Graphic design history
Graphic design is
the applied art of using graphic elements
and text to communicate an idea or concept. It is used
for creative purposes in many types of media, such as
printing, motion pictures, digital media, product decoration,
packaging and basically in any domain that requires
visual elements.
In the context of Web site design, graphic design involves
the creation of all the visual elements of a site, including
page layout, content layout, background imagery, color
scheme, navigation buttons, logo design, banners etc.
Regarding the history of graphic
design, it can be considered as existing since
the appearance of the written word. However, as a separate
entity it can be traced back to the late 19th century.
There are several fundamental principles
of graphic design that apply not only
to the printed materials but also to Web-based visual
elements and which include: light, color, space, layout,
visual hierarchy, balance, pattern, contrast, proportion
and unity.
The first graphic design proof
is represented probably by the Paleolithic cave paintings
in Lascaux, caves that exists in southwestern France. As mentioned before, more certain proofs started with
the birth of the written language, somewhere in the
3rd or 4th millennium BC, when the evolution of Western
alphabets began. These represent significant parts in
the evolution of graphic design, as
they can be considered the milestones of its creation.
The Diamond Sutra is the oldest complete
printed book and a good example of graphic design
that could be acceptable even in our days.
It dates back to 868 A.D. and according to the " The Shambhala
Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen " it is:
"An independent part of the Prajnaparamita
Sutra, which attained great importance, particularly
in East Asia. It shows that all phenomenal appearances
are not ultimate reality but rather illusions, projections
of one's own mind ... The work is called Diamond Sutra
because it is 'sharp like a diamond that cuts away all
unnecessary conceptualizations and brings one to the
further shore of enlightenment.'"
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