The Pioneers

After the constitution revolution in 1905, Iran took steps toward modernity. These steps were taken in the same direction of economic and cultural growth. The establishment of factories, the development of international relations and business, the establishment of new college and schools, the return of many educated people from European countries which resulted in transferring modern technology, science and culture; all necessitated the establishment of printing house which had to work much faster to copy books, news and articles as well as commercial advertisements.

In 1930s and 1940s, the first consequences of these events came to existence. One of the outstanding characteristics of these consequences was the establishment of advertisement centers which had to meet the needs of new productions, the newly-imported goods and new business.

These advertisements needed designing and the needs led to the establishment of schools and the generation of graduates who created and produced graphic design. At that time, designers were called “advertisements painters” which was rather contemptuous. This growth got accelerated in the third decade and had to meet the cultural needs in the development of books and publication.

Some of the events which were influential in the quality and quantity growth of modern graphic design can be mentioned as follows:

The establishment of the Faculty of Decorative Arts and afterwards, Graphic Design Department in Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran were turning points in the education of designers.

The establishment of Franklin Publication Institute resulted in the production and publication of books at a vast level. The designs of the book covers are among the characteristics of designing in this period and in addition to that, the designers of this institute greatly influenced the modification of designs of school books.

That was the period in which Weekly Book (Ketab-e Hafteh) were published and created a new movement in designing of covers and page layouts. The establishment of The Institute for the Intellectual Development for Children and Young Adults, Festival of Art in Shiraz (Jashn-e Honr-e Shiraz) holding by National Radio and Television Organization of Iran created pattern-making and illustrations and a new attitude of posters and resulted in the attraction and growth of many designers in all graphic design fields.

The new wave of Iranian Cinema, the activity of youngsters in Experimental Cinema (Sinamey-e Azad) and the production of different movies by directors who were writers themselves led to the appearance of posters and the designing of different and modern scenes. The Film Festival of Tehran presented a new form of poster design and hug outdoors for cinema during the previous years.

The changes in the attitude and method of illustrators and painters, the effective presence of modern photographers and cinematographers, along with graphic designers with mental effects glorified the new image of visual arts in Iran. These events which began after the constitution revolution in 1905 and continued up to the Islamic revolution in 1979 can be called the beginning period and flourish of modern designs in Iran.

This period contains the graphic designs of three generations of designers which formed the movement toward professional cohesion and independence.

In this process, the first generation strengthens the painting of their own time which isn’t different from and independence of traditional arts but it has presented it by means of modern painting equipment and gives it a different form which deserves this period.

The second generation which is affected by modern global arts and takes national arts into consideration, starts creating new forms of independent expressions of graphic design by means of special equipment for this profession.

The imagery expression of this period influences all the fields of visual arts. Painting artists, photographers and sculptors, cinematographers and graphic designers are all looking for their independent and national and they are responsible for education and training.

The third generation is educated by the previous ones who enter the professional job market and adopt a global attitude towards contemporary art, professional independence and search for national identity as their behavioral characteristics.

Despite the fast that the great waves of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 result in Cultural Revolution in 1980 and subsequently, the war between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988) causes the rupture in educational movement, the new generation builds up its character in the live and current events of the society and professional experiences in its development so that they can present new subjects with cry via their tiny larynxes.

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