The Pyschedelia movement was born within the hippie subculture. It had a brief flowering in the 1960s, but was almost immediately appropriated by mass marketers. It emerged after a post war reactionary culture that longed for peace and compassion.  

Another major aspect of the culture was the rampant use of hallucinogenic drugs. In fact the name Psychedelic is an art style mainly influenced by the prevalence of hallucinatory drugs especially LSD with typical designs featuring abstract swirls of intense colours, which in fact is imagery we very often associate to the drug. Some of the visual characteristic includes natural and flowing lines with curvilinear calligraphy that are solely inspired by Art Nouveau.

Victor Moscoso was a graphic designer that had designed a number of posters within the Pyschedelia culture. Through his posters we see various characteristics. The first things we notice are the way the type is handled. Inspired from Art Nouveau we see the way the type is designed with natural curves, featuring across as it almost feels as if it is a liquid taking up the shape of its placeholder. This new way of handling type was a very common factor in the Pyschedelia styles, giving of mixed feelings of being either in a dream like state or of surrealist nature.

Another thing of note with the font is the legibility. Due to the highly manipulated nature of the type, the legibility of especially some of the smaller words has been sacrificed. This is particularly interesting as it is an unembellished comparison to the modernist principles. Additionally we see the use of photomontage in conjunction with textures. Photography is manipulated to achieve certain effects of shadings. Texture is also something that has began making its way to posters, which is completely opposite to what was being done not too long before with clean block colours.  

Amongst all this, came the short burst of Op art, art that is an optical illusion. Making use of the Pyschedelia movement, Op art is a style of abstraction that relies on geometric shapes, lines, and color juxtapositions to create optical illusions for the viewer. Such art often features patterns, grids, and effects like curving or diminishing objects.

Even though Psychedelic art with its free-spirited oddness, is not one of my favorite movements it still has inspired many in todays world of graphic design. One major designer who still makes use of the characteristics of psychedelic art is illustration artist David Normal. David is focused on oil painting where he is able to express his varied interests in psychedelia and psychedelic culture on canvas in large full of spiraling visions that mix sexuality, religion, spirituality and death. Although we don’t see much of this form of design, it is definitely something used often especially by comic artists. Its surreal feel just gives any composition the effect that even if you do gaze into it long enough, there will still be more to see. (PsyAmb, 2012)