How technology influences graphic design fundamentals and practice

Graphic Design: The Influence of Technology

Graphic design

Graphic Design Meets Technology: How Technology Influences Design

From the time that a caveman returned from a food hunt, yelled to his neighbors to come visit, grabbed his walking stick and drew ferocious stick figures in the dirt of the beast that just barely got away, man has turned to visual elements to convey both facts and emotion.

It's difficult to imagine that same caveman withdrawing to his cave, putting down his walking stick, booting up his computer and firing up Adobe Illustrator -- the design world's premier graphic design software.

Think of the images he could create and the artistic details he could render. Reaching back to his recall of the beast and the attempted slaying and also unleashing the power of his senses and creativity, the caveman could, through the vast design capabilities of Illustrator, create a masterpiece worthy of neighborly acclaim and accolades. Cavemen, after all, were known to be competitive, too.

Man meets technology while graphic design merges with technology. Today, the proof of this phenomenon is everywhere -- from ubiquitous Starbuck's and McDonald's logos to the universal signs that guide travelers around the globe to the proper restroom or up or down a flight of stairs. These symbols, and thousands more, are the products of graphic design.

The universal directional signs are staggeringly simplistic in form, yet they do point up a tantalizing question: Is it possible to simply put the "right" technology in someone's hands -- even a caveman's hands -- and expect truly masterful graphic design to result?

The short answer is no. The longer answer is that while technology has made it simpler to create designs and has opened the field of graphic design to a generation of studious computer lovers, Illustrator and its more inferior cousins (such as Microsoft Publisher) still require

The origins of graphic design

W.A. Wiggins was an unusual combination of these mediums: as a type designer, book designer, illustrator and commercial artist, Wiggins was among several prominent and progressive artists who believed it was important to support design education and to define printing as art.

In 1911, at an informal gathering in of 14 people in New York, Wiggins marked the auspicious beginning of the largest and oldest graphic design institution in America. He was in Graphic design 5

good company, alongside Frederic W. Goudy, a famous poster designer, and Berkley Updike, a respected printer. Yet it was Wiggins who deftly coined the term "graphic designer."

Tied to the fine art community of New York City, this group understandably blurred the line between art and design. Determined and resolved to enlighten others to their point-of-view, they eventually formed what is now known as the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914. As the country's oldest professional organization for design, AIGA has more than 20,000 members in 65 chapters nationwide.

The group's mission in part, is to "promote the higher education in these arts, generally to do all things which will raise the standard and aid the extension and development of the graphic arts in the United States" (Steven & Gluck, 1989).

Principle elements of design

Today's graphic artists, like the cavemen of yesteryear, carry a big stick. They must master and bring meaning to words that have come into common usage and which owe their origin to graphic design: line, shape, mass or size, texture, color, form, space and value (lightness or darkness). Other words, such as rebuses, pictograms, logos, trademarks, brands and monograms, aren't as well-known but underscore some of the principle elements of design.

But the point remains: advertisements, posters, postcards, brochures, letterheads, websites and television -- virtually all forms of multimedia -- use a combination of these elements and symbols to create visual communication. Like Chu, one of the more astute observers and educators of graphic design says that designers work with purpose, if not a mission, of sorts: "A distinct attribute of graphic design, when compared to other visual arts, is that of context" (Jackson, 2008).

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If "context" is subjective, then it follows that graphic design is, too. Show the home page of a Web site to four people and you're likely to elicit four different opinions -- a fact of life that once led one anonymous artist to lament: "Everyone with a pair of eyes thinks they're a critic. Well, I'm here to tell you: they're not."

In a sense, though, we are all critics of graphic design. As consumers, we know what we like when we see it; we know instinctively when, say, an advertisement for cologne appeals to our senses and taps into our emotions, ranging from fun and adventure to risk and the unknown.

And yet pros like Chu know that a "good" design must contain some core elements:

Exhibit contrast

Prove that less is more

Demonstrate that part of one element can be more intriguing than the entire element (i.e., a close-up of the core of an apple can draw more attention than a picture of the entire apple)

Keep it simple

Appeal to the senses

Surprise us

Today's graphic designers, also known as graphic artists, rub elbows -- literally and figuratively -- with fine artists, photographers, printers, publishers, etchers, engravers, lithographers, topographers and architects.

On high-profile projects in the world of business -- as Chu once was assigned -- graphic designers could gain access to CEOs and company presidents, entrusted with decisions that could make or break a company's fortune. Just ask Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike -- one of America's most successful sports equipment and apparel companies.

He hired Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student at Portland State University, to create a logo for his then-company, Blue Ribbon Sports, in 1971. Just like any conscientious

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artist, Davidson presented Knight and other company executives with a number of design options before they voted for what has become universally known and recognized as the Nike "swoosh."

"I don't love it," Knight is said to have told her, "but I think it will grow on me."

Since then, it's "grown" on thousands of other logos, too; the "swoosh" is easily the most copied (or "emulated," depending on your point-of-view) in the history of graphic design.

