approaches transformed the world of advertising, editorial, and packaging design.  To be sophisticated meant a style that was cutting edge, smart, self-reflexive, and openly sly.  Consumers assumed they were being manipulated and instead of hiding that fact, designers flaunted it in campaigns.  Graphic design became chic, designers became hip, and the profusion of images increased.

1.  Perhaps one of the most famous pop art images created by Andy Warhol of Marilyn Monroe.

Self-Conscious Graphic Design

In the 1960s, chic graphic style became desirable and graphic designers became self-conscious and also developed a sense of humor.  Editors and advertisers realized that the consumer had outgrown the 'message' mode of graphic design and successful marketing techniques had been grounded in analysis and profiling.  Cutting-edge publications pushed the envelope of what was permitted.  

Counterculture and the Alternative Press

The underground press thrived in the 1960s as inexpensive offset printing provided a platform for a range of expressions aimed at establishing communities of opinion and belief.  Independent presses established a widespread network of alternative publishing though they rarely had economic success.  the fantasy of mass distribution for independent artistic expression resulted in a new surge of interest in artists' books and magazines.

Revolutionary Culture and Protest

In the United States, protests against the Vietnam war intensified during the 1960s.  Organized resistance to official policies produced an enormous output of graphic images.  Many professional designers did pro bono work for the antiwar movement.  No movement utilized graphic imagery as efficiently and effectively as the antiwar movement although many have tried since that time.

2.  Anti war movement posters in the 1960s.

Changes in the Profession

Type cast in hot lead became and outmoded technology, replacing it was phototypesetting which had been adopted by the end of the 1960s.  There was capabilities of phototypesetting seemed to have every advantage.  Letter could be drawn using almost any graphic approach or technique.  It would have been physically impossible to overlap letters with metal type but there were no such limitations with photo fonts and overlapping text became one of the hallmarks of photocomposition.  

Glossary

Counterculture - any movement or group, whether formally organized or not, that promotes values opposed to those of the mainstream.

Establishment - the mainstream bulwark of power, institutions and individuals aligned with traditional values and maintenance of the status quo.

Mail art - an artistic movement that used the postal system, both as a means of distribution and as an element of the work itself (in the form of cancellations stamps and other official notations).

Op art - an artistic movement of the late 1950s and 1960s that explored and manipulated optical effects, especially of geometric patterns.