If I may wax poetic, I’m noticing a trend coming to an end.
In the past five years or so, have you seen designers resorting to pasting up images, textures, patterns and type, one on top the other, creating a crusty montage? Have you noticed the addition of spray paint runs? The use of antiqued, weathered, scratched or otherwise damaged type treatments? Standard industrial inks and brown-ish earth colors? Aged paper, wood or rusted metal backgrounds? All this combined with the use of 70’s-ugly type fonts for headlines? This is (or was) the hallmark of Grunge Design.
My theory is that this movement grew as a counter to the linear visuals conducive to website design. What resulted was a discordant mix of vintage print elements processed in a Photoshop blender by composition-challenged ADHD art students who became pros, and seasoned with a giant dollop of rock ‘n’ roll (not necessarily a bad thing).
But times are changing. Grunge design seems to be going the way of the post-modern Van Dyke goatee (replaced BTW, by the bad-boy stubble beard). I’m noticing a stylistic rebuttal to the scrapbook collage of roughened images, type and texture in the refreshing resurgence of simple, clean, sharp visual messaging as dictated by design scholars for generations — smart, impactful headlines; compelling, hi-def imagery; spare, intelligent copy; and brilliant, efficient use of color and composition. And the charge is being led by some very big brands.
For more examples, see
"The 30 Coolest Minimalist Print Ads."
Can this be the new golden age of advertising, heralded by the AMC show Mad Men? Time will tell, but from the standpoint of this consumer, it’s a visual breath of oxygen-rich air.
Or, as I call it: The Rebirth of Cool.