We’ve been having a 1970’s revival in graphic design for the past few years. Orange, brown and yellow? 70’s color revival. Graphic patterns, featuring colored circles and swirls? 70’s revival.

1970's era design, via http://www.berting.nl/seventies/

2008 image, via istockphoto (http://www.istockphoto.com)

As in all things design, things change. And, as much as I hoped this wouldn’t happen, the 70s are making way for the 80s (again). I was in high school in the 1980s and the fashions and styles of the times are burned into my memory in a horrific mishmash of leg warmers, thick shoe laces, Bon Jovi, big hair, belted oversize shirts, pegged pants, neon, and acid wash jeans. See below — and please note, this is NOT me. (If you’re a real glutton for punishment, check out the Flickr group 80s.)

http://flickr.com/photos/hepe/483361489/

Why do I think 80s are on their way back? Here’s just a taste of what you can find in stores today:

Target and Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters

So what does this mean for design? I’m forecasting jewel colors (sapphire blues, ruby reds, emerald greens), a return of thicker typefaces from the ultrathin ones we’ve seen recently, neon (I hope I’m wrong about this!), drop shadows and outlines. Here’s what graphic design looked like, circa the 1980s:

I’ll be very interested to see how this plays out in the next three or four years. Done right, the best of the 80s could translate into new, interesting design. After all, ten years ago few people were looking at 70s design (avocado green appliances! bell bottoms! orange!!) and longing for its return.

What do you think? Are there styles (design, fashion, home or otherwise) that you’re hoping will come back? Are there pinstriped jeans in your future? Are you too young to have fully experienced 1980s fashion and are looking forward to a nice pair of Ray Ban aviators? Or are the 80s a bad dream?

Check out Glenn Feron’s retouching skills. I truly couldn’t look away. No wonder you never see anyone in real life who looks like a magazine model. They don’t even look like themselves. Even Faith Hill is not as hot as… Faith Hill. As a designer who has done her share of retouching, I’m impressed at the technical prowess behind Glenn Feron’s work, but I think good retouching enhances what’s already there, it doesn’t completely revise it.

What do you think? Does this contribute to the low self-esteem of many girls and women (and men)? Or is it acceptable to make people look as good as they can?

The award for most boring cover design on a fiction title goes to… America, America: A Novel by Ethan Canin. Snoozefest.

The cliche art, the clunky transparent white area behind the title, the uninspired choice of De Vinne for the type, the flat black and white text colors, the blah placement of the text. This looks like a completely uninteresting book.

Surprisingly, though, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The reviews I’ve seen about this book are all raves. There are no less than 29 enthusiastic blurbs on the Amazon page. And my local Barnes & Noble hung a giant version of the cover in its front windows (which is why I noticed it in the first place).

Usually a book by an acclaimed author that gets the full PR push from the publisher tries a little harder in the cover department. I wonder what went on here?

Most graphic designers hope to do work that means something, that resonates with them and also makes a positive difference in the world. The reality is that, yes, there are jobs, clients, and projects which make you feel great. Things that you can believe in, and design work that you’re proud of. There are also the “filler” jobs. It would be wonderful to live the ideal all the time, but bills need to be paid and food needs to be on the table. These jobs aren’t offesive in any way, but they’re not exactly inspiring. A catalog for a septic system installer, a web site for a property management company, a logo for a hardware store. Fine, needed work, but nothing noble.

Then there are the other jobs. Would you design an ad for cigarettes? How about for a political candidate you don’t endorse? A company who publicly supports a cause you don’t believe in? How about a trade magazine for the fur industry?

I did. I was the art director for Fur Age Magazine from 1996-1998.

Taking that job required a lot of soul searching. On the positive side, it was an amazing opportunity for someone with only a few years of experience in design. I not only did a complete magazine redesign, but I laid out every editorial page of the magazine and the cover, did the technical production, and the photography art direction for each issue. I worked directly with the photographer, editor and printer. I hired models, decided on photo shoot locales, and chose the makeup artists and hair stylists. And I had absolute free rein over the design. It was incredible.

On the negative side, I don’t wear fur. It’s not something that I could ever see myself buying. And, to be perfectly honest, I don’t really believe in it.

But…

I do eat meat. And wear leather. And I absolutely believe in each individual’s right to choose her own path and follow her own beliefs. And, when it came right down to it, it was too good of a job to pass up.

But did I do the right thing? I still don’t know. We all like to think that there are lines we wouldn’t cross, and I certainly believe that about myself. I do an enormous amount of non-profit work at a discount for organizations I believe in (none fur industry related). Given the same opportunity now, I wouldn’t take it. But I’m ten years further along in my career and I don’t need the experience or the money the way I did back then.

What do you think? Have you ever had a similar experience? What did you choose?