What is Graphic Design? Having done this for so long it seems like such an odd question to be asking myself right now… Funny thing is, however, even though I have spent the past 15 years of my life as a graphic designer, I don’t believe I have ever really stopped to ask myself or try to define WHAT graphic design is.
Last quarter at SCAD was my first quarter in grad school. There were several key moments of introspection and self-analysis of my long held biases and beliefs about design, the creative process and the nature of art. I get the feeling that this will be one of those big challenging questions that will change my perspective as the course progresses. I will try to have an open mind about it and the differing opinions that are sure to emerge from this discourse.
In my opinion, Graphic Design is the discipline of assembling, organizing, creatively interpreting, and visually communicating information and imagery to a designated audience with the intent to influence them towards a client goal.
I once read something along the lines of graphic designers don’t write the text, create the fonts, take the photos, draw the illustrations, do any printing or coding… but their work employs all of those tools on a daily basis. Of course, there are designers that also illustrate or take photos or whatever, but as far as strictly defining graphic design work, that idea resonates with me. We are like conductors, bringing together the assets created by other talented people in a great symphony of visual awesomeness!
Hi Timothy,
It is strange to sit down and try to define what exactly the graphic design profession is and means to you, isn’t it? I felt like I had to stop myself from going overboard in trying to explain away what I do. Your definition of graphic design is interesting because of how simplistic (in a good way) it is. What you said last within your definition, “with the intent to influence them towards a client goal” is potent because it is what really defines us apart from fine artists. I wish I could remember the article name that I just read a few days ago that goes into detail about this particular sentiment. An old coworker of mine used to always say that he didn’t see his self as an artist, but rather a visual marketer. I didn’t entirely agree with the sentiment since I think we do possess a degree of fine art within our profession, but there certainly are designers that are successful and are not fine artists.
Thank you for sharing your definition,
Bonnie
Thanks Bonnie! I totally agree with you that there is quite a bit of ART in what we do every day… we must not lose sight of that in our efforts to serve the client goal. I also believe that the presence of the client’s agenda (and not our own) is one that truly separates Graphic Design and Fine Art… even if the exact same tools are being used. I actually wrote about this issue in my second blog entry where I commented on the AIGA article about Defining the Designer of 2015.