The year I was born (1985) was a time for technological experimentation with the proliferation of the personal computer and Macintosh. The revolutionary designers in this time period of the early 80s and 90s chose a couple dramatically differing paths in creating their new design work in relation to digital creation on the computer.
One set of designers played off of the visual aesthetics associated with early computer programs (pixellation, lo-res images and static) while others utilized this new technological mentality that influenced their hand-made design aesthetic. An example of the latter development is the work of Takenobu Igarashi who created letterforms and numbers that rotated and exploded into space—a breaking apart of traditional typography into a 3-dimensional and infinitely spacial digital realm.
The experimentation that happened during this time is an important touchstone for looking at how design has changed / benefitted from technological advancements in the digital realm. This very recent history is an often overlooked part of the design time line that seems to be one of the most important to our generation.
