Research Essay Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Essay - Research Proposal Example Graphics, not words, typically announced the name of a place of business within the towns and villages which were conveniently given names such as the â€Å"Golden Lion† or the â€Å"Boar’s Head.† This seemingly primitive use of symbols to provide a quick and easy message to customers continues to be used today in the form of company logos. Study of these various means of expression has provided historians with much information about the social issues and available technology of the time in which they were created. While graphic design has thus had a long and uninterrupted history, â€Å"the turn of a century precipitates introspection† (Meggs, 2005) and causes us to take a new look at the graphic art of our own world to ascertain what it is saying about our world. â€Å"As shapers of messages and images, Graphic Designers have an obligation to contribute meaningfully to a public understanding of environmental and social issues. Graphic designers have a r esponsibility to adapt new technology and to express their zeitgeist by inventing new forms and new ways of expressing ideas† (Meggs, 2005). The insights that the depth and variety of 20th century graphic design provides regarding the profound changes happening in today’s graphic design industry are revealed in the various art forms that have developed over time. Contemporary graphics are designed to be more functional and effective in response to social issues and technology which has helped designers to be more efficient in working today. The roots of what today’s researchers identify as the modern period are generally recognized to be twined about the natural forms and artistic investigations of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the 1860s and the Art Nouveau movement of the 1890s. William Morris is the acknowledged founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement in direct response to the ever-encroaching and dehumanizing standardization of