While psychedelic rock-concert posters carried into the 1970s, that decade also saw an evolution in advertising, with more people’s up-close faces declaring their devotion to a product. Cartoons and drawings were left to make-believe animals – the starkly drawn housewives of the ’50s were replaced with perky human beings.

While the 1970s are often derided for their bell bottoms and disco, the graphic design got to be experimental, playing around with different styles. And I will forever defend that intro to “Soul Train.”

Be sure to check out our 50′s, 60′s posts in the Graphic Design Through the Decades Series.

Milton Glaser’s iconic tourism-campaign symbol debuted in 1973.

TV Radio Mirror, July 1972.

1972 advertisement in Ebony magazine.

Examples of fonts from Rolling Stone magazine in the mid-’70s.

A 1977 Craig Stereo ad.

Fruit Stripe gum ad.

Pepsi has changed its logo numerous times since 1898. This is the 1973 version.

From a mid-’70s edition of the book “World of Logotypes.”

Skiing poster by E. Mariani for La Rinascente, 1974.

Czechoslovakian matchbox label from 1970.

“Grease” movie poster from 1978.

Apple’s original logo in 1976.

Pornographic-movie poster from 1972.

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers’ “Bongos Over Balham” album

From 1974 designed by Barney Bubbles.

“Design for the Real World,” published in 1973.

Montreal ’76 Olympics posters.

Chicago’s “Chicago X” album

Winner of the 1977 Grammy for Best Recording Package Design.

Creepy 1971 ad translates to “Kodak Instamatic: always on the mark.”

Paul Rand’s striped IBM logo replaced the solid design in 1972.

It’s not a ’70s compilation without Farrah Fawcett.

abipti

Glasser Italic

bubbleboddy light

D3 Globalism

Corpuscare

CollageAl

MANABU

Gayatri

Bobel

Val

OvalSingle

Cyclo Trial

Aunchanted

Zorque

Synthetic BRK

Steiner Light

Quarantine BRK

Nyamomobile

Diebel

EXCEED Medium

This phase can be very frustrating for any creative person. If you don’t recover within a few days, a creative block can destroy your self-confidence. The fear that you will never again be able to produce good work drives you to desperation. You try harder and harder and end up exhausting your mental faculties. This makes the situation worse. Therefore, it is very important to deal with this delicate phase of creative block with a lot of patience and care. Only you can get yourself out of it.

Designers all over the world face this problem and don’t know what to do. There is actually no reason to panic. Let’s look at a few ways by which you can get rid of your creative block.

Stick to the Basics

Don’t try to do too much when you are suffering from creative block. Just stick to basics design principles. If you seek to experiment at this phase, you might have to face failure. This will dishearten you further and won’t help your situation.

Visual balance is an important aspect of design principle. Try to arrange the elements on your page in a way that no section appears heavier than the other. Your design should also maintain unity, so that the various elements used in it don’t seem disparate or out of tune from one another.

Alignment is another basic principle of design. Whether your layout will be easy or difficult to read depends on the way you align type and graphics on a page. Both consistency and contrast is equally significant to your design. Repeating design elements helps your viewers navigate your layout easily. Contrast between big and small elements, black and white text, can make your design both appealing and exciting.

White space is your design’s breathing room. So don’t cram your design with too many graphics or too much text, as it will become difficult for the clients to follow and appreciate it.

But you should never stop working. Producing mediocre designs is better than producing nothing at all. If you spend the entire time pondering over your problem, you’ll never be able to get over it. So, keep yourself busy with work and try to rediscover your potential.

Design on Paper

Try avoiding the computer and instead design on paper. This will be a welcome change for you and will also stimulate your creativity. You can play with the pencil and paper and pour your heart out on it. Try and make rough sketches of your design before working on them professionally. Doodle at will.

Check Out Other Designs

If you are unable to create anything worthwhile, just sit back and appreciate the work of others. Glance through different designs on websites or magazines. You might get motivated (not ‘inspired’) by something that you like and develop your own eye-catching graphics. And who knows, you might break out of your creative block.

Use Colors

Colors trigger the imagination and set the right mood. You can use a lot of colors in your designs and add some spirit to your work. If the work has become dull and tiresome for you, colors will give it new life.

Don’t Compare

Don’t compare your work with that of others. Every single person is unique and has original ideas. No design, however brilliant it might be, will be appreciated by all. This is because different people have different choices and opinions. So just put in your best and don’t judge your work in respect to others. Finding faults with yourself won’t help your cause.

Just Have Fun

The key to most creative block is simply having fun, even though that is possibly the last thing you feel like doing. Just getting away from your work for even a couple of hours can do wonders for your creative juices. Watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, spend time with your dog (if you have one!): The idea is to chill. Relax your mind and body and the rest will take care of itself. Believe me, this is from personal experience!

