Visual communication: The conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be read or viewed. Primarily presented or expressed with two dimensional images, it includes: signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, advertising and animation. It explores the idea that a visual message, with or without accompanying text, has a power to inform, educate, or persuade a viewer (rhetoric).
'Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognises before it can speak.' (John Berger, 1972).
‘...Words [spoken] are processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about seven pieces of information. Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched.‘ (Lynell Burmark, Thornburg Centre for Professional Development)
A theory provides an explanatory framework which can be used to explore or support ideas, develop hypotheses, or as a basis for critique.
Anthony Burrill, I Like It, What Is It? (2000)
- Substance and style. The one reflected in the other.
- Theory is about asking ‘why?’, as opposed to just ‘how’ something should be designed or created.
- It’s about ideas - creating a framework through which to think through your ideas.
- It's about having the vocabulary and language to articulate your ideas and describe your work to others.
- It sets your work apart from other design in the competitive commercial world of visual communication.
- Design theory raises aesthetic, philosophical, historical, political questions about design - a socially engaged activity which, by its very nature, has to become part of wider narratives and discourses in order for it to work (discourses with clients, with other designers and design theorists, and with the general public).
- Although practical theories like colour, perception and symbolism have been taught since the Bauhaus, theoretical concepts such as ‘semiotics’ and ‘deconstruction’ have extended critical thinking around design and are used as foundations upon which to build effective design methodologies.
- Rather than basing judgements on design outcomes on aesthetics alone, theory enables us to say why something is ‘good’ or effective. It provides the vocabulary and contextual detail which enables us to rationalise and justify our work. Justifying, arguing and questioning leads to discovery, reason and intuition. Paul Rand defines intuition as ‘a flash of light conditioned by experience, culture, and imagination’.
- Designing intelligently rather than ‘blindly’, helping you to develop your unique visual ‘voice’, and a sense of authorship – carving out your own style/approach to design problems. Helping to illuminate your work and make it visible.
- Critical thinking around your work and that of others helps to open up new lines of enquiry and theoretical directions.
- No design is produced in a vacuum. A knowledge of theory can enhance your work and expand your creative freedom, rather than limiting it.
Design Authorship
'Design authorship' is a relatively new concept which, according to critic Steven Heller, emerged in the late 1980s, promising a counterintuitive shift in graphic design practice - from designers solely serving clients, to becoming their own 'client'. It was more successful as a concept in the 1990s where it became understood as 'design entrepreneurship' and saw designers commanding their own creativity and moving from traditional service design to self-sustaining, self-generated ideas for consumables. Compare with the concept of the ‘auteur’ in film theory, In film theory, where the author’s creative voice is distinct enough to shine through studio interference and the collective process. The idea references films whose content and style reflect the director's personal and recognisable creative vision (e.g. Alfred Hitchcock, Tim Burton, Wes Anderson).
How does theory translate into practice?
In advertising...
•Alan Burles Silk Cut advertisment (1998). What theoretical frameworks can we use to ‘read’ this? How does it ‘work’ as an advert?
In commercial and conceptual design...
Experimental Jetset studio’s Tshirtism. Beatles T-Shirt and ‘Anti’ T-shirt graphics.
'We have been often wondering why our shirt became such a popular subject. Our way of designing is actually quite closed and hermetic: we never...try to guess what will be popular or not. We just concentrate on the aesthetical-conceptual integrity of the design itself, and we always try to fully focus on the inner-logic of the designed object.‘ (Experimental JetSet)
Daniel Eatock - conceptual design
'The idea becomes a machine that makes the art‘. (Sol Le Witt)
Responding to a design problem/challenge; the Big Brother logo:
‘I had to generate a logo that moved, and didn’t know anything about animation. I was interested in the visual effect that occurs when someone wears pinstripe or a check shirt on TV, you get those crazy flickers from a static pattern. So I thought it would be perfect to use this problem and create patterns to intentionally cause this effect. From this simple idea I created an identity based on horizontal black and white stripes that caused the TV screen to flicker and flash. That was the beginning of the Big Brother identity.’
