Lester Beall's Inspiration: The Birth Of Graphic Design

The history of graphic design dates back to the middle ages when it was used to decorate manuscripts and enhance the reading experience. From woodcuts to gold leaf inlaid works on a handwritten bible, graphic design beautified texts to gather the reader’s attention and deliver subtle messages. This trend evolved with the birth of printing press and graphic design long before the birth of computers became an important aspect of printing and designing.

Fast forward to 20th century and graphic design took a much more different form. First it was called graphic design for the first time in 1922 and second, it started becoming a form of art with the sole aim of delivering a message. Unlike traditional art where a painter expressed his vision by

In order to understand his inspirations, his era must not be ignored. Lester was born in the time when USA had recovered from the ravages of civil war and the nation was rapidly developing into an industrial titan. With industries sprawling everywhere, America was on the fast track of development. From farming to engineering, from banking to construction, it was the golden era of American civilization and the nation was swept up with great nationalist sentiments. This was the time Lester grew up in and from the looks of it, there is a distinct nationalistic pride in most his works hinting that even though he experienced the great depression and the First World War, his faith in his nation became even

Throughout his life, Lester’s work is being characterized by this simple and useful style that is not only pleasing to the eye but also gets the message across to the reader, even those who can’t read (Golec, 2013)

Lester’s legacy:

Lester left an enduring legacy in the field of modernism and graphic design. His work inspired later generations and even by late 70’s, his work that influenced the coming generations can be seen in that era’s designs. Great focus on typography combined with pictograms wrapped in eye catching color schemes became the order of the day and in a way it still is. The modern IT industry follow on the footsteps of Lester to develop graphic designs that could be understood and accessed by every user regardless of their qualification or technological awareness.

(an example of modern flat graphic