This is the last poster of our series.
Background
The 1980s. As a designer, I’ve had fun with fashion, especially during the 80s while I was in my 20s and studying design in Cincinnati. Fashion was my most expressive and obvious form of creativity. I wore my pointy NaNa shoes, cut off leggings with short, painted and dyed skirts, torn boy jeans with men’s vintage suit jackets, big BIG earrings and bright red lipstick with enthusiastic verve. In the 80s fashion was fun, expressive and creative, and I have fond memories of my style from that time. So to add a bit of “me” to my poster, I chose to focus on 1980s fashion.
Content
The decade produced many interesting fashion trends but I focused on three: Preppie, Madonna Inspired, and Valley Girl.
Focusing on 80s fashion provided great infographic content. There were borderline obsessive trends in 80s fashion that, looking back, are both humorous and fascinating. You’ll see that aspect in my (somewhat exaggerated) copy.
Design style
My poster design is influenced by two 80s design styles, Memphis style (or Milano style) and post modernism. The mix of basic computer generated graphics alongside hand created elements was typical in both styles in the mid 80s, as the Mac was just becoming available as a mainstream design tool.
In a nutshell, Memphis style is characterized by bright, bold colors, geometric shapes and textures, and asymmetrical shapes. Post modernism begins to break the rules of more structured design trends of earlier decades.
Take a read thru my poster, possibly reminisce, and feel free to comment with fun facts about your own favorite 80s fashion trend.
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