Monday, April 29, 2024

Retro Design Trends: Rewind to the 60s, 70s and 80s Design

retro graphic design

In this article, we’ve gathered amazing modern designs created in a retro style that pleases the senses. Every year we mention the retromania, and new graphic design trends often return to the community’s nostalgia about the past decades. We’ve already mentioned the good old ‘90s — however, 2022 will also be home for the 2000s aesthetic. Over the past few years, there has been a notable resurgence in the revival of vintage classic styles in design techniques. This trend has evoked a sense of nostalgic feeling among people of all ages, allowing them to relive experiences from the past. From album covers to video games, web designs, and art pieces, you can see cultural trends that were inspired by retro designs.

retro graphic design

Disco-Era Boldness and Funkiness

Pastel shades like mint green, baby blue, and blush pink dominated this era, reflecting the optimism and post-war euphoria. These colors evoke images of retro diners, classic cars, and the idyllic suburban lifestyle that characterized the era. The Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 1930s celebrated symmetry and geometric precision.

Pop Punk Flyer: 1970s Aesthetic  (AI, EPS, PNG)

It has the power to transport us through time, capturing the essence of various epochs and reflecting the cultural zeitgeist of each period. Let’s delve into the typography trends that have left an indelible mark on the retro era, showcasing the evolution of letterforms and how they continue to inspire contemporary design. Movies, music, games, TV shows – there’s no denying that pop culture had a massive influence on 80s design trends.

Design by the Decades: Get inspired by 70s graphic design trends

Note how lots of brands now targeting the millennial market are looking to the design styles of the nineties to make their products appear more nostalgic. The theory goes, if you loved wearing a velvet choker circa 1995, you’ll be more likely to buy into the trend again 20 years later. In this ever-evolving world of design, retro remains a steadfast beacon of inspiration. It’s not just about capturing a moment in time; it’s about capturing the essence of emotions, stories, and experiences that transcend generations. So go forth, fellow designers, and infuse your work with the magic of retro design. Let it be a testament to the fact that even in the fast-paced world of design, some things truly are timeless.

Retro Wrightsville - Wrightsville Beach Magazine

Retro Wrightsville.

Posted: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Pro Designers

When you think of the term ‘retro’, you might well picture a 1950s design style in your head. ‘Mid-Century Modern’ is the term design historians use to describe this distinctive style, which was incredibly popular in the 1950s and 1960s across design and architecture. If you were born in the Eighties, this decade might have a more nostalgic quality for you as this is the decade when you were a child.

This also depends on what you’re working on and the elements available, whether you design an email newsletter, blog, or any other form factor. And when you have the right elements, in the right order, the process of taking your audience down memory lane (through retro design) can go smoother. They often include embossing, shadows for depth, and other techniques to create a tactile feel.

Art deco

Talented Brisbane-based illustrator Adam Nickel is influenced by mid-century era design. His striking artwork features quirky characters, tactile textures and vintage color palettes – not to be missed if you’re interested in retro imagery. At its core, you apply vintage elements to a modern style design, and this way, the modern design instantly becomes retro.

Reviving Pop Culture References in Modern Design

She’s taken the responsibility for harvesting the showiest ones, shaping the nearest future of the graphic design world. Nature was, therefore, a tremendous driving force behind the common visual themes of the 70s, including flowers, mushrooms, sunsets, and earthy browns, reds, yellows, and greens. Many of these trends are a continuation of popular elements of psychedelic 1960s designs. Still, many 70s styles have also come into their own through the emergence of 70s rock, pop culture, the growth of advertising, and the beginning of mass-produced media. The 60s is known as the modern decade that experimented with bright colors, LSD-inspired psychedelia, and fluid patterns. Visual communication took a very different approach from the earthy tones that dominated the 50s, transitioning to vivid neons.

To get a head start on typography for your next 70s inspired design, try Popstone – Groovy Family + Variable by creativemedialab or these 70s Retro Text Effects by Zeppelin_Graphics. While the 1960s brought some stylistic changes to typography, it was during the 70s that the Freeform Typography Trend really kicked off. While it first emerged in the late 1950s, Pop Art continued well into the 1960s, popping up everywhere from advertising and comic books to fine art. The trend was made famous by the movement’s leading figures, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, and their iconic Pop Art pieces. Wild, who is a 2006 AIGA Medalist, worked with Steinberger to collect many of the pieces for the show.

If you want to create more of an ornate, detailed look in your vintage designs, Baroque is the style to aspire to. In this article, all historical styles are generally referred to as 'vintage' graphic design. However, some later periods, such as 1950s graphic design, 60s style, and 70s graphic design, are often referred to as representing retro graphic design. The interplay between retro design and pop culture is a dynamic tapestry woven with threads of nostalgia, creativity, and inspiration.

The 70s were filled with many cultural movements that influenced graphic design in one way or another. Whether it was the use of colors, illustration style, or font shapes, the 70s were a decade to remember. If you are a fan of the funky and groovy fonts and designs, then show us your work! The retro design also goes by the name “modern retro”, which excels at giving the viewer a feeling of nostalgia. While there are plenty of vintage graphic design styles to work with, a few seem to rise above the rest. These more common vintage styles seem to maintain a mainstream presence in many design projects.

Delaware State Police Releases "Retro" Patrol Vehicles for Centennial Anniversary - Delaware State Police - State of ... - Delaware.gov

Delaware State Police Releases "Retro" Patrol Vehicles for Centennial Anniversary - Delaware State Police - State of ....

Posted: Tue, 28 Feb 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

One of the most recent of styles that can be considered ‘vintage’, grunge, like punk, is inspired by the music and fashion scene of the same name. It also has connections with the Motorbike/Heavy Metal design style, which takes punk elements and incorporates them into tattoo-inspired logos and typefaces. This bundle of seventies-inspired patterns, brushes and textures allows you to transport your designs to the era of disco.

retro graphic design

Here, we'll walk through a timeline of retro design styles, from Gothic and Victorian through to mid-century modern graphic design, 1950s graphic design, retro graphic design, Bauhaus, and Grunge. We'll see how contemporary designers are reinterpreting vintage design and historical graphic design styles to create vintage graphic design that's fresh and unique. In a world that constantly craves innovation, there’s an undeniable allure to stepping back in time, to an era where vibrant colors, quirky typography, and iconic imagery ruled the design landscape. Welcome to the captivating realm of retro graphic design, where the past comes alive to inspire the present. While perceived through a modern lens, artists, companies, and audiences are embracing the retro graphic design style with open arms. Even the world’s biggest brands, such as Nike, Pepsi, and even the fashion powerhouse Gucci, have integrated retro designs into their marketing, packaging, and advertising campaigns.

Today, vintage design is not a purist, conservationist art form, but should be considered as a way of paying tribute to our shared design heritage. A more laid-back interpretation of some of the vintage design styles popularised by the punk movement, grunge uses aged, retro design elements to create a dirty, too-cool-to-care effect. The key to crafting modern retro illustrations lies in the art of balance.

It’s commonplace that forsaking a habit yields in generating brand new visions, so why not set your imagination to roam freely? Don’t forget the brutalism, closely linked to anti-design, adored by graphic designers. Where this luxurious, decorative, lined, and layered design signature can be implemented aside from masterly-drawn illustrations?

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