Exploring Graphic Design: A Comprehensive Introduction to Visual Communication

1. Chapter 1Introduction

2. Objectives (1 of 2) • Define graphic design. • Understand the place graphic design has in our world. • Become familiar with the major categories and specializations in graphic design and advertising professions. • Become acquainted with the nature and impact of visual communications.

3. Objectives (2 of 2) • Be aware of the employment opportunities for visual communication professional. • Understand the nature of collaboration. • Appreciate why design matters. • Value ethical practice in visual communication. • Realize the education necessary visual communication professionals.

4. Definitions (1 of 2) • Graphic design can be thought of as a visual language that is used to convey a message to an audience. • A graphic design is a visual representation of an idea that relies on the creation, selection, and organization of visual elements to create an effective communication.

5. Definitions (2 of 2) • A graphic design solution can: • persuade • inform • identify • motivate • enhance • organize • brand • rouse • locate • engage • carry/convey many levels of meaning

6. The Graphic Design Profession • The graphic design profession is an expert creative discipline that focuses on visual/verbal communication and meaning.

7. Specialized Areas (1 of 11) • Information design • highly specialized area of design • involves making large amounts of complex information clear and accessible to audiences of one to several hundred thousand Design and Concept: The Design Studio of Kean University. Creative Director: Alan Robbins

8. Specialized Areas (2 of 11) • Identity design • Involves the creation of a systematic visual and verbal program intended to establish a consistent visual appearance—a coordinated overarching identity —and spirit or image for a brand or group • Also called corporate identity, brand identity, and corporate design Logo Designer: Liz Kingslien

9. Specialized Areas (3 of 11) • Promotional design • Design intended to introduce, sell, or promote brands (products and services), ideas, or events and to introduce or promote groups and social causes • Sometimes overlaps with advertising, in definition and purpose Promotional Design Firm: Drenttel Doyle Partners

10. Specialized Areas (4 of 11) • Branding • The entire development process of creating a brand, brand name, and a brand identity • Brand experience • Entails developing an entire brand experience • comprehensive strategic, unified, integrated, creative program for a brand including every graphic design and advertising application for that brand with an eye and mind on how consumers and individuals experience the brand or group as each interacts with it

11. Specialized Areas (5 of 11) • Publication design • Involves the design of editorial content • Also called editorial design. • The publication designer makes content accessible, interprets the content’s intention to clearly communicate, enhances the reader’s experience, and establishes a voice, character/spirit, and format for the publication. Magazine layout, Print designer: Steven Brower

12. Specialized Areas (6 of 11) • Advertising • Involves generating and creating specific visual/verbal messages constructed to inform, persuade, promote, provoke, or motivate people on behalf of a brand or group • “group” represents both commercial industry and social cause (non-profit) organizations) TV Commercial Agency: Grey Advertising

13. Specialized Areas (7 of 11) • Environmental design • Solves problems about information or identity communication in constructed or natural environments, defining and marking interior and exterior commercial, cultural, residential, and natural environments Interior graphics for Penn Station Design firm: Pentagram

14. Specialized Areas (8 of 11) • Type design and lettering • Highly specialized area of graphic design focusing on the creation and design of fonts, type treatments, and the drawing of letterforms by hand (as opposed to type generated on a computer) Custom lettering Hand lettering: Jim Redzinak

15. Applications within Specialized Areas (9 of 11) • Information design • Charts, graphs, pictograms, signs, symbol signs, icons, web sites, sign systems • Identity design • Logos, visual identity, corporate identity, branding • Promotional design • CD covers, book covers and jackets, posters, packaging, web sites, web banners, motion graphics (film title design, TV graphics design, openers, promotional motion presentations), multimedia promotions, giveaways, merchandise catalogs, direct mail, invitations, announcements

16. Applications within Specialized Areas (10 of 11) • Branding • Brand naming, brand conception, brand identity, brand revitalization, brand launch, brand relaunch, brand environments, global branding, corporate branding, social cause branding, brand strategy • Publication design • Book design, magazine design, newspaper design, newsletters, booklets

17. Applications within Specialized Areas (11 of 11) • Environmental design • Architectural interiors, interplan exhibit environmental graphics, exhibits, environmental wayfinding (system of integrated signs) • Type design and lettering • Custom and proprietary font design for digital type foundry, hand lettering, custom typography • Advertising • Print ads, television commercials, unconventional formats, banner ads, web sites, “webisodes,” web films, product placement, viral marketing, direct mail, branded entertainment, product placement

18. Media • For many visual communications categories, different media can be employed. • Print, digital, broadcast, unconventional, or film

19. The Nature and Impact of Visual Communications • Produced in multiples, graphic design is created for a specific audience. • In graphic design, a message is intentionally designed, transmitted, and then received by viewers. Ad Agency: Carmichael Lynch

20. The main places of employment for a visual communication professional are: Design studios Branding firms Companies Corporations and organizations with in-house design departments Publishers Interactive agencies Unconventional marketing firms Advertising agencies Integrated communication firms Self-employment as well as free-lance work Employment in the Visual Communication Field

21. Collaboration (1 of 2) • From developing a strategy to negotiating a fee to choosing a printer, the client and graphic designer collaborate.

22. Collaboration (2 of 2) • A graphic designer also works with other visual communications professionals • Creative directors • Design directors • Associate creative directors • Production experts • Photographers, illustrators, copywriters, and art directors • Specialists • (interactive / type/lettering / architects / film directors / producers / casting directors / talent (actors, musicians, and models) / music houses / IT professionals / psychologists / social anthropologists/market researchers) • Printers and printers’ sales representatives

23. “Design Matters” • Paula Scher, Pentagram • The visual communications profession helps to drive the economy, provide information to the public, and promote research and development of goods and services.

24. Ethics in Visual Communications • Each individual designer is responsible to discover ethical ways to practice. • Any design problem can be solved in a great number of ways and each solution has different economic and social benefits and consequences.

25. Summary (1 of 2) • Graphic design and advertising plays a key role in the appearance of almost all print, film, and digital media forming society’s popular visual landscape. • Graphic designers and advertising art directors are the creative professionals who, through ethical practice, use a visual language to convey messages to an audience. • Visual communications can persuade, inform, identify, motivate, enhance, organize, brand, rouse, locate, engage, and carry/convey many levels of meaning.

26. Summary (2 of 2) • Visual communication professionals work in a variety of settings. • Visual communication professionals collaborate with a good number of other creative professionals as well as with their clients. • Design matters – visual communications help society in a great number of ways, from driving the economy to informing the public. • Visual communications professionals need to be well educated with a strong liberal arts background and excellent training in design, writing and conversant in ethics.

27. Exercise • Give definition of graphic design • What specialized areas for design and give one example application for each area. • Give five the employment opportunities in the visual communication field.