The article is devoted to the history of the early development of the domestic design graphics, which was due to the combination of a number of economic and socio-cultural factors. Among them, one of the defining features was an active exhibition life at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Critical reviews, exhibition catalogs, reviews of artistic life, such as documents of the epoch, give an opportunity to make a general picture of the development paths of the «graphic arts». In the absence of special terminology, the so-called scope of mass circulation graphics was so called. The holding of numerous art and industry exhibitions contributed to the development of «graphic arts» or «decorative graphics», which was manifested in colorful advertising posters, leaflets, and numerous incidental products.