Throughout history, design trends and artistic movements have risen from technological advancements in science, industry and communications—from the Machine Age’s improvements in metal fabrication that greatly influenced Art Deco, to plastic technologies that fueled the Pop movement in the ’60s. In advertising, we’ve seen the computer completely transform the art director’s job, enabling him or her to realize a visual idea without any limitations. Occasionally, the opposite holds true, and limitations of technology actually spawn a design revolution.
Over the past decade, the constraints of designing for the Web have dramatically impacted emerging and lasting trends in all facets of design—most notably in design for broadcast, due to the mediums’ shared aspects of motion and animation. The currently successful Apple iPod campaign is a good example of how designers from the Web’s heyday have ironically applied a style born from the technological limitations of the online medium to that of broadcast—in essence, applying a style of modification to a medium that they were originally aiming to mimic.
One of the greatest hindrances in designing for the Web—pre-broadband and to some extent still—is the processing speed of the average CPU. Most processors are unable to duplicate what can be done with video, while most clients, particularly in the entertainment industry, insist upon the "wow factor" of elaborate animation. Thus, Web designers rely upon vector graphics that can more easily be animated, regardless of the constraints of the medium.
This limitation of the medium lies at the heart of the ubiquitous vector-based design trend. Motion sequences that rely on vector animation either in whole or as a vehicle for placing raster (or photographic) images led the way for full vector illustrations in lieu of photography. Examples of this style of crossover first started emerging in print. Magazines like Wallpaper, Black Book and Flaunt began replacing photography with vector illustration. Advertising campaigns soon followed, eschewing live-action footage or photography and opting instead for vector-based animations (the current LavaLife campaign being a great example) or employing programs such as Adobe Streamline, which take continuous tone images and turn them into vector graphics.
Much of the popularity of this flat graphical look came from designers who had to hone their skills while creating animations that would load quickly and animate well online. Working in the world of Macromedia Flash, good vector illustration skills were always a necessity. Designers like myself who honed this craft in the Web boom of the ’90s obviously had a leg-up when it came to producing and perfecting this vector-based design aesthetic. Although most designers have formal education and training in the fine arts, most cut their teeth as pixelpushers within the Web industry years before moving on to motion graphics and broadcast design.
In the ongoing effort toward unique creativity, the design pendulum appears to be swinging once again. Designers are moving slowly away from the overtly computer-generated look toward more organic, hand-drawn typefaces and illustrations (that for the most part are still created or expanded upon on the computer). Those of us old enough to remember analog design may welcome this return, while designers weaned on technology may be reluctant to go back to more traditional design and illustration methods. Those in the advertising and design industries should not be afraid to explore this new trend—but focus instead on what style serves a project best, rather than on the technologies available. As we move forward in this new millennium, it is exciting to help these emerging new styles expand our visual world by maintaining a fine arts perspective on the evolution of design, coupled with professional knowledge of client needs and market trends.
