The Age Of Streamlining Essay, Research Paper

The Age of Streamlining

The Age of Streamlining is an interesting art movement, occurring after World War I and before the start of World War II, mainly during the 1930 s. This was a time of economic prosperity and wealth, especially in such countries as the United States, where the streamlining effect could be seen in graphic design examples such as posters. These posters usually focused on such things as trains, ships and other methods of travel, showing off the prosperity of the time as people could afford to travel more. Also, the travel methods were modernized during this period of Industrial Revolution. Travel was now faster, safer, and available to everyone, as shown in the example from the RIT Poster Archives, The New 20th Century Limited which boasts the travel time between New York City and Chicago a mere 16 hours. The train portrayed in the poster is skewed in almost unreal perspective, also showing its speed and greatness. This particular technique of skewed perspective was a characteristic that could be seen in basically all of the period s posters. The perspective emphasizes such things as efficiency, speed, and power of the machine being portrayed. The other example on the page shows some streamlined features, once again the perspective usage and the industrial sense about the poster. All of the workers are happy and looking forward to the future as they stand over their immense factory. Also seen in both examples is a simplified rendering of the machines, such as the train is smooth and simple, and meant to be more attractive to the viewer. These are some of the characteristics of posters during the Age of Streamlining.