Postmodernism arose in reaction to the rigour and neutrality of modernism, seen as cold and authoritarian. The architect Robert Venturi summed up this state of mind by twisting Mies van der Rohe's motto: "Less is a bore". The arrival of the personal computer in the mid-1980s opened up new possibilities for experimentation.
Origin and date
Origin: Europe and the United States.
Date: 1970s to 1990s.
Principles
Layering, collage, deconstruction of the grid, mixing of typefaces and styles, play on legibility. The designer no longer seeks neutrality, but expression and emotion.
Key figures
Wolfgang Weingart, April Greiman, Katherine McCoy, Neville Brody, David Carson, as well as Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko with Emigre.
Associated typefaces
Emigre typefaces such as Template Gothic and Matrix, the experimental fonts of Neville Brody's FUSE magazine, and many digital creations of the time.
Legacy
Postmodernism freed typography from its rules and paved the way for contemporary experimental graphic design. Its codes regularly return in fashion, music and visual culture.