In the 1970s, in Basel, Switzerland, a new wave of design defined itself in reaction to modernism. The Postmodernism movement originated from a group of professional graphic designers who rejected the International Style and its assumptions of neutrality, universality, and rationality.
Postmodern style was easily recognizable by its pastiche sensibility, its absorption of retro and techno motifs, its disregard for the grid, and its ability to absorb funky, fresh, and decorative elements. Punk, beach culture, heavy metal, and grunge groups launched their own zines and ephemeral graphics.
The critical claims for postmodernism went beyond a change in style, raising profound questions about knowledge, history and power. Modernism had claimed that a design aesthetic grounded in universal principles could be put to any purpose without regard for historical conditions. Postmodernism played on historical associations as stylistic references, reconfiguring political meaning. Authenticity and originality were discounted. Images were discussed as free-floating figures that functioned without connection to a source or context.
At the same time, the late 1970s and 1980s witnessed a rise of interest in links between identity politics and social sign systems. Ethnicity, sexual orientation, otherness, and difference commanded attention. World music, thrift store fashions and fusion cooking supplemented the eclectic and hybrid aesthetic of an anything-goes approach to design. Some graphic designers expressed a rebellious irreverence, even in work for conventional clients.
