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Graphic
design and the movement towards graphic design have been
around since the dawn of man. Graphic design started when the
first cave man drew on a rock. Graphic design has a lengthy
history and has experienced a huge explosion since the advent of
the computer which has made graphic design accessible to
everyone. Graphic design is known as visual
communication. In the 20th and 21st centuries with graphic
design, there was often a blurring distinction between
advertising art and graphic design. In graphic design, "the
essence is to give order to information”. The Book of Kells is a
very good early example of graphic design.
William Morris’ most significant contribution to graphic design
was publishing books on Arts & Crafts. He proved that there was
a market for works of graphic design in its own right. These
books are the most significant contribution to graphic design in
the twentieth century. These graphic design works
directly influenced twentieth century graphic design in general.
Modern graphic design
Modern examples of graphic design are everywhere e.g. on the
tail fins of airplanes, signage, advertising, logos. Graphic
design is applied by virtually every organization or society in
the world. There are virtually no limits to the size and
applications of graphic design. The ads on the walls in the
London Underground are classic examples of graphic design.
The Soviets designed buildings, theatre sets, posters, fabrics,
clothing, furniture, logos, menus, etc. to suit the communist
regime and a pure form of graphic design was born in the 1920’s.
Herbert Bayer and Lazlo Moholy-Nagy are the fathers of graphic
design. Graphic design in its modern style gained widespread
acceptance and application in post-World War II American economy
when a greater need for graphic design, mainly advertising and
packaging was born. Well-known names in mid-century modern
graphic design are Adrian Frutiger and Paul Rand. They applied
the principles of Bauhaus to popular advertising and logo
graphic design, thereby becoming the principal pioneers of the
subset of graphic design known as corporate identity. Graphic
design was used the design logos, letterheads for big business
all over America.
Uses of graphic design
Graphic design is used whenever visual creativity is
applied to text and or imagery. Contemporary graphic design has
been extended to the modern computer, e.g. often referred to not
as graphic design but rather multimedia design. A potential for
graphic design occurs and can be enhanced through graphic design
anywhere one needs to communicate visually.
Graphic design is used in road signs, technical drawings,
office memorandums, manuals etc. Words are more legible when
visibility is improved and this is done through graphic design
Advertising uses graphic design to great advantage. The ability
to sell a product or an idea is the most effective means of
graphic design. Graphic design is applied to all products by a
company such as their logo, their colours or text. Through
graphic design, companies are recognised world-wide. Integrating
all elements of a company with successful graphic design is
called branding.
Graphic design is often used in school textbooks
to illustrate theories and diagrams. A good example of graphic
design in education is diagrams of human anatomy. Graphic design
is also applied to layout and the formatting.
Graphic design is applied in decoration, scenery, visual story
telling etc. The covers of novels and comic books are good
examples of graphic design. Graphic design helps set the
mood in movies as well as props on stage.
Graphic design is used in journals or news reporting. Facts are
often presented or improved through graphic design. Newspapers,
magazines, etc. use graphic design to inform and entertain. With
the internet, designers experienced in graphic design are
increasingly finding work.
The best websites use graphic design. Graphic design is most
often used by web developers to create both a look and a feel
for a website that enhances it and makes it recognisable.
Companies often look for someone who can do both graphic design
as well as web design. This is often not possible as graphic
design, web design and programming is not the same thing.
A primary tool for graphic design is the utilization of a
creative mind. Graphic design is the ability to augment
traditional tools with digital image editing. The selection of
the appropriate image or font to communicate is a key skill in
graphic design work. Desktop publishing and the arrival of
graphic design art software introduced a new generation of
designers. Computer graphic design has enabled designers to
instantly see the effects of layout or typographic changes.
Traditional tools such as pencils are still used to develop
graphic design ideas but computers are used for the end result.
Computers are regarded as indispensable tools in the graphic
design industry. There is some debate whether the creative
process of graphic design is enhanced by computers. New ideas in
graphic design on computers come by experimenting. One of the
key features of graphic design is that it uses image selection
in order to convey meaning. Some graphic design ideas are
created entirely in the mind. Graphic design uses
sketches to explore multiple or complex ideas quickly. Hand
drawn ideas are used to gain approval of a graphic design or
idea before producing a finished result. A traditional graphic
designer may employ a production artist with computer skills to
render a graphic design on a computer. However, this practice
is not often utilized anymore since the advent of desktop
publishing and its integration with most graphic design courses.
GRAPHIC DESIGN PRETORIA GAUTENG SOUTH
AFRICA |
