​By 1890, Graphic Design started see a shift into a movement known as Art Nouveau. 

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The Art Nouveau movement was mainly the combining of fine arts and architecture, and a ‘response to the Industrial Revolution’.  By this time, the art world was looking for what is considered as ‘Art Reform’.  One of the main characteristics that were applied in the Art Nouveau movement was what was called ‘whiplash’ or organically shaped curves.  These ‘whiplash’ shapes were inspired by British and German botanical studies and illustrations done during the time these illustrations and studies were able to be shared with the world because of books.  The rigid styles of the past were just that, a thing of the past.  Organic and floral shapes and lines were new, fresh, and different.  “The unfolding of Art Nouveau's flowing line may be understood as a metaphor for the freedom and release sought by its practitioners and admirers from the weight of artistic tradition and critical expectations”.  We still today see some reminisce of this movement in our world today. (“Art Nouveau”)

The Art Nouveau movement was important to Graphic Design because it started the influence to decorate items that were produced by Industrial manufacturing.  It could be said that it is also the first time a movement was encompassed by Europe and America at the same time.  Illustrations became a major thing during this time period.  Many publications during this time used these illustrated images to showcase art and even some propaganda.  Graphic Design was being used to make posters for things like the circus ads, newspapers, magazines, playing cards, posters, and much, much, more. The Art Nouveau artists shared the belief that all the arts should work in harmony in order to create a “total work of art”: buildings, textiles, furniture, jewelry, clothes all conformed to the principles of Art Nouveau” (“Anatomy of an Exhibition”). 

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Art Nouveau influenced the world to combine all aspects of art mediums to create mixed media pieces of artwork. It was also a movement that was influenced by Japanese culture.  During this time, Japanese works had a very colorful, simple, and flat appearance.  This style was used as inspiration to the movement.  With the movement’s influence on Graphic Design, of course color and theories were coming along to try to regulate the movement’s standards.  People’s ideas of how designs should look, standards, and visual imagery and context were being explored.  To point out, it was much more difficult to see these trends and ideas from other countries around the world up until this point. Again, bartering, trading, and exporting were the mean means of communication for the world.  Things were brought from once place to another by one of a kind processes and that was how the world communicated.  Limited numbers of people could see them.  Graphic Design’s history simplified that.  Now, America could look at the trends in Japanese art to inspire their own works as well as other countries around the world by not only these traditional means of communication, but by their own copies of books, and prints.  Nothing had to be a one-of-a-kind object anymore. (Roberts 18-19)