Introduction
Throw your Mac out! Get with the times and get hands on!
Handcrafting design with handmade elements is back and is here to stay, especially in graphic design and typography. Since the economic crisis people’s interest in vintage and all things handmade has surged and is still becoming increasingly popular.
Where were the first sign of handcrafted type?
From days of the past we didn’t have all this technology baffling us and weighing us down. Not so long ago, most things were handmade. We didn’t have much of a choice. You can see the beginnings of the handcrafted allure in hand lettering and letterpress. Both practices were real craftsmanship.
Has it all originated from hand …show more content…
It has always been in the background, it just wasn’t as popular for a period of time, as it is today. It is like any art movement or trend; things keep coming back and reinventing themselves, especially when a new generation begin to discover it.
The digital revolution has had an impact of handcrafted design. We have a tendency to be swept up by the latest computer trends. Objectively, I believe it took a back seat while everyone was caught up in the hype of the new digital era. Yes, there is still a lot of focus on digital in Graphic Design but I think we have learnt that these are just tools, tools that can be used collectively. When you look at it overall, it just depends on what is the best approach to tackle the project efficiently.
An argument I didn’t quite expect to come across, and an opinion that hadn’t occurred to me, is that we are afraid of technology and this is why we persist to take a step backwards by reverting handcrafted methods. It’s a bold statement to make and one that I do not agree with.
Handcrafted design is a reference to simpler times when we weren’t so consumed by technology. Maybe people were getting bored with the fast-digitised production or the market saturation of amateur designer replicas that had no …show more content…
The future of handmade Graphic Design is a mystery but only in the sense of how far can we take it. From all the research I have done in books, articles and on the Internet, I believe distinctive handmade projects will increase to become more popular. The only danger in this is that consumerism has now cottoned onto this trend and the saturation of manufactured “handmade” lookalikes are appearing in shops such as Next, Matalan and various supermarkets. I trust the way to beat this is to be even more inventive with our designs.
Is it just a fad or will become a catalyst for designers to push the boundaries even further?
I don’t consider handmade to be a fad. It is yet another catalyst to make artists, graphic designers and agencies push the boundaries even further. It shows no signs of stopping or slowing down, There seems to be no limit as to where it can be utilised, what is it used to translate and who can create it. The fact is anyone can be an artist in their own right; it’s up to them which material or method they