Theory realised as a Manifesto
- A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto either accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus, or promotes a new idea with prescriptive notions for carrying out changes the author believes should be made. It often is political or artistic in nature, but may present an individual's life stance.
- Daniel Eatock, Manifesto:
- ‘Begin with ideasEmbrace chanceCelebrate coincidenceAd-lib and make things upEliminate superfluous elementsSubvert expectationMake something difficult look easyBe first or lastBelieve complex ideas can produce simple thingsTrust the processAllow concepts to determine formReduce material and production to their essenceSustain the integrity of an ideaPropose honesty as a solution.’
- Ken Garland, on First Things First: ‘Written and proclaimed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on an evening in December 1963, the manifesto was published in January 1964. Inexplicably, to me, reverberations are still being felt.’
- The First Things First manifesto was written 29 November 1963 and published in 1964 by Ken Garland. It was backed by over 400 graphic designers and artists and also received the backing of Tony Benn, radical left-wing MP and activist, who published it in its entirety in the Guardian newspaper. Reacting against a rich and affluent Britain of the 1960s, it tried to re-radicalise a design industry which the signatories felt had become lazy and uncritical. Drawing on ideas shared by critical theory and the counter-culture of the time it explicitly re-affirmed the belief that design is not a neutral, value-free process. It rallied against the consumerist culture that was purely concerned with buying and selling things and tried to highlight a Humanist dimension to graphic design theory. It was later updated and republished with a new group of signatories as the First Things First 2000 manifesto.
- First Things First Adbusters Magazine update for 2000.
- First Things First 2014 (http://firstthingsfirst2014.org). In light of the challenges and opportunities created by the networked world we live in today, Cole Peters, a Canadian-born designer based in the UK, has updated the manifesto for 2014, aiming to reflect the influence of the Internet on communications and design, and also to open it up to any signatories.
Conditional Design manifesto
- Through the influence of the media and technology on our world, our lives are increasingly characterized by speed and constant change. We live in a dynamic, data-driven society that is continually sparking new forms of human interaction and social contexts. Instead of romanticizing the past, we want to adapt our way of working to coincide with these developments, and we want our work to reflect the here and now. We want to embrace the complexity of this landscape, deliver insight into it and show both its beauty and its shortcomings. Our work focuses on processes rather than products: things that adapt to their environment, emphasize change and show difference. Instead of operating under the terms of Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Media Art or Sound Design, we want to introduce Conditional Design as a term that refers to our approach rather than our chosen media. We conduct our activities using the methods of philosophers, engineers, inventors and mystics.
- Process: ‘The process is the product. The most important aspects of a process are time, relationship and change. The process produces formations rather than forms. We search for unexpected but correlative, emergent patterns. Even though a process has the appearance of objectivity, we realize the fact that it stems from subjective intentions.’ (See http://conditionaldesign.org/)
Why is a historical understanding important?
- Design as a microcosm of society.
- Design as a reaction to society.
- Visual communication is powerful. The language of protest and revolution. Creativity as a reaction to adversity. Some fairly recent examples:
- Andrew Wong’s ‘Umbrella Revolution’ designs
- Obama ‘Hope’ poster
- Scottish Referendum ‘Yes’ campaign.
- Anthony Burrill – Don’t Say Nothing
- What was happening in the world?
- What ideas/theories were emerging as a result?
- What was happening in art and design?
- Contemporary examples - what's happening today that draws on these ideas? How can they inspire new ones?
Drawing on the past
- To what extent are recognisable designs today drawing on past ideas? Evolution of graphic design
•Examples which reference:
-Art nouveau
-1980s futuristic typefaces
-Saul Bass-style film poster designs
-60s psychedelia
Final reflection on theory and practice
An interview with ‘Invader’:
AP: You’re serving up edible Space Invader waffles at your current show, Attack of the Space Waffles. Is this a comment on the consumable, or perhaps ephemeral, nature of much art?
I: No, it is just that when I look at an object composed by a grid of squares, I think...Space Invader. That’s just what happened with waffles! Notes on the lecture:
I found this lecture very informative and it has expanded my knowledge on visual communication.
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