Prehistoric Prelude to Graphic Design

Evolutionary Foundations of Communication

The Stone Age artists were the first to establish conventions that are used even today in design and art.  We often would like to believe that modern humans are evolved and do not use such primitive ways of communication, but it is likely that at some point every one has resorted to pictures to tell a story or communicate with another person.  The way we look at things today are also indicative of how we evolved and our past.  A drawing is almost always shown in relation to some type of ground or surface.  We use drawings to communicate yet these images represent an abstract idea as well.  We make the associations to what we are seeing as we are seeing it.

When humans first started to draw and communicate visually, it was a big leap in evolution.  No other animal have such a sophisticated way of communication.  The images that early humans created was not done by chance.  There was careful thought and preparations that went into everything.  From the placement of the bison in relation to the ground, the size of the humans in relation to an animal, and the planning involved with mixing the pigments in order to create a certain color all indicates to a development of visual communication.

Invention of Proto-Writing

Perhaps one of the inventions that catapulted the human evolution was the invention of writing.  Even though it was not a finalized version, like what we see today, early writing was developed in order to deal with the increased population and help with social organization.

As humans were more and more successful with cultivating grains, the writing system was updated accordingly so that cataloguing was possible.  For the first time, writing became an integral part of human socialization and development.  As more grains were harvested, accounting and other systems were developed to monitor ownership, distribution, and storage.  Although these developments happened later among Northern European, Asian, and African settlements, it did occur nonetheless.  

We can see how crucial it was when the first humanoids made their mark in the caves.  Because of that step forward, other advances occurred, especially writing.  The primitive images lead the way to create more sophisticated ways of communicating visually.  This is the foundation for all of our graphic advances today.  Where would be today if early humans didn't develop visual communication?  Would we still be in those caves trying to figure out how to survive?  Or would we have developed other skills?  The possibilities are endless and perhaps frightening as well.

Glossary

Symbolic Form - signs or objects whose value derives from their meaning as representations rather than from their material properties or literal form.

Conventions - rules or approaches that have come to be accepted through use but for which explicit guidelines or manuals may not exist.

Sign System - finite networks within which symbols circulate and gain their value.

Proto-Writing - signs, glyphs, marks, and other forms of inscription that anticipate more systematic writing systems but do not have a stable representational relation to language.

Works Cited

Sanford & A Lifetime of Color: Study Art.  1998.  2005