The History of Graphic Design

Graphic Design began at the beginning of mankind when cavemen evolved enough to sense their need for communication. Using a sharp tool, they etched cave walls to record drawings and symbols to preserve hard-won knowledge, experiences and thoughts. Pigments smeared with a finger or a brush fabricated from bristles or reeds did not just indicate the beginning of art, rather the dawning of visual communication.

Over the course of history, the need to store knowlege in graphic form have been filled by various people including scribes, printers and artists. In 1922, the outstanding book designer, William Addison Dwiggins, coined the term, "graphic designer" to describe his activities as an individual who brought structural order and visual form to printed communications.

An emerging profession received an appropriate name.

Funny that the profession started with cavemen and is often associated with someone working from a dark basement hunching over a computer screen...