In the 1960s, a design consciousness had become ingrained in every commerce-oriented, industrial society. With the proliferation of design schools, greater access to phototechonologies and a big store of graphic design approaches to choose form, no one style dominated. As such, this is the essence of electism - a mix with no particular calling or style.
In short : this means, due to the ever increasing amount of resources and exposure, no one style or trend dominated at that point of time. Thus, the term eclecticism was coined for this period of graphic design produced.
Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" (Hume 1998, 5).
Significantly, eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact that it was not a particular style.
In general, the term describes the combination in a single work of a variety of influences — mainly of elements from different historical styles in architecture, painting, and the graphic and decorative arts.
For the more easily satisfied : it is basically a mash-up of whatever graphic styles were popular before.
An exmaple of eclectic art is by Herb Lubalin. Avant Garde. Magazine cover, January 1968.
Labels: Eclectic
