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It’s been roughly 30 years since the desktop computer revolutionized the way the graphic design industry works. For decades before that, it was the hands of industrious workers, and various ingenious machines and tools that brought type and image together on meticulously prepared paste-up boards, before they were sent to the printer.

Graphic Means, explores graphic design production of the 1950s through the 1990s—from linecaster to photocomposition, and from paste-up to PDF.

Graphic Means (Official Trailer) from Briar Levit on Vimeo.

“A reminder that technology shifts, and working in the creative industries we need to constantly adapt to new ways of working and thinking.” —Oswin Tickler, Small Fury

Up until 30 years ago, when the desktop computer debuted, the whole design production process would have been done primarily by hand, with the aid 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. 2017, U.S., DCP, 84 minutes.