Part 02 – 1970s The Royal College of Art & The Advent of Colour

Colour – the luxury option

In the early days, most printed items were in black and white. Colour was a luxury restricted to use on magazine and book covers, and in top-end advertising.

The worst option was ‘two-colour’ printing, which clients thought would give them an advantage, but invariably produced a most unappealing, muddy result, and never justified the extra cost.

Making a point

Early work from my days as a student at the Royal College of Art demonstrates a visual style typical of its time.

Uncluttered typography, clear visuals – more often than not photography, and in many cases a duo-tone – and a bit of work to be done by the viewer to comprehend the complete message.

Charity Poster for ‘War on Want’.
Anti-smoking Poster for ASH.
RCA Painters’ Exhibition Poster.
‘Art-Deco’ Poster for a lecture by Royal College of Art tutor Malcolm Winton
Italian Documentary Films Poster.

My journey as a graphic designer, an introduction

Part 01 – 1960s In the Beginning: Undergraduate work

Part 02 – 1970s The Royal College of Art & The Advent of Colour

Part 03 – 1970s Starting Out in the Real World

Part 04 – 1970s My First Major Client

Part 05 – 1970s More Than One Man

Part 06 – 1970s Striking It Lucky

Part 07 – 1970s Embracing Ground-breaking Techniques

Part 08 – 1980s Changing Roles for Designers

Part 09 – 1980s Our First Technology Client

Part 10 – 1980s Growing Through Recommendation

Part 11 – 1980s The Dream Client

Part 12 – 1980s Moving into Corporate Design

Part 13 – 1990s Ramping Up the Workload

Part 14 – 1990s Graphic Design goes Global

Part 15 – 1990s A Steep Learning Curve

Part 16 – 1990s Working for The Nation’s Favourite

Part 17 – 1990s The Challenge of the Future

Part 18 – 1990s Picking up the Crumbs

Part 19 – 1990s Vested Interest

Part 20 – 1990s Setting the Standard

Part 21 – 1990s Still Growing after All These Years

Part 22 – 1990s New Business from Old

Part 23 – 1990s Keeping up with Demand

Part 24 – 1990s A Full-Service Consultancy

Part 25 – 1990s Into the Unknown

Part 26 – 2000s Learning New Tricks

Part 27 – 2000s Lifestyle Publishing Moves on

Part 28 – 2010s and Now…