Deconstruction first originated in literature, then extended to the realm of art, and ultimately influenced graphic design. The current research aims to explain the characteristics of the deconstructive style observed in the poster designs of the California Institute of Arts (Cal Arts) during the 1990s, as one of the pioneers of deconstructive graphic design.
This research is practical in terms of its purpose and is considered qualitative in terms of data. To conduct this research, an initial review was conducted on printed and electronic written sources pertaining to deconstructive thinking and deconstructive graphic design, and through that, a researcher-made checklist was created for the analysis of artwork. Then, using a checklist, the 311 samples of posters designed in Cal Arts Institute from 1900 to the end of 1999 were analyzed to determine the frequency of each of the eight deconstructive features observed in the samples. Finally, two artworks with the highest identification of characteristics were analyzed using qualitative methods.
The research findings indicate the presence of three primary features of deconstruction observed in the majority of artworks produced by the Cal Arts Institute: cluttered typographic elements, cluttered pictorial elements in the composition, and changes in type form. Following these three features, the collision of typefaces emerges as another deconstructive characteristic found in the posters of the Cal Arts Institute. The most prominent deconstructive characteristic is the use of cluttered typographic elements, which highlights the strong relationship between deconstructive graphic design and typography. In some artworks, more detailed characteristics were observed, including changes in size and typographic baseline in smaller typographic elements, the creation of wave-like lines, and the blurring of letters.