What is Graphic Design?
Definitions
Graphic Design is first and foremost human communication
Noun the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience, esp. to produce a specific effect.
The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation.
Common uses of graphic design include magazines, advertisements and product packaging; including logos or other artwork, organized text and pure design elements such as shapes and colour.
Composition is one of the most important features of graphic design especially when using pre-existing materials or diverse elements.
A sign is: “Something which stands to somebody for something in some capacity.”
(Charles Sanders Pierce, 1977.)
· A form of communication, i.e. hand gestures
· Trucks all have different symbols and signs on, different colours and shape all representing different things.
· Brail – form of communication
“He thinks that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature.”
(George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra, 1898)
I love this quote because I think it really sums up society’s view as we all live in our own protective little worlds, all with social conditioning of what is acceptable.
History and Key developments
Cave PaintingsCave or rock paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to prehistoric times. Rock paintings are made since the Upper Paleolithic, 40,000 years ago. It is widely believed that the paintings are the work of respected elders or shamans.
The most common themes in cave paintings are large wild animals, such as bison, horses, aurochs, and deer, and tracings of human hands as well as abstract patterns, called Macaroni by Breuil. Drawings of humans are rare and are usually basic stick figures rather than the more accurate animal subjects.
Its also believed that the drawings were thought to be visions, were the shaman would retreat into the darkness of the caves, enter into a trance state and then paint images, perhaps with some notion of drawing power out of the cave walls themselves.
I love this idea of such simple images having so much meaning and power and how even today this is still so.
Does this say something about the pre-historic nature of our society? or is it that we can all easily interpret simple drawings/ graphics on a sub-conscious level?
Petroglyphs are images incised in rock, usually by prehistoric, especially Neolithic, peoples. They were an important form of pre-writing symbols, used in communication from approximately 10,000 B.C. Many Petroglyphs are thought to represent some kind of not-yet-fully understood symbolic or ritual language.
I find it interesting that even though there were no forms of communication available as a species we were always developing and finding new ideas and the next best thing – such as graphics in society today.
Some researchers have noticed the resemblance of different styles of Petroglyphs across different continents; this can be compared to today society where universal symbols are interpreted and recognised worldwide, almost being that no matter what new and exciting symbols or graphics there are we almost all are programmed to produce and interpret these symbols the same way. Many of the geometric patterns (known as form constants) which recur in Petroglyphs and cave paintings have been shown to be "hard-wired" into the human brain; they frequently occur in visual disturbances and hallucinations brought on by drugs, migraine and other stimuli.
The history of the alphabet
It started in ancient Egypt with the first alphabets mapping single symbols to single sounds, most other alphabets in the world today either descended from this one discovery, or were directly inspired by its design, including the Phoenician alphabet and the Greek alphabet.
Posterswere popularized by the mid-19th-century invention of lithography, which allowed coloured posters to be produced cheaply and easily. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was noted for his poster art.
He captured the effect of the movement of dancers, circus performers, and other entertainers by simplifying outlines and juxtaposing intense colours; the result was an art throbbing with life and energy. His lithographs were among his most powerful works, and his memorable posters helped define the possibilities of the genre. His pieces are often sharply satirical, but he was also capable of great sympathy, seen most poignantly in his studies of prostitutes.
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural movement in Russia from 1914 onward, and a term often used in modern art today, which dismissed "pure" art in favour of art used as an instrument for social purposes, namely, the construction of the socialist system. The movement was an important influence on new graphic design techniques.
Alexander Rodchenko worked as a painter and graphic designer before turning to photography. His photography was socially engaged, formally innovative, and opposed to a painterly aesthetic. Concerned with the need for analytical-documentary photo series, he often shot his subjects from odd angles - usually high above or below - to shock the viewer and to postpone recognition. He wrote: "One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again."FuturismThe Futurists explored every medium of art, including painting, sculpture, poetry, theatre, music, architecture and even gastronomy. This movement included a passionate loathing of ideas from the past, especially political and artistic traditions, also espousing a love of speed, technology and violence. The car, the plane, the industrial town were all legendary for the Futurists, because they represented the technological triumph of man over nature.
According to its proponents, Dada was not art — it was "anti-art". Dada sought to fight art with art. For everything that art stood for, Dada was to represent the opposite. If art were to have at least an implicit or latent message, Dada strove to have no meaning — interpretation of Dada is dependent entirely on the viewer. If art is to appeal to sensibilities, Dada is to offend.
It is perhaps then ironic that Dada became an influential movement in modern art. Dada became a commentary on order and the carnage they believed it wreaked. Through this rejection of traditional culture and aesthetics they hoped to destroy traditional culture and aesthetics. Art historians have described Dada as being, in large part, "in reaction to what many of these artists saw as nothing more than an insane spectacle of collective homicide."Years later, Dada artists described the movement as "a phenomenon bursting forth in the midst of the postwar economic and moral crisis, a savior, a monster, which would lay waste to everything in its path.
It was a systematic work of destruction and demoralization...In the end it became nothing but an act of sacrilege." Reason and logic had led people into the horrors of war; the only route to salvation was to reject logic and embrace anarchy and the irrational.
The Polish Poster
That is, wrapped up in his own little world, he created posters that suited his tastes and attitudes. He didn't mean for everyone to be able to understand his work nor freely read the text. Jan Lenica (1928- ), who began as a painter, had a free style early in his career. One of the most stylistically diverse of the Polish poster artists Lenica then revived Art Nouveau expressionism in the early 1960's with his poster for Alban Berg's Wozzeck
Roman Cieslewicz (1930 - 1996). Posters between 1955 -1993
Jan Lenica (1928 - 2001). Posters between 1955 and 1990.
