Thread by @EvanCollins90

Thread: Back in 2019, found that the Seattle library has a huge archive of HOW Magazine, which covered graphic design back in the 90s. It's a great insight into how varied the design landscape was at the time.

The works below are by Studio MD, one of my all-time favorite firms.

One issue in 1993 covered the interiors of various graphic designers' offices; my favorite being this very vibrant Memphis-inspired look for Vaughn Wedeen Creative in Albuquerque, NM.

Whimsical & questionable 'tribal' motifs make an appearance, as the 'Global Village Coffeehouse' aesthetic was omnipresent in the early 1990s. Some articles from the time do specifically discuss that it may have been a reaction against the (then) new emergence of digital design.

The 'Grunge' graphic style, pioneered by designers like David Carson in the very late 80s, had been absorbed into mainstream design by the mid 1990s -- chopped-up fonts & imagery, disused industrial vibes, harsh textures, sepia & blown-out photos

With the aforementioned rise of digital design, there was quite a bit of experimentation with surreal objects, environments, & collages.

More examples of this style, just love the variety and weirdness. We've been calling the overall early-CGI surrealist style 'Silicon Dreams' in CARI.

Like our corporate tech weird big-arm people today, the 90s had their own oddly-proportioned figures, mainly used for editorial illustrations from what I've seen-- seems like it just became the default 'artsy & sophisticated' style for while. (edited for missing image)

1st 3 examples are in the children's marketing-oriented 'Utopian Scholastic' aesthetic - a very 'End of History' style using educational, realistic illustrations, serif fonts, and lots of stock photos. The last one is a diff style but just so perfectly encapsulates that sentiment

Memphis/PWP-style geometric compositions & patterns stuck around for a while, petering out around ~1993. Of note: while the Memphis Group was very influential, this graphic style was also partially a product of a whole range of designers working in the late 70s-early 80s.

The 'Early Cyber' style was also big in the late 80s & early 90s. Related to 'Silicon Dreams', this one was more focused on exploring the frontiers of new computer design tech. 'Digital-look' bit-fonts, stretched, rotated & warped imagery, bright acid-tones, collages, effects

Last one for tonight -- We don't really have a name for this aesthetic (I've been calling it Eco-Beige), a stripped-down eco-naturalistic style associated with third-wave environmentalism. Twigs, recycled textured paper, earth tones, beige, tans, leaves, dirt, etc.

Also wanted to note the wide variety in materiality & techniques, which I don't see as much of anymore -- maybe due to environmental waste concerns, economics, & the dominance of digital design. Like the 'pumice stone' portfolio, holograms & metallic paper, & physical set scenes.