Graphic design

Introduction
Historical foundations
- Manuscript design in antiquity and the Middle Ages
- Early printing and graphic design
Graphic design in the 16th–18th centuries
- Renaissance book design
- Rococo graphic design
- Neoclassical graphic design
Graphic design in the 19th century
- The Industrial Revolution and design technology
- William Morris and the private-press movement
- Art Nouveau
Graphic design in the 20th century
- Early developments
- Modernist experiments between the world wars
- Graphic design, 1945–75
  - The International Typographic Style
  - Postwar graphic design in the United States
  - Postwar graphic design in Japan
- Graphic design, 1975–2000
  - Postmodern graphic design
  - Graphic design in developing nations
  - The digital revolution

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Title page for Regiomontanus's Calendarium (1476).

Two-page spread from the Aldine Press's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499).

Black-and-white print of an engraved trading card by Robert Clee, 18th century.

Two-page spread from Jean de La Fontaine's Contes et nouvelles en vers (1762), printed by Joseph Gerard Barbou and illustrated by Charles Eisen.

Two-page spread from Bucolica, Georgica, et Aeneis, a book containing three works by Virgil, printed by Pierre l'aîné Didot, 1798.

Poster for the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, 1854.

At a Glance

A page from The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (1896), produced by the Kelmscott Press.

graphic design summary

Related Questions

How can line direction create feelings such as movement, joy, sadness, or tension in a design?
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How do vector and raster graphics differ?
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External Websites

Humanities LibreTexts - Graphic Design
Lifewire - The Elements of Graphic Design
Rasmussen University - What Is Graphic Design? A Beginner's Guide to This Creative Career
International Design Foundation - Graphic Design
The IUniversity of Mississippi - College of Liberal Arts - What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design

art

Also known as: visual communications

Written by

Philip B. Meggs

School of the Arts Research Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. Author of A History of Graphic Design,; co-editor of Revivial of the Fittest: Digital Versions of...

Philip B. Meggs

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 8, 2026 •History

Graphic design, the art and profession of selecting and arranging visual elements—such as typography, images, symbols, and colours—to convey a message to an audience. Sometimes graphic design is called “visual communications,” a term that emphasizes its function of giving form—e.g., the design of a book, advertisement, logo, or Web site—to information. An important part of the designer’s task is to combine visual and verbal elements into an ordered and effective whole. Graphic design is therefore...

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