What Is About American 50’s Retro Designs That Still Appeal to Young People of My Age in Britain Today?
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- Date Submitted: 01/31/2015 07:41 AM
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What is about American 50’s retro designs that still appeal to young people of my age in Britain today?
To be modern, design does not have to be new. In often references from the decorative styles of the past. “Ever since the middle of the previous century, reformers had condemned design’s dependence on historicism, and the progress of modern design could be measured by the extent to which the mining of historic styles was supplanted by the creation of new, anonymous, and universal forms, forms that looked to the future instead of the past.” (Marcus, 1998:7). After the Second World War everyone was eager to put the past behind them and so modern design caught on quickly. The turn began almost immediately in the USA who were soon followed by the United kingdom.
For my Critical Paper I will be researching the 1950’s and the effect that design had on the world. Here are the main areas I will be exploring and critically analysing:
• Design in the United States and the United Kingdom
• How have retro designs influences companies with their advertising campaigns etc.
• The trends of retro designs and how they have returned to influence many modern day designs
• Have 1950’s designs ever really left?
• The future of design - New world, forward thinking?
• How styles have been reproduced and repurposed to create modern day designs.
The term Retro is often used to describe past trends in design, architecture of fashion. “Retro design is everywhere. You can see it in the cars we drive, the homes we live in, and the shows we watch on TV, it is because of this daily inoculation that most of us have a fairly good grasp of what items are considered retro and what items are not.” (Friedman, 2009: 7). Retro design is often seen as Nostalgic to many of its audience and reminds them of a simpler time in their lives and in some cases can induce laughter and memories of a happier time. “To go retro means to go into the past and see how people back then thought the...
To be modern, design does not have to be new. In often references from the decorative styles of the past. “Ever since the middle of the previous century, reformers had condemned design’s dependence on historicism, and the progress of modern design could be measured by the extent to which the mining of historic styles was supplanted by the creation of new, anonymous, and universal forms, forms that looked to the future instead of the past.” (Marcus, 1998:7). After the Second World War everyone was eager to put the past behind them and so modern design caught on quickly. The turn began almost immediately in the USA who were soon followed by the United kingdom.
For my Critical Paper I will be researching the 1950’s and the effect that design had on the world. Here are the main areas I will be exploring and critically analysing:
• Design in the United States and the United Kingdom
• How have retro designs influences companies with their advertising campaigns etc.
• The trends of retro designs and how they have returned to influence many modern day designs
• Have 1950’s designs ever really left?
• The future of design - New world, forward thinking?
• How styles have been reproduced and repurposed to create modern day designs.
The term Retro is often used to describe past trends in design, architecture of fashion. “Retro design is everywhere. You can see it in the cars we drive, the homes we live in, and the shows we watch on TV, it is because of this daily inoculation that most of us have a fairly good grasp of what items are considered retro and what items are not.” (Friedman, 2009: 7). Retro design is often seen as Nostalgic to many of its audience and reminds them of a simpler time in their lives and in some cases can induce laughter and memories of a happier time. “To go retro means to go into the past and see how people back then thought the...