From Question Mark to Exclamation Point: A Visual History

What do designers do when they aren’t sure how to start? That is the question, until … Eureka!! The question is the answer.

Here are dozens of images that trace the history of the question mark throughout design history, ending with the exclamation point.

See, for example:

Poster for the movie Stranger Than Fiction. Design firm: Bemis Balkind Studio

Book cover for Bush On The Couch. Designer: Rodrigo Corral

Book cover. Design firm: Why Not Associates

I even used the motif for the book jacket of Karl Jaspers’ The Question of Guilt.

Book cover for The Question of Guilt. Designer: Mirko Ilic

At least I am in good company:

The full slideshow on Flickr is below:

If you liked this
Check out more of Mirko’s slideshows:

The Story of O: How designers use the letter O as a design motif

Why I Became an Artist: Pictures of artists drawing their models

Books on Books: Using pictures of books to sell books

Beauty and the Beast: The evolution of a classic pose

George W. Bush, Advertising Star: When companies use our president to sell stuff

Got an image to submit? Tell us in the comments!