The History of Psychedelic Design

When research subversive design I came across Psychedelic art. With inspiration for psychedelic design coming from art nouveau and surrealism, I was surprised that I hadn't considered this before

In an article by Alex Bigman he discusses the history of psychedelic design. Psychedelic design dominated the graphic arts between the 60s and 70s.

I felt this form of graphic art was subversive particularly due to the letterforms in the imagery. The designers utilise all the negative space and bend the letters to fit the space. In design function is key with regards to typography as you still want your audience to be able to receive the information within the image, however here they are making it difficult, designing purely from a form perspective it seems.

(Left) Bill Graham Presents April 1-2. Wes Wilson. (1967).

(Right) Playboy Magazine Cover. Wes Wilson. (1967)

Note. From Bigman, A. (2015)

Wes Wilson in particular really utilises the space. All the letters following the curve so it acts as a reflection to the bird in the illustration. In the Playboy cover, he has utilised all the negative space around the girl and filled it with type. The colours are bold and contrasting with each other.

Bill Graham Presents February 3-5. Bonnie MacLean. (1967)

Note. From Bigman, A. (2015)

Bonnie Maclean's piece above really interested me. I believe this was gig poster for the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. The letters seem to fall down the page like water trickling down a mountain.

'Dylan' Bob Dylan Poster. Milton Glaser. (1966).

Note. From Bigman, A. (2015)

Probably one of the most famous pieces in the article is Milton Glaser's Bob Dylan poster. The curved shapes and colours that appear in most of the psychedelic art in the article are presented as the focal point of this poster. This image is much more reserved compared to the others as all the colour and curves are within the hair.

Bibliography.

Bigman, A. (2015). Tripping out: The History of Psychedelic Design. 99 Designs. https://99designs.co.uk/blog/design-history-movements/tripping-history-psychedelic-design/