DG1S003 - Design Revolutions 01 Sep 2023 - 31 Aug 2028 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: DG1S003
Module Title: Design Revolutions
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Games and Design
Faculty Sub Group: Design
Module Leader: Rachel Grainger
Module Team: Sarah Down, Emma Marshman, Stephen Leadbetter, Ryan Preece
First Intended Intake: SEP 2023 Final Year of Intake:
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 4
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100061 - graphic design
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Sep 2023
Valid To 31 Aug 2028

Module Aims

Introduce students to the history of graphic design.

Recognise the link between graphic design history, theory, and practice during specific periods drawing on the study of art and design movements in relation to socio-economic factors and technological advancements.

Establish basic visual and academic research skills necessary to comprehend and critique graphic design.

Enable students to follow academic convention to construct an argument and support it with written visual evidence.

Encourage communication, collaboration, and project management.

Content Summary

Graphic designers regularly draw on historical examples of graphic design for inspiration. The history of graphic design has changed significantly from the dawn of the Industrial Revolution to the present day. This module will introduce you to the key technological and societal changes, and art and design movements that have influenced graphic design since the Industrial Revolution. Therefore, you will see how the Industrial Revolution enabled printed written texts and images to be produced rapidly and inexpensively. You will also learn how the Arts and Crafts Movement proposed a return to nature in response to the mechanisation of the Industrial Revolution. We will also consider the Digital Revolution in graphic design and how this influenced graphic design from the 1980s to the present day.

Additionally, you will also look at other art and design movements, such as Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Dada, Modernism and Postmodernism. The module will also consider how war and crisis can necessitate change and, by so doing, influence graphic communication. Furthermore, you will learn how youth cultures, such as the hippy counterculture, punk subculture, and rave counterculture, transformed graphic design and society. In respect of more recent times, we will discuss the impact of the Internet on graphic communication and society. The module will also consider how other cultures have influenced the West and how this has impacted graphic design. You will also learn about sustainable design.

Through the study of specific case studies, you will begin to understand how design is influenced by the context(s) of a specific time and place, as well as to appreciate how your design work relates to the context(s) in which it was produced.

During the module, you will also learn how to challenge the dominant canon and see how more traditional histories of graphic design assume a chronological approach that passes the baton of the avant-garde from one designer to another and how they favour Western culture and male designers.

In addition, you will learn how to research, interrogate written and visual texts, and analyse and discuss graphic design artefacts, as well as the ideas surrounding their design, production, and consumption. You will also be guided through how to record your research and how to write critically.

This module equips you with the necessary knowledge, skills and vocabulary that will assist you throughout your experience on the course and your learner journey.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 8
Project supervision 8
Practical classes and workshops 20
Independent Study 100
Directed Study 64
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Select appropriate research and critical methods to engage with the discourses related to the history of graphic design covered by the module.
LO2 Discuss the key factors that have influenced graphic design and visual culture with reference to significant examples.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Oral Assessment Oral Assessment (Internally assessed, Onsite) 1 An examination of the application of knowledge, understanding by the means of a presentation 10 N/A 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Essay 1 A written composition based on existing literature articulating a sustained coherent argumen 0 2000 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Oral Assessment (Internally assessed, Onsite) 1
Essay 1

Reading List

Baum, S. & Scheer, C. (2019) Notamuse: A Perspective on Women Graphic Designers in Europe. Verlag Niggli.

Campbell, A. (2019) Queer X Design: 50 Years of Signs, Symbols, Banners, Logos, and Graphic Art of LGBTQ. London: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers.

Fry, T. et al. (2020) Design and the Question of History. London. England: Bloomsbury Academic.

Grande, V. and Marbella, S. (2022) Bauhaus Graphic Novel. Prestel.

Heskett, J., and Dilnot. C. (eds.) (2020) A John Heskett Reader: Design, History, Economics. London, England: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Pic.

Hollis, R. (2021) Graphic Design in the Twentieth Century: A Concise History. 3rd edn. New York: Thames & Hudson.

Inglis, T. (2019) Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design. London, United Kingdom: Batsford.

Inglis, T. (2023) The Graphic Design Bible: The Definitive Guide to Contemporary and Historical Graphic Design for Designers and Creatives. Ilex Press.

Kaufmann-Buhler, J., V. Pass, and Wilson, C.S. (Ed.) (2019) Design History Beyond the Canon. 1st edn. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.

Levit, B. and Scotford, M. (2021) Baseline Shift: Untold Stories of Women in Graphic Design History. Princeton Architectural Press.

Lupton, E. and Tobias, J. (2021) Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-racist, Nonbinary Field Guide for Graphic Designers. Princeton Architectural Press.

Marcus, G. H. (2020) Introduction to Modern Design: Its History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.

Raizman, D. (2020) Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context. Bloomsbury.