Franciszek Starowieyski (1930 - ). Posters from 1965 to 1990.
Their posters are still predominately made with brushes, pastels, and paints. One sees very little photography in these posters. To them the only valid expression of one's ideas is by human hand to paper. In a way this is what makes Polish Poster Art unique even today. Each poster is a genuine expression of the artist's feeling toward the subject, not just a catchy slogan or image.
Neville Brody, advertising poster (left) software identities for Macromedia (right).
David Carson, advertising design 1990's
Processing: Metropop Denim by Clayton Cubitt and Tom CardenFashion photography meets print resolution physics-inspired generative artwork.
Computer Graphics has from its beginning been used to study scientific problems. Some of the most popular examples of scientific visualizations are computer generated images which show real spacecraft in action, out in the void far beyond Earth, or on other planets. Dynamic forms of visualisation such as educational animation have the potential to enhance learning about systems that change over time.
3D: Game Design and Educational EnvironmentsOne of the greates impacts on Visual communication Design that the computer has generated has been the advent of three dimensional design. while graphic designers historically have always been involved in three dimensional design, especially where the implementation of typographic elements in architecture are concerned, the virtual 3D environment has greatly increased the involvement of graphic designers, indeed creating hybrid professions between architecture, cinematography and graphic design, which involve knowledge of narratology, scenarios, storyboarding, camera handling, light, modelling as well as the design of 2 and 3 dimensional elements such as space and typogrpahy.
Screenshots from "Planet Half-life", created by GameSpy
http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/Symbols
The Chinese language is comprised entirely of pictograms. This system of writing is used by more than any other in the world. (About 1 billion Chinese speakers compared to English at 350 million). Some of you could be reading this page in Chinese pictograms because I have left the text open to be freely translated into any language available in Unicode.‹To be literate in Chinese requires knowledge of several thousand of the over 80,000 Chinese pictograms — although about 3,500 are most commonly used.
A pictogram is an image that represents an object. Pictograms are useful for conveying information through a common "visual language" able to be understood regardless of one's native language or degree of literacy. So that means that anyone in the world that is familiar with the fire extinguisher should recognize the pictogram above. The fire extinguisher pictogram is part of an entire system of signage symbols developed by the United States Department of Transportation to help manage the flow of large amounts of people through transportation hubs. To encourage their adoption world-wide the symbols were made available for free. The American Institute of Graphic Arts played a pivotal role in the the design and development of these symbols.
Coat of Arms and Family Crest came from the symbols displayed on the crest of a helmet or metal chest armor to help identify soldiers in battle or jousting matches. Eventually the images were moved off of the helmet and chest plate and onto banners, dinnerware, etc. The coat of arms, however, often retained the helmet
WWI Recruiting Soldiers
At the start of WWI in 1914 there was no draft for the British Army. As newly mechanized war equipment and gas warfare caused huge casualties it was increasingly difficult to get men to enlist. Posters were used to inspire, or shame, men into joining up.
The Non-commercial PosterPosters have been used to support the causes or protests of disenfranchised Women, Blacks, Latinos, Gays, Native Americans, Environmental Activists and countless other groups. They were especially abundant in the 1960's and 70's when artists would labor over silkscreens to produce strong color fields and bold type at low cost.
The Silence = Death poster 1986, Offset lithographyAct up AIDS activists
Milton Glaser – Dylan poster
"One thing is certain: every work of art shows clear traces of its own time, and contains the unique, unrepeatable, and unmistakable character of a historical constellation. It represents a stage in the development of style which is precisely definable, in technical accomplishments and in sensual-intellectual sensibility. It depicts people and relationships in situations which arise once and only once and addresses itself to individuals who judge the depictions from a specific historical standpoint and a particular social position.“
Arnold Hauser (1968), The Social History of Art, p.77
Contemporary Issues
The environment – generally a lot of technology used via pc’s/ internet and designs usually put on billboards, using up paper/ trees.
Who their designing for? What there advertising – has powerful impact on audience – offensive
Pressure to keep up with the new
The Designer in Society: Most graphic design work is now done on computer using specialised industry standard graphics and multimedia software packages. Graphic designers have to work closely with other colleagues involved in projects, such as copywriters, photographers and sales staff. They may also work directly with clients.
Graphic designers usually work 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday. Extra hours are common, especially to meet critical project deadlines. Part-time work may be possible. The work is usually done in an open plan design studio. It involves sitting and working at a computer for long periods.
“…as an art form, graphic design is viewed only from an aesthetic perspective, without enough consideration of communication and social signifance.”
(Frascara: 2005: 46)
Advertising design is meant to make people buy products or services
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/nike_id_iphone_energy_piecea Nikeid advert to design your own trainers using your phone – use of bright colours on black background, not very impressed with this advert, was very basic and just made to be eye catching for young kids.
• Political or ideological propaganda is expected to affect people’s beliefs and actions
Smoking advertisements
London underground map
Signs, information design, instructional design,international & intercommunication signs, teaching aids, bank notes
Is it possible to assess the quality, and/or fully understand a piece of graphic design work outside of the the specific communication system it is made in relation to? (e.g social marketing to a specific group?) no I dont think it is, we all have a very basic global language of what signs and symbols mean, but we dont fully understand different cultures and hidden meanings.
Yes I think its possible to produce a piece of work which would be considered to be a work of Fine Art and as long as it had basic global language of signs and symbols attached this would be fine. But if it was related to cultural issues we would not understand it as fully.
I do think that the qualities in Graphic Design are measured by the changes it produces in its audience because thats usually the whole point of it, to advertise something as it is considered more technological than art work it can and never will be judged the same as say the "Michalangelo" because its too impersonal to be fingerprinted.
