by victoria | Oct 11, 2012 | design methodologies
graph·ic (gra-fik) Relates to a written or pictorial representation, described in vivid detail, realting to graphic arts, or a pictorial device used to convey a message. Shelly Evenson in her presentation for the New Contexts, New Practices Symposium discusses some of the changes int eh industry today. Among other changes she wondered if the word “graphic” was still relevant today. Once one gets past the immediate questions, you begin to see that what Evenson is proposing makes sense . She recognizes that many designers would go through a crisis of identity. (Evenson) Yet lately as someone trained in interior design and tangentially in graphic design, find that I do not need to put any qualifiers in front of designer. The term designer alludes to some one who is capable of laying out a pleasing organized system of something; words on the page, rooms in a building, the interior trim of a vehicle, pages on the internet. Much of this change of thinking has to do with a student who is required to take typography while studying architecture. I am constantly trying to relate typography to her in terms of architecture. Periods of design, classifications of typefaces. This could easily be periods of architectural design or classification of building structures. While there are distinct difference the principles of design are the same as is the ability to put things together skillfully. Why pigeon hole someone with multiple aptitudes? If we look at the definition of graphic in the most related sense, a graphic designer would be someone who creates a pictorial device to illustrate a message. This seems rather simplistic. In todays industry the designer needs to be able to create artifacts at the lowest end of the spectrum. While the other end has...
by victoria | Sep 24, 2012 | design methodologies
First came across Jessica Helfand in an earlier design class which focused on design thinking and theory. Her essay, Dematerialization of Screen Space really got me thinking about in the internet and media. Helfand states in reference to the amazing capabilities of the internet, “But we are also prisoners: trapped in a medium in which visual expression must filter through a protocol of uncompromising programming scripts…” [1] As someone who always professed to not understand anything related to math (misguided self thinking), and pre-computer-in-every-classroom designer, the web terrified me. In the essay from 2007 Helfand speaks to the dichotomy of instant authorship that goes out to an infinite number of people. She is curious about the quality of information and design on the web. Does the experience leave us with lasting impressions. Are we using the web to its fullest capabilities. Helfand is convinced that now is the time for a new Avant-Garde in New Media. Yet we are help back by a two-dimensional approach to the web. She states, “…the illusion that Internet space is made up of pages, of words, of flat screens. Why is it that design thinking remains so brainwashed by this notion.” She continues by adding that internet space is its own galaxy, emphatically that this galaxy is “by no means flat.” [1] This particular essay found in Graphic Design Theory, Reading from the Field, was my introduction to Helfand, a pioneer in the field of design for the internet. Excited about the possibilities Helfand is encouraging in the design world, I began reading up about her work. Her studio Winterhouse, is home base...
by victoria | Sep 15, 2012 | design methodologies
Hugh Dubberly talks about the shift in design that is occurring at this time in history. In a similar fashion to the entry of the industrial age we have now shifted into the information age. What does this mean to the designer? Dubberly begins the article by discussing the shift from mechanical ethos to that of an organic ethos. In the technical mechanical ethos age – we become reliant on machinery and technology. Perhaps too much so. Technology keeps changing the way we live, communicate, how we perform our work and how we design. We have placed a great deal of emphasis on the tools of design. Trying to place graduates has led to the act of beefing up tangible workplace skills – predominantly software that gives voice to the design. Couple the emphasis on software as design with the availability of anyone to have and use software the field has found itself in need of rejuvenation. An infusion of purpose beyond the artifact. Technology remains necessary. Dubberly states this, “But computer-as-production-tool is only half the story; the other half is computer-plus-network-as-media.” [1] He goes on to say that the output of design is changing the way that we view the practice of design. Dubberly’s description of networking, process flow and information processing brings to mind the blood system of humans. Dubberly draws this contrast, “The eras are framed as stark dichotomies to characterize the nature of changes. But experience is typically more fluid, lying along a continuum somewhere between extremes.” [1] He even talks about how we refer to instances of computer malfunctions as bugs, attacks as viruses, and so forth. Notice a trend in the language? What is this...
by victoria | Sep 13, 2012 | design methodologies
Once upon a time I wrote an essay on my interpretation of graphic design. Who knew at the time that the essay would take me down some pretty dark paths in the weeks that followed, learning much about myself and facing some hard truths along the way. One thing gleaned was that if there is a less complex route, you won’t find me taking it. In the months that follow I will aim for clarity and less complication in my thinking and methodology. This is a simplified version of my thoughts on graphic design. Graphic design is a term for a much larger field of jobs and skill sets. These jobs and skill sets depend on the outcome desired or the talent of the individual. This leads me to the statement that graphic design is a field in which a variety of creative types visually communicate a message. Designers provide a service. Many factors plague and bless the field today which is causing great change. We are emerging and colliding through technology and a shared global voice. The field of graphic design is evolving in exciting new ways which include a return to traditional methods, embracing new technologies, clear communication and design ethos. As an educator, this conversation has great meaning and depth. As someone also learning and growing in the field I am in the thick of design. It is more than a job, it is a passion that most of us share. We get off on creating. Graphic designers might build web pages, create and animate characters, speed paint scenery for a movie, render a 3D walk through, edit and create videos, write...
by vshepherd | Aug 19, 2012 | typography
Last year the student AIGA group from Specs Howard School of Media Arts, and I took a field trip to the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit. We had the privilege of meeting Mark Arminski. Arminski a local Detroit artist who bridged the gap between the psychedelic 60’s and grudge of the 90’s. Arminski is an artist who works traditionally, painting or screening concert posters and whatever commissions he receives. He has done advertising work for large corporations, including liquor and cigarettes yet the concert poster is what he is most known for. Mark was very inspiring and warm, he welcomed the group in and said come back any time. The students were thrilled to here him talk about his design concept of painting and hand lettering, which he felt gave him the most freedom to shape the communication. In an interview Arminski talks about the ability for many people to create art because of the internet, and the ability to reach a far greater audience. As well as the open ability to sell art, that without the internet artists would be creating with a limited market. [1] While Arminski recognizes some of the merits of working with the computer, his work is done by hand. He exudes creation in whatever form grabs his attention. The first image is a poster, and the second a snippet of an oil painting he was working on the day we visited. http://insidetherockposter.highwire.com/product/black-crowes-1996-mark-arminski-uncut-poster-sheet-handbills-signed http://www.arminski.com/shop/my-dream/ Another Motown designer who later transplanted to teach at Cal Arts is Ed Fella. Fella is well-known for his explosion of self-expression in the 1980s when much of the design...
