Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.
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THE EXPERIENCE

Join us for a special screening of: Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production, following the film will be a panel discussion.

Up until just over 30 years ago, when the desktop computer debuted, the whole design production process would have been done primarily by hand, and with the aide of analog machines. The design and print industries used a variety of ways to get type and image onto film, plates, and finally to the printed page. Graphic Means is a journey through this transformative Mad Men-era of pre-digital design production to the advent of the desktop computer. It explores the methods, tools, and evolving social roles that gave rise to the graphic design industry as we know it today.

ON SCREEN: Graphic Means 

2017. Directed by Briar Levit. Runtime: 1hr 24min. Not Rated.

Decades before every desktop had a computer, it was the hands of industrious workers and ingenious tools that brought type and image together. Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production explores the rapid changes in design from the mid-twentieth century through the 1990s—from linecaster to photocomposition, and from paste-up to PDF.

“I figured if I know very little, as someone who started in the late ‘90s, then the young designers of today know almost nothing,” says filmmaker Briar Levit. “That’s why I decided I really needed to make this movie.”

Levit and her team spent years traveling around the US and UK, interviewing design legends like Ellen Lupton, a designer trained to work manually, and now an esteemed design writer and educator; Art Chantry, who still uses analog techniques to make posters and album covers; and Adrian Shaugnessy, publisher of the beloved Unit Editions design books. Digging into archives, university libraries, and even thrift shops to uncover forgotten tools and materials, Graphic Means gives viewers a look at the history of the ever-evolving design industry, and what’s in store for the future.

Though design is more popular than ever, with countless books and magazines dedicated to its new trends and thousands of students hoping to enter the field each year, its history has been largely ignored until now. Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production is a must-see film for anyone who loves design, art, history, or the intersection of all three. Learn more at: http://www.graphicmeans.com/