Hmmmm well i could ponder on this question all my life if i wanted to, but i won't. To me graphic design is about a whole load of stuff and then some more stuff shoved in there and then some more stuff chucked at it for good measure.
No seriously now... i think graphic design is about problem solving, there are always problems to be solved and graphic design is about visually communicating a message so that it solves a problem. Without a clear message the design can get lost in aesthetically pleasing the eye or just could not work and do nothing. Well rather than writing a whole lot of babble i set out to find quotes, designs and videos and things that explore the question or Wehey problem (i love those) (and Its a problem because i don't know if there is a right answer) What is Graphic Design?
(the text in bold should be mine- if that helps whoever reads this)
There’s a quote I like from graphic designer, Saul Bass:
“Design is thinking made visual.”
Damn right it is, as designers we don't think and then decide to do a nice poem or novel we visualise stuff!
According to Wikipedia:
Graphic design is the process of communicating visually using text and images to present information.
How boring and basic, wikipedia you are somewhat crap.
AIGA, the professional association for design, gives this definition:
Graphic design is the combination of shapes, colors, typefaces, images and words that cause you to react or feel something.
So i started to search some websites i like and documented what i thought explored the question, sort of giving examples of what Graphic design is...
Typography. I Love Typography, devoted to fonts, typefaces a...
1 Design Source: Famous Artist & Graphic Design Quotes
"Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better."
John Updike
Winners of the What is Graphic design poster competition | V...
These posters were interesting but i'm starting to realise graphic design is quite personal, even though you design for an audience each design is different because it came from a particular person, who has different ideas to another person, i guess what i'm trying to say is designers are like...
1. Authors, they can all write books, good and bad ones but they don't all tell the same story
2. Cheese, all made from the same stuff, but some stink .
3. Philosophers, all got different theories but look at the same stuff.
I dunno, this questions getting more confusing.
Design is thinking made visual - Saul Bass
Going back to this quote
Everyone can think but this shows graphic design is somethiing much more, because not everyone can put thinking and visual together and even if they can its not always successful. Graphic design is good when it works.
Got me thinking again... so here are some quotes i found and pondered over for a while...
Check out this book with quotes about design from designers: "Everything Reverberates: Thoughts on Design
"Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better."
John Updike
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
Douglas Adams
"I am still learning."
Michelangelo
"Providing, meaning to a mass of unrelated needs, ideas, words and pictures - it is the designer's job to select and fit this material together and make it interesting."
Paul Rand
"Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated."
Paul Rand
"Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations."
Paul Rand
If you remember the shape of your spoon at lunch, it has to be the wrong shape. The spoon and the letter are tools; one to take food from the bowl, the other to take information off the page... When it is a good design, the reader has to feel comfortable because the letter is both banal and beautiful.
Keynote Speech/Type90
Adrian Frutiger
Losing Sleep
by Ephram Edward Benguia
“To me designing has never been a job or profession. It’s a way of life, like a priest or rabbi.”“Doing something a long time does not mean you’re good. It only means you’ve done it a long time.”
“Doing something and getting paid for it doesn’t mean you’re doing it well. It only means you’re doing it.”
It's Nice That
US
Graphic Design
Recent design graduates Christopher Barrett, Edward Heal and Luke Taylor have setup as London design studio Us.
_
Posted by Will / Feb 21, 2008
Hut Weber: Hitler vs. Chaplin | Ads of the World: Creative Advertising Archive & Community
Advertising Agency: Serviceplan Hamburg / München, Germany
Creative Directors: Axel Thomsen, Alexander Schill
Art Director: Jonathan Schupp
Copywriter: Francisca Maass
THOMAS EDISON - Tin foil poster & CD package to celebrate anniversary
E stings vote - E4.com
Your Face
YOUR FACE
" Real people don't read your blog.A fact that I wasn't made aware of when I signed up for these things; It now seems so obvious.
If you are reading this and you do happen to be a real person then why not send me a photo (one which includes your real face) and I will draw a picture of you and post it here to serve as everlasting proof that sometimes facts are wrong. "
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE
This project has been running for well over a year now and judging by my bulging inbox any original thoughts that nobody reads blogs have been blown out of the water. I have no intention of hanging up my sketchbook anytime soon and with 200 faces being a milestone that I didn't ever intend to reach, it feels appropriate to celebrate it in some manner. I have a few ideas that I hope to turn into reality in the next few weeks including a special portrait for lucky face number 200. Until then I leave you with a glimpse of the first printed versions of yourface. I will be making a series of these limited edition booklets, each containing around 20 portraits..patterns - a set on Flickr
Graphic design is hard work but rewarding when you put the effort in, collecting visual material is important, and ongoing investigations and collections can build into something really nice, like...
LUDWIG
Graphic Design
The Flickr collection obsession continues – Nick directed us towards this one full of public transport seat patterns.
www.flickr.com/photos/ludwig/sets/721…
The rest of this is just me working through and picking out things that relate to the question and design which i think show the variety of possibilities that graphic design can be.
Noisy Decent Graphics: Quotes
Type for you.
Jessica Nebel bring us a poster with an alterable structure to display messages - a visually professional and attention grabbing alternative to messy blackboard writings.“Pixel It” consists of two layers of paper. Cuts on the white outer layer allow the user to fold parts out and therefore create a “Pixel-Structure” by showing the coloured layer underneath
Edhv
A new season for ALRT at the effenaar. Another 6 editions. We created a new way of dealing with the promotional campaign. Here you can see some of the sketches and tests made for the posters and flyers. Everything is cut out by hand in order to give it the analog feel. So keep an eye out for the final posters and flyers. They will be up soon.
Our colleagues of HeyHeyHey and Too Much Fun Club invited 15 designers to do a design for a top layer on a limited edition silkscreen printed poster. Sjoerd Koopmans and Remco van de Craats of the Edhv team did one poster each. Sjoerd just couldn’t stop laughing. Remco decided to turn the poster into a party outfit. Anyways, fun we had. Check out the party pirates. | Matthew Girard
A promotional poster and calendar mailer for a D.C. area photographer. poster | front | ||
 | Can be torn along the perforated lines to create individual calendar cards and a containing box.
poster | back | ||
 | Diagrams provided to construct the box. The box is also a functioning pin hole camera, with exposure length and focal distance charts provided.
poster | back (detail) | ||
 | constructed box | calendar cards and box | ||
all content © charles calixto 2007 | |||
Matthew Girard
poster/calendar
fall 2006
A promotional poster and calendar mailer for a D.C. area photographer.
poster | frontdigital print | 20" x 26"
images © Matthew Girard
Can be torn along the perforated lines to create individual calendar cards and a containing box.
poster | back
Diagrams provided to construct the box. The box is also a functioning pin hole camera, with exposure length and focal distance charts provided.
poster | back (detail)
constructed box | calendar cards and box
Cheers to Caspian for the heads up.
Saul Bass describes designers as to be playing with toys, so what is graphic design i say its fun!
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