This graphic designer (before the term had been coined) and printer created graphics and fonts that were at once bold and striking yet exceedingly simplistic and direct, providing hundreds of different varieties and endless combinations for use on posters and pamphlets advocating a wide range of figures and issues (Gravier & Brandt 2002). Intricate and fanciful graphic work was reserved for certain illustrations and became quite common as borders on many posters, calling interest and attention to as well as framing the still-simple text that delivered often pointed messages and announcements (Gravier & Brandt 2002). Graphic Design Goes Online

In this regard, the graphic design elements of nineteenth century Mexico during the latter half of the century has much in common with graphic design elements found on many standard web pages seen today around the world. There are also significant differences in the needs and approaches of graphic design on the Internet when compared to those of nineteenth century Mexico, however. At the time and place that saw Jose Maria Gutierrez Estrada and Igancio Cumplido producing their pamphlets and posters, the simple existence of visual information inherently called attention to these artifacts and their message; in the modern world where individuals are constantly inundated with visual information, graphic design -- especially on the Internet -- must take competition for attention into account.

One of the most well-known and widely-read books on the subject of web design is Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think (2005), in which the author focuses on usability and simplicity as the paramount necessities of websites and the graphical elements that guide users therein. The interactive nature of graphic design is something that is almost entirely unique to the Internet and other computer applications, and usability must be enhanced by graphic design. This has made the directness and simplicity of text that was found in Mexican pamphlets and posters of the nineteenth century an important element of twenty-first century websites (Krug 2005).

The competitive aspects of Internet information, however -- i.e. The need for specific websites and even specific portions...

Flashy text styles, bright colors, and dynamic movements have all been incorporated into web design not as a method of enhancing the usability of a the site or even necessarily presenting the information more clearly, but rather simply to attract attention (Lynch & Horton 2008). Websites must retain a sense of authoritative and accurate information to maintain long-term viability with users and consumers, and graphic design on the Internet has been required to find a balance between attention grabbing and confidence inspiring more so than in any other medium developed previously (Lynch & Horton 2008). The abilies and possibilities of graphic design on the Internet are also exponentially greater than they are in older media, however, leading to a much wider variety in styles and methods for accomplishing graphic design's goals (Lynch & Horton 2008).
Conclusion

Graphic design styles are determined by a variety of factors, including the cultural and political pressures of the designers and their audience and the limitations and possibilities of the medium being worked with. Nineteenth century Mexico might seem worlds away from the Internet, and indeed there are many differences in te design elemnts that are found in both realms. The similarities in purpose and even in certain aesthetic sense, however, show a clear trajectory and progression of design in the modern era.