This paper analyzes Drucker and McVarish's (2009) history of graphic design, arguing that the authors establish two central functions of graphic design across human civilization: communication and power. Drawing on examples from prehistoric mark-making and Mesopotamian writing through Greek and Roman civic inscriptions, medieval illuminated manuscripts, and the Renaissance printing press, the paper traces how graphic language enabled societies to record, govern, and transmit culture. It further examines the authors' implicit argument that literacy and graphic fluency confer institutional and political power, while broader access to print technology gradually equalized that power. The paper concludes by connecting these historical insights to contemporary digital communication.
The paper demonstrates analytical synthesis of a secondary source: rather than simply summarizing Drucker and McVarish's historical narrative, the student extracts two overarching theses — graphic design as communication and as power — and then traces textual evidence for each across multiple chapters and historical periods. This moves the writing beyond description into genuine literary and historical analysis.
The paper follows a classic five-part essay structure. An introductory section establishes real-world relevance and states the two-part thesis. Two body sections then develop the communication argument chronologically, from prehistoric mark-making through the Renaissance. A fourth section revisits the same historical timeline through the lens of power and social control. A brief conclusion connects the historical findings to contemporary and future implications of graphic design, including the internet and mobile technology.
In today's world, it is difficult to walk even a few blocks without encountering the importance of graphic design. Numbers on houses, businesses, and apartment complexes help us understand where we are in relation to where we want to be, while street signs bearing written names and cardinal directions point us further in the right direction. Businesses are adorned with large signs that tell potential customers the name of the establishment, the goods or services offered, and the deals they can expect to find inside. Traffic signs tell drivers to stop or yield, preventing harmful accidents, while signs put in place by governments and municipalities warn citizens about laws they could be breaking, such as those against littering or parking illegally.
Everywhere we go, graphic design is 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 identify which restroom to enter to warning us of speed limits. In much the same way that graphics serve communication, they also demonstrate power. For instance, the United States has a written constitution, and Supreme Court justices must carefully interpret the meanings of its written text in order to determine whether laws are constitutional or not. In countries like the United Kingdom, which do not have written constitutions, the power of written law is exercised differently. Beyond government, a connection between literacy and socioeconomic status is evident today: those who can read and interpret graphics generally hold more power, in terms of money and influence, than those who cannot.
The connection between graphic design and communication, as well as the connection between graphic design and power, has existed throughout the ages. In their discussion of the history of graphic design, Drucker and McVarish (2009) suggest that graphic design functions both as a form of communication for nearly all groups and as a form of power for those institutions that harness its advances.
Reading Drucker and McVarish's (2009) first chapter reveals how even the simplest cultures used 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 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 a formal writing system or 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 to function. Drucker and McVarish (2009) suggest that "writing and sign making are directly related to administrative tasks and the social structures needed to enable civil societies" (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 15). Many of the writing systems that early writers used were pictographic, meaning they developed as types of symbols rather than as an alphabet. Eventually, alphabets — in which graphics represent, in some fashion, spoken sounds — were also developed. Whether the writing system was pictographic or alphabetical, it allowed societies to communicate. When the authors write that "both [writing and cuneiform] spread to other areas in the ancient Near East," it suggests that graphics must have been such effective methods of communication that other cultures moved quickly to adopt them (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 18).
Even as writing and graphics continued to develop in complexity and sophistication, they remained 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 used "writing for individual expression, communication, commemorative acts of public record, and decrees or commands" (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 29). The Greeks thus used writing not only to encourage communication between citizens but also to enable communication between the government and its people. This is evident in the fact that Greeks used whatever scraps they found to compose personal notes and letters, while public inscriptions carved into stone issued governmental decrees.
In the Middle Ages, graphics in the form of writing — along with illuminations, illustrations, and stained glass — served as the primary mode of communication between the general population and the church. In the Renaissance period, the invention of the printing press represented a pivotal technological development for the emergence of graphics as methods of communication. While graphics had previously served as modes of communication among citizens and between citizens and institutions, the printing press dramatically expanded these opportunities. For the first time, printed material was often contradictory, such as the Protestant declarations that challenged the monarchies (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 69). 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," while also creating a market for books (Drucker and McVarish, 2009: 73–74).
Drucker and McVarish (2009) thus 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. Drucker and McVarish establish graphic design as a medium through which all classes and peoples could eventually enter into communication among themselves and with powerful institutions. After considering their implications, it becomes clear that it is important to study the technological innovations that have followed the printing press, including modern inventions such as the Internet and mobile phones, which have further transformed the way we communicate through graphics and have broad implications for society and culture.
Just as Drucker and McVarish (2009) establish graphic design as a form of communication that encourages the participation of all classes and groups, their history of graphic design also reveals a clear connection between graphic design and power. Although examples of this association are found throughout history, four cases are especially significant: the difference between writing cultures and oral cultures, the Greek government's use of graphics for political and governmental purposes, the church's use of graphics in the Middle Ages, and the equalization of power that accompanied the development of the printing press during the Renaissance.
The importance of graphic design, as indicated by Drucker and McVarish (2009), cannot be disputed. Their narration of the history of graphic design suggests that it not only served communication purposes but also allowed those who had a grasp on graphic design to come into power, while those who did not remained in subordinate positions — a dynamic that eventually gave way to a broader equalization of power as graphic design and literacy became more widespread.
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