Future of Graphic Design: Drucker

¶ … Future of Graphic Design:

Drucker and McVarish's Arguments

In today's world, it's difficult to walk even a few blocks without seeing the importance of graphic design. Numbers on houses, business, and apartment complexes help us understand where we are in comparison to where we want to be, while street signs with written street names and perhaps cardinal directions further point us in the right direction. Businesses are adorned with large signs that tell potential customers the name of the business, what kinds of goods or services are offered, and what kinds of deals customers can expect to find inside. Traffic signs tell drivers to stop or yield, preventing harmful accidents, while others sings put in place by governments and municipalities warn citizens about laws that they could be breaking, such as littering or parking illegally. Everywhere we go, graphics are used as a form of communication. From letters and words to shapes and designs, graphics play an important part in each of our lives, from helping us determine which restroom to enter to warning us of the speed. In much the same way as graphics are used for communication, they are also used to demonstrate power. For instance, the United States has a written constitution. Supreme Court justices must carefully interpret the meanings of the graphics written on its pages in order to determine whether laws are constitutional or not. In other countries, like the United Kingdom, that do not have written constitutions, the power of law is not as influential. In addition, a connection between literacy and socioeconomic status is evident today. Those who have the ability to understand graphics have more power, in terms of money and influence, than those who do not. The connection between graphic design and communication, as well as the connection between graphic design and power, has existed throughout the ages. In fact, in their discussion of the history of graphic design, I believe Drucker and McVarish (2009) suggest that graphic design functions both as a form of communication for nearly all groups, as well as a form of power for those institutions that harness its advances.

When reading Drucker and McVarish's (2009) first chapter, I began to understand how even the simplest cultures could use graphic design as a form of communication. The authors argue that, "mark making is the most basic form of graphic expression and design" (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 11). Even before writing was developed in some societies, graphic design was used in order to communicate something from one person or group to another. For example, patterns on French stones "suggest a conventional code" although they were not necessarily the markings of writing or a language (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 12). Early writing in Mesopotamia, which began around 3200 BCE, further served as a form of communication, enabling government and society. For instance Drucker and McVarish (2009) suggest that, "writing and sign making are directly related to administrative tasks and the social structures needed to enahle civil societies" (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 15). Many of the types of writing that the early writers used were pictographic, meaning that they were developed as types of symbols rather than an alphabet. Eventually, alphabets, in which graphics represent, in some fashion, sounds, were also developed. But no matter whether the writing was contained in a pictographic or alphabetical time, it allowed societies to communicate. When the authors write that, "both [writing and cuneiform] spread to other areas in the ancient Near East," I assumed that graphics must have been such effective methods of communication that other cultures wanted to quickly adopt them as their own (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 18).

Even as writing and graphics continued to develop in complication and sophistication, graphics continued to be used as an important and influential method of communication. "In the Classical period, literacy took on new graphic and cultural dimensions" (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 29). The Greeks and Romans understood the importance of graphic language, and they used "writing for individual expression, communication, commemorative acts of public record, and decrees or commands" (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 29). Thus, the Greeks used writing not only to encourage communication between citizens, but also to allow communication between the government and its citizens. This can be seen by the fact that the Greeks used scraps that they found to compose notes and other methods of individual communication, in addition to the public graphics in stones that issued decrees from the government. In the Middle Ages, graphics in the form of writing, in addition to illuminations and illustrations, such as stained glass, served as the mode of communication between the general population and the church. In the renaissance period, the invention of the printing press served as an important technological invention for the emergence of graphics as methods of communication. While graphics previously served as modes of communication among citizens, as well as between citizens and institutions, the invention of the printing press increased these opportunities. For the first time, what was in print was often contradictory, such as the protestant declarations that challenged the monarchies (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 69). Thus, common people were now invited to communicate with others, causing a "cultural transformation" (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 72). Furthermore, "diplomacy, banking, and administrative systems," of the "thriving market economy" in Europe "depended on graphic artifacts to record transactions and keep accounts," as well as creating a market for books (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 73-74).

Thus, Drucker and McVarish (2009) make a strong case for graphic design as a form of communication throughout time, from the earliest scribbling on rocks to the invention of the printing press, which encouraged many to use graphic design to enter into even higher levels of communication. Clearly, I believe that Drucker and McVarish establish graphic design as a medium through which all classes and peoples could eventually enter into communication among themselves and with the powerful institutions. After reading Drucker and McVarish's implications regarding graphic design and communication, I have come to the conclusion that it is important to study the technological innovations throughout the years since the printing press, including modern inventions such as the Internet and cell phones. These, too, have increased the way we communicate through graphics, and have implications for society and culture.