1970's Content

In the Western world, social progressive values that began in the 1960s, such as increasing political awareness and political and economic liberty of women, continued to grow. The hippie culture, which started in the latter half of the 1960s, waned by the early 1970s and faded towards the middle part of the decade, which involved opposition to the Vietnam War, opposition to nuclear weapons, the advocacy of world peace, and hostility to the authority of government and big business. People were deeply influenced by the rapid pace of societal change and the aspiration for a more egalitarian society in cultures that were long colonized and have an even longer history of hierarchical social structure. Other common global ethos of the 1970s world included increasingly flexible and varied gender roles for women in industrialized societies. More women could enter the work force

The early 1970s saw the rise of popular soft rock/pop rock music, with recording artists such as The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, The Carpenters. Experimental classical music influenced both art rock and progressive rock genres with bands such as Yes, Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Rush. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s 

While psychedelic rock-concert posters carried into the 1970s, that decade also saw an evolution in advertising, with more people’s up-close faces declaring their devotion to a product. Cartoons and drawings were left to make-believe animals – the starkly drawn housewives of the ’50s were replaced with perky human beings. While the 1970s are often derided for their bell bottoms and disco, the graphic design got to be experimental, playing around with different styles http://inspiredology.com/graphic-design-through-the-decades-series-the-’70s/

Seymour Chwast shaped the evolution of graphic design and illustration, designing innovative designs that gained international recognition for his playful expressive approach to type and illustrative layout. His unique designs in illustrations began a new design wave, based on revivalism (a radical alternative to the Swiss formalism of that time). Chwast's colourful and witty designs have been used on packaging, children and adult books, magazines, advertisements and 100’s of posters that displays a captivating sense of humour next to a strong understanding of traditional design methods.

http://kingygraphicdesignhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/1970s-seymour-chwast.html