graphic design in the past

October 23, 2007 11:41 AM

Are there any websites or books that go into the different design/typographical/whatever styles of different eras?

Say I wanted to create something with the look of a 1920s ad or a 1950s newspaper clipping or... something. Is there somewhere I could learn the particular fonts/layouts/graphics/whatever that would evoke a certain time period?

(I'm not entirely sure what I'm trying to ask here--sorry this is a bit of mess!)

posted by logic vs love to media & arts (6 comments total)

Megg's history of graphic design is exactly what you want.
posted by adamrice at 12:01 PM on October 23, 2007

Seconding Meggs' History of Graphic Design.
posted by safetyfork at 12:22 PM on October 23, 2007

PS. you might also enjoy the "All American Ads" series which is divided by decade.
posted by safetyfork at 12:28 PM on October 23, 2007

Afiler.com's extant design page has some examples of decades old design you might like.
posted by telseth at 12:37 PM on October 23, 2007

You can always try HPLHS. It has many twenties style fonts. (Lovecraft oriented site, so there are many free props for the twenties, including some of the fonts.)
posted by Meep! Eek! at 1:09 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Fontscape has details about fonts, sorted by era.
posted by kidbritish at 3:54 PM on October 23, 2007