Stylistic approaches were criticised for being overly ambiguous and didn’t respond to audience- centred issues, resulting in didn’t response to audience- centred issues, resulting in style without inspiration, visual tropes without connectivity to theoretical allegiances. Nevertheless, post modern theory and the evolving discipline of design history heightened our understanding of graphic design as a value driven practice with repercussions in culture- designers now accept the trajectory of ideas and their representation have consequences that reach beyond the individual consumer.

We now understand that design is a form of cultural and social production. While the concept of audience and their contribution to the making of meaning continues to expand and deepen.

Postmodernism is one of the most controversial movements in art and design history. Over two decades, from about 1970 to 1990, Postmodernism shattered established ideas about art and design, bringing a new self-awareness about style itself. An unstable mix of the theatrical and theoretical, Postmoderism ranges from the ludicrous to the luxurious – a visually thrilling, multifaceted style.

This lecture helped me to understand the background of post modernism and what the movement brought about, such as self- awareness about style itself

This then lead me to research a particular style of post modernist art; Pop art. The most influential artists from this style are probably Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. It was the visual art movement that characterized a sense of optimism during the post war consumer boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It coincided with the globalization of pop music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and the Beatles. Pop Art was brash, young and fun and hostile to the artistic establishment. It included different styles of painting and sculpture from various countries, but what they all had in common was an interest in mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture. Warhol’s pieces of Marilyn Monroe are so colourful and bright, they catch the audiences eye instantly. I find it interesting that he didn’t include any blemishes or undereye circles in any of his designs, as this is how society saw women; perfect at all times.