There is nothing wrong with you if you have a creative block. This problem is more common than you think and everyone finds their own way of getting over it in the end. We hope these tips help you, but you need to help yourself first. Try to be positive and never suffer from self doubt. Just remember, this is simply a passing phase and will be over soon enough.

Chad offered me to design the new header of Inspiredology’s website, which I gladly accepted.

Here’s a brief description of my creative process : I was asked to draw a laboratory including Chad and Andrew (founders of Inspiredology) and the scene should be focused on “science and design”.

The Sketches

I started making quick sketches, to throw some ideas around quickly. Just simple concepts, added some details, but just enough to relay the message to the client.
After exchanging some ideas, we established the final setup and I was able to sketch a more detailed draft.

Digital Sketch

When the final sketch was approved, I cleaned up the lines in Adobe Flash . This way, the lines are vectorized (more control over the curves) and still gives the look of a natural pen stroke.

I use Flash specifically instead of Illustrator because their functions allow for more natural workflow as well as it allows me to create unique strokes.

Colouring Process

For the coloring process, I imported the vector drawing into Adobe Photoshop. I then used the various colouring tools to create shadows, highlights and add more depth to the illustration. Lastly, the final colouring process is to bring the illustration together. Above you see all the elements coloured, but the illustration doesn’t feel together, adding colour overlays to bring the entire illustration closer to one colour scheme creates a more attractive illustration. It also feels like more of an environment then just a few elements put together.

I thought it would be fun to post some Portraits, the expressions captured in these photographs are fantastic. Some are quirky, some are more subtle and standard, while others are simply beautiful.

I have recently become a huge fan of redesign minimalist movie posters that are simple symbols from a movie. The posters below are movies that are somewhat popular, or have some sort of following. The artists usually design these posters because they love the movie, and there is a specific message or symbol that represents that title. The posters convey a message so perfectly that make these art pieces clever, subtle and awesome.

Alan Fletcher and Erik Nitsche gained prominence for their branding campaigns, whereas Keiichi Tanaami dipped his artistic wand into animation, lithograph, illustration and editorial design. The styles of the various graphic designers of the ’60s show a distinct contrast, with some holding onto the staid and prim style of the 1950s while others delved into experimentation – with and without mind-altering drugs.

1960s Japanese book cover designs. Note the muted colors.

Fillmore concert poster by Wes Wilson.

Pirelli slippers ad by Alan Fletcher. Note the scruffy beard on the bus rider in the back.

More psychedelia, this time in record cover form.

1964 book cover with graphic design by Elaine Lustig.

European typograph layout.

The often controversial OZ magazine.

Art by Sister Corita Kent, a nun and pop artist who gained prominence in the ’60s.

An example of Keiichi Tanaami’s psychedelic art.

The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” was designed by Heinz Edelman.

Grateful Dead poster by Alton Kelley, a designer big in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury scene.

From an Expo 67 guidebook. Notice how this could also be from the ’50s.

More design by Elaine Lustig, this time from 1966.

Victor Moscoso’s 1967 poster for a Quicksilver concert.

1962 book cover.

Poster from 1969.

Minimalism in a 1960s biology book.

1963 poster with ’50s-influenced earth tones.

Be Inspired, and leave a comment of your favorites.

Photograph: theluckynine

Photograph: AccidentlyAlexis

Photograph: Bosen

Photograph: Helenee

Photograph: Pristonegirl

Photograph: Zombiemewmew

Photograph: Myownskycloud

Photograph: Kenarr

Photograph: Picturesandwords514

Photograph: Bluejeannes

Photograph: escaped emotions

Photograph: Escaped Emotions

Photograph: Noukiej

Photograph: Eye90

Photograph: Annette Parks

Photograph: Emmie Photos

Photograph: Matmoon

Photograph: Klaamka

Photograph: Girl Fromstrangetown

Photograph: Carrionshine

Photograph: OnikKioo

Photograph: HelloDearr

Photograph: Dark Remorse

Photograph: Cassie Killed Herself

Photograph: April182

Photograph: Koroshino

Photograph: Grzyypp

Photograph: BombAttack

Photograph: Your Best Days

Photograph: Your Best Days

Photograph: Lusas

Photograph: Rawrsicle

Photograph: MypopTart

*Each of the photographs are linked back to their original place online, and are the copyright and ownership of the original owners.

Hippo Critic

Oogie Boogie

SF Groove Machine

VTKS GENERAL USE

Space Out

Billo Dream

JI Fajita

Candy Randy

Blomster

Biscuit Tin

Souci Sans NF

VAL

Sakiane

SF Espresso Shack Condensed Bold

Rhubarb Pie

Marquee

JI Margarita

1960s Hippie

Flores

Brouss