Davidson submitted a bill for $35 for her efforts, which made Nike one of the most easily recognized brands in the world. (it's been strongly suggested that Knight has since compensated Davidson well beyond her original invoice.

Multimedia options and technology buttress need for graphic design

Technology, as they say, is everywhere. And it's in everyone's hands. Fifteen years ago, cell phones were still uncommon among adults. Today, it seems peculiar if a young child doesn't own one, too.

But phones are just a mere segment of the communication and multimedia explosion. The emergence of smartphones, Blackberries and iPads have made information accessible and available immediately, right upon our demand.

This new information age has sparked a rebirth in advertising, for every multimedia medium contains a staggering area of words, pictures and appeals -- almost all of which have been designed or influenced by a graphic designer along the way.

Log into your e-mail account and you are flooded with an array of local advertisements. You can work online, shop online, play games online, get homework help online and even get real-time advice from a certified mechanic about how to remove the radio from the dashboard in Graphic design 8

your car. And every click of the way, technology is tracing your every move, feeding you ads and offers that originated at the desk of a graphic artist or designer.

But technology is not only tethered to computer lines; it's also tethered to a gas pump. Some gasoline companies have programmed their pumps so that the moment a consumer selects his gasoline of choice -- regular, high-grade or premium -- a commercial touting the company begins to air (some would say blare) for the next five minutes.

The "sea change" in the world of technology has -- to borrow an expression of an earlier, less complicated time -- made Sherry Turkle's head spin in wonder. But Turkle, a professor at MIT for the last 25 years, notes that "we make our technologies and our technologies shape us."

But the next generation of college students should fear not, for the entire revolution is being documented for future introspection.

Joe Janes, chairman of the library and information science at the University of Washington and the person responsible for developing the Internet Public Library, recently stated he foresees a growing role for multimedia in the library (Mitchell, 2005).

Technology empowers but the operator rules the day

Much like TV programs devoted to home improvement projects have engendered legions of weekend warriors, so too has the accessibility and ubiquity of graphic design spawned countless amateur designers.

They have been encouraged by a cottage industry of "easy to follow" commercial templates and computer programs that guide wanna-be artists through the creation of business cards, brochures, Web sites and virtually any design challenge they wish to master.

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But have we also lost sight of the word master? -- "a person recognized as having achieved the highest degree of skill," according to Webster's New World College Dictionary.

To return to the original thesis question: is it possible to simply put the "right" technology in someone's hands -- even a caveman's hands -- and expect truly masterful graphic design to result?

Not unless that someone is graced with god-like powers of intuition, skill and years of experimentation, practice and education.

To wit: Not only does a graphic designer need to know how to use sophisticated computer programs to create designs, but he or she often needs to understand photography, editing, printing capabilities and context.

If a designer is creating an ad for the newspaper, he or she needs to consider several options: Will there be color? Is the font embedded into the design? Has the photo or graphic element been saved in the right dpi? (Does the novice designer even know what dpi -- dots per inch -- stands for?)

Many people have experienced issues opening a document at one time or another. If the font isn't embedded into the document, chances are, when it is opened on another computer, another font entirely will take place of the one that was so carefully chosen.

Even color has been standardized for the purposes of printing, enacted by the Association of Ink manufacturers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, in 1930 (Steven & Gluck, 1989).

It is tempting to turn to Columbia College in Chicago, one of the nation's premier schools for students seeking a career in the arts, for guidance in its training methodolgy. It is even more

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telling to see what this pre-eminent school requires in a graphic designer, working as an employee on the college's behalf (and according to the college's Web site):

Duties and Responsibilities:

Develop graphic design solutions to meet client needs for print and web projects.

Attend initial client meetings, when possible, and obtain client feedback.

Work in conjunction with our Web Development team to implement Web designs.

Ensure all digital files are correctly built for final printing.

Work with production manager on all print quoting to ensure budget is met and the most cost effective and quality solution is met.

Engage production technician as needed. Ensure design quality on jobs assigned to production staff and oversee final production.

Attend press checks as needed.

Proof projects for errors, obtain client approval and ensure printing accuracy.

Art direct photo shoots as needed.

Engage Creative Director and Senior Designers for art direction and feedback.

Perform related work as assigned.

Experience, education and training:

Bachelor's Degree with a concentration in graphic design.

Must be proficient in InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Knowledge of Dreamweaver, Flash, and CSS preferred.

Familiarity with Wireframes, Information Architecture and Content.

Management Systems (CMS) a plus.

Two to three years progressive experience in graphic design and production.

Reading between the lines, the college's message is clear: truly masterful graphic design doesn't stand a chance of creation without training in the basic fundamentals of design and all of its wondrous elements.

Graphic design, though aided by the advancements in technology and the enthusiastic embrace of future artists, is still incumbent on the inherent talents and commitment of man himself.

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In fact, the future of graphic design -- and its ensuing contributions, if they can be called that -- is wholly dependent on whether man takes the pursuit of excellence to the same feverish pitch that he once assigned to the slaying of beasts.

Art, after all, can truly reside in the eyes of the beholder.