The Postmodern Reaction

By the 1970s, the modernist consensus felt like a straitjacket. Punk photocopiers, New Wave typography, and the Memphis Group's candy-colored furniture all said the same thing: rules are made to be broken, and style itself carries meaning.

Postmodernism reintroduced history, humor, and decoration into design. Its lasting gift was permission — the understanding that there is no single correct way to communicate, only choices with consequences.