The mid- to late nineteenth century was a time of great change in graphic design in the United States and around the world. In the United States, the number of newspaper and magazine titles jumped from 800 in 1830 to over 5000 in 1860.

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At the same time, advertising in magazines and newspapers began to generate significant amounts of money. In 1841, the first advertising agency in the United States opened in Philadelphia. Type foundries created hundreds of decorative and complex new typefaces to serve a variety of needs. Art movements such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco influenced the work of graphic designers worldwide.

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Railroads connecting the eastern part of the United States with the west were completed in 1869. Telegraph lines were stretched along those train corridors. Electricity gradually became a part of everyday life. As communications and publishing grew, magazines like Time, Life, and Harper's became the voices of news and fashion. Their bold covers shouted their names and ideas across a room or across a street.

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The early twentieth century brought World War 1, the Great Depression, and worldwide economic difficulty. Governments around the world employed graphic designers to create posters and other publications. Posters educated their citizens, encouraged them to join the military, kept them from revealing military information, and united them against common enemies. Moving pictures — movies — had first been screened in 1894 and were part of the national culture by the 1930s.

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From the early 1940s onward, the field of advertising continued to grow. Graphic designers developed advertising campaigns for anything from soup to nuts. They coordinated print advertising and packaging, helping consumers recognize products by their distinctive colors and type styles.

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After World War II, as automobiles became cheaper, the suburban landscape grew. The Interstate Highways Act of 1956 spurred an increase in highway construction across the nation. States developed signage. Gas stations popped up to fuel all the resulting travel, and each developed a characteristic logo and identity to set itself apart from its competitors.

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By 1950, television was starting to offer new opportunities for communicating messages — with movement! — to large numbers of people all at once. Color television, growing popular by the early 1960s, offered even more possibilities for graphic designers. By 1960 graphic design was becoming an accepted course of study in colleges around the country.

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Large corporations began to see the importance of having a clear and consistent identity — a recognizable "face" to show to their customers. many began to employ graphic designers as full-time staff members.

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