Postmodernism and Design

Iona Robson
Debating Design Blog
2 min readOct 18, 2018
Ray Gun by David Carson (via http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DE4kjKjIIYY/TiUXkEFn8UI/AAAAAAAACMo/vvr6YjUqQgI/s1600/raygun4.jpeg)
You are not Yourself by Barbara Kruger (via https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/6d/0e/fe6d0e2909518bbf231a00fc8cb4eddd.jpg)
M2 Tokyo (via http://mcmansionhell.com/post/152216735596/what-the-hell-is-postmodernism)
Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol (via https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-marilyn-diptych-t03093)

Postmodernism began in the 20th century as a result of the Modernist movement. It feels like a period of real trial and error for design, as if it had just started art college and tried every technique it could whilst being exposed to a vast new range of influences. There is no set style to it and is all about breaking out from the normal conventions and trying something new.

Amongst all this trial and error, there was a lot of error. To many, postmodernism is seen as a pretty unattractive and superficial. So desperate to outdo the modernists in every way, it becomes try-hard at points. However, some of the graphic design I do love is full of energy and is a real break from strict grids and Helvetica everything. Amongst the chaos, there are some great pieces of design to be found.

Word count: 144

Super Lamp Prototype (via http://www.vam.ac.uk/__data/assets/image/0009/179136/2011ET6775_bedin_superlamp_bulbed.jpg)

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