The New Wave of Graphic Design

ellenlouise
Nov 27, 2020
2 min read

Over the last week or so I have been researching design movements that, at the time, may have had some opposition and, therefore, may be considered subversive. New Wave design caught my eye as, even now, it isn’t appealing to all and the fundamental ideas behind it were to pull apart design; as Weingart never intended for it to be considered a style.

This article in particular (see bibliography) was interesting as it was full of information on the history of New Wave design as well names of many designers, artists and photographers in the field. Wolfgang Weingart seemed to be the instigator, of sorts, of the ‘movement’ and his students, Greiman and Freidman, followed suit. Many of the designers were almost trying to remove themselves from ‘the system’ and create their own, which I believe is an subversive act.

With regards to my question 'in what ways can subversion help develop creativity in relation to practice?' First I must consider what is subversive design, before discussing whether this subversion enhances creativity.

I started to question my journey through this article, however, as I began to consider that when these movements became popular they were no longer an act of subversion. Despite this, the initial subversive act of changing the way we design does still develop creativity after it has become part of the ‘system’ as it begins to inspire new designers. I see this as a kind of subversive cycle.

I think New Wave was a good choice as, compared to many other movements, it seems to be born out of doing something completely new without commercial purpose (initially). I feel like many other design movements seem to be a battle of form vs function and flow between one another whereas New Wave sticks out in the middle.

As for aiding creativity, Dan Friedman’s ‘Radical Modernism’ was created as a result of his feelings about modernism and post-modernism and allow him to work without the restraints of both design styles. This is like not only working outside the box but in another universe as the whole concept is to break from any and all formal constraints. This must have forced a creative spark to drop all of what you know and work from scratch. It shows how you must know the rules to break them.