The first trailer for Graphic Means has just been released, exploring the history of graphic design before the advent of the desktop computer. It was previously a Kickstarter campaign that was funded in 2015. The film is meant to be released in 2017, with interviews from Ellen Lupton, Malcolm Garrett, Tobias Frere-Jones, Ken Garland and Adrian Shaughnessy. Directed by Briar Levit, the film explores the period from the 1950s to the 1990s. According to Levit:
“It’s been roughly 30 years since the desktop computer revolutionised the way the graphic design industry works. For decades before that, it was the hands of industrious workers, and various ingenious machines and tools that brought type and image together on meticulously prepared paste-up boards, before they were sent to the printer.”
In a further message from the director:
I have amassed a vast collection of design production manuals (1960s, 70s, and 80s) from the Goodwill over the years. As the stack grew, it became clear I was naturally drawn to this period of design, and the skills and processes that went along with it. I missed these production methods by about 12 years (I started studying design in 1996), and worked almost exclusively with a computer during my education and after.
I had some vague knowledge about production before the Mac, but it was only based on brief references my teachers made, or the little-used-tools that remained in various studios I worked in.
It occurred to me that if I knew so little, my graphic design students know even less! So with this, I set out to document the tools, processes, and people, of this brief moment in the design world.
I hope you join me along the way!
Looking forward to the film.