【毕业设计论文】About Graphic Design

I think design in essence has to have an authentic honesty built into it. The main goal is

RAFAEl ESqUER. Clothing

donation bag sent to clients

for the holidays as a way to

4CHAPTER 1: ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN

1.2PIERRE BERNARD, ATElIER DE

CRéATION GRAPHIqUE. For the

Centre Pompidou renovation

in Paris, a temporary system

of signs was devised. Type was

hoisted up, crossed out, and

ultimately removed.

utility (for use). Whether designing for an individual, a small business, or

a large corporation, the designer brings a degree of art, craft, intelligence,

and intuition to every project.

Graphic designers often collaborate with writers, illustrators, pho-

tographers, and printers, making for an energizing work environment.

Clients sometimes invest large sums of money, and an audience of mil-

lions just might see the designer’s work, but the most exciting aspect of

the graphic designer’s job—and the most admirable one—is saying some-

thing that matters, and saying it with both grace and intelligence.

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Graphic Design’s Heritage

Graphic design (the art of conveying messages) has always been a part

of us, even as far back as the early cave paintings of approximately 16,000

years ago. Scenes of the hunt—like the ones pictured at Lascaux—may

have been more than merely decorative, possibly serving a number of

purposes (Figure 1.3). One purpose may have been to literally describe

the animals as an instruction manual might, picturing what to chase and

what to avoid. Another likely purpose may have been to bring good for-

tune by symbolically capturing the animals on the wall. Made with only

burnt sticks and colored pigments, these beautifully executed designs

could have motivated the hunting group and helped it to survive.

Fast-forwarding 14,000 years, a stone mosaic from Pompeii was

used to communicate an important message: “Beware of the dog” (Figure

1.4). A ferocious dog perfectly translated into the black and white mosaic

along with words of caution made its point clearly to visitors. Forward

another 1,700 years to America’s first political cartoon, Join or Die, a

woodcut by Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) (Figure 1.5). Franklin’s wit

and conviction can be seen in the design of a snake severed into eighths,

each segment representing a British American colony or region. The

design inspired colonial unity in a yet-to-be-born country.

Today, digital printing and electronic media have replaced cave wall

paintings, mosaics, and woodcuts. But the functional aspect of graphic

1.3 lascaux cave paintings, Dordogne, France.

GRAPHIC DESIGN’S HERITAGE E xcErpt: The Name Game (AIGA Journal , Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 37)

Eventually I realized it is the vagueness of the term “graphic design” that makes it so

appropriate. The same reason my grandmother initially couldn’t understand that term is the very reason it works. It can cover myriad skills, cope with technological innovations

and changes in the profession, but still refer to the larger concerns of visual communication, representation, and issues of creating meaning through content. This flexibility allows me

to take on the role of an interface designer, website designer, or motion typographer, and add that knowledge to the variety of skills that currently fall under the title “graphic designer,a term that itself is as unfinished and malleable as any digital piece of work.

The s in graphics was eventually dropped by the

Graphics Design

1.7DAvID PlUNKERT, SPUR DESIGN.

Posters for TurnAround, a nonprofit

agency serving victims of sexual

assault and domestic violence.

CHAPTER 1: ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN

1.9KUHlmANN lEAvITT, INC.

Design for Formica Group Neocon

exhibition space.

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S pEAkOut:Motion Design’s Evolving role

A lthough the practice of graphic design began with print, designers are being asked with increas-ing frequency to consider time, motion, and sound in their work. This is part of a general trend in communication, which may have started with cave paintings and could lead to the making of full-on virtual reality experiences. Most of the messages that were conveyed in print only a century ago have now shifted to onscreen media, like movies, television, software, games, and the Internet. In El Lissitzky’s 1923 manifesto, Topography of Typography,

magazine Merz), he wrote exuberantly, “The printed sheet overcomes space and time. The printed sheet, the infinity of the book, has to be overcome. THE ELECTRO-LIBRARY.

and technology continues to evolve. As the possibilities of the technology change, the designer’s role begins to overlap with other disciplines. The difference between design and art has always been a subject of debate. Boundaries between graphic design and writing, software design, behavioral science, film directing, and editing do indeed blur. The graphic designers of the future will have more responsibilities and collaborators than ever, but there will always be a role for people skilled

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stress utility of reading, whereas a magazine will stress creative interpreta-tion of each story (Figure 1.13). Now that most publications have both a print and online presence, designers have to consider how their designs

will function in both platforms. A particular printed font may not work

1.13 ANDREA FEllA. PaPer mAGAzINE.

layout spread for this New York

City-based independent magazine

focusing on fashion, pop-culture,

nightlife, music, art, and film.

CHAPTER 1: ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN

1.15KEENAN. Book jacket for The Bug, vintage Books. The image of computer keys illustrates this novel about the fate between a software programmer and the bug she sets out to eliminate.

GRAPHIC DESIGN CATEGORIES

1.20NIGEl HOlmES. A map of

manhattan/World Trade Center

for Rolling Stone magazine

that helped readers locate the

specific 9/11 site known as

“Ground zero.”

CHAPTER 1: ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN

Kennedy advertising agency,

tries to make Coca-Cola more

moment (and chance to drink

Self-Publishing

A digitally interactive performance is an example of how new

media and activities can be incorporated into a self-published

project. In the example shown here, the designer Elliot Earls com-

bines elements of music, poetry, typography, design criticism, and GRAPHIC DESIGN CATEGORIES

spoke effectively because there was an informed opinion to begin with.

In the context of a business-oriented problem, Cheryl Heller used

Vignette 1.4KATHERINE mCCOY & DANIEl lIBESKIND. Architecture Symbol and Interpretation

exhibition poster. An announce-

ment for an exhibition refers Vignette 1.3Fluxus exhibit catalog cover. This cover’s structure refers to a diagram of the history of Fluxus by the movement’s founder, George maciunas. The bright colors of cheap printing paper are in the provocative spirit of Fluxus.

Vignette 1.2Cranbrook Metalsmithing poster. A staged photograph makes a landscape of recent student work. Here, a schematic plan for the pitcher is superimposed and metallic forms of silver and copper cut into the